Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-01
NELSON NOT HER HUSBAND
ltrs' OOfey's Grounds for Hope Vanish
After St, Joe Visit,
CONFESSED BlGAMIsT TOO BIG A PERSON
Abandoned Omaha Bride of = Day
Goes 60 Missouri and H. shown,
but Not h Groom she
seeks.

Alter all, It seems. Christian c. Nelson,
the sflf-confessed higamist under arrest at
81. Joseph. is not the husband Of Mrs. Alice
t. Cohey of Omaha. At least, she says
SO, apd she ought to know, even IL she did
live with him less than twenty-four hours.
On the afternoon Of March 20 Mrs. Coffey,
$40 South Twenty-second street, read In
an Omaha paper that her truaut BRIDE
groom had run amuck with the police in
the Missouri city. and that he was being
held there until his thirteen wives could
get tab on him. She, Mrs. Coffey, the
paper said, was wife No. 13. The alleged
portr IL the paper printed Of him showed
q SUI o%rcilious young man with thin hair.
a pious nose turning toward heaven, rim
less eyeglasses, a weak chin and a volun-
teer blonde mustache. It didn't look much
like her Christian, but then, she wasn't
very well acquainted with Christian, the
time vouchrafed her in which to study
his Iineaments having been so brief. Any
how, 1t would be worth the price OF a
ticket TO st. Joseph to find out, she thought,
so she bought the ticket.
Hearts YearnIng Unrewarded.
i hope IT is he" she unused, as Chief
Frans went back to the ceIlroom TO produce
the Mormon maverick.
But what chance has wife No. 10 to make
fod her claim? Thirteen is an unlucky
mber.
}rhe chief marched out a tall, humpbacked,
tAdaverous specimen of a man with a
bilious complexion and popeyes.
Y is this the man you're looking for p"
asked the chisf.
Mrs. Cofey looked at him steadfastly, but
couldn't be sure, Then she took a position
at his side and Razed up into his face. That
was the way she had looked at him while
he was leading her to the altar, and, in
fact, that was the only time she had had
~ real good look at him. They had met
for the first time only three hours before
the ceremony.
mo, that's not he" was her
F"You're right sure" asked the chief.
"He may have shaved of his beard, you
know. One can't be too careful in identi-
flying husbands these days"
Not Enough of Him.
mo, it isn't that, she sighed. "As 1
remember my husband he was fat-weighed
about 22O pounde-and he wasn't quite as
tall as L.
But he might have lost flesh"
Yes, but he couldn't have grown a head
and a half In a month and a half"
This ended the interview, and the man
with the comprehensive heart was led back
to his fcell. So it will be seen that Mrs.
Coffey has no hold on Nelson-not even a
half-Nelson hold.
The circumstances of Mrs. Cofey's spec
tacular courtshtp. marriage and desertion
are still fresh in the public mind, since
these events we're compassed as recently
as last January. An advertisement in a
matrimonial journal was responsible for it
all. McKawn advertised for a wife: she
answered the advertisement, and they be-
came bhgaged> Then one day he came to
Omaha from some town in Ohio to claim his
bride. 1t was one Friday. That evening
at the Willard hotel they we're married
by Rev. Charles w. ,SRvidge. The eere-
mony was celebrated under what seemed
like suspicious conditions. but alas! Mrs.
Coffey and her bridegroom didn't Mocha
and Java worth a cent. They weren't to-
gether long enough to thoroughly assimi-
Hate. He deserted her the next day, TAX
ing with him her gold watch and chain
hnd a diamond sunburst. and absconded to
harts best known to himself.