The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-01
NEWS OF THE CITY
MYSTERY OF GIRL s
DEATH MAJ SOL we'd.
Police on Trail of Man With
Ruth Teachout at Mime
haha Falls


More light was thrown on the Ruth
Teachout murder yesterday and officers
now on the case believe that they have a
clue which will lead to the ultimate con-
viction of the men directly interested in
putting an end to the life of the pretty
seventeen-year- old girl.
After leaving her home at 1902 Fourth
avenue south Saturday morning she went
to the business college as she intended
and wrote letter. A girl chum of hers
attending the same school when seen yes
terday afternoon said that she had long
talk with Ruth before She left and that
the letter was written to man in Bat
tie Greek, Mich, whose name she did
not know.
On leaving the building Ruth requested
her friend, whose name was not disclosed
by the police, to accompany her on
little party to the Fort Smelling reserva-
ton This she decline to do.
Shortly before II Ruth was seen in a
downtown grocery store by. woman
named Mrs. Jacobs in company with
man about twenty five years old She
heard them order a lunch done up and
also heard them speak about the time
they would have at the reservation and
about other people whom they expected to
meet at Minnehaha falls on the way out.
Ruth's Companion Recognized
given to the police. and as he was rec
ognized by. one of the frequenters of the
falls park, there is every reason to be-
lieve that he can be found and some
thing of the manner in which Ruth
Teachout met death discovered.
The two were seen wandering around
the park with a number of friends, but
according to a man who saw them, Miss
Teachout and her escort left in the direc-
ton of the glen alone, their friends re-
manning above the falls. John Bergstrom
saw the two in the neighborhood of the
rock on which Ruth's belongings were
later found, and says that when he passed
them they had evidently had an argument.
for the girl was flushed and apparently III
a bad temper at something said to her by
her companion.
Walking down the river about 80,
Bergstrom saw the parasol handkerchief
and purse lying on the rock and marks
along the muddy bank as if they had
struggled and fallen into the river.
Bergstrom also says he saw the three
men fishing below the spot, who later dis
covered the articles and reported the mat
ter to the family. The police are puzzled,
some inclined to think that the escort was
responsible for the. girls death, while
others surmise that he left her and that
she was the victim of vagabonds who hang
out in the vicinity.
Suicide Theory Not Believed
The suicide theory propounded by How
ard Taylor is not believed by either the
police or the girls family, although the
latter are still very discreet in inter-
views. They. still insist that the girl had
no men friends in the city and are in
clined to believe that it was some young
man who attended the school who had
planned a little trip down the river and
that after leaving him she was assaulted
by tramps. She had a very pretty face
and was prepossessing in appearance.
The strange manner in which the girls
family has acted since she left home has
created end of talk and neighborhood
gossip is travelling fast, many thinking
that the sister knows more of the mat
ter than she cares to tell.
Howard Taylor spent the afternoon at
the Dewey theater with another clerk
| from the county auditors office, and says
he knew nothing of the death until it
was announced in the papers Wednesday.
He insists that the girl had been brood
ing over her connection with his wife's
suicide a year ago and that she finally
decided to end her life. Deputy Sheriff
Hardick, of st. Paul, has been in the
city since Wednesday night looking up
witnesses for the inquest which will be
held at the morgue in ST. Paul tomorrow
morning