The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-07-28
ISLANDER BLASTS 4 DFE
A WASHINGTON GIRL DRIVEN To
DEATH BY A FALSE
'..., ACCUSATION
WAS CHARGED WITH STEALING
Left the National Capital, Hes
Home, for China and at Pekins
Found Death, but
g.. @tsa Peace.

pretty washington Slrl, VINO, II is uV"
almost certain, was murdered by Boxers,
1t was sweet to the living death she was
suffering. The Chinese may have visited
dreadful tortures upon her, yet death in
any form to her was relief, for Mary
Condit Smith was martyr to Washing
ton scandal mongers, and was literally
driven to her death by malicious gossip.
Mary Condit Smith died in trying to
live down and forget that she had been
accused of theft. No man innocent, no
purer girl ever lived than she, yet she
was not proof against scandal and Cos
sip, and, horror-stricken, ashamed, cow
ed, she sought to forget by travelling from
one end of the earth to the other.
1T was in Pittsburg that the seed of
scandal that led to Miss .Condit Smiths
murder was planted. In Washington she
was known as "Polly" Smith There
she was loved. Women cared for her be-
cause she was sincere and sensible; men
were fond Of her because she was pretty
and always agreeable She was laugh
ing, light-hearted girl, welcomed every
where. ia&
From every side came invitations for
''Polly'' Smith. She was sought at the
White house. at official entertainments,
at private houses In fact, it may be
said that no girl in Washington society
had more invitations or was more popu-
lar than Miss Polly"
When the Invitation came for her to at
tend house PARTY given by her wealthy
friends, the Moorheads. at No. 1928 Ridge
avenue, Allegheny City, last fall she ac-
'cepted. Washington was gay enough at
the time, but particular friends Of hers
were giving the house party and she hated
to disappoint them. p '.'. @S"'
1t was a gay house party they had in
Pittsburg. Polly" Smith was the gay
est of all, and when the time came for
everybody to so home she was the best
liked of all the guests. No one denied
that she had been the life of the party,
and that without her things would have
fallen flat
1t was after the house party had broken
up that the scandal took root. The
hostess had missed jewelry to the value
of more than $4,000. Her guests were all
persons Of the highest standing and Of
unimpeachable character. She called in
detectives and told them their names.
She at that time - 80 ~r ;
SUSPECTED NO ONE
of having taken her jewels who was num-
>.
are no respecters of family pride and
family names, SO the detectives began to
search for the jewels among the guests
at the house party.
The superintendent of Pittsburg detect
Ives, John Glenn, undertook the case as
the stolen Jewels had been a wedding
present to his bride from Mr.. Moorhead
and aside from the intrinsic value about
$500, were more precious to Mrs. Moor
head than any money. The eight serv-
ants in the family were after most care
full investigation relieved of suspicion.
Many other detectives were employed,
and 1t was through a New York jeweler
to whom some unset diamonds were sent
for resetting, that the first clew to the
lost gems was receivsd. Whoever stole
the Moorhead diamonds had pried the
Jewels out of their setting and then en-
deavored to have them set in new fash
ion SO that they could never be recog-
nized. Money then, was not the motive
of the robbery.
This gave to Washington detectives
the first clue to the Moorheads' guests,
Mr.. and Mrs. Moorhead could not be
made to believe in the guilt Of any Of
them, but Washington detective, fol-
lowing descriptions and circumstantial
evidence, finally convinced the Moor
heads that the thief actually was Miss
ConditSmith, the accomplished and
made her welcome everywhere and who
had repeatedly enjoyed the honor of re-
ceiving side by side with Mrs. Mckinley
in the White house. Of course the Moor
heads refused to make the Washington
detectives story public, but equally Of
course it leaked out In that exclusive
set in which the young girl moved.
The story went from mouth to mouth,
from house to house. Pretty Polly"
T,, o.,
that some malicious person even went so
far as to accuse the girl
~ CRUSHED BY THE SCANDAL
Then there came change over 'Polly''5
Smith. She was no longer the light
hearted girl She had heard the scandal.
She was helpless She was innocent,
but the blow aimed AT her had crushed
her. Invita- tons came in fewer numbers,
and those that did come were not ac-'
copied. The girl got paler and paler. She
was seldom seen outside her own home.
Her cheeks became sunken; her eyes so
bright and laughing formerly, We're red
from constant weeping; she never smiled,
and her sensitive nature made her inn
agine that the whole world suspected her
of crime Of which she was innocent.
Miss Smiths brother-in-law is Gov.
Cen Wood, of Cuba 1t was thought
that change of scene and climate
would help the girl forget the cruel gos-
sip that so sorely wounded her. So Miss
Smith was sent to Cuba to be with her
sister. Mrs. Wood. Cuban climate and
the change of scenes did not have the
beneficial effect expected.
The girl tried bravely to overcome the
constant fear that she was everywhere
pointed at as thief. She tried to meet
people as she had done before. but it
was no use. She became so weakened in
health and spirits that the yery effort
was beyond her strength.
SO she settled down to a life of misery,
literally eating her own heart 1t was
seen by the Woods that the girl would
eventually die unless some plan could be
( devised to take her mind from the great
wrong that had been done her.
Nearly year passed before the mys-
terry was partially cleared up by finding
the settings Of the diamonds in 81 Penn
sylNania avenue shop in Washingt ton,
where they had been taken undoubtedly
by the real thief, No one knows to this
day exactly how when or by whom the
+ jewels were purloined. The discovery of
s them came to late. An, irreparable in
jury had been done to the young girl,
without the slightest fault of her host,
hostess or the detectives.
So Washington accepted the finding Of
the Jewels in a disinteres ted sprt of way.
Washington had almost forgotten the ac-s
cusation made against Polly. Smith by
this tinle. in the freshness Of other rassina