THE MEDIA "FRENZY" cont.

"The name of the unfortunate girl who was at the time of her death only 18 [?] years of age is given as Edna Farnsworth. Farnsworth was the name of the man with whom she, when a schoolgirl, entrusted her happiness. Her family name is therefore shrouded from the gaze of the public and there exists no necessity for lifting the veil that in measure protects her past history. For her sin she has gone before a greater than an earthly tribunal. There let her be judged."

The fact that nobody, including the residents of 14 Broughton Street, had any idea of Edna's real name probably played a part in the newspaper's 'reluctance' to "lift the veil" to reveal her true identity.

The second article, simply entitled "The Suicide", offers a bleak description of the sad fate awaiting all fallen women. One interesting statistic is that "a fallen woman is in nine hundred and ninety nine cases out of a thousand an utter wreck".

"Heaven may be merciful to her but man or woman seldom is. Once on the road that leads to destruction it is harder for her than for any other sinner to turn from it. Almost any avenue to a better life is closed against her. She sees the finger of scorn always pointed at her."

The third article was published on June 28, 1889, nearly a week after Edna's death. It reported on an article that had appeared a few days previously in The San Francisco Chronicle. Entitled "Edna Farnsworth: the Girl's Antecedents-A respectable Young Man Entrapped into Marriage-The Miserable Consequences", it made a fairly inflammatory charge against the dead girl. Essentially, it stated `that far from being a hapless young victim of circumstances, Edna was an already hardened prostitute who had trapped a respectable young man, George Farnsworth, into marriage.

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