New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-02-03
Intense Public Excitemeat.
SKETCH OF THE VICTIM.
WHO'S MRS. CUNNINGHAM'
IMPORTANT PAPERS FOUND.
RUMORS AND REPORTS.
THE rEsTInONY CONTINUED.

No similar event since the murder OF Adams by
John c. Colt has excited the people Of this eity 40
intensely as the butchery Of Dr. B1rdell. There
have been h0rrid and mysterious murders, such as
the killing of the porter in Broadway lsst year, the
shooting Of Mr. Cores III Leonard street years
ago. snd Of Dr. Lutener more recently, and IN
neither instance hiss any clue been found 10 the
perpetrators; but the excitement was nothing Ike
the present. Why it was not, people can Judge
for themselves upon an analysis OF their own tee
ipes in the several csses. No doubt the garrote
rotbsres and other bold crimes which are just now
of1earfuly frequent occurrence have made the public
mind unusually sensitive. But whatever the cause,
the fact is certain. The city is in fever of excite
ment; nothing j. talked of or apparently thought OF
except the murder; and from few hours obsersa-
ton one would ress )naby conclude that the entire
adult population had resolved themselves into an
immense Coroner, with million sleepless eyes and
five hundred thousand tireless tongues, each special
eye and every individual tongue having no other
earthly function than 10 search out the perpetrators
of this mysterious crime.
Between the time the Doctor is said to have
gone out on Friday afternoon and the discovery OF
bis body on Saturday morning at 10 O'Clock, nothing
seems to have been seen or heard of him. This is
strange, as an old resident ike him, and so well known
professionally and otherwise he must have been to
thousands could scarcely have gone about the city from
4p. M until II o'clock at night without having been
seen and recognized by somebody. On the 9Th ID
January he began 10 take his meals at the Metopo-
tan Hotel and he paid his bin up to Jan. %. lie has
eaten there since but whether he dned there on Friday
evening neither the head.wa.er any of his assist.
ants can remember Before going to the Metropolitan
he took his meals at the Lafarge House, as bills found
in his desk indicate that he had certainly dned there
az late az Dec. p. Did he eat there on the evening
preceding his death If so, when did he he leave and
where did he 90 Was he accompanied by any one
If so. by whom These are al questions OF vital i'm
portaLce 10 the case.
When Le was at the Artisans Bank on Friday
morning ne told Mr.. Leak, the Cashier that he was
going 10 Jersey City to collect rent to the amount of
81 coo. Did be collect this money II so, what be.
came of it! It was not in his purse when his body
WAS found; he had not deposited it in the bank; in
fact his deposits at the bank have of late been very
few and small while his discounts have been very con-
adorable This bears out Mrs. Cunninghams state
ment that che had advanced him large of money
lately. But what has become of the ~ 900 of rents
Was il known that he about TO receive the money,
and was he murdered for that! His watch and purse
were not taken because they might lead to detection
but the money which could be easily disposed Of, was
high price for mans life, at It's present valuation in
New-lOTk.
These facts only 10 render the Gaze more COM
plcated and mysterious. That the murder was com
mitted soon after the doctors return home at night
seems probable. His watch ran down at six minutes
past 6 o'clock a. m. If be had been home for any
considerable length of time he would probably have
wound up in which case it would not have stopped
before the next night. The stoppage was not caused
by n shock but for want of winding up. IL would ep-
pear that the doctor sat at his desk when toe attack
was made upon him, apparently reading paper. On
each eide Of him were eas-ights, and before him
large mirror Had any one approached him from be-
hind in the nervous state of apprehension be IL said to
have been n he would emost certainly have observed
the reflection in the mirror. As blood was found on
the desk at which he sat and also upon his chair 1t Is
Inferred that he did not rise before the attack was
made upon him. But, if the person approaching him
had been stranger, any one from whom ne feared
an attack lie would very probably have got up pre-
cipi,antly and advanced toward them. That he did
not is shown by the bloody desk and char, and the
stains upon the carpet under them.