Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1894-07-13
is COVER dead !
Said to Have Been Seen
in London Recently.
NINE. NORDICA'S HUSBAND.
Bangor Doctor Held Conversation
With Hin in San Francisco.

Boston. July IA private letter re-
ceived In this city from London conveys
the information that Fred Cover, the
husband of Mme LILLIAN Nordioa. who. IL
was supposed, was lost with . balloon 10
years ago, Ia In that city. No particulars
are given.
Mrs. w. #. Baldwin Of Dorchester. a
sister of Nine. Nordica. was seen In re-
gard to the dispatch. and said that she
had heard nothing Of the matter. Mma-
Nordica at the present time IL In Bay
rsuth. singing at the Wagner festival.
and Mrs Baldwin heard from her about
a week ago. At that time Nordica knew
nothing of this report that is now In cir
culation, for no mention Of IL was made
Of IL In her letter 20 her sister.
Mrs Baldwin said that she believes she
would have received q cablegram from
her sister by this time. were there any
truth in the report On several occasions
q rumor has been spread abroad that Mr..
Cover has been seen alive, but In every
instance the report has been false
Few Bsiisysrs In Providence.
A dispatch from Providence states that
the story Of the reappearance OF Fred A.
Cover, telegraphed from Boston, hnds
few believers here among his old friends
and acquaintancea The information
came from a private letter, in which the
correspondent stated that Cover had re-
appeared In London He was formerly u
newspaper reporter here, and In company
with Professor Bell accumulated a for
tune In extending the telephone system.
He was the husband of Lillian Nordica.
opera singer, and was said to have been
lost while crossing the English channel
Ia a balloon 10 years ago. He started
from Cherbourg and few days later the
balloon was found drifting In the English
enamel. Cover was never again heard
o. At the time Of his DISAPPEARANCE he
was In domestic difficulties and his
property was greatly entangled az re-
suit
A Story From Bangor
Says a dispatch from Bangor: Fred K.
Miller. clerk in Frauley's pharmacy In
this city, says he frequently saw Freder-
lex Cover liz 1855 In Lewiston. Miller
was clerk in drugstore then, over which
DIR. Garcelon's office was located. Cover
came often TO see young Garcelon, and
sometimes passed week In that vicinity.
frequently he would appear in the condi-
ton of a man who had spent his last cent
and had pswped his dress suit, and sud-
denly again he would drive down from
Pennington or come In from Boston
dressed like IA nabob and with plenty OF
money.
Miller firmly believes In the SUPPOSE
ton that Cover was the inventor Of the
telephone which made Bell famous. He
was genius aud a mechanic OF the finest
order He turned of many small inven-
lions, among them a Tapid-firing gun,
which did not prove successful, and a
steering gear for steamb boats which was
fairly successful. He was a strange fel-
low, Miller says, and Just the sort Of
man he would expect to go mp in bal
loon and disappear for term OF years
and return.
He was a silent man and somewhat
erratic when not indulginR In convivialt
the cheering inspiration OF a social glass
would brighten up and apparently un-
guardedly let loose expressions which led
many to infer that his source Of reverue
was the Bell Telephone company. through
Alexander Bell
or his family history or kin, Miller
knows nothing, except that he thinks
Cover was born in Camden, Me. Miller
went west several months previous to
Covers departure for Europe. William
+. Baldwin. leather dealer. OF Boston, Is
Covers brother-in-law,
The following interview was obtained
with DIR. Bi"kford In Bangor. Me-: II
have known Cover since he was hoy In
Sedgwick, Ne After his balloon asoen-
sion I, with every one else, thought him
dead, until the year 1887. when met him
face to face In San Francisco. At first he
attempted to brush me by without recog-
nition, but on my persistence finally
acknowledged his identity. There Is no
possible doubt Of his being actually Ia
the 6esh.