The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-20
SAYS 1T WAS BEDFORD'S BABY
MS, BUT NOT NINE, DECLARES
THE WIDOW or CUNNING 3.
She Has Come Back Here to Try to Secure
Some of the Estate In which Her Hus-
band Had Life lnterest-DOcsn't
Believe Report That Child Is Dead.

Some of the Estate In Which Her Hus-
band Had Life lnterest--DOcsn't
Believe Report That Child Is Dead.
Mrs, Gunning s. Bedford, who was fined
| $50 III the Bow street police court, in London,
on May 25, for falsely registering another's
child as her own, arrived yesterday from
| Havre aboard the French line steamship
La Gascogne, with plenty to tell the re-
porters about her effort to get control Of
about S35O,0OO, the life interest Of her late
| husband in two trust estates. She pleaded
guilty in London OF having falsely declared
that the baby was her own. Under the
will of her husbands father, Dr. Frederick
Bedford, and his uncle, Judge Cunning $.
Bedford, the estate was to go to five women
cousins of Cunning s. Bedford in case he
should die without issue. The lawyers
| for the five women heirs say that that is
why Mrs. Bedford adopted a baby and
| tried to palm it off as her own.
| Mrs. Bedford was reluctant to land from
| the steamship yesterday until she found
| out that there were no detectives waiting
| for her. She is a blonde slender and some
| what nervous, and has wide blue eyes and
! a Frenchy manner Of expression and
! gesticulation. While she talked rapidly
and excitedly to the reporters her
hands and shoulders were never at rest,
and she emphasized her feelings with
frequent stamps Of her small feet She
says she was born in America, but she
speaks with slight French accent. She
| said:
al have come over to sign papers and
G.xIt
| husbands property No, | will not give
al interview until have consulted counsel
and seen the trustees OF the property,
| Mr.. Eugene l.. Bushe and Mr.. Stephen
| Fske. | have been treated in the most
unprofessional manner by the lawyers"
| where are you going, Mrs; Bedford?"
| Really. | do not know But the first
place | will visit will be Woodlawn, to
| strew flowers on my husbands grave.
! My rights in my husbands estate may be
! greater than some people think Perhaps
| am entitled to trite more than n widows
dover. If there is as much corruption
and intimidation in this case on this side
of the water as there was on the other,
fear for my effort TO get Justice was
shut up in Holloway Jail and treated like
Yes. it is true that / confessed that /
was not the mother of the baby that said
was mine. But it is my husbands child.
Mr. Bushe had heard that the child was
| my husbands. l will not reveal the name
of the mother There is no question about
the fact that they 1.-THE trustees knew Of
the child IA my husbands heir. Mr.. Bed
| ford said the child was his and asked me
to take care OF it.
As to the fraudulent regist ration,
simply did what Mr.. Bedford ask ed me TO
do. do not believe the child is dead, as
reported.
although suffering slightly with whooping
| cough. | left II In the hands OF a careful
/ nurse. The child ia months old and 10
called Eugenie Frederika Bedford
"Ihe relatives Of my husband will find
| that | am not SO much OF a simpleton as
may look. | base my contention on this;
! DR.. Frederick Bedford, my husbands
father, should have legally provided for the
support Of his son, his sons wife and his
heir; he didn't have right to will away
| to others all the property he received from
! his wife. the mother OF my husband, who
was Mrs. Chittenden before DIR. Bedford
married her, DR.. Bedford got the greater
part Of his wealth from my husbands
mother.
my htIsban d's ambition was TO break
the will of his father, which be rega rded
as unjust. He could never work himself
up TO the point Of sta rtng litigation. | do
not want the property simply because l
| need il, but because my husba nd wanted
me? l have never claimed cent from
| them. What il the req son for II? My hus-
| hand hated these people, who have tried to
deprive his widow of her rights. They
| tried TO disprove my marriage at first, but
! they couldn't do il.
"As 10 my antecedents, shall say little.
l was Helen Middleton. | left home when
! was "A years old, nd have ha d nothing to
do with my father since. Ill treatment
caused me to go away. was blessed with
n good stepmother. My father cs bled me
not to come to America, as | would be ar
| the ship if I learn that officers are waiting
| for me. You say there Is none waiting.
Well, | will brave it out end go ashore.
am not an ordinary woman; if ! were
would not have been able TO stand up
under the ordeals have pa ssed through"
| At this point Mrs. Bedford became much
agiated saying, in a high voice:
Il do not know what combination they
/ have formed against me. When they are
going tolmine youeand dynamiteayou you do
not know how TO defend yourself. Is II not
strange that the only ship on which an
the Umbria, in which ] sailed for England?
, don't mind being killed, but | do not want
10 lose nv eyes" Here Mrs Bedford
turned her eyes on at full power.
"Ah, I will make some of my husbands
relatives perspire, ,perhaps there. Mrs
| DeiIOTu ldNi It'I IikHl lOitlhlHtl ulouBriuc
her nose No one treated my husband
| fairly; no ono, except me-
How about your experience in iail?"
"Ah, this ia developing into quite an in
terview. For Your private information l
will tell you that DR.. Bedford had no right to
| give away Mr., Chittenden's money"
Mrs Bedford beckoned TO the steward,
| and exclaimed:
Il call you, steward who speak both
French md English, e, witness that have
said nothing for publication ] think
will go ashore, | don't know what to do.
The child il This dramatically and shall be
cared for according TO her fathers de-
! sires"
Mrs Bedford eaid she had had four chill
| dren of her own, and that all had died: that
| her husbands in the presence Of a nurse and
witnesses, had repeatedly asked to see to
the child and had declared TO them that il
| was his.
| Mrs Bedford went to the Grenoble.
DIES AJTONOBILE TRIP.