The morning call., 1893-04-24
WEAVING THE NET.
Damaging Points Against
Mrs. DR.. Laphame.
She Was "The Gypsy Queen ''-Eden-
tity of the ChiId's Young Mother
Also Established.

Another police mystery seems In a fair
way of calculation.
The question as to whether Miss, or
Madame. Bell, the ex-fortune-teller of 331b
O'Farrcll street, and Mrs. Dr. Belinda Lap
hame OF 57G Geary street, now in the City
Prison under suspicion Of being concerned
in The death of a baby, are one and The
same person was answered in the affirma-
tive yesterday.
Mrs. Raymond, the landlady of the
O'Farrell-street house. called at Chief
Crowlry's Office yesterday and obtained a
permit to see the prisoner. The Identified
ton was prompt and full Madame Bell,
the gypsy queen, had developed into Mrs.
DR.. Belinda Laphame.
This proves, beyond the shadow of a
doubt that her story of having come from
Australia eigh teen mouths ago and having
lost her license 10 practice on the way over
is q pure conc0rtien.
Detective Rogers is working with his
usual visor on the case, and some singular
developments may be expected when the
case comes up on Wednesday.
The mystery as to who the young mother
of the murdered babe really is has also
been cleared up. Her real name is I,ottie
Watson, and her mother. Mary Ann Wat
son. has small ranch al Brentwood, Contra
Costa County. She has sister, Mrs. Man
ming, wife of a teamster, who lives at
North Iemescal, same county.
LOtte Is not married, but is engaued to
be married to young man now In the East.
VINO her betrayer is has yet to be found out.
He is the young man who called at 526
Geary street before The child was born.
1t now appears that S57 was altogether
paid by Lottie to Mrs. Laphame-S45 was
for board and confinement of herself and
board for her mother, $40 for procuring the
adOi ton III the baby, and 81 for advertising
in one OF the papers for some one to adopt
it. This money was paid to Mrs. Laphame
by the girl in the presence of her brother,
who will be in court to testify to that effect
on Wednesday.
This disproves entirely the meaning
which Mrs. Laphame evidently desired
should be attached to her statement to De-
tective Rogers when she was arrested, that
the young girl and her mother wanted her
to get rid Of the bA be. 1t was not to kill
the child, but simply to get her to obtain
some one to adopt ii for which she charged
and was paid $40, besides 81 for advertising
purposes.
The evidence Of the young mother, who is
not yet 20 years of age, will be most
damaging to the female Specialist" 1t is
10 the effect that on Tuesday last Mrs. Lap
hame brought the baby to her bedside. and
as she was suffering pain she gave her a
dose OF the opium. Mrs. Laphame then re-
marked, whats good for the mother is
good for the baby" and took the bottle.
giving the baby two teaspoonfuls one i'm
medately after the other.
Mrs. Laphame then took the baby down.
stairs and about an hour afterward came
bark and said that the baby was dead.
When the Coroner went to the house on
Thursday and took away with him the bot
tie from which the opium had been taken to
give the child Mrs. Laphame went to the
young girls bedside and told her to deny
everything, and when she found that the
Coroner had taken away the bottle of opium
she ragged around and tore her hair in her
anger.
There is nice little net being woven
around Mrs. Laphame, but only a small por-
tion of the meshwork has so far been de-
Veloped.