The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-03

Marshall avenue bridge week ago
last night was the scene Of the most
revolving crime In the annals Of Ram
sey county history At this lonesome
spot, removed from the sleeping city,
four innocent children We're beaten into
submission and hurled 20 their death in
the river below by a frenZ ed father. His
horrible ends accomplished William
Rosenfeld threw himself over the bridge
and closely followed his murdered chill.
dren into eternity.
For a week Ros nnelds mysterious
disappearance puzzled the police Their
worst fears were realized early yester-
day morning when the body of Joseph
ROsenheld, the eldest child was found
floating among the logs at the St Paul
boom, about a mile below Fort Smell
ing.
While making his rounds at o'clock
in the morning, Joseph Lachapelle, an
employe of the ST. Paul Log and Boom
company, noticed the body OF a boy near
the surface of the Wa-er. He at once
drew the BODY to shore and hurry ing 10
a telephone notified the st. Paul police
department. Coroner Miller ordered the
morSue wagon to the scene and drove
out shortly after FOrty-flve minutes
later the lifeless body was hauleI from
the water. AS soon as the boys face
was turned up his battered features re-
vealed that death had only come after a
futile struggle. Blood oozed from the
nose, which was flattened and broken;
the left side of the forehead was dent
ed, and over the right eye was a bruise
and another under the chin. The body
was carried 70 the morgue wagon and
instantly identified by Charles Adams,
the driver, who exclaimed with start:
''AIy God, is little JoeI'
KNEW pOcrnrErrr7r T, C,rrrr Tor7U,Nr
Adams IS a employed at Schroeder's
livery stable and knew the Resented
children quite well through having been
associated with their father at work
His positive Identification Of the unfor-
tunate child removed the last faint hope
that the Rosendeld children were alive
William Rosenheld was thirty-fve
years old. Ten years ago, in st. Pau,
he married girl named Nellie Taylor.
At that time he was prOsp erOuS and in
dustrious. A year later Joseph was
born and life seemed promising for the
young couple. Shortly after family dill
ficulties arose. RoscntiCII drank
heavily and lost several good positions.
With the degeneration of the father
more children were bon and the mother
joined her husband In the downward
course and drank heavily. The homo
was reduced to a pitiable condition.
Many tunes there was no IOOu III the
house and the hungry children were left
alone for days at a time, and often
nights Wife and husband quarreled
continually until they found each other
company insufferable. When one came
home the other left.
The children grew and the home be-
came more dissolute. The once bright
father was doing mental work at differ
ent livery stables. The mother earned a
scanty income by domestic employment.
Neither spent any money on the children.
One Of Rosenfeld's former en- loyers
said last evening that while the former
worked for him he received his pay on
Monday. One Monday he would start out
and waste it all for drink. The next
week he would relent and take all his
money home to his wife. She In tn n
would quickly sqUander the weeks hard
earned wages, oftentimes with male
friends The constant sufferers were
the children. Repeatedly the four chill
dren, the youngest two and a half years
and the Oldest nine years Old have been
seen to go to their fathers place Of en-
ployment at or 10 o'clock at night and
cry because they had had nothing to eat
all day and had not seen mother or ia
ther. He would then take them to q
neighboring saloon, buy several glasses
OF beer for himself and treat the half
starved children to free lunch.