El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-19
MRS. GOLFERS
CASE
Facts About the Woman in
HermOsiIl0 Jail.
HAS NOT BEEN ABUSED

! and Her Reputed Brother Kick
inc Because They Are Not Board
| ed at Cdmbuston'S Hotel ant
Fed on Pie.
Some weeks ago q man giving his
name as William Frost made HE ap
pesrance in this city and asked the
public to subscribe money to assist hi
sister in Jail at Hermosillo.
Prior to that the Los Angeles Times
and other papers published letters
from Mrs. Collier, which she had writ
ten in her prison cell and forwarded to
the United States. She described her
condition as pitisble and her prison
life as night mare.
The correspondent of the Los An
geles Times, Allen Kelly, who recent
~ went into the Yaqui country to re-
port the war stopped, off at Hermosillo
on his way out and Investigated Mrs.
Golfers case. He then published the
following in his paper:
Mrs. Evelyn Collier, an American
woman, is in Jail here under sentence
of four years imprisonment for the
killing of MEXICAN at Ures last spring.
Her case has been appealed to the fed
eral court, and will be heard soon, and
If she be not released, she may blame
uoTS0lI anu d l6llOW C6lleQ TOeG. WIZ
says he is ner brother.
Mrs. Collier and Frost have written
letters to American papers complain
ing of her treatment by the Mexican
authorities, and asserting that she is
not only adjustly imprisoned, but Is
abused. insulted and subjected to all
manner of hardships. These letters
have conveyed the impression that
Mrs. Collier is an American lady in
distress, that she killed Mexican who
d to outrage her, and that
s he was not given fair trial by the
Mexican courts.
1 have investigated the case and
foupd her story to be a string of false
hoods. She is treated with more con-
than is shown to any Mex
lean prisoner. The Mexican authori-
ties in Sonora are very careful to give
Americans no just cause for complaint
when it becomes necessary to hold
them as prisoners for violation of Mex
extreme and give the prisoners privil-
leges that would not be allowed under
similar circumstances in the United
States.
Although Mrs. Collier WAS sentenced
10 four years in prison, she IL not con-
fined in the common jail. The Alcalde
gave up bis Office to ner, and she is as
we'll housed as the average Mexican
family of the common class. ] found
her occupying room about 24x12 feet,
With the use during the day of another |
DOM some fifteen or twenty feet square
opening upon the street. The doors |
we're wide open ,apd there was no guard |
,ither 10 the rooms or in front of them. |
rOst was with the woman. having free |
Iccess to her room at all times during |
he day.
The woman and her alleged brother |
declared that they were treated brutal |
y by the alcalde, but when they at |
empted to give specific details, their /
WAS reouced to absurd trihes /
md some obvious lies. They seemed |
o deem it great outrage that the
utter door should be closed at dark. |
md the woman whined that she had j
lot been permitterd to walk more than !
lalf block on the street since she
vas sentenced. Frost attempted 20
make great grievance OF the fact |
esk and wrote in the outer room.
rrost bitterly denounced all the Amer-I
cans in Hermosillo, and said they had
one nothing to help his sister. He
aid the Foreigners Aid society took up
er case, secured an attorney and
sised money for her, and
americans in other towns raised con-
lderable sums. For two months the
americans paid for meals that were
ent to her from the hotel, and money
7as given to Frost to pay his expenses
0 Guaymas to visit the american con-
vi. Frost spent the money for his
wn pleasure. He then went to Ell
'aso and attempted to arouse sympathy
nd collect money there, but his game
'ss soon understood, and he was order
d out of town by the police. When
sked about this, he lied impudently,
nd said he had not been in Ell Paso.
The fellow is big, lazy loafer. who
lakes himself a nuisance to every
american in Hermosillo, and his pres
nee is SO obnoxious that nobody will
o anything more for the woman while
e is there. Nobody believes him to
g her brother. Collier, the alleged
usband of the woman, has not been
sen. She says she wrote to him when
ne got into trouble, but he never re- ,
lied, although they are on the best of
lis, she calmly replied that she be-
eyed the Mexicans had murdered ,
ollier to prevent him from coming to
err assistance.
Mrs. Collier and Frost are ignorant
.w-grade white who are very reti- =,
sut about their antecedents and their {
ovements before they came to So
ora. They are not intelligent r
1ough to tell the truth, but think Z
ley can arouse sympathy by telling :
olish fslsehoods. They did not have )
zen sense enoueh to tell the simple ! !
cts of the killing of the Mexican, but !
a story. that was manifestly :
osurd. :
The Mexican, very drunk, fell
,ainst the door of the house where .
le woman was living. or perhaps =
amored for admission, thinking i: r
pace where he could get more 7
escal. The woman was frightened. r
I'd Dickiup IN pistOl she fred