August 26, 1894
A BABY THOUGHT TO BE HERS LEFT AT HOTEL DIEU
__
Mr. William Rex Tells an Interesting Story – A Blonde Woman With a Mexican nape Applies for Lodging – A Baby is Born and a Strange Mexican man appears on the Scene – Sister Stella Knew the Woman at Socorro
__
“This child has no father nor mother. It was born July 15. It has not been baptized.”
Such were the words of a note pinned to the scant clothing of a little baby found on the door sill in the vestibule of the Sisters’ Hospital yesterday morning.
The woman who sweeps the hall discovered the wee thing resting there when she opened the door, and excitedly called Sister Stella. That good woman of course took charge of the little one and gave it such nourishment as could be procured at a moment’s notice.
“I was so frustrated,” she said to a TIMES reporter yesterday afternoon, “that I did not think to telephone your office in order that if possible someone might be found interested in the little fellow.”
But a TIMES reporter had learned early in the morning of the disappearance of just such a baby and it did not require many hours to decide whether or not the two were the same. The story of the disappearance of one and the finding of the other is an interesting one and is given to the readers of the TIMES as it developed during the day.
Yesterday morning Mr. William Rex, the well known blacksmith on the corner of Oregon and First streets, came to the editor of the TIMES in great distress. He said that a little baby had most mysteriously disappeared from his house and he feared the mother had killed it.
“And I would not have that happen at my house for the whole town,” he declared with all the emphasis of the kind hearted emotional German that he is. “It would break mine heart,” he continued. Then, in answer to a leading question or two he told:
On the 8th of the current month a young woman apparently 28 years old came to his house. She was a bright blonde and rather handsome. She said that her name was Maria Pino, and that she was a teacher of Spanish in the schools of Albuquerque. She frankly stated that she expected soon to become a mother and that she wanted a furnished room. Mr. And Mrs. Rex were agreeable and she was soon domiciled in the Rex house. She said that while she is an American she had married a Mexican named Pino, who had been city clerk at Albuquerque, and that he died about a year ago. She spoke both English and Spanish and there was no evident discrepancy in her story.
When she had just one week in the house the services of a midwife were needed and Mr. Rex secured them in the person of Mrs. Michaels. And between 9 and 10 o’clock on the morning of the 15th Mrs. Pino gave birth to a fine large boy baby. The mother’s lack of happiness at greeting her offspring was not in keeping with the German idea of such occasions, and Mr. Rex confided to his wife his opinion that “she does not seem to love the baby.” He was even more surprised when he saw, the next day, that the young mother applied mustard plasters to her breast with the avowed intentions of “drying up” the nourishment that nature there would provide for the child. When Mr. Rex protested Mrs. Pino replied that she could not be bothered with the child while she was teaching. Later she was heard to say that she wished the baby was dead. Then he became alarmed, and the conferences between the husband and wife were frequent and earnest.
Last Wednesday, just one week from the coming of the unwelcome baby, there came to the house an old man who claimed to be the young woman’s step father. He said that he was a saddle and harness maker and that he lived at Las Cruces where he carried on his business, adding to it that of shoe mending. During his stay he slept in the room with his step daughter. He was a Mexican of about sixty years and wore a full beard, which with his hair, was very dark. During his stay the woman was heard more than ever to express the wish that the baby was dead. Then Mr. Rex became so depressed that he went and told his troubles to a policeman. He confided to Officer Saunders his fear that the woman and the man together would kill the baby. The officer promised to keep a watch on the old man, which he did. Thursday night the old man told Mr. Rex that he would go to Las Cruces on the early train Friday morning. This was communicated to the officer. When the Silver City train left Friday morning Officers Saunders and McBride wee on hand to nab the old man if he appeared with the baby. But he was not to be seen.
But yesterday morning when Mr. Rex got up the step father and the baby had gone. When he made inquiries of the mother she very quietly remarked that her father had taken the child and gone on the early Santa Fe train, and that she would go on the noon train. This did not satisfy Mr. Rex, whose suspicions had already been aroused. He feared that the child had been killed. To make sure that it was not on the premises he searched the water closet and every other place where a diminutive body might be hidden. Then he began to walk the town over and think. Finally he came to the TIMES. He had previously seen the young mother leave on the train for Albuquerque.
After it had been learned by a reporter of the TIMES that a baby had been left at Hotel Dieu, it was suggested to Mr. Rex that he and Mrs. Michaels, the midwife, visit the hospital and see the child. This was done and there was no doubt in the mind of either as to its being the one born in the Rex home.
The note accompanying the child was written evidently by a woman who designedly made the writing a “scribble,” as Sister Stella puts it. The clothing the child wore was common, as was also the blanket in which it was wrapped. Sister Stella says that if there is no error in the description, she has known the woman, Mrs. Pino. She knew her in Socorro, and her husband died last October.
Mr. Rex says that from all he saw while the two were in his house, he is forced to the conclusion that this old man is the father
Comments