Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1870-08-04
ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE
WILL MURDER OUT?

Every hour of delay diminishes the proba-
bility OF the arrest OF the Nathan murderer, or
at any ratc-of his conviction. If the assassin
had any wounds received in the desperate
struggle, upon bis person, they must have been
slight and are already healed. If he carried
away any Of the blood of his victim upon his
clothes. the fire to which he consigned them
% reaching his covct has destroyed the last
trace Of such proof. Ii there was chance that
tho boat builders dog could be made to
serve the earnestly desired purpose of connect.
us the criminal with his crime, it would have
been made available. Ii there was a single
human being able and willing to put the police
the track OF the savage who has appalled,
the city, that person would by this time have
been induced by the large rewards to come for.
ward.
There is the single hope left that some lucky
accident will accomplish what energy and skill
have failed to achieve, but if it should fail,
and the murderer preserve his dreadful secret,
it will be no unusual experience. No task
trenches SO closely on the impossible as the
discovery of a murderer who leaves with his
crime no distinct proof OF his Identity We
cited several prominent cases to illustrate this
tact, in our remarks upon the Nathan murder
last Saturday-the Burdel murder, the Rogers
case, the Joyce case, and several others. Equal.
r remarkable instances are the murder oil
DiTtlO!OiICH buThC III lOoO, WIZ was literally
hacked to pieces; the killing OF DR.. Lutener
in 1854, in broad day, as he sat at his office
window ir Broadway; the Staying OF the jeweeler
Robinson year since in Mamaroneck and
the burglar murder iu Middetown few
nights ago. These are only the cases occur.
ring in and near New York-in the whole
country they are too numerous for concise
enumeration. ln all these instances the as
sassns have batfed discovery. 10 some of
them suspicious that were never converted
into proofs have always attached to certain
particular persons. In others, and notceably
in those of Burke, Lutcner and Robinson,
even suspicion was at fault, and the batfled
detectives, after long and skilllul labor, were
forced to give up the investigation in despair.
But there are statistics upon this subject 10
teresting in themselves, and at this moment
valuable in allaying the general impatienoe at
the failure of the police thus far in the Nathan
case. During the thirteen years ending with
1865, G22 homicides we're committed in the
City ct New York, aud OF this number ljj
we're tr persons unknown Thus. in exactly
one-tourtE of all the humicides occurriog dur
ing this long period murder did not out 1t
may be, indeed, that in many OF the cases no
great eEcrtion was made TO bring the perpe.
traitors to justice : but the fact that in so large
Il proportion Of them whatever efforts were
made proved barren, is sufficient proof ot the
difficulty of unravcling any murder which is
without eye witnesses. Every homicide tells
its own story TO an experienced eye in the
position and surroundings of the victim until
The point is reached of Identifying the perpe
traitor, but there it stops, and leaves the de-
ttctive to nothing more than Puesses.
These facts are sufficient to displace the die
tum that murder will OUT from the rank OF
an a WON which it has long uuworthily held.
Taking them all into consideration with the
general statistics ought not only to diminish
the anazamcnt that the Nathan murderer is
still at aige, but also to save the police from
too severe censurc should they fail altogether.
We are satisfied that Superintendent Jourdan
Is doing all that is possible, and We hope for
the best result but We are aware that he IS
pot gifted with the power of working miracles.
lie can only exhaust all detective agencies 10
the pursuit, and these may tail as they have SO
often done betore.-N I. Tribune.