The herald., 1896-11-20
CHOSE THE MORPHINE ROUTE
Mrs. Fannie Mcbride Joins Her Dead
Lover, Thomas S. Wylie
Leaves Note for the Undertaken and
Coroner-Could Not Live Without
Him-Two Misspent Lives.

would be buried in the same grave with
him. That she did not keep her word
was no fault Of hers, for upon the day
on which his body was committed to the
earth, Saturday. October 3, she took a
large dose Of morphine out of the same
bottle he had used, and was only saved
after desperate work by the physicians
for nearly twenty hours.
Undaunted by her failure, the desper-
ate woman made another and more sue
cessful attempt, and yesterday her
lifeless body was discovered in room "a
Of the Hotel Broadway. note explain
ing that she had committed suicide be-
cause she could not live without her
dead lover. 1t is necessary to a full un-
derstanding Of the matter to review a
little of the testimony brought out at
the coroner's inquest upon the body OF
Wylie, where the story first started.
He was q married man. residing in the
northern part Of the state with his wife
Bessie, and running dairy. At the
time of the Worlds fair Wylie made
trip east, returning in company with the
Mcbride woman, whom he introduced
into his household as his sister from
Troy, N. Y. In reality Fannie Mcbride
was q married woman, whom Wylie had
known as q boy back in New York
state, and who deserted her husband, II.
j. Mcbride. to come to California with
him. 1t was nearly year before the
rightful wife discovered the relations
existing between her husband and his
alleged SISTER" but when she did the
woman was turned out Of the house she
had defiled. Then a divorce was Sc
cured from Wylie, but later the couple
tad hi n
nothing more to do with the Mcbride
woman. This promise he did not full
fill, as some time later he deserted his
wife and children and again took UP
with his paramour.
Posing as husband and wife, some
times known as Wylie. sometimes as
Gallagher, they went from place to
place, he working as a ranch hand or
laborer; she as housemaid or cook.
They finally drifted to this city. where,
by the way. the lawful wife, Bessie, had
also come to live with her relatives. on
residence of Ed Leonhardt, on Los An
geles street. Wylie had been on
drunk for several days, and one night
was bitterly reproached by his COM
panion. He went off in rage, threat
ening to commit suicide, and the next
morning was found dead in the Hotel
Louise, on South Broadway, having
taken a large dose of morphine.
At the inquest both the Mcbride wo-
man and Mrs. Wylie appeared as wives
Of the deceased. 1t was shown, how
ever, that there was only one real wife,
and on the witness stand Mrs. Mcbride
acknowledged that she was but the mis-
tress of Wylie. He had decided to her
some property in Oakland, the possess
| sion of which became a matter of dis
pute between the women. To the cor
oner Mrs. Mcbride protested her love for
Wylie. and stated that she would quickly
follow him to the grave. AS stated. on
the day his body was inferred she took
dose of morphine at the house of her
benefactress, Mrs. Leonhardt, and was
only saved from death after strenuous
efforts.
Since that time,shs has continued to
live with the LeonhardtS at 451 South
Los Angeles street, but seemingly wor-
ried all the time over her lovers death.
On Tuesday afternoon she left their
house, bidding them goodbye, and say
ing that she was going to leave forever.
About 5 o'clock she registered at the
Hotel Broadway as Mrs. Fannie Wylie,
but gave no address. Paying for
| room for one day in advance she was
assigned to No. "a, and Immediately
went to her apartment. which she never
| left. The next morning when the cham
bermaid attempted to enter the room
1t was found locked, and from the
inside Mrs. Mcbride called out that she
| did not wish to be disturbed, the room
| needed no attention.
| Later on in the afternoon she called a
bellboy, and by him sent down the
money to pay for the room another day,
| at the same time ordering some toast
and coffee, which were sent up. 1t is
supposed that the fatal dose of morphine
was taken in the coffee about o'clock
| Wednesday afternoon. Failing to an
swer to repeated knocks on the door
| about noon yesterday, and finding all
| the doors and even the t-ansom securely
| locksmith, who opened the door.
| Lying in bed in her night clothing, in
an attitude as though asleep, was the
body of Mrs. Mcbride. cold in death,
while near by on stand was small red
pasteboard box containing a small
amount of morphine. On the bureau
was found note to the undertaken and
| coroner. 1t was evident that she had
carefully arranged her plans. made all
preparations for death, had written the
note. taken nearly the entire contents
of the box of the deadly drug, lay down
and fell into the sleep that knows no
awakening. On the bed beside the body
lay photograph of Wylie and herself
just as it fell from the nerveless hand as
she sank into oblivion. Her last living
act was to gaze upon the face Of her dead
lover.
The note left on the bureau reads
as follows:
"To the undertakers, Peck & Chase,
327 Broadway: Please bury me with my
darling. If you cannot, bury me as near
as you can. You will find $50 in the
Broadway bank to bury me. My trunk
is at Mr.. Leonhardt's. Give them to Bes-
sic, If she wants them; II not. do as you
please with them. I paid Mrs. Leon
hardt $25. so I don't owe anyone DR..
Walrath will identify my remains. Good
bye. May God forgive Tom and T.
FANNIE WYLIE"
"P. 8. You will find the check of the
bank in my pocket book. Goodbye.
FANNIE WYLIE"
On the diverse side of the paper the
unfortunate woman had written:
1T linked my fate in life with the man
loved-I link 1t in death with him. Write
and tell my brother John that am dead.
7 can't live any longer. Forgive me,
John. Your broken hearted sister,
FANNIE"
"Mr. Leonhardt will tell you his ad-
dress"
This was all. but it told the story of
two misspent lives, each ending in sui
eide. The body was removed to the
rooms of Peck e. Chase. as requested
in the note. where an inquest was
held by Coroner Campbell at
o'clock in the afternoon. The landlord of
the hotel, Mr.. Kellogg. told of how the
woman had come to his house and of her
actions while there Ed W. Leonhardt.
a janitor in the federal building, recited
the occurrenes Of the mast two ynonfhs