The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-03-14
HOrrid Crime for Which
Mrs. Minnie Adams Is
Under Arrest.
FATHER OF BABE THE ACCUSER
Offspring of Wilson Gray Meets Death
From Carbolic Acid Under Sus-
OiCiOus Circumstances.

mained even after the door had stood
open the quarter of an hour It took the
police and Coroner's deputies to make
their Investigation. The sand on the moor
and bits Of paper were saturated with
acid and three boards were dampened
with 1t. The boards, paper and sand
were taken by the officers and Will pc
used as evidence against Mrs. Adams.
The mother of the child contradicted
herself a number of times. Her first state
ment was to the effect that the boy fol-
lowed her up the steps TO the house after
she had taken him TO the building she
heard him say Bum" a word he used
when he wished a drink of water. Yes
terday. instead of thinking he desired d
drink, she claims that she believed he
was calling her a bum" and replied,
"AlI right, mamma is a bum She then
started to enter the house and hearing
him cry. turned back and saw him fall
down the steps. AfterwaTd she stated she
had been in the house some time before
she heard him cry. At one time she said
she had left the boy in the clubhouse and
a few minutes later claimed that she had
brought him outside and closed the door.
From the amount of acid on the boards
and sand, in addition to that swallowed
by the child and found remaining in the
bottle, the statement OF Harrison Tyr
but q tablespoonful IS evidently a false
hood
Dr. Niemeyer said last night that the
baby must have swallowed more than a
tablespoonful as it was not full strength.
and a quantity of il was required to
cause the death of even so small child.
The face of the baby was badly burned.
showing that considerable of the fluid
must have run down and been absorbed
by the clothing.
It is the theory Of the police that the
baby was given the poison by its mother
while they were in the Clubhouse together.
After administering the poison Mrs Ad-
ans probaIy left the clubhouse hurr1edly
and the child followed her until he fell
at the foot Of the stairs.
The scene at the home Of the dead child
last night was most pathetic In little
cramped up, lily lighted room, on cot.
Law the baby with its white face burned
and SCARED by the acid. The mother.
cool and seemingly little affected by the
death, sat beside her babe. John Tyrreli,
the aged grandfather, stood by his daugh-
ter's side. with the younger children
standing near him. Wilson Gray, the
father Of the dead baby and the accuser
of its mother stood near the head of the
cot and accused his companion of the
murder of their child. The police officers
and Coroner's deputies, grouped near in
the dim light, croSs-questloned the mem
bers of the family, while the curious
neighbors in the hallway craned their
necks to hear the story of the unnatural
crime.
John Tyrrell, the father Of Mrs. Adams,
is more than so years of age. Working
at Laurel Hill Cemetery for a paltry sal
airy. he has seven mouths to feed and
seven bodies to cIothe. The howell in
which the seven people are housed con-
tains but three rooms. which the head of
the house alphabetically explained con-
tanned nothing but beds, Mrs. Adams,
with her three helpless children, was
nothing but a burden to her aged father.
The contemplation of the poor life they
led doubtless drove her to think of some
means of Tightening the burden, and in
revolving schemes in her mind the
thought came that one less mouth to feed
would relieve the stress, and the muir
der followed.