The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-03
FATAL END PREDICTED
MISS CARLOTTA STEFFENS VISITED
AN INDIANAPOLIS PIANIST.
The Latter Warned the Beautiful Girl
Against Making n Trip West
Other Developments.

Those who lean to the supernatural and
believe that the secrets of life are spread
in the palm of the hand for the gifted to
read, may find even greater reason TO ad-
here TO their faith when they read of a
curious incident connected with the death
of Carlotta Steffens, the beautiful young
girl who shot herself in the Knickerbocker
Hotel. San Francisco, Saturday. and who
spent a few weeks in Indianapolis recently.
To Miss S%teffens. although she laughed at
it at the time, a professional palmist and
fortune teller predicted her death almost TO
the day and told of the place in which it
was TO occur.
Miss Stefens came TO Indianapolis from
Chicago in the first week of October to visit
a friend who lived in an apartment house
on North Senate avenue. Her mother and
step-father, Mr.. and Mrs. Campiglio, live
at 636 West Fourth street in Cincinnati. The
family formerly lived in Covington, KY,
where Carlotta was well known.
While in indianapolis she went out but
little and met few people, but on account
of her extraordinary beauty of face and
form she attracted attention wherever she
appeared. She was accomplished vivacious
and a brilliant conversationalist. One after
noon Miss Stenens, for lack of anything
else to do, conceived the notion OF paying
a visit to a palmist. With a friend who ac-
companied her she was ushered into a
dark little room where the usual prelimi-
naries were gone through. The palmist was
a woman OF ordinary appearance whose
single noteworthy feature was a pair or
very black eyes.
PIANIST WAS RELUCTANT.
She inspected Miss Steffens's hand min
- - IL, al,to mr.
to talk. The common chatter of the pro-
fessional was absent and it was only by
questioning that she was led to say any
thing at all. Finally she dropped the young
girls hand, and in a tone dark with fore
boding said:
Il do not want to tell you what 1 read
in your hand, but 1 do want to warn you
against a terrible evil which l fear awaits
you in the near future. Do you want TO
hear?'
The girl laughed lightly and declared that
she would be delighted TO know. To her
the whole thing was a joke, an unusual
manner of varying the monotony of a dull
afternoon. go ahead and tell me, please,
she said.
The palmist was entirely unaffected by
the girls lightness, but seemed more and
more TO be under the influence of her own
gloomy discovery. You are to make a
journey" said she, quite in the threadbare
jargOn of the business. You are to go
West, very far West; l think TO California.
There you will meet with a terrible acct
dent, and, L fear, lose your life. l. can
not tell how or just where, but 1t will be
soon, before the first of the year. If 1 were
you would make up my mind not to take
a journey TO the West. That is all L have
TO tell YOU"
Miss Steffens refused to attach the least
bit of seriousness to the palm-reading,
and laughed at the whole thing. why"
she said afterward, Il have not the slight
est intention of going West, and probably
will not get any farther west than Chi
cage for many years. L think it's fun to
have unpleasant things told you rather
than smooth, nice things that everybody
hears"
BY what queer reasoning the palmist
arrived at her remarkable prediction will
never be known. Most people will put it
down DIS only another astounding coinci-
dence as ~unexplainable as startling; but
that 1t worked out with a measure of ac-
curacy the tragedy in the San Francisco
hotel proves.
WENT TO CHICAGO.
After leaving Indianapolis Miss Steffens
went to Chicago, where she met by APP
pointment young Robert Hemingway, rela-
tive of a well-known glass manufacturer
of Muncie, and who formerly lived in Cow
ington, KY, when the Campiglios resided
there. After buying a complete outfit Hem
ingray took the girl to San Francisco as
his wife, according to reports which
reached this city. Why she killed herself
is a mystery that is exciting San Fran
cisco, and which the coroner is trying to
solve. The story is that she had a quarrel
with her husband and with his brother
and brothers wife, Cornelius and Rose
Hemingway, who were at the same hotel.
Coroner Leland, of San Francisco, is in
vestigating a story told that the girls hus-
band believed she intended to kill herself
and purposely left a loaded revolver where
she could easily get il in order TO facilitate
matters. Detectives are investigating the
matter and San Francisco authorities gen.
orally are bending every effort TO ascertain
If foul play entered into the death of the
girl whose beauty made her remarked
everywhere.
The mother of the girl has declared in
Cincinnati that she was undoubtedly mar
ried TO Hemingway and she has determined
that a rigid investigation shall be made of
the tragedy. She has been informed that
her daughter was driven to suicide by the
harsh treatment Of the man who took her
to San Francisco.