THE BEE: OMAHA. WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 3. 1917.
MOTHER REFUSED
KEEPING OF CHILD
Little Esther Gieselmann Must
Remain With Grandparents
Despite Mother's Pleadings,
Judge Estelle Roles.
Little Esther Gieselmann, 9 years
old, pawn in a human drama enacted
in equity court, Judge Estelle presid
ing, must remain with her aged
grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William
Gieselmann, 1458 South Eighteenth
street.
Her mother, Mrs. Frank Zerbst.
wife of a wealthy Wyoming rancher,
must return to her western home
without her daughter. She is heart
broken. Broken down with grief and
hysterical after Judge Estelle had
ruled against her in a habeas corpus
hearing to decide who should have
possession of the child, it was neces
sary to assist Mrs. Zerbst from the
court room
Seldom have so many heart strings
oeen pulled and broken oetore a
crowd of curious in district court. The
Zerbst-Gieselmann habeas corpus suit
will go .down in district court history
as one of the most bitterly fought
and tragic ever waged.
In her effort to obtain trjie custody
of her pretty, bluo-eyed, flaxen-haired
daughter, Mrs. Zerbst bared her life
. in court and sobbed out a girl's mis
take. Divided House.
In the legal battle over Esther both
sides were represented by attorney's
who fought every inch of the ground.
The GiesJmcnns are a divided house.
In the struggle for the girl the grand
parents, three daughters and " a
brother were pitted against the moth
er of Esther.
Allegations and counter-allegations
of kidnaping were made during the
hearing.' Testimony of witnesses was
frequent interrupted by violent sob
bing on the part of the child, 'the
grandmother and the grandfather.
Zerbst, husband of Esther's mother,
who owns a 700-acre cattle and horse
ranch in western Wyoming, glared at
the Omahans and occasionally looked
with kindly eyes at the child, to
whom he wanted to be foster father.
Clings to Grandmother.
Willian Gieselmann, engineer at
VJomenius school, and his aged wife,
Mrs. Dora Gieselmann, told the court
Esther's mother abandoned her when
she was a babe. They have reared
the child as their own. Throughout
the hearing, except for the time when
she was on the witness stand, Esther
clung to her graj -haired grandmother,
drawing chser whenever any part of
the hearing seemed to her childish
mind to be favoring her mother's
case.
"I'd rather stay with grandma and
grandpa," said Esther when at
torneys asked her who she liked the
best.
"I didn't have a good time in
Wyoming; I was afraid of rattle-sn?'-,s.
coyotes and wolves."
"They've coached her; they've
coached her." shouted one of the at
torneys for the Zerbsts. "They've
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poisoned the child's mind against her
own mother,,"
Esther broke dowrr and sobbed un
der the cross-examination.
Mrs. Helen Goss and Mabel Nekel,
sisters of Mrs. Zerbst, testified in
favor of the grandparents and told the
court Esther's mother was "not a fit
person to raise her."
Charge Kidnaping.
One side charged that Esther was
kidnaped from the grandparents'
home in Omaha and taken to Wyo
ming, while attorneys for the Zerbsts
told the court the child had been ab
ducted from her western home. She
was living with the Gieselmanns when
the mother began habeas corpus pro
ceedings. Judge Estelle, ir. deciding the case,
declared three parties were interested
in Esther's welfare her mother, her
grandparents and the state.
"While the law is plain enough, it
is the welfare of the little girl that
must be considered most. It is hard
to say that a child should be taken
away from her own mother, but in
this particular case I think it best the
grandparents nave her."
Under Judge Estelle's decision Mrs.
Zerbst will be allowed to visit her
daughter any time she desires. The
girl may alsj visit the big Zerbst
ranch during summer vacations, if it
is agreeable to the grandparents,
Judge Estelle said I
The minute Judge Estelle got down
from the bench the Zerbst faction and
the Gieselmanns began a tearful spat
across the court room. Attorneys had
a hard time quieting them.
Despite her mother's frantic plead
ings to come to het and kiss her good-
by, Esther held to her grandmother s
hand and had to be induced to walk
up to Mrs. Zerbst.
"My daughter, my daughter," sob
bed Mrs. Zerbst as the Gieselmann
faction left the court room with
Esther.
Army Officers Guests at
Commercial Club Luncheon
Colonel Charles DeFrance Chandler
of Washington, D C.'was the guest
of the executive committee of the
Commercial club at luncheon at noon.
Colonel Chandler is in Omaha in
specting the Fort Omaha balloon
school.
Colonel F. A. Grant, depot quarter
master at Omaha; Major H. B. Her
sey, in command at Fort Omaha;
Major R. B. Hanney of the Royal Brit
ish flying corps, station at Fort Oma
ha, and Captain F. A. Cook, in com
mand of a battalion of regulars at
Fort Crook, were also guests at the
luncheon.
Cross Examination in
Strike Hearing Near End
The state probably will conclude its
cross-examination of witnesses in the
strike injunction case the latter part
of the week. Judge Leslie, sitting in
equity court, is hearing evidence by
which he will decide whether Attor
ney General Reed's injunction against
the Business Men's association and
Omaha unions shall be made perma
nent. The bulk of the witnesses have been
nonunion teamsters, who have testi
fied to acts of a'lefl;ed violence during
the strike troubles in Omaha last
spring.
Flwin Shanghais Jurors
To Hear Federal Court Suit
I United States Marshal Flynn had
to go out on Sixteenth street in front
of the federal building Tuesday morn
ing, stop pedestrians and "shanghai"
them to serve on the federal jury.
Federal Judge Woodrough waited
with ten men in the jury box until
the marshal brought in three likelv
looking jurors, two of whom were se
lected. The case on trial is that of Fran
quilino Jiminez, a Mexican, who is su
ing the Union Pacific railroad for
$5 560. He was employed as a sec
tion hand at Archer, Wyo. On Jan
uary 11, 1916. he says, he was ordered
to go to Hillsdale, sixteen miles away,
by handcar and on the way he froze
his feet and was sent to the hospital
for eight months. He alleges he was
compelled to make the trip and not
beiiig accustcmed to a cold climate
the freezing of his feet was the re
sult of his employer's negligence.
Negro Jailed for Striking
Seventy-Three-Year-Old Man
Isaac James, colored, 2219 Grace
street, was sentenced to ninety days
,tn the county jail for striking J. H.
McShane, 73 years of age, on a street
car Monday. The judge in passing
sentenced expressed his regret that
ninety days was the maximum penal
ty he could give. James denied having
struck the old man but a bruised eye
was mute evidence of his treatment at
the hands of the negro.
BURLINGTON STARTS
WORK ONNEW DEPOT
Omaha Freight House to be
Doubled in Size to Care
for the Incoming;
Tre'ght.
Work has started on the construc
tion of the addition to the Burling
ton's inbound freight house, with the
contract providing that it shall be
completed and ready for occupancy
by January 1, 1918. The addition is
substantially as large as the original
building, erected in 1910. It is 60x
368 feet, and, together with the
equipment, will cost about $60,000.
To the north the Burlington's new
inbound freight house will extend to
Farnam street and south to the south
line of Harney, were that street cut
through. There it joins onto the
freight house erected in 1910, which
extends south to beyond Howard
street. When completed this will be
the largest building in Omaha, all on
one floor. When readv for occupancy
it will be equipped with electric trucks
for transfering freight to the cars and
from one part of the building to an
other. Has Refrigerating Plant
The Burlington's new building will
be of brick, stone, cement and steel
construction and will be fireproof in
every respect. It will not only be
built for -the economical handling of
freight, but under its roof there will
be large rooms where perishable
freight can be kept for an indefinite
length of time. These rooms will be
kept cool in suminef by a refrigera
ting plant and warm in winter.
The erection of the new freight
house at this time, when labor and
materials are at the top-notch, so far
as prices are concerned, is brought
about by the fact that something had
to be done to take care of the rapidly
increasing business.
A feature connected with the
freight house will be the lighting sys
tem, and thi. will be extended to the
otfier buildings of the company in the
vicinity of Eighth and Farnam, Har
ney and Howard streets. High power
electric lights will be installed all
through the buildings and on the
loading platforms in sufficient num
bers so that in that part of the city
night will be turned into day.
1917 COTTON CROP
12,047,000 BALES
Government Estimate Based
On Ginning Prior to Sep
tember 25 Places Yield at
60.4 Per Cent Normal.
Washington, Oct. 2. The 1917 cot
ton crop was forecast at 12.047.000
equivalent 500-pound bales today by
the Department of Agriculture, basing
its estimate on the condition of the
crop September 25, which was 604
per cent of a normal.
A yield of 168.3 pounds of cotton
per acre was forecast.
Condition of western states on Sep
tember 25 was: Texas, 53; Okla
homa, 62; California, 80; Arizona, 87.
Cotton ginned prior to September
25 amounted to 2,498.3818 bales,
counting round as half bales, the cen
sus bureau today announced in its
second ginning report of the season.
Round bales included numbered 60,
904 and Sea Island 18.731. .
Wholesale and Retail
Pricss on Perishables
Following were the wholesale and
re tail produce prices in Omaha Tues
day, as gathered by the supervisor of
1 erishables under the state food administration:
Vegetables.
Wholesale.
fotatoeM, bunhel 11.40 t
8weet potatoea, SO Iba.. 1.60
Tomatoea. bftsLet ..... .20
Reeta. buahel .75
Carrota, buahel ....... .75
Lettuce, head, doi.... ,t0
I-ettuce, leaf, doi...... ,30
Corn, doien ., .10
Celery, doien .40
Cabbage, docen ..45o t .75
Frolte.
Grape, t-lb. basket 36
Applea. (hand picked),
per bushel 1.00
Applea (windfall!) bu.. .50
California grapes, To
kay. 4 baskets 4.35 .40 basket
Peachea. Kiberta, box.. .10 1.10 bos
I'eachea, choice, box.. .75 .0 bot
Bee Want Ads Produce Results.
Retail. ..
.45 peck
.04 pound
.15 basket
.30 peek
.30 peck
.10 each
,02'i each
.20 dosen
.05 each
tff-10 each
,45 basket
.35 peck
.20 peck
Here's AWarTime Saving Plan
Eat All The Schuljei BrcadibuCan
To)
IS
mm
in
IF YOUR EARS RING
WITH HEAD NOISES
If yon have Catarrhal Deafness or
head noises go to your druggist and
get 1 ounce of Parmlnt (double
strength) and add to It H Pint of hot
water and 4 ounce of granulated
sugar, lake l tablespoonful four times
d-jr.
This will often tiring quick rellsf
rrom tfla distressing head noises.
Clogged nostrils should onen. breath.
ing become easy and the mucus stop
dropping into the throat It is easy to
prepare, costs little and Is pleassnt to
take. Any on who has Cat-rrtnl Pef.
ness or head i
prescription '
who haa Cat-rrrnl Pef. i
i noises should give this I
trial. T
Cleaning
Dyeing
Pressing
Repairing
We are out of the high-rent district so oar prices are still tnod
4rat4u All work done by cipert workmen and absolutely guaranteed.
Quick Service Call for and Dellrer Work Promptly. .
Just Call Red 1739.
BEE HIVE
Cleaner 3 and Dyers
1941-43 Vinton St. Phone Red 3739
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Let us save the lives of our boys by ending the war quickly.
i
The way to do it is to furnish our country with funds to
prosecute the war, to equip, to clothe and to feed our
brave soldiers. '
Those of us who cannot go to the front must back up
our soldiers with our dollars.
Our boys who have given themselves to their country
have not aslied, "Is this a good investment?,,
4 .
They have given up their places and their earning power in agri
culture, in commerce and in the professions, and have offered their
lives to save our institutions and our homes and to defend our
country's honor. Ws up to you to do yoor pan.
Don't stop to figure interest-BUY LIBERTY BONDS.
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Any Bank, Building or Loan Association, Savings or Trust Company Will Take Your Application Now.
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