The San Francisco call., 1897-10-06
How Mrs. Cliffs Life
Was Saved by Her
Child.
Severed the Rope by Which
the Would-Be Suicide Was
Suspended.
Reached Home Just In Time to
Prevent the Contamination
of a Tragedy.

LOS ANGELES, CAL, Oct. 5.-Little
Tiihe Cliff, bright-eyed Spanish girl, l,who
is just II years old, proved herself a real
heroine yesterday evening. 1t was she
who saved her mother, Mrs. Rosie Cliff,
from the awful fate of hanging, death
which the woman had decreed for herself,
as chronicled in THE CALL this morning
When Mrs. Cliff decided to commit sui
eide yesterday she tied one end of a rope
to a rafter, and, making a moose in the
other end, climbed upon a box, tied the
moose around her neck and jumped off.
She had dangIed in the air but moment
when little TIllie, who had been sent up
town on an errand, burst in at the door,
anxious to tell ABOUT something that she
had seen on the street. She was horritied
to see her mother suspended from the
ratter by rope, her feet almost touching
the floor. Yet, child though she was, the
little girl did not lose her presence of
mind.
"Oh, mamma, mammal she cried, and
then ran to q cupboard and seized a case
knife. Rushing back to where her mother
dangled, wIithing and gasping, Tillie
lifted herself on her toes and was able to
reach the rope just above where the moose
was fastened around the woman's neck.
Fortunately the cord was a small one. 1t
had been used for a clothes line. The
knife was dull, but the child forced it
through the strands and the rope parted,
letting the now unconscious mother fall to
the floor
Tiilie then ran to q neighbor's and
gave the alarm. A telephone call was
sent TO DR.. II. B. B. Montgomery. When
he arrived he found the un fort unate
woman suffering from the gonies of re-
turning consciousness and the spasms of
lockla caused by the strain of tie mus
cies around the throat.
The Cliffs live on West Second street.
near Ohio. They have pretty home and
no trouble has ever broken the serenity of
their domestic life.
The attempt a. suicide waS a desperate e
one. a razor was found lying on the box
from which Mrs. Cliff had stepped when
she threw her weight on the rope, in
dicating that she had contemplated cut
tlng her throat, but changed her mind in
favor of hanging. Had it not been for the
timely discovery by her little daughter.
Mrs. Cliff would certainly have succeeded
In her attempt to kill herself
No cause can be assigned for the deed,
although it is known that Mrs. Cliffs 5
mother in Oregon is very i'll Her son
Frank. who is II years of age expected to
go to Randsburg within a few days, and
this worried his mother, as she did not
want him to leave. Beyond these facts no
reason whatever for the act can be given.
Little Tillie, in telling about how she
had saved her mother from hanging, said:
81 was just coming home from town
when l saw mamma In the kitchen door,
AS l started to walk up the hill she shut
the door gu ckly, and L ran fast because l
wanted to tell her something. When l
opened the door l saw her hanging her
self, and then l got knife and cut the
rope"
The Cliffs are OF an old Spanish family,
and are highly respected in the neigh bor-
hood where they live. This morning the
would-be suicide was slowly recovering,
and will probably be all right in a week or
two. For time it was not thought that
she could live, but constant attention
saved her life.