The San Francisco call., 1898-08-07
MINNIE V AS
 NOT KILLED Young Mrs. HoOver's Tale Was a Romance. HER FATHER Ex0NERATED MADE A LITTLE COFFIN AND PAINTED IT BLACK. Not a Trace of Poison Was Found in the Body of the Infant
 Buried in the Back
 Yard.
HER FATHER ExONERATED
MADE A LITTLE COFFIN AND
 PAINTED IT BLACK.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call,
 

SVo bTOdOWdyi <Al.S. D.
 The little child of Mary Hoover that was buried in garden lot at Pleasanton by it's grandfather was not murdered. This fact was testified to to-day by Pro- lessor George w. Colby at the inquest held at Pleasanton over little Minnie's remains.
 The first witness was Mrs. Mary Hoo yer, who told a very tragic story, but toward the end she said that she had no reason for believing the serious accusa- tions which she had published against her father. She stated that she is not yet IS years of age; that she is now the wife of Henry Hoover, and that the child was born and died before she was married.
 The witness recounted in detail the story of her fathers alleged cruel ties to her and her child. She repeated that she had caused to be published statement charging her father with mur der on the ground that she believed he had administered poison to her infant a short time before it's death.
 In answer to questions young Mrs. Hoo- yer said that she did not see her father give her child anything and she only thought she did She had no proof, and when her published statement was read to her she said that she must have made a mistake. She made the statement a short time after she was married and admitted that she wrote it simply to get even with her father, who had given out an interview regarding her character.
 R. H. Magill the editor of the Pleas anton Times, told the story of the girl sending for him and giving him signed statement regarding her father which she requested him to publish, and which ap- peared in his paper.
 Henry Barnett, the father of young Ire first time 'I make my living said he, "by chopping wood I objected strongly to my daughters marriage to Henry Hoover because I did not think he was son for opposing the marriage. My girl gave me considerable trouble. l did not see her child but once alive, Her stories that I threatened to kill 1t in different ways by beating its head against a peach tree are absolutely false On TO occasion did I give the child any medi- cine or anything else. About an hour before 1t died I went into the room where | 1t was and saw it with a cloth over its | face. I removed the cloth, and after a brief look at the little one replaced 1t and l then my daughter told me it was very | sick. An hour afterward it died
 We have no money and it is hard matter for us to live, so l could not give the child funeral. I did not have money | enough to buy the little thing a coffin made neat little box with the best ma terial 1 had, painted it black and buried l up to the fence. 1 did not know 1t was necessary to report death to the Health | Officer or 1 should have done so. Neither l did I know that it was necessary t0 ob- 1 tain permit for burial. I did every | thing properly and decently, and had l been able I would have employed an un- dertaker to attend to the funeral.
 Dr. w. H. Cope, to whom the child ws taken after being disinterred, testified that it was impossible for him, owing to 1 the condition of the body, to state wheth- 1 CT it had been subjected to violence O. not. He testified to sending portions of it to Coroner Baldwin for the purpose | of a chemical analysis.
 Professor George Colby of the chemis- try department of the university testi- fed that he had examined the remains sent to him for any kind of poison that 1t would have been possible for the child | to have taken. He found absolutely no | traces of any poisonous matter. He said the fact that the body was decompoSed would have no bearing on the result, for had poison been in the body when 1t was l inferred he would have been quite able to detect 1t at this time.
 | The jury returned a verdict that Minnie | Hoover who was little oyer two months 1 old came by her death from some un- known cause, but there was no reason to | suppose 1t was other than natural.