The San Francisco call., 1896-04-01
JEALOUSY THE CAUSE.
Friends of Deuss Declared That the
Wife Was Unjustly Suspicious
of Her Husband.

Statements made by the friends of Deuss
show that Mrs. Deuss was jealous of her
husband. She believed that he, within
few weeks. had been paying marked at
tention to a young woman, but frie nds
assert that there was not the slightest
foundation for the suspicion. This idea,
which for several weeks haunted the
woman who sought relief in death and
took her children with her to the great be-
yond, unsettled her mind and it is prob
able that when her brain was turned by the
most uncomfortable OF passions she de-
cided upon carrying into effect her fatal
project.
Henry F. Fricke, a grocer at Guerrero
and Nineteenth streets, who was with
Deuss for several hours yesterday morn
ing. said:
: "You can understand what the poor
mans feelings were when he made the
horrible discovery. II was enough to
drive a man to the verge of desperation,
and it is no wonder that ne wanted to put
an end to his life. This afternoon he had
Gained down somewhat, and in my COM
pany We went to the Morgue and then
made arrangements for the disposition of
the unfortunate woman and the children,
after which he went to the Valencia street
Hotel, and when left him at o'clock he
was in better mood than he was during
the forenoon.
1.-The woman had no cause for the com.
mission of the dreadful crime.C She was
insanely jealous, and all without cause
His friends can show where he was every
evening when away from home. There
was not the slightest cause for Mrs. Deuss
to be jealous of him. He was devoted
husband, and loved his wife and children
as fondly as any man could. AS to finan-
cial trouble, there was nothing in that. 1t
was only yesterday that he told me that
he had put an advertisement in THE CALL
that it had brought him three customers,
and that he felt pleased with the begin
ming of the week.
''Mrs. Deuss used to attend all the meet
ings of the Mission Turn Verein. of which
Deuss is the vice-president, and when he
was there she had every opportunity to
watch his actions. At the last meeting
she was there, and l noticed that there
was something in her demeanor that sat
isfied me that there was something wrong
with her mind
William Gerken, proprietor of the Va
lenca-street Hotel, said: .sI have known
Mr. Deuss for several years and know that
he was passionately fond of his wife and
children and had no thoughts for any other
woman or women. Why, when he went
home from his business his children would
tumble over one another in their endeavor
to be taken up by him. There never was
any trouble in the family, as there was
not any cause for it. This forenoon he was
in terrible state of mind, and he would
no doubt have done himself harm had he
not been watched by his friends. This
evening he was very much calmer and
spent most all the time weeping and
moaning. At about 6 o'clock he went out
with friends.
"Why did Mrs. Deuss commit the terri
Bile crime? 1t was simply jealousy, and
she was uniustly jealous. Nothing but
jealousy drove her to it"
One of Deuss' most intimate friends is
Emil Leiss, speaker of the Independent
of the San Francisco Tageblatt. He was
in the company of his friend for several
hours yesterday afternoon.
"This is indeed sad" said Mr. Liess las.
night, ''and nothing but unfoundeo
jealousy caused MIS-. DeuSS TO 90 what
she did. have known the family for
long time. / know that Deuss was ex-
tremely fond of his wife and children, and
he was passionately fond of the poor little
boy. The loss OF those he loved, and in
such manner. was enough to drive him
crazy and make him wish to 90 to those
he loved so we'll
Several weeks ago Mrs. Deuss became
possessed of the idea that her husband
was making love to young woman, but
there was absolutely no cause for such an
idea. Still it preyed upon her mind to
such an extent that it affected it, and last
Thursday when / delivered a lecture at
Turn Halle, in the Mission, Mrs. Deuss
was there, and / noticed that there was
something unusual the matter with her,
for she did not appear as usual. Despite
this feeling which possessed her there was
nothing that occurred in the family circle
to disturb its tranquility.
"There is no reason to believe that
money matters had anything to do with
the act, TO: Mr.. Deuss provided we'll for
his family and never troubled his wife
with his business affairs.