Evening star., 1922-11-15
FIND WOMAN DEAD,
MOTHER IN SWO0N
Police Hear Story of Misfor.
tune and Poverty at Mary
land Avenue House.

Responding to appeals from neigh
bors. Policeman Emil Desch of the
ninth precinct broke into a house at
80 Maryland avenue northeast this
morning and found the body Of Miss
Lizzie Goetz. fifty years old, stretched
across bed and the unconscious
form of her mother, Mrs. Johanna
Goetz Beam, eighty-eight, prone on
the floor.
Neighbors had noticed that the
morning newspaper and the pint of
milk had remained untouched on the
front step of the little four-room
frame house at that address and sus-
pected that illness or tragedy had
overtaken the inmates. Desch enter
ed and went upstairs to the front
bedroom. There he found the mother
still breathing. but in a feeble con-
dition, caused by her age. The daugh-
ter was pronounced dead shortly aft
erward by physician from Casualty
Hospital. Death was due to natural
causes. the deceased having been
subject to epileptic fits for number
of years.
Cloth Distress Signal.
Outside the window OF the room
hung a white piece Of cloth attached
to stick. 1t had been placed there
by the mother. who tried this method
of attracting attention when she
found that her voice could not sum-
mon aid and that her feebleness pre-
vented her from seeking assistance.
Mrs. Beam was taken to Providence
Hospital. Funeral arrangements are
being made by persons who have be-
friended the two women who occu-
pied the house together for a num-
ber Of years. always on the border of
poverty, and yet eking out an exist
ence from the income of Miss Goetz
as charwoman in the Libray Of Con-
gress.
There was a time. according to
neighbors. when the two women liv-
ing in the small frame house had
been wealthy. One neighbor. in fact.
pointed down Maryland avenue
block to an imposing large pebble
dashed house and saidkthat it was but
one Of the many houses the family had
owned.
A widow for years. Mrs. Beam had
let property slip through her hands
until she and her daughter were re-
duced to the circumstances in which
they were found today. Mrs. Beam
in whispers this morning told Lieut..
Guy Burlingame of the ninth pre-
cinct that she was a daughter of
Jefferson Davis and that her maiden
name was Johanna Louise Davis.
She is reputed to have originally
come to Washington from southern
Maryland, where her family was held
sons Of the neighborhood recount
tales of her life with her first hus-
band, Mr.. GoetZ. in which she Is
said to have stopped at the famous
hostelries of the day in New York
and Philadelphia.
when she found her daughter in the
throes of epilepsy she dragged her
self from her bed and struggled to-
ward the window. She tried to call
for assistance, she said. but her
ton. Then she tied the cloth to the
stick. hung 1t out the window and
slowly sank to the floor to await the
help of some passerby.
Mother May Recover.
It so happened that that signal was
entirely, ignored and that it was the
paper and milk on the doorstep which
finally attracted attention and
brought aid to the house. Hope is
held for the recovery Of the mother.
With the aid of a parish priest Of
st. Joseph's Church.. arrangements
were completed to have the mother
taken to Providence Hospital, and
further arrangements will be made
for her care.
Miss Goetz, 1t was stated, formerly
had been employed as a court stenog-
rapher in one Of the Supreme Court
branches of the District Her ILL
ness forced her out Of this position
and she obtained work as a charwom-
an in the Library of Congress. A
short time ago she was affected with
a stroke while working there. but
had recovered from II.
The old house tells the last chapter
of tho story. In the dark parlor hang
paintings and engravings In abun-
dance, each Of them bespeaking ex-
pertness in selection. while the group
ing of a set of antique furniture
speaks volumes. The furniture Is
old but sturdy. In it's day 1t was
probably the last word in excellent
houSefurnishing.. In the kitchen are
heaped empty milk bottles and cans,
while Geld On the stove ase three pans,
each 6lle4 with water.