The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-07
Her Cape and Purse Found on
a Rock Near the Cliff
House.
A STORY FROM SAN RAFAEL
Several Men Believe the Girl Is
Wandering About in the
Marin Woods.

Gklll LlGIS d1C HpAIC which
contradict the generally accepted theory
that she has fell or Jumped off rock near
the Cliff House on Thursday afternoon.
The fact which convinced Captain
Hughes that he would never see his daugh-
ter alive again is that her fur cape and
purse were found on a rock on the bay
shore near Lands End, not far from the
Cliff House. on Saturday morning.
The finding OF the silent evidence of the
young lady's death was made known yes
terday by James Evans, who is employed
by the contractors building the new Cliff
House. He brought the articles to the
Office of the Chief of Police yesterday and
they were identified by the relatives of the
young lady.
Miss Stella Hughes, as has been stated,
suffered for the last three months with in
somnla. She was accustomed to take long
walks to improve her health.
Last Thursday she and one of her sisters
were going out, but on account of the sister
not being able TO go Stella left her home at
19l4 Lexington avenue or Stevenson street,
near Twentieth, at 8 O'Clock alone, saying
she was going for a walk to Bakers Beach
James Evans, who lives at 362 Minna
street, is employed at the new Cliff House.
He came to Chief Crowley's Office yester-
day morning and told the following story:
Between and o'clock SATURDAY. after
noon he went in search of musseis.
When he reached a rock about halfway
between the Cliff House and Bakers
Beach he found a fur cape and an old
purse containing 50 cents in it. He
thought it strange, so he took the things
home with him that evening. When he
read the story of the disappearance of
Miss Stella Hughes in the CALL yesterday
morning he came to the conclusion that
the things he found belonged to the miss
ing girl. He took the cape and the purse
to Chief Crowley, and Detective Anthony
carried them to the residence of Captain
Hughes. The father and sisters of the
missing girl Immediately identified the
cape and the purse.
They were astonished to learn that Stella
had taken an old discarded purse instead
of her new one, especially as they had
already learned she must have taken
dollar from her sisters purse, which was
lying near by.
The sisters of the missing girl believe |
that Stella went out to Bakers Beach and
strolled along until she reached the rock !
where her cape was found. They believe
that on account of it being beautiful,
warm day their sister sat down, and be-
coming warm, laid aside her cape and
purse and gained what she had sought
sleep-and awoke beWildered and fell off
the rock.
They will not concede that she commit
tea suicide or that insomnia caused aberra-
ton OF TIE mind, and that while in that
state she jumped into the water.
Others believe that Stella Hughes, des-
pondent as she was, sat upon the rock |
meditating upon her illness, and on the |
impulse of the moment jumped into the |
water and met her death.
Still these plausible theories are COM
bated by two facts. a young man who |
know Stella HuChoz well bnr m Fri. |
day evening getting off a car near her |
home. This was twenty-four hours after |
the time she is supposed TO have met her |
death.
Again several people in San Rafael saw
q young woman answering Stella Hughes
description IN that town on Friday. Still
II may have been possible that the missing
girl had more than the dollar she took from
her home and spent Thursday evening in
SausaliIo or San Rafael and returned to
San Francisco and jumped or fell off the
rock near the Cliff House on Friday after
noon or evening. Again II may have been
a case OF mistaken identity.
Frank a. Kessler, who has lived in the
next house TO the Hughes family for fiji
teen years, and who is a friend of Stella
Hughes, saw her get off an Eighteenth
street car at the corner of Guerrero street
on Friday evening. He thought she was
coming from the park on the way to her
home, and noticed nothing strange about
her.
Robert T. Warden, the keeper of the
crossing of the narrow and the broad gauge
tracks near San Rafael, is positive he saw
Stella Hughes, the missing girl, Friday
morning. 1t was just after the 9:15 o'clock
train from the city had gone up Friday
morning. He said last evening:
81 was sitting on my front porch when !
saw young woman walking rapidly down |
the road from San Rafael. She was walk !
ing so fast that l noticed her closely. She |
did not stop, but walked past the house |
and round the curve of the road, where it !
bends round the hills in front of my house, !
She turned up the hill after she was about /
halfway round the curve and went up Gil |
bert street to the top of the hill. Then |
she turned to the left and went into |
LOmita Park.
II lost sight of her for about ten min
utes but pretty soon she came down the |
street again just as fast as ever. Half wav /
down Gilbert street she turned off and /
went to the top of the hill again. Then |
she came down to the county road and |
started back toward San Rafael
"She passed Thomas McHughes' house |
and heard him ask her if she was lost. |
She said, No.
''He asked if she was looking for any
information and she said, No l lived /
there and know all about the country. |
Then she came on past my house. l |
looked at her closely and saw that she was |
dressed in gray dress with blue spots |
and had on black hat with feathers. She |
looked up at the house twice as she passed |
and l noticed her face plainly. 1t was Just |
like those in the papers.
Il did not say anything 70. her, but
thought she was not quite right, and |
watched her until she passed out of sight |
round the point of the hill toward San Ra- |
fael. l did not know, then, of course, that |
any one was missing, but when [ read of it /
in the papers and saw her description, | |
thought at once it was the same girl. 1 |
called on McHughes. and he was pretty |
sure it was the same girl, and now when he
thinks over it he is willing to swear it was |
the same girl as the one reported missing. [
II have known Captain Hughes, the |
girls father, great many years, and so
when McHughes and myself agreed that it
was the same girl L sent the telegram to
the captain at once"
Warden lives on the county road Just
across the track from Scheutzen Park,
about mile from San Rafael. The road
curves around point on one hill and then,
passing his house, sways round little
basin and then disappears around another
hill. forming a semicircle in plain view |