Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-11
SCION Of WEALTH
TAKES HIS LIFE
w. o. Radford, Son of San Fran
cisco Millionaire, Drinks
Poison and Dies
NOTE TELLS OF LOVE AFFAIR
Calmly Pens Entries in Diary Be-
fore Swallowing Draught
of Cyanide
NOTE TELLS OF LOVE AFFAIR

William Oliver RadIoru, 90 years
old, son of William II. Radtoro, a
millionaire mining operator of 2S6e
Broadway, San Francisco, committen
suicide by drinking quantity or cy-
antde of potassium solution at a room
ing house at 115 East Third street
shortly before midnight Friday.
The body was discovered by the pro-
prietor of the place when he forced
an entrance into the room at O'Clock
last night. The dead man left several
notes, but did not state his reason Tor
ending his life.
short and affectionate note ad-
dressed to the mother of the dead man
was found on the floor near the bed. IL
was written in neat style OF pen
manship and asked that Mrs. N. ~.
Busch of 3343 South Jefferson street pc
notified
The unfortunate man had carefully
planned to end his life. He made an
entry In his diary under the date OF
Friday September 9. At the top OF
the page was written My last oay
on earth" This book with the pages
opened at the last entry was found
living on the bed near the body. The
notes were made in a firm hand and
evidently were written just before he
ended his life.
The entry reads: "Bummed around
tho beaches all day, then went for a
boat race to San Pedro in the after
noon, Came to Los Angeles In the
evening; went to the show, then later
engaged rooms in q place on East
Third street Down goes the curtain
on a very unsuccessful life. I hope that
everybody will be as happy as l.
WRITES OF LOVE AFFAIR
The note addressed to his mother evi-
IDENTIFY had been placed between the
pages of the diary, but had fallen to
the floor. 1t was written on piece OF
notepaper and WAS folded. The note
reads: Dear Mother: You will kindly
write to Mrs. N. G. Busch, 3343 South
Jefferson avenue, st. Louis, nice let
ter and tell her what happened. She is
the only girl that ever loved, and God
knows that l loved her Kiss auntie
good by. Well, good by ma chere.
am off," This note was not signed.
According to the proprietor, Radford
appeared at the rooming house shortly
after II o'clock Friday night, engaged a
room for one night, paid the clerk ana
entered the room to which he had been
assigned.
Nothing more was seen of him. He
evidently undressed soon after entering
the room, and probably took poison
within fifteen minutes after reaching
the hotel.
The room was In an orderly condition.
The stockings were inside the shoes
oxfords OF a light tan color and ap-
parently purchased recently. The
trousers had been folded neatly and
were placed on the single chair in the
room. The coat and vest were ar
ranged on the back of the chair.
The man evidently had coolly gone
about preparing for the end. He opened
the package of cyanide--a large guam
tity, enough to kill 100 men-left the
label on the dresser beneath the opened
package, placed a quantity In glass
containing water, then smoked cigar
cite. The stub of the cigarette was
carefully placed on the edge of the
dresser In such a manner as to not
damage the wood.
The body. dressed in underclothing,
was lying on the bed with the covers
drawn up to within a few inches of
the chin. The left arm was hanging
over the edge OF the bed. as II he had
just placed the glass on the floor when
overcome by the poison and died be-
fore being able to draw the arm fully
on the bed. ss,5S
The note giving the identity of the
dead man was found in the diary. 1t
was not addressed to any one and
reads:
"My name is William o. Radford.
Am a son of William H. Radford. the
millionaire mine owner, 1850 Broadway.
San Francisco. Please notify MIN OF
what has occurred and oblige."
From entries made in the diary
fo,,nd near tho body of Radford 1t ap-
nears that the man had enlisted In
the army In the early part OF Janu-
ary. He was stationed near san
francisco. One entry Is to the effect
that Radford became engaged in
fight with one of the army cooks and
was arrested as result Of the trou-
BILE.
After serving several months in the
army it appears that Radord tired OF
the life and left San Francisco. Notes
in the book indicate he was not on
good terms with his father and went
to Coalinga, where he worked in the
oil fields as q common laborer.
Entries made while he was in the
oil district indicate that Radford was
ashamed of his service in the army
and the manner in which ne 1911 san
Francisco and ceased writing to his
pArents.
He also made frequent references to
"Dear Nell" as he termed Mrs. Busch
and her st. Louis address was written
in number OF places in the book:
Radford came to Southern Califor-
MIA several weeks ago. He evidently
passed a greater part Of his time at
the beaches, but came to Los Ange-
les every few days and attended the
While it is not positively known. it
Is believed that his love for the wo-
man whom he mentioned in his note
to his mother evidently caused him to
become despondent. The fact that he
practically was without funds is shown
by the fact that only five nickels were
found in his clothing.
The body was removed to the un-
dertaking establishment OF Bresee
Brothers and the coroner probably VIII
sign a certificate Of suicide without
holding an inquest.
The father of the dead man has peen
notified and the body will be held
nendinc instructions from the relatives.