New-York tribune., 1868-04-18

Nine ont of ten would say that he went back TO No.
As East Broadway to see ms mistress that ne .e6s %
his intention to leave town; that they saw In tlat
act the loss of their great resource for money or
Fellner had ayished large sums upon theml; i.he ht
with his mistress that he was taken, possibly, TO
some more secluded house-say in Hoboken-and
there kept as drunk as tnat ne Tas on se
women and his body taken by some of their bawdy-
house confederates and thrown into the river.
Now let us point out few facts to show the prob
aIiiit FeIner % was stabbed more than twenty times
man would not have given the fifth blow. None
but woman's hand would have been 80 extIava-
CANT
2. He must have been lying down. since there was
very little blood upon his clothing. Had he been
stabbed by Ratsky, at the boat t-house, the blood
would have spouted in a deluge from him. lie was
living on his back, probably dead drunk, and the
blood fell into the cavity of the chest. -,
The gold in his pocket was not taken. That gold
was doubOOns got in change after he left the Terry
boat. and while at East Broadway earlier in the
night in answer to request for money, he doubtless
said he had no small change Had he got the change
have taken bundle that could have been easily
identified and left hundred dollars in coin that was
beyond the possibility of tracei The women did
not know that he had got his French bank note
changed. and 80 did not search for this gold.
These and other points will appear more clearly
from the following more extended synopsis: -.
BY the fact that the women were IN possession M OF
Felner and that they were III condition 10 put
themselves in possession of that property III such
way as we have assumed. .
That FeIner had. previous to the commission of
the murder, intrusted to Albertina and her slster
than to any other persons, the CUSTODY Oh Vai
abes belonging to him. and that the evldence teiius
to show that on several days before the Friday oi
the alleged assassination, diamonds which had Deen
held by him. had either been hypothecated or sold
through the intervention OF these women.
That the intimacy between the diamond DrOKeis,
whose connection with thus case is shOwn by tho
testimony and the women Marks ana Phauin, was
exceedingly close and confidential, and that one OF
these brokers' who certainly has not been subjected
to that legal criticism upon his conduct which IL de-
serves resided at Hoboken at point convenient Tor
the perpetration of the crime under such cifcuh-
stances rs have been assumed. .
That subsequent to the murder, the diamonds,
which had been i'll the possession OF Felner In some
unaccOuntable manner, came INTO the possession oi
these women. and Of the diamond brokers' win
whom they more or less associated; whereas IL
at no time appears, nor can we assume 1t probable
from the surrounding Circumstances that they were
ever in the possession of Ratzky, or that katzky
could in any way have transferred them from his
own custody to that OF the women.
That the position, the number. and the character
OF the wounds upon the body OF Fellnor all snow,
according 80 the belief of scientific men who have
examined this matter that they were inflicted while
he was lying in "A pTostrate or horizontal posture !;
that they must have been made when no was IN
condition 10 render no physical opposition WhateVer
that their number great TO refute ut once tho
idea that they could have been inflicted by one who
committed assassination in haste, and To whom time
was an important element in avoiding detection
upon the spot or damaging suspicion afterward that
they were close togcther-trequently separated Dy
only few lines-that il is almost impossible to be-
lieve that they could have been inflicted in the dark
or by the hand OF a confused or excited person,
That when the body of Feilner was found, ana
upon making the postmortem blood followed the
knife of the surgeon. All psychologists agree, that
i'm consequence of putrefacon, death of the muscles
and consequent decay of the capillary structures,
the flow Of blood ceases, undercOrdinary circum-
stances within period OF - houis aitcr lhe Occur
renee Of what we denominate death. In a case Of
drowning where. owing TO the intefpOsitlon OF an
other element. the water, putrefaction progresses
more rapidly, IL is even doubtful whether there Is
any motion Of the blood after so long a period as
4S hours Yet we are asked TO believe that after this
body had lain in the water for moro than four days
and after it had been hoated hither and TO- IN the
manner indicated, there was still sufficient active
vitality in the capillary system to induce consider
able discharge of blood upon the entrance of the sur
geons knife. The question thus involved Is one
which more properly belongs 10 those whose scien-
tiic education has been in this particular drectlon
but even the minds of ordinary students cannot fail
to see the vast impTobabilities which attach them
selves 10 it..
After the arrest Of Albertins and her sister, and
while they were in prison together, Albertina was
frequently heard in her dellrIum to utter remarks
which indicated she was conscious OF having been
upon n boat and that she protested most vehementy
against something which was proposed To be done
there May not this have been TIE expression OF q
TeInorse which il was impossible for her 10 conceal
and which prompted her To the commission Of the
terrible act Of selfdestructionI
If Felner as il probable from all the circumstances
of the case carried his Jewels IN belt about him. II
would have been impossible for Ratsky TO have re-
moved il; while, upon the other hand, Its removal
would have been entirely simple. If we can assume
that no was lying in bed. aud in helpless condition.
The woman, Albertina. virtually acknow lodged her
guilt, by committing suicide in station house; while
the woman. Mrs Marks. who seems TO have been the
chief devil of the tragedy, after first appearing IN
condition of absolute mendicancy and poverty in
New-io city, begging for aims from door to door,
suddenly tgured-attired IN sfBe uhioh INDICATED ne
possession Of Opulent WCdlh-On board California
steamer and il is alleged has since been the propri
etOr of one of che most fashionable and extensive
houses Of prostitution in San Francisco.
1t is not very remarkable that man perfectly in
nocent should in his excitement over such an event
tell strangely contradictory stories. Ratsky doubt
less did so. Whyi fellner had absconded from bis
wife and family, and it supposed, with other mems
property He feared puTsut changed ms quarters mt
the hotel formore retired lodgings; became suspicious
of the women he had made his conidants; ho talked
of going to distant places, TO throw pusucIs on he
scent. Ratsy found in him KIND friend ana readily
fahered these deceptons 10 favor him. That he should
fly Just on the of arrest ~ not so wonderful lie
was stranger in strange land; he had no friends
save this now dead; no money to Zee lawyers las
his infamous desertiOn by James and Stewart
showcd) and so he ran away, changed his name, and
sought tho only safety that appeared possible; lie
knew that if 1t shown that he was tho last per
son seen with Fellner that his case would BIZ hard.
Now upon this flight the prosecution strongly rely.
Why" they ask triumphantly did Ratsky m, rln
awayY We answer with another question: " Why
did Albertina Pfaum commit suicide Immediately
after her arrest I" IL flight to 81. Louis is con-
fession of crime what is flight from time 10
eternityi II Ratsky thought to escape by
going to Missouri, how sure did PHaum escape by
going to the gravel And why did both women Mt
various times incoherently talk about putting some
body in boat protesting that they did not do it
We need not pursue the argument. Ratsky was
hastily tried two years after the murder and con
yicted mainly by default. He had no defense. The
conduct of the case was insult to the idea OF JUS
tice. newy-chosen District Attorney fleshcd bis
maiden sword in this unresisting victim. The law
yers for the defense to their everlasting disgrace be
it said did not attempt TO prove even good char
acter for their client; they made feeble effort
to dispute jurisdiction, which was just no
defense at all. Even the Judge who sentenced
Ratsky was ignorant of the law touching the case,
and cnnlly turned him over 10 the hAngnan WHOM he