The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-10-28
Had Just Been Born, So the
Testimony Reveals.
Mother Is a Winona Girl, Miss
Laura Marvin.
The Sad Case of Unfortunate
Young Woman.
From Mondays Daily.

Northwestern passenger train No. SOB
was speeding westward Saturday morn
ing and had passed Rochester, when Con-
ductor Sommers noticed young woman
passenger, who seemed very ill and suf
fering much At her request he made
her sort of couch out of the seats. An
other woman on the car volunteered to
woman was carried to sleeping car and
lodged in a berth. At MankatO juno
ton a telegram was sent to DR.. Ed
wards at Mankato, to be ready to take
care of the woman Her destination was
Mankato DIR. Edwards prepared hack
for the young woman and she was tax
en- to the Minneopa house, where she
was attended by DR.. Jane Hughes.
Late in the afternoon of that same
day, Coroner Kennedy received a tele-
phone message that an infant had been
found dead on the Northwestern track
about mile and half this side of
Smith Mills. The message came from
NJ. j. Ryan, the merchant of Smith Mills.
The coroner told him to take charge of
the body, until he should himself come
to take care of the case. The body was
removed to Klein's undertaking rooms
Sunday.
As result this afternoon an inquest
was held on the death of the infant in
Klein's undertaking office The jurors
were j. G. Fowler, Garfield Morrison,
Perry Wysong, o. P. Iceberg, H. S.
Holman and John R. Bowen.
Joe Fredell, who for the past fifteen
years has been a laboring employee of
the Creamery Package company at Man
kato, was the first witness. Last Satur-
day afternoon he started to walk to
GAINESVILLE along the Northwestern track
About mile and a half this side of
Smith Mills he found an infant girl
lying dead beside the track. 1t was
entirely naked. This was about 4:45 p.
m. He met some railroad section men
and informed them of it. Some of them
went on to look at the child.
Among these was the foreman, John
w. Chew, the next witness. He and an
other laborer went to look at the body
and then Mr.. Chew telephoned to the
coroner. He met NJ j. Ryan, told him,
and Mr.. Ryan also notified the coroner
both east and west of where the infant
struck. The body had rolled about
forty-fve feet from where it struck.
M. j. Ryan's testimony embodied sub
stantially the facts as above given.
DIR. Jane Hughes was the next witness
called. The young woman whom she
cared for at the Minneopa house had
given the name of Miss Laura Marvin
and said she was from Winona She had
just come from the city from Winona.
certain party had written to Dr.
Hughes about this young woman, say
ing she was about to give birth to a
child and had asked DIR. Hughes if she
would care for her free during her con-
finement, as the young woman was poor
and had no money to pay doctor bills
The writer of the letter had expected
that the young woman would be i'll
about two months from now. Dr.
Hughes answered that she would do this
if the young woman could pay her own
| board. Then the doctor made arrange
ments to have the woman taken care
of at the Minneopa House.
When DR.. Hughes met the young wom-
an at the Minneopa house, the patient
had been delivered, and was quite ex-
hausted from loss of blood. The young
woman was about twenty years old
According to the letters received from
Winona, the patient was not married
She had brought some baby clothes with
her. She said she had intended to have
the child adopted by some good people
1t seemed from what the patient said
about her sufferings on the train, that
the child had been lost from the car on
the way.
Just before it was observed that the
! girl was ill, she had visited the ladies'
toilet room of the car.
DR.. Hughes was the last witness. She
was asked whether she knew the name
of the party who correspondent with her
concerning the case in the first place.
She said she had the name in her pos
session. She was not asked what the
name was.
Nothing was brought out in the in
quest throwing any light on the identity
of the father of the child Parties who
asked the young woman this question
at the hotel were refused information.
The verdict of the jury was that the