The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-01-01
Ran Away From Home Last Summer
Whereabouts Unknown.
She Remained Here a Week, Told Sew
eral Different Stories.
Departed for Pierre, S. D.--.Father and
Mother Distracted.
From Tuesdays Daily.

On the nlSnC OF aug. 10 laSC MISS haC-
tie Nelson left her home at All Cypress
street, st. Paul, and her mother and
locate her SINCE Because her mother
scolded her for trying to get position
as stenographer before she had finished
her course in business college, she
disappeared without the least warning.
Miss Nelson had taken the name of her
stepfather. Her real father was John
Rebel long since deceased. Her mother
says that her stepfather, Mr.. Nelson, al
ways treated her kindly and feels as
badly over her disappearance as does the
mother.
A few days ago the parents in their
search for the missing girl, sought the
aid of the press. The ST. Paul Globe on
Dec. "a published quite an article on
the case recounting the girls willful alb
sence from hime. A short time after
wards the editors of that newspaper
seem to have gotten an inkling that the
girl had come to Mankato. Last night
reporter of The Free Press received a
telegram of inquiry on the subject. He
obtained the article in The Globe of the
day before Christmas including pic
ture of Miss Nelson and showed the
telegram and The Globe article to Mrs.
August Magin, who runs an employment
agency. Mrs. Magin, after studying the
picture and the name for a time, re-
membered a girl of about seventeen who
had applied to her for a position last
summer and whom she had sent to work
in the Lock hotel at Pierre, S. D. The
girl, she thought, was in the city about
one week before leaving for South Da
kota. During that time she had been
roo1ning at the home of s. v. Page, the
carriage painter, at 1926 North Fifth
street. The more Mrs. Magin looked at
the picture and recalled the name the
more certain she was that the girl she
had seen was the runaway. Miss Mel
son told Mrs. Magin that her home had
been in Minneapolis, that her mother and
father were both dead and that her step
father had gone to California.
E. B. Veins, who happened to be in
the room with Mrs. Magin and the re-
porter said he positively recognized the
picture in The Globe as that of girl
he had seen about the streets of Man
kato last summer. Mr.. Page was also
interviewed. He corroborated all that
Mrs. Magin bad said. He positively iden
titled the picture as that of the girl who
had roomed with his family one week
last summer. The girl was employed,
he said, for one day at the knitting mills
but did not like the work While in his
family home she showed herself well edu-
Gated and bright, often helping the Page
children with their lessons. She was
not honest, in fact she was decidedly
prone to pilfer and had to be closely
watched On one occasion she stole from
the family jewelry box pair of gold
trimmed spectacles but was later induced
to confess and give them up. Mr.. Page
did not believe the girl entirely sound
minded The stories she told about her
home in Minneapolis, he said, were many
and conflicting. She said her mother was
dead and her father maltreated her. At
another time she said her father was
dead.
Only once did the Page family see the
girl after she had left for South Dakota.
This was about a month ago when she
stopped in Mankato, on her way back,
she told them, to her home in Minneap-
oils. According to The Globe her home is
in st. Paul and it was only a few days
ago that the article appeared saying
that no trace of her had been found.
Evidently she never went home and
never intended to do so.