The Washington herald., 1922-11-30
Mrs. Hasson, Despite Strange
Condolences of Name, Time
and Place, Is Not His Mother
HE IS DUE HERE TODAY
His Own Parent, Who Deserted
Him When One Month Old,
May Live in Washington, Pa.
By WILLIAM p. FLYTHE.
TnfxerxaI 9erviee

Universal Service.
About this may be written q
Christmas carol Of a hungry and
. broken heart, Of q boys life
long hunt for his mother, and Of
finding one, but not his.
Into it may be injected the ro-
nance of the early West, Of
frontier days, of railroads and
oil lands, but first of all q
tragedy of Christmas.
LEFT BABE ON STEPS.
1t was Christmas Eve, 1887. when
q young and beautiful woman crept
through the snow and left her day
old babe, now Archie Bell, on the
doorstep of a strange home in
Minneapolis. MINI. From then
until maturity il was his home.
His foster parents were real
They died. And in their papers
he read that he was a founding.
Then began a lifelong search for
Mother. No matter who she was.
or what her condition. he wanted
her-wanted to sit at her feet,
listen TO her, and crowd into old
age as much OF the happiness of
childhood as might be left for
him
Archie Bell became a railroad
fireman and then an engineer
Always just before him there Wa.
what he sought. Where the rails
faded into ribbons and turned the
curve, it was always just around
that curve that he would find what
he was seeking. His quest carried
him on practically every railroad
In the country.
SOUGHT HAPPINESS.
Always. he told himself. Il will
meet her She will know me and
will know her. Then We will be
happy"
Today he will come home to his
mother" here. Like one who has
spent a lifetime in search for a
thing that is to bring happiness,
only to lose 1t he will start out
again tomorrow looking for the
other. because Mrs. Margaret j.
Hasson. 1882 Eighth street north
west. whom he seeks, is not his
mother.
CONFORMS TO DESCRIPTIONS.
Through information from rela-
tives in st. Paul. Bell believed his
mother to be living in Washington
and investigation led to the home
OF Mrs. Hasson. an employe of
the Government Printing Office.
She lived IN Minneapolis at the
time he was born, almost in the
same neighborhood.
But search in the Government rec
ords revealed a strange freak of
Identical names. Some years ago, it
appears, another Mrs. Hasson lived
in Washington and worked in the
same place. She is believed to be
Bells real mother and when last
heard from resided in Washington.
The present Mrs. Hasson, a mother
of four grown children, for a little
while will take in the wanderer
Today he will eat Thanksgiving
dinner with her if he likes.
My heart bleeds for him." she
said. "Gladly would 1 take him in
and take him to my heart. But he
is not mine. Through the better
years of my life l have given all
that / have to my children. Would
of another. founding on a strange
doorstep?"
MOTHER CAME EAST.
Bell was abandoned when one
month old by his girl mother. He
was adopted by Mrs. George Bell. of
St. Paul, after which his mother
came east and settled in Washington.
Pa She was married to Benjamin
F. Hasson. a civil war veteran, in
the Pennsylvania city and later
divorced Hasson is now living in
New Castle, Ind.
Upon the death of Mrs. Bell, the
adopted man learned his identity.
Tomorrow he goes forth again.
discouraged. but by no means bested
in his search for a mother and a
mothers love.