The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1868-12-01
From the Picayune.
A WAInan,s Confession,
A Leaf from a New Orleans De-
tective's Experience.

banker had absconded with an immense
amount of money. 1t was believed tina
he had fed to this country and taker
refuge in New Orleans A young Ital
ian girl WAS the companion of his fight
Together with description Of the MAI
was a miniature of this girl. She we.
very beautiful, and the inanimate ivory
| pictured face SO winsome in its you'll
and innocence, SO trustful, so confiding
that my heart ached as looked at it.
| Months went by in the fruitles
search for the criminal If here, hi
precautions were well taken, and hi:
concealment effectual.
One night report reached the station
that drowned woman had been draw
from the river. She had been dead bu
a few hours, it was said, and was ele
gantly clad, and young and beautiful.
"Why, l could not divine at the TIM
but l felt q strange desire to sec thi:
girl l mentioned the fact to Mr.. /
and we walked together to the river
The body was laid out on the pier; ant
the lovely upturned face was magnetic
in it's intense beauty. A wealth of blacl
wet hair fell back from the broad low
forehead, exposing a face rounded ant
full in its fresh, spring time beauty. .Th'
long lashes drooped darkly over tht
pale underlids, and the chiseled lips hat
not lost their delicate curve and Grim
son STAIN The soft milky skin showed
beneath it the olive tint it had worn il
life. The clinging dress but imperfectl1
concealed each rounded limb and The
exquisite outline of body.
felt q strange attraction in looking
at this dead woman. She must have
been unsurpassingly lovely when life
was instilled in the frame; now so chill
The warm sun of her native land coul(
not have been more lustrous than he
eyes were then. l felt that l had seen
her before. The conviction grew upon
me as my eyes became rivited on hel
features. The face haunted me. Fol
an hour my memory was at fault but i
came at last. Like flash, recollection
returned: .-....-.
She was the original Of the picture.
Eagerly | bent forward and tracet
again and again each outline of face anC
figure There could be no mistake-tht
linaments were the same.
On examining the body 1t was discovered
that she had been murdered. A deer
penetrating wound in, her side, made
with small Spanish dagger, which yet
filled the cavity, disclosed the means oi
her death. This knife bore the initials
L. F. They did not stand for her name
nor that of her betrayer. 1t was a cost
ly weapon, form the handle was a brilliant
of value. l took the knife to jeweler
and asked him to examine it. The mon
ogram arrested his attention at once
He took it and examined it closely
Then from his desk he brought jewe
set in gold, on which was q lettering pre-
cisely similar.
where did you get this ?" I asked
"From a customer of mine; a LADY,"
''Yes."
"Where is she to be found ?"
He showed me a direction. 1t wa:
that of a lady Of fashion; Cuban visit
ing in the city.
| went to her at once. On mention
ing my name she showed evident sign;
of uneasiness, and motioning Inc. to q
private room, begged with white lip:
and faltering utterance, the nature o.
my errand. ....
l detailed the circumstances briefly,
told her of the criminal, the flight an(
escape. of the dead body; showed hel
the knife, and the ring l had obtained
at the jewelers..
"Madamc," I concluded, IL must ar
rest you for murder" ..
"Oh, no! no, no." she exclaimed, %
will confess all, not mine the sin, no
mine the deedn'
She then told me who the man was
where he lived, and the circumstance:
that occasioned the poor girls death.
1t appears from her statement tha
some weeks before, the banker had wear
led Of the young girl, and abandoned
her. He had then paid his court to he
and not knowing his antecedents, anC
Judging of him by the station he hele
in society, had consented to marry him
That the evening previous she had beer
walking with him on the pier. Standing
there in the moonlight, they had beer
approached by female clad as this one
was. Upbraidings and angry reproaches
followed, and the girl, in the madness
and frenzy of her distress, threatened tc
reveal a secret. The words had scarce
ly left her lips when the man struck hen
with the dagger | held in my hand. She
said he had taken it from hera few mo.
merits and was toying with it when the
woman came up.
When the blow was struck" she said
'thc worian feeled and fell into the riv-
er. | saw her as she sunk beneath the
water, and her white face upturned in
agony yet haunts me with its horror. ]
screamed and fed 1t was the most ter
rible sight ever witnessed"
The woman told her story truthlully
! could not doubt. But, as | supposed
the man was gone. He was never heard
Of afterwa ds: and this little memory is
all that is left of the wrecked and ruined
woman who died beneath the food.
NAPLES, November 19-The eruption
of Mount Vesuvius is still very impo
sing and threatening. All the cones oi
the volcano emit formidable rumhlino
sounds and eject large quantities OF III
candcscent matter. The lava has set q
whole forest of chestnut trees on fire,
causing immense devastation. Houses,
farms and lands are overwhelmed with
ruin, and the populations of the nearer
villages are leaving their houses in great
destitution.
ES~ The discussions now gong on
about railway safety bring to mind
Punch's prescription for preventing rail