The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-08
TRIEDTO DROWN HER BABY
LLZzrE HOFFMAN HOPED THUS TO
CONCEAL Err SHzME

Places Her Sew-Boru ChIid in = Paper VIous
nag ana Drsppea u or . PIor-nicsars
Mcpsnsia saw Her Ne lt and R~sesea the
Haby-she Is Prtsoner ut Bellevue hospital
Among the patients in the reception room Of
Bellevue Hospital yesterday Afternoon waa
Lizzie Hoffman, Is years old. OF 522 West
Fifty-third street, who was . patient and q
prisoner as we'll. A few hours before abe
threw her newborn babe into the river In an eff
fort TO conceal her shame. She Is not pretty
and looked like a melancholiac as she sat on
the bench with half a dozen other women await
ing examination by the physiciAns She did nos
talk like one, however, and occasionally shot
elances OF defiance at the orderlies and nurses
who stopped to look at her out Of curiosity.
Lizzie is q m~edium-siIed girl. with plain features
and an abnormal nose. Her hair hung down
unkempt and dishevelled. and her pale face and
bloodshot eyes told plainly the mental strain abe
was under.
Her father Is Fred Hoffman, q carpenter and
builder, and she Is the second OF seven children.
Her father is a widower. and she kept house for
him. Last fall, she says, young man named
Harold Watson, a carpenter. OF Buffalo. hired .
furnished room In the house in which she lived.
She saw him daily, and he made love to her. lie
asked her to marry him and she consented. bus
he never named the day. He continued living
in the house until Christmas, when he disap-
peared. That was the last Lizzie heard Of him.
Yesterday morning at Q o'clock her baby was
born. She was alone in the room and did NOT
call anybody to her assistance, fearing the anger
OF her father. She says abe did not sleep during
the night. She prepared breakfast for the
family as usual. She covered the baby up with
the bed quilts and locked her room door. She
did not think It would live and she hoped to dis
pose OF the body in the course OF the day.
The h,h- ~ tfl af;rA N , ,Daa
Lizzie grew desperate at the thought OF discov.
cry by her father. who was coming homo to
lunch. She resolved to drown the baby. She
wrapped 1t up in a newspaper and picked up .
stout manila paper -four bag, and placed the in
FAINT inside. Then she tied the bag tightly and
carried it out of the house and down to the river.
The dock at the foot Of West Fifty.second street
is occupied with ice and brick barRes, and tho
men employed on these had Just knocked OF
work for dinner when Lizzie walked down with
her bundle.
She strolled along unconcernedly. and the
men paid no particular attention to her. When
she reached the end OF the pier she glanced
ovsfbosSd and walked away more quickly than
Ricaard McDonsid of 4s5 West Fifty.hrst
street saw her drop the bundle, and walked
He saw the paper bag. which contained some
air, floating oqoyantly between the pier and the
to catch the string which fastened :" the bag. Il
W $ hauled up. and the men that gathered
quickly opened it. They were astounded to
find the baby inside; and several hustleI
man. She had disappeared. One OF them
knew the girl, however. and told Policeman
Coutant who she was. Coutant reported the
case at the West Forty-seventh street station
house. and Detectives Ward and Welsh were
sent out to find the girl. AS they knew who she
was, they had no trouble in finding her. She
was at home. preparing dinner for the family.
The baby. in the mean time. was sent to Belle
vue Hospital. 1t was alive and the doctors
turned II over TO one OF the nurses. who had is
fed, and it was thriving last evening.
Lizzie was taken to Bellevue Hospital. She is
not in a serious condition. and the doctors were
puzzled last evening as TO whether they ought
10 give her the baby TO nurse or not. II they
don't the little one will take the usual course of
foundlinSs and be sent TO the Founding Ho5pf-
tai on Randalrs Island. Lizzie was asked to
name the baby. and she called il after the man
who. she alleges, is its father. Harold Watson.
II we'll enough Lizzie will be arraigned in York
vile Court to-day, charged with attempted in
fanricide,