St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-09
zELLA MADE MONEY FLY,
BUT WHOSE MONEY rs STILL All
OPEN QUESTION:
HER INTEREST IN GEO. GOULD

Is Not Yet Quite Plain-A Sensa-
tion Evidently Behind That
$4,000 Check The Young
Woman Only Eighteen, Very
Pretty, and Has Had Lot of
Experience With Mankind. =
New YORK, Dec. S.-George j. Gould
called at police headquarters today and
held long conference with Supt.
Byrnes. The superintendent afterwards
said that Mr.. Gould's visit was in rela.
ton to the suit which Mrs. Zela Nico-
laus has brought to recover SIC, 900 from
Mr.. Gould. Mrs. Nicoaus was ia.
mlllar figure to the employees about
George Gould'S office in the Western
Uulon building. Sometimes, Mr..
Somerville said, she would come and
wait for hours In Mr.. Gouid's outer
office when he was out of town. On such
occasions she would hardly believe the
clerks statements that he was away,
and fearing they were deceiviug her as
TO Mr. Gould'S whereabouts she would
lecture them prettily and with mock
seriousness on the sin of telling lie.
Mr.. Gould declined to say anything to
supplement- the statement he gave out.
Messrs. Howe and Hummell were as
little disposed to talk about the case as
was Mr.. Gould. Mr.. Hummell said:
MIR. Gould has twenty DAYS in which
to file an answer to our complaint. Until
that answer is filed I can only say you
will get absolutely no information from
this Office"
EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD.
The young woman came to New York
shortly after the holidays, less than a
year ago. She was born in Wabash,
Ind, eighteen years ago. When she
was just budding into womanhood. being
still in her sixteenth year, she was mar
ried in Joliet to one of the leading mer-
chants of the place, whose name she
bears. Mr.. Nicoiaus was rich widower
with children. He bought his girl-wifa
horses and carriages and indulged her
every whim. But the end came abruptly
one day when she left her husband and
home and went to Chicago. There her
glrllSh beauty at once attracted atten-
tlon. During her stay there she held
full sway over little coterle who used
to frequent the inner circle of her es-
tablishment on the north side of town.
Among her acquaintances was Albert
Ruhman, who now figures as clothing
| dealer and her guardian ad litem. With
the adventof Ruhman into her life Mrs.
| Nicolaus seems to have lost the devotion
| of some others of her admirers. She
| came to New York early last winter to
make stay of some length pending an
action for divorce which she had brought
against her husband.
| HER CAREER IN NEW YORK. Sii>
| Soon after her arrival she left the
| hall bedroom of the plain boarding
| house in which she had resided and
| took suite of rooms at the Sturteyant
House, where she registered as Mrs.
| Zella NicolauS. This was late III Janu-
ary, 1898, and the hotel people soon be-
| gan to have great respect for their
beautiful guest as customer and no
little curiosity about her as an indl-
vidual. During her six weeks stay at
the hotel her bills were never below
$3.50 week, and frequently ran over
$500. She remained in her rooms the
greater part OF the time, and when she
did go out, if it was only to post letter
or attend matinee within a block Of
the hotel, she went in cab.
Meantime she secured wellknown
actor to instruct her, as she aspired to
become an actress. He is naturally re-
luctant to have his name appear, but
says she always told him the question
of expense need not enter into her
stage debut. She simply wanted to get
on the stage as Star with her own
company and she wanted to get there
as quickly as possible. She used to say
she did not care for money, as she had
friends who were wealthy. Young
Mr.. Bang, the cashier of the hotel, the
son of the proprietor, said that when
Mrs. Nicoaus left the hotel four of her
trunks were kept because she did not
pay the bill for her last weeks board
When Mr.. Bang went up to see her and
ask what the, trouble was she simply
said friend had failed to keep prom
ise aud she was embarrassed.
WELL-KNoWN AT WABASH.
WABASH. Ind, Dec. S.-Rozella Ly
tie, or Mrs. Nicolaus, the woman who j!
suing George Gould. came to Wabasl
from Richmond, Ind, about ten year:
ago. Her father, David Lytle, is poor
man pow, as he was then, and the
daughter. who is remarkably fine
: looking blonde, soon secured a situation
in one of the dry goods stores. Zelli
soon found Wabash toe slow to suit he
ideas, and after year or two here wen
TO Logansport. While there she met
man by the name of Christman, anC
managed to make claim against him
This case came to trial i'll the court
here, but was compromised before
verdict was reached, Christman payin!
500. Zella went from Logansport t.
Kansas City and other Western points
coming here occasionally to visit he
parents.
SHE WAS VERY SWIFT.
CHICAGO, Dec .S.-MrS Nicolaus cam
to Chicago in company with detective
who met her somewhere in Indiana
She was not Mrs. Nicolaus at the time
but Miss Zella Lytle. She took flat a
No. 526 Wabash avenue. While Iivin,
there she met her future husband, Viii
A. Nicoiaus, of the dry goods firm o
Nachbaur & Nicholas, Joliet, Ill. Afte
the wedding Nicclaus and his brid
went 70 Joliet to live. Married lif
was too hnIrdrum for the bride, an
after six months she returned alone +
Chicago. Her baby face infatuated
city official. who installed her in fla
on Ohio street. After a visit to Me-
York she returned to Chicago, and TO
two months paid so a day for suite G
rooms at the Great Northern. The
she returned to Gotham, only to REAP
pear in this city shortly before th
closing of the worlds fair. The frs
week in November she again wen
East.
Convicts Escaped.