davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
Police Investigating the Strange Demise of Mrs.
 Vidal CerVanteS.
Remarkable Conduct of Her HuS= band and a Woman Said to
 Be His Former Wife.

ton street, Cerventas' friends, including a mysterious woman, remaining there too. The house belonged to Vidal and was partly furnished.
 Mrs. Cervantes did not remain at the Pinckney-street house long, but after instructing Nelson to continue to watch over her interests returned to the Vallejo-street house. The strange wedding took place on Tuesday, and, according to the statements Nelson has made to The Call and Detective Anthony, who is conducting the in vestigation, Vidal made several visits to the Pinckney-street place during the week, at which times Nelson turned over to her the money he had collected from her tenants
 Saturday, March 26, she made her last visit to him. She complained of feeling very i'll, and for the first time expressed fear that her time on earth was short. She spoke of the woman Cervantes kept at the house constant ly, and said she had given her an over dose of medicine the night before that had almost killed her.
 Mrs. ( vantes did not mention this woman's name and Nelson could not tell who she was more than that she was Hungarian by birth and that during the past week it had been ru- mored among those who knew all the parties concerned that she had lived with Cervantes and was supposed at one time to be his wife.
 Nelson endeavored to cheer up the woman by telling her that she had often been as sick as she was then and that he would go up to the Vallejo-street house that night and give her a treat ment such as he had in the past, which would relieve her of her suffering. He kept his promise and noticed that while he was in the house the mysterious female friend of Cervantes watched every movement he made and acted in most peculiar manner.
 Nelson asked her what medicine she had given to Mrs. Cervantes the night before, and she showed him a rather large bottle about half full of a dark colored liquid. The directions on the label gave twenty to forty drops as a dose for an adult, and five to ten drops l for a child. Nelson asked if she had administered more than one dose, and
 
 the druggist had not filled the bottle | up.
 Nelson remarked that it was not the 1 practice of druggists to put a small 1 quantity of medicine in a large, bottle | but that thev used bottles of various sizes, acording to the quantity of medi- cine. and he questioned the woman further. Finally she admitted that she
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06

I subject, fearing that he would be shot 1 by Cervantes, whom he thought dan- gerous man.
 T was employed by Mrs. Cervantes l to look after the house, attend to re- pairs in the houses she rented and do her collecting. Although I heard of her marrying again, I did not see her husband until the da.v of her death. l had gone up the street to buy some groceries, and when I returned I was surprised to see an express wagon in front of the door. I tried to enter the house, but found that the bolt had been drawn on the other side. After ham mering on the panel the door was l opened by some woman whom I had never seen before, and she says to me, This is Vidals husband and Vidal's dead
 T was surprised at hearing the news, l but was more surprised to see what they were doing. During my short ab- sence they had taken every dress be- | longing to Mrs Cervantes and had them tied up in bundle. Everything | of any value was bundled up and they | loaded the things on the express wa l gon. They then removed every bit of | furniture in the house and left 1t in a deserted state. With the keys that he must have found on Mrs Cervantes he opened closet and took from it about $20 in gold, that was saving for Mrs. Cervantes, to be given to her on her next visit.
 Mrs. Cervantes was worth a good deal of money, because I used to col lect from $9 to $10 a night for rental of her houses. Tonight I took $9 50 to MT. Cervantes, which amount I have either brought to his house or given to him here since his Wife's death T learned later that Mrs. Cervantes died at 12:15 o'clock, and they came to the house eight hours after to remove her belongings.
 T don't want to say anything else about the matter, because I am not in a position to do So.'
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06

and skin diseases are freQuentlv not skin diseases at all All the lotions and bleaches and creams and powders in the world won't make good complexion if the digestion is wrong. If the stoInach is sour, and the liver torpid, and the bowels constipated, the skin will show it. No use trying to treat the skin for such a condition The only way to relieve 1t is to cleanse the sys- tenn and purify the blood. As long as the heart is pumping impurities to every part of the body, just so long these impurities will show through the skin.
 Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery Is good for the complexion because it makes the whole body healthy-because it clears and puriies the blood, makes the digestion strong and clears out impurities of all kinds. By increasing the ability to assimilate nutritious food, and by the in. fusion of its own ingredients, it enriches the blood and so makes solid, healLly flesh. It fills out the hollows, rubs out wrink- les and substitutes for sallowness a rosy, healthy glow. There is no mystery about it. It isn't miracle. It Is merely the re- suit of combination of rational natural common sense with expert medical knowl- edge. It cures diseases of the lungs, liver, stomach, bowels, skin and scalp, simply because all these diseases spring from the same cause "a disordered digestion and consequent impure blood. Don't let preju- dice and scepucism cheat you out of your health. Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Dis covery will positively cure you, if suffering from diseases named above.
 If you want to know hundreds of great medical truths, send 2I one-cent stamps to cover cost of mailing only, and we will send you FREE copy of Dr. Pierce's Ioo8 rage book, Common Sense Medical Ad. viser.o, !, Address, WORLDS DIsPENsARY MEDICAL, RESIGNATION. Rn9al9. 9.,sG G.s X,A
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06

became more marked. Utterly disre- garding the whisperings of neighbors and the friends of the dead woman, they continued to make the house at 636 Vallejo street their home, while Cervantes took possession of his late wife's property He visited Nelson and first offered him $100 if he would relinquish all claims to any portion of the estate. Nelson refused, and the sum was gradually increased to $500, but when he still refused to make any agreement with Cervantes, the latter finally said:
 "If the estate proves to be worth s15,0OO, I will give you 5000 for any claim you may have, if it amounts to more I will i've $150O. and you can go away and enjoy your money Nelson declined to accede and Ger vantes finally gave up the attempt to purchase his claims.
 Meanwhile Isaac Silva had informed his attorney. Archibald Campbell. of Vidal's death and together they went to Chief of Police Lees. who, after
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06

had given Vidal about 200 drops by mistake, but supposed as it was medicine that children could take, it would not harm her. The following day, Sunday. Nelson visited Vidal again and found her somewhat bet ter. That was the last time he saw her alive.
 Nelson states that Mrs. Cervantes did not remove her effects from the Pinckney-street house, all her dresses and other wearing apparel as well as the furniture being left undisturbed. Early on the morning of Tuesday, March 29, Cervantes and the mys- terious woman appeared at IS Pinck- ney street and informed Nelson that Vidal had died suddenly at 15 minutes after midnight. They brought an ex- press wagon with them and proceeded to ransack the house, taking all the dead woman's clothes, jewelry. some furniture and s20 that Nelson had col lected the day before. Since then they have told other friends of Vidal that ..tbeX only gemoved 9 portion of the fur-
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06

hearing the story, immediately sum- moned T 4ective Anthony and detailed him on the case. Since then the officer has been working unc asir gly with the result that the l lice are convinced that the woman died under circum- stances that warrant the remains be- Ing exhumed and the -tomach analysed. Coroner Hawk has been requested to perform this duty and has promised to exhume the body to-day. careful analysis of the stomach will be made ana as no embalming fluids were used It IS fought it will be an easy matter 10 detect the presence of poison, if any had been administered.
 Cervantes lost but little time in talk ing the necessary legal steps to secure possession of his wife's property, for a lew days after her death he appeared Tor letters of administration. He ap- peared in Judge Coffey's court last saturday, accompanied by the mys- terlous woman. Several friends of the dead woman were present and they noted that this woman was decked out In some of Vidal's finery. She osten- tatiously displayed a gold watch and chain. for which Nelson says Vidal paid SlSO, while encircling her wrist was a bracelet that had cost s19O.
 One point that Nelson calls partic- ular attention to is that when Vidal made her last visit to the Pinckney- street house she had in her bag be- tween $500 and $4OO in gold. This money was also seen by a storekeeper, for the woman called at his place to pay Dill she owed and when she opened her bag he noticed the gold. She searched for some silver, but could find none, and finally gave him a gold piece to change.
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06

niture, but Nelson is positive that they practically stripped the house.
 After their departure Nelson hurried to the Vallejo-street house and found preparations for the funeral already well under way. Valenti, Mareni & Go. undertakers. whose parlors are on Stock ton street, between Green and Union, had been called in. and arranged the body for burial. AS Mrs. Cervantes was a very large woman, they informed the husband that 1t would be difficult to secure @ casket large enough that day and 1t would be better to postpone the funeral until the following day. At this. both Cervantes and the mysterious female became greatly excited, and in sisted that the funeral must be held that day. The undertaken said it would cost SS5 or $40 more to carry out their wishes, but they replied that a matter of few dollars made no difference.
 Nelson describes the action of both the man and woman all the time he was there as most remarkable. Both were deeply agitated, and the woman kept rushing from one room to. an other, calling to Cervantes, holding whispered conversations with him and otherwise manifesting extreme nerv ousness. Once, when some friends of the dead woman called, they were shown into the room where the body lay. but had scarcely approached it when the woman burst out:
 Don't you like the way it looks? If you are not satisfied you had better leave the house!"
 Nelson notified some friends of Vidal of her demise, among them the family of Isaac Silva, livi-g at 737ha Green street, who had known her intimately
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06

Nelson says the woman had five very valuable diamond rings and other JeWelry which she usually carried on her person. Where these are now mo- body seems to know.
 Cervantes' claim to the estate will be bitterly contested by the relatives of the dead woman, and Carmen D. Mega, sister-in-law of Vidal arrived from San Jose yesterday for that purpose. Besides MT. Silva has had a power of attorney prepared and will forward it to Vidal's sister, who is living in Mex leo, for her signature, and he will then be in position to protect her rights.
 Detective Anthony was most reluct- ant to discuss the case when seen by a representative of The Call last night, and expressed his regret that the mat ter had leaked out He admitted. how ever, that he had been working on the case for several days and that the result of his investigation had con- vinced him that the woman had been murdered. He would make no charge as to who the guilty party, or parties, were and said that no arrests had been or would be made until the body had been exhumed
 On the result of an analysis of the stomach, Anthony said, depended the whole case He believed that traces of poison would be found which would confirm his belief that the woman had been foully dealt with. but he could make no move toward experimenting the guilty party until that analysis was made
 He could not understand why Coro- ner Hawkins had failed to exhume the body before this, as he had been re- quested to do, but he believed the Cor oner would take that step to-day. When the stomach was examined, if poison was found, the detective said he would be in position to act promptly.
 Yesterday Isaac Silva, the friend of the dead woman, said:
 T have been a friend of the dead woman for many years and used to transact her business for her. She did not tell me she had married. but tried to conceal the fact from everybody. I was told about 1t some time later, and on last Thursday I told Attorney Archie Campbell that I was going to bring him a divorce suit and he said: Is
 
 won't stay with that fellow; he has been in State Prison.' Campbell re- piled: You are too late. I am going to bury the woman at ? o'clock
 T was surprised and said I would go immediately to her house and see her. He said: You have plenty of time.' l went there at Il o'clock. I saw a woman and some fellow who I after ward learned was her husband She was running around from one room to another calling this man, Cervantes. She kept asking for the hearse and asking why they did not take her away. didn't say anything, but within five minutes the hearse came and they were ready.
 Two days later they appeared before Judge Coffey, applying for letters of ad- ministration. While they were in the courtroom, I had a man who was once a guard in San Quentin to look at the man and he told me he was once in San Quentin and that he thought his brother was there now. When they came out of the courtroom she said: What business have those men there? meaning the bondsmen. She was tremb- ling and extremely nervous. Campbell 1 told her who they were and what they
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
MRS. VIDAL CERVANTES, WHOSE DEATH THE POLICE
 ARE INVESTIGATING.

for many years. They had barely time to reach the house before the funeral took place, for Cervantes and the wo- man had their way and the cortege started for the cemetery at 1 o'clock, barely twelve hours after Vidal had ceased to breathe
 Then the actions of the strange pair
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Cupid breaks his

Cupid breaks his bow at the sight of a face full of pim- ples and blotches. H ollow c h e C k S, sunken eyes, and a sallow complexion will defy his best intentions. Beauty is more than skin deep. The skin is merely the surface on which is written in plain characters the condition of the body. The skin is not a thing by itself.
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
YOUR EASTER SHIRT,

cellar or cuff should be as immac- ulate in their color as Easter lilies. vie with them in snowy whiteness, and perfection of finish, if they are done up at the United States Laun- dry. If you don't care to buy new set of linen, let us launder it; you will be pleased at the result. Office, 1004 Market street.
 Telephone South APO.
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
ADVERTISEMENTS.
New Goods.

This week we will exhibit the very latest NOVELTIES in the following de- partmentS.
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
LACE DEPARTMENT i!

NEW LACES, in Point Applique, Point de Gene. Point Venice and Chantillu, Also an elegant assortment of FdnCu Embroidered ChiffOnS.
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
TRIMMING DEPARTMENT.

NEW TRIMMINGS m PdSS6n6nt6Fi6SJ Beaded and Silk Fronts. Also a full assortment of New Belts and fine Feather BOdS.
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
RIBBON DEPART MENT.

NEW RIBBONS in PlaidS Checks and Stripes. Also French Ribbon SdShGS and SCdrfS- -frinued-and an elegant line of New French Taffetd Ribbons.
The San Francisco call., 1898-04-06
GLOVE DEPARTMENT,

UEUF E DET FTI ' FIENTI NEW CLOVES in light Easter shades in the celebrated Reunier make, both Su6deS and GldCe.
The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-05-20
The Senaphore.

Shortly before the French revolution
Claude Chappe ut Anglers invented SEM
aphore telegraph, consisting of relays of
towers surmounted by movable arms.
This plan, with notifications, was adopt
ed in France, England and other countries.
In August, 1894, the first of .Chappe's
lines was completed between Paris and
Lille, and on Sept. ut noon the welcome
news of the recapture of the town of Condo
from the Austrans was transmitted by IL
from Lille and announced by Carnot to
the deputies in Paris the same evening.
The inventor, who was the first person
that received the title of telegraph engi-
neer (ingenieur telegraphe), as head of u
telegraphic department in the military
service of the first republic, was succeeded
In this office by his brothers. Iguatius and
Rene. During the directory, the empire
and the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles
X numerous lines of this description were
constructed in France Louis Philippe
secured the introduction of the electric
telegraph, but both systems were In use
down to the time of the Crimean war, aft
er which the semaphore was finally aban-
doned. --Cornhill Magazine.
The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-05-20
WATCHING FOR REGINALD.
She IL Determined to Pursue Him to the
Bitter End.

Darby Is nothing II he IL not sympa
thetic, and the other day when he was
waiting for the train In the Union depot
and he saw an elderly woman clad In a
drab veil, white cotton gloves fluttering
white ribbons and other palpable proof OF
bridal attire-when Darby saw her weep
Ing bitterly into lace handkerchief, he
approached her and said gently:
"You seem to be in trouble, my good
woman. Can help you in any wayp"
mo; don't know as you can," she re.
piled; mot unless you can find a man
who says his name is Reginald st. Clair
but like enough he lied aLout that, as I'm
thinkin he lied about - rything else
blame his picter He SAID he'd meet IN,
here Mt 10 o'clock this mornin, and here
It's In the afternoon, an amt seen hide
nor hair of 'im He said he'd wear a red
Hover In his buttonhole, and here I've
rushed up TO half dozen men with red
flowers In their buttonholes thinkin they
was him, an one came near havin me ar
rested cause was so sure he was Regi-
nald up an kissed himr'
"Who is ReginaldY"
Hes man I've been correspondent
with. got his name out of paper where
he'd advertised for a correspondent with a
view to matrimony amt never seen
him, but I've had dozens of letters breath
in devotion and doclarin he couldn't wait
hardly until got my weddip things ready,
and here ! sent i'm 800 three days age
cause he said he needed that much TO fin
ish furnishn our house and was little
short of funds. And here I've come 20C
miles, and it looks nightly to me as il
Reginald ST. Clair amt a-goin to show
up, an IL he don't I'll track i'm to the end
Of the earth an let i'm know he was foolin
with the wrong person when he tried to
fool me! He'll give me back that hundred
dollars an what I've spent for my troosow
an what it's cost me to come here. I'll let
i'm know that-there's man with a red
flower in his buttonhole. Mebbe that's
Reginald. I'll ran an seel'
But it was not Reginald, and the drab
clad lady returned to Darby and said with
increased ire and bitterness:
mo, it wasn't Reginald. I've about
gin i'm up now, but Ill run i'm down
yet, see If don 'tl''-Detroit Free Press.
The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-05-20
Surprised, but Equal to IL.

The marshal in western town had
occasion to arrest four or five ugly citi'
gems. and he called OIL Mr.. William
Smith. better known as Bill, to act as q
posse comitatus The offenders were
found in saloon, and Mr.. Smith went
in there with the sheriff very modestly
The sheriff hadn't more than stated his
business when he pulled a pistol and
the crowd broke for the back door. The
sheriff fred and missed, and Mr.. Smith
tumbled the hindermost man, the 9th.
ers escaping. Then Mr.. Smith looked at
the sheriff with look of pain. H,
Jim" he said, why didn't you tell
me you was goin to open the meetin
with pra'r and I'd "a had full house
fer youp"--New York Sum-
The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-05-20
POLE SAVED HIM $4,000.
At Gave Him the Chance to Avoid ths
Man Who Had Cheated Him.

az Gave Him the Chance to Avoid tbs
Man Who Had Cheated Him.
"The most thrilling moment / ever
had. /" remarked a man in the lobby of
hotel the other evening, twas during the
great western boom of 1888. Through my
agent. SEYMOUR Green, / had invested
about $50, 900 in ranches near san Diego.
The returns on the investment were sent
me regularly, and / supposed l had the
nucleus of fortune when something came
no that made me suspicious.
81 had placed entire confidence In Green
and decided to 20 out and see IL l nao
made mistake in so doing. lie TOOK me
TO visit the ranches, and / found TO my
surprise that there weren't haif dozen
cattle on either of them.
"'They'ro all back in the brush lnsist-
ed Green pompously, but they are al IN
fine condition, and you have the two best
ranclNs in southern California
"Howevcr | soon saw that my soo,ooo
WINS invested in scuundrcl knew tha'
II / showed the least sign OF suspecting
him he would skip over the torder into
Mexi,o, and that would lie the last OF NY
moncy. So ! pretended TO believe MN
and let him take me TO the station, sup
pcsedly TO 90 hack home lie seemeu par
,iorlnrN an2iuus to Lave mo Ret OUT Oh
town and lever leit ne FOR a noment un.
III yve rta,hcd tie GtItt waited until
mo was out OF sight ana then took a car
ringp 10 the hotel
"The next r.ornipg We mace arrange,
men,s for lis arrest In the afternoon, ana
about 1lotk decided 10 take a NUS
s,,oll There was oily one man In town
that knew must net see me- ana ina.
wos Green. Tie CLarCes were small as
aas two niles from his house and TOOK
them. -. -. ,ho
81 didn't meet pedestrian, but at the
sound of wloVls lcCltd Up. Gnd there was
Green driving right toward mel Ihere
seemed no way OF ESCAPE, and Tor the mo,
ment was paralyzed suddenly noticed
that there was u large telegraph pole Just
ahead of me, and saw that by retardins
nv speed and gauging It according 10 DIE
I could move in such relation to the pole
,hot IL would obstruot his line of vision
and hide me. never walked SO carefully
en- nv life, but it saved me sSO.ooo' iof
two hours after we arrested him anu ne
refunded the money. n"=pstycit Free s.sss
The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-05-20

On account OF moving from the copper
country E. 8. Stringer offers his house.
hold furniture for sale. consisting OF two
coal stoves, two cooking stoves, one
heating drum, one book case, Que mantle
clock. one piano lamp and shade. one
couch. one dining table, eight dining
chairs. one gasoline stove, one hat rack.
four parlor chairs, one pair chenille cur
tains, one parlor table, one easel, one
music stand. one large mirror, one cot
bed, one bedroom suit, one three-fourth
iron bed and other numerous articles,
such az lamps, clothes, bars, ironing
board, lawn mower, kitchen cupboard,
kitchen chairs. etc.
The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-05-20

The steamer Bon Voyage has begun
her regular trips between Duluth and
Portage Lake towns, The steamer will
be in port here on Tuesday aud Fri.
day OF each week, and will run excursion
trips to Keweenaw county points and to
L'Anse and Baraga on the above days.
The boat may be chartered by private
parties or excursions to any OF those
points. Toe steamer is neatly furnished
and would be just the thing for school
excursion. The special excursion trips
will begin just as soon as the weather be-
comes warm enough.