The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-05-20
THAT ELOPEMENT CASE.
THE RUNAWAYS HAVE NOT YET
BEEN INTERCEPTED.
Something About the Pretty 'MeIa"
Dogge-The Abandoned Wife in a
CaImer Frame of Mind.

! There was no new developments in the
tKoenen- Dogge elopement yesterday, unless
! it was developed further down the line
and beyond reach of the wires which have
done their utmost to intercept them. Mrs
/ Koenen partially recovered from the an
guish to which she had finally succumbed
the night before was upon the street her
| features heavily yelled during the morn
| ing, while the avenging father of the girl
who lad after mature deliberation, re-
traced his journey. was at his offices re-
ceiving patients and expressions of SYM
ipathy. The warrant charging her betrayer
with adultery and the girl with fornica-
ton. was languishing in the sherih's office
pending the arrival of the news that the
| fugitives had been captured, and so the
day was made one of painful anxiety for
| those at home. The tongue of the gossip
had been as busy as at any time since the
that. AS to Miss "Mela" those who
know her best are more inclined to pity
Than to censure. Her friends offer as an
excuse that she was a constant object of
flattery The gallants who paid her court
said her eyes were pretty and the mir
rors told her her lips were warm and red
as wine.
Her mind was upset" said an intimate
| friend of the family commenting on her
reckless course and the inconsistency of
her running away with a lover who might
tons as a guardian.
You are Joking piped a listener,
mo. I am not" insisted the speaker,
am sincere. candidly believe that
Meals" mind was upset and 1 have had
as her fathers guest an opportunity of
| weighing, it as closely as any one. And
mind, heavens knows"
With this the recital became an intense
| ly. thrilling one. She had not sought the
city with her father The cruel edicts of
a divorce court at Helena, Montana, had
! left her in custody of a mother who had
! led her father a life not entirely pleasant,
and it was months after his arrival here
| that 'Mela,' like some frightened thing,
came knocking at his door and pleading
for protection. She found shelter and
/ good counsel, was among the fairest maids
upon the block and more happiness than
/ that pretty girl never needs.
! Long months before her father and
mother had been separated. At one time
/ the doctor had been in possession of an
ample fortune upon which to retire. He
had not finished his studies as he desired
| however, and having his wife and baby
! "Mela'' at Helena went back to Germany
where an uncle is physician in the royal
family, to complete them. Upon his re-
turn to Helena his ears were stormed
with reports of orgies in which his wife
! had been a conspicuous figure. He salts
! fed himself as to their foundations and
fastening to an attorney began proceed
| ingS for divorce. She replied to this with
a counter proceeding and a separation
was finally granted, the girl going with
I her mother, who was soon the matron of
one of Helena's temples of shame. while
the daughter was sent to a boarding
school. Horrified the doctor abandoned a
lucrative practice in that city and going
from place to place. finally arrived in Salt
Lake, where he decided to make his home.
He had often thought of his daughter
and the dangers to which she was ex-
posed but she had expressed preference
the doctor was seated in his home q tinid
rap came at the door and at the sound of
his voice -.Nlela'' bounded into the room
and into his embrace, What had driven
| her to him the doctor could only coniec-
ture, when one night seated at his knees
! re was Mortified at the confession that
the mother was about to dispose of her
under the auctioneer's hammer. lust that
/ bid the highest TO banquet at her ruin.
Appalled, she had stolen from her mothers
reach and soon fougd herself the idol of
a home where teaSnings were pure and
where had she obeyed them she might
| have remained in pride
| This is the story of her life as it was
recited by. the. heart broken father to a
| pathizing friend who can account for
! her madness in no way save that her
mind was unbalanced.