The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-22 00:00:00

THE MYSTERY YET UNSOLVED.

The coroner's investigation has contributed little to the
solution of the mystery which still enshrouds the Nathan
murder. But it threw some additional light upon points
that have been controverted, upset some stories that have
been industriously circulated, and to a certain extent
cleared the way for the more exhaustive inquiry which
has yet to come. First, as to the two carpenters who were
at work in the house on the day preceding the murder.
Both seem completely absolved from suspicion. They
fully explain their whereabouts, verify their
statements clearly, and pass unscathed through
a very searching investigation. Their testimony
is in other respects interesting. The early state-
ments in regard to the ease with which, during the
day time, ingress and egress might be effected, unobserved,
are confirmed. There seems, indeed, to have been an
inexplicable remissness in this respect on the part of those
charged with the safe keeping of the house ; and, entrance
once effected, the facilities for concealment were unusually
great. Coal-bins downstairs, closets and a tank upstairs,
were available without difficulty. These witnesses never
saw in any part of the house the iron " dog " with which
the murder is supposed to have been effected. The
allegation that it had been used some time pre-
vious by ship carpenters who were employed to caulk
the stable door, is disproved. Yet more prevalent
rumours respecting Mr. Washington Nathan are corrected
by the testimony of the patrolman, whom the sons,
Frederick and Washington, jointly called after the dis-
covery of the murder. They were together upon the door-
steps at the time—both undressed. The socks of one were
bloodstained, and his shirt-front was largely smeared with
blood. But it was Frederick, not Washington, whose socks
and shirt were thus stained. So far as the policeman saw,
Washington was without spot or stain. We do not
adduce the fact to transfer from one brother- to
the other the horrible suspicion which sensation-
mongers have persistently cultivated, but to correct
am almost universal misapprehension upon a point con-
cerning which there has been believed to be no room for
doubt. A suggestive fact, now for the first time stated,
is that the bloody foot-prints which formed so distinct a
track down stairs and across the marble floor of the hall
to the front door—all led one way. There were no foot-
steps tending upstairs, or elsewhere than toward the door.
The stories about distinct finger-marks, or other traces
of blood, here and there, are now pronounced fiction.
The door itself was closed a few seconds before
the patrolman was called in. He had just
passed the door, and saw that it was shut.
One of the sons—the officer cannot say which--
seems to have had a different opinion, which however, he
did not attempt to maintain against the policeman's posi-
tive statement. The same officer passed the house at
and again at 4i, on the same morning, and on both occa-
sions, having tried the door, as required by the rules of
the force, found it fast. Three hours, it will be
observed, elapsed between the two periods at
which the officer passed the house. The extent
of his beat made more freguent passing-by impossible.
The circumstance strikingly exemplifies the inadequacy
of the present force to meet the obvious wants of the city.
A locality that for three consecutive hours, at the most
critical part of the night, is without the visits of a police-
man, affords inviting ground for the burglar or assassin.
The Coroner has still before him the most essential features
of his inquiry. These he must scrutinise and expose with
great care, and, withal, fearless impartiality, or his
work will be lied to be undone. It is to be regretted
that an adjournment of the inquiry has been.
rendered necessary, for certainly much very important
evidence is even now available. The sooner all the facts
of the case are made known the better. Up to this
moment the official contributions to the stock of positive
knowledge upon the shocking subject have been scanty
and inconclusive.—New York Times.