Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-17
MISS BALSLEY DEAD.
The End 0vertakes Her at the Alle-
gheny General Hospital.
HER UNHAPPY LOVER AT HER SIDE.
Story Of the Accident That Caused the
WOmans Death.
An ALLEGHENY FAMILY NAY DISSOLVE

Poor Blanche Balsley, before she died
yesterday morning at the Allegheny Gen.
ersl Hospital, recovered consciousness and
recognized her relatives and friends, who
were at her bedside. There were present
her father, w. w. Balsley, of Connells.
vile; her sisters, Miss Sudie Balsley and
Mrs Jean Sypher, of No l6 Jefferson
street, Allegheny. There was fourth
mourner, whose grief seemed to be the most
acute of all, q fne-looking, welldressed,
heaviIy-built man. This was Matthew
Kelly, the proprietor of the Scottdale
House, at Scottdale, Pa. He betrothed
to Miss Balsley, and it was evident that
her death was severe blow to him. 1t
was Just about o'clock when the sufferer,
holding the hand of her sister, passed from
life to death.
The relatives soon left the hospital, and
yesterday morning the body of the young
woman was viewed by the Coroner's jury.
and afterward placed in charge of Under
taker Anthony Meyer. The corpse will be
shipped to Gonnellsville this morning, and
the funeral will take place there tomorrow
afternoon.
She Was Young and Pretty.
Miss Blanche Balsley was 25 years old in
June. She was the second daughter of W.
W. Balsley, cigar manufacturer of Con-
nellsville. She was a very pretty young
woman, with hsir nearly black, and dark
brown eyes Her face was round and her
figure plump. About week ago she and
her sister, Sudie, came to Allegheny to visit
their married sister, Mrs. Sypher, whose
husband, fine looking young man of erect
carriage, is cigarmaker.
The accident which caused Miss Balsley's
death occurred about 1880 o'clock last Fri
day night, when she and Samuel Sharp fell
over a cliff on Monument Hill. The police
were called to the scene, and sent the in
jured man and woman to the hospital The
officers discovered that Sharp and Miss
Blanche were accompanied by another gentle
man and lady, who at the time of the acci-
dent were sitting near the monument, below
where their companions fell. The second
gentleman gave his name as Alexander Cam
eron, and it developed that he was Sharp's
Roommate at No. IS Sandusky street. The
other lady said her name was Sullivan, and
there has been a great mystery as to her
identity. This mystery was solved yester-
day, when DISPATCH reporter discovered
that this second lady was the dead girls
sister, Mrs. Jean Sypher
Always Been a Good Girl.
Yesterday morning Coroner's jury
viewed the body of the dead girl and an
office in the Court House. W. W. Balsley
identified the deceased as his daughter. He
said she had always been a good girl. He
did not know whether she knew Sharp
before last Friday night or not, but his
youngest daughter, IA years of age, had
told him after she saw the account of the
accident in the newspapers that she knew
Sharp and had seen him several times in
Connellsv1lle.
Alexander Cameron was then, called. He
is a clerk in the Office of Gebbie & Co,
publishers Of fine art works at No 90 Fifth |
avenue He said he had known Miss Balls |
ley since last fall, having made her ae-
quaintance in Allegheny. He was sure |
that Sharp had not known her or the other |
lady prior to last Friday night Cameron /
said that he met Miss .iBalsley and her |
companion at the concert in the Allegheny
park last Thursday evening. They spent |
some time together and the ladies then asked |
him to meet them at the bridge in the park |
on the next evening and take them to the |
concert in Highland Park. He agreed to |
do so, and met them accordingly. They sat |
down on seat, and by and by Sharp came |
along. Then it was suggested that, as it |
was rather late to go to Highland Park, |
they should go to Monument Hill, have a |
good night view of the two cities and get a |
look at the fiery planet, Mars.
They Had Met by Chance.
They went. Cameron and his lady friend |
sat down at the foot of the monument and |
talked about the stars and other things, |
while Sharp and Blanche strolled up on |
the hill above the monument Cameron /
heard q woman's scream, and looking back /
saw two bodies fall over the perpendicular
20-toot cliff back of the monument Cam
eron was asked the name of his lady COM
panion and he replied: "She gave her
name as Sullivan. I did not know her be-
fore, but L think she lives ON jackson
street." Sharp told him that Miss Balsley
started to run toward the monument, hold
ing him by the hand. She did not see the
cliff in the dark and pnlled him over with
her. This story of the accident Sharp cor
roborsted yesterday at the hospital He
said he did not know either of the ladies
before that evening. The inquest will be
continued this morning. o.
A DISPATCH reporter visited the Sypher
home on Jefferson street yesterday after
noon, and there found greatly perturbed
condition of affairs. Mr.. Sypher was very
angry with his wife for going out at night
He had been at the Coroner's Office, where
Cameron's testimony had been read to him.
Mrs Sypher, very pretty black-haired
woman, had evidently been in tears, and
was reluctant to say anything She finally
told story of the accident which agreed
with the accounts of Sharp and her sister.
She acknowledged that she had given her
name to the pslice as Sullivan, but she said
she did that because she was married and
did not wish her real name to get into the
newspapers She contradicted Sharp by
saying she had known him for a long time,
and said: "Sam Sharp needn't lie even if
he has his leg broken" Mrs Sypher was
much worried by her husbands displeasure,
and declared that she and her dead sister
had intended no wrong.