The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-03
THE NATHAN HORROR.
No Failing of In the Excitement-Th Muir.
dered MANS sons-Statement OF General
Rrauk Hair.

Twenty-third street on Friday morning last, especi-
ally among the police force, every man Of whom
the offender. superintendent J%ourdan, Capt. Kelso,
and a few picked men OF the detective force are
silently, cautiously and theoretically at work clear
ing up three points-viz.: the source from which the
dog was derived, the disposition of the stolen studs
an outsider) entered and left the house, with what
success is only known to themselves. To the ques-
tons Of reporters the answers are invariably, 1--WE
have no new clue, but we hope to be successful in
developing something new SOON"
THE HOUSE WATCHED.
1t is certain that every trivial incident transporting
about the house where the crime was committed is
carefully watched by unseen eyes. No person
makes an exit or entrance without it being known,
and day and night it is under complete
surveillance. Yesterday morning at 8 O'Clock de-
tectives were in the neighborhood in Twenty-second
and Twenty-third streets on guard. At that time
all the lights in the house were eXtiuguished, except
the Fifth Avenue Hotel, where ten or a dozen
hackmenw were congregated speculating upon the
event.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL BLAIR.
1t was rumored about town yesterday that an i'm
portant revelation had been made to the police by
third floor OF the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Just opposite
10 the Nathan mansion.
evening and talked the whole matter over with him
in one OF the parlors of the Manhattan CLUB, where
he was found: The following is substantially the
Reporter-1t is rumored, General, that you saw
from your window In the hotel the morning OF the
murder a person moving about in one of the rooms
of No. IL West Twenty third street. have called to
ascertain the UTuJn OF Jne mdJUST.
General Blair-Well, l will tell you all 1 know
about 1t. About half past five O'Clock that morning
/ went towards the window OF my room to shut the
blinds, as the light was coming in too strongly, and,
j Judged, would prevent me from sleeping. l looked
young man sitting in his night clothes at one OF the
windows of the third floor.
Reporter-Did you know him?
General Blair-No, l did not at the time.
Rep0Tter-Have you ascertained who he was?
sR SSne he w Sasi one On t Ses. Na ! ! Saae sons; }oI IN ab faSf{ i !
half an hour or SO afterward, the cutlery about the
murder was made, and then saw him with his
help, or making an cutlery of some kind. 1 couldn't
Reporter-Did you notice anything peculiar about
the appearance Of the two, or of either?
General Blair-Yes, they were both in their night
clothes, and the one | had seen at the window OF
the third floor a short time previous had blood on
ReporterCWere you awakened by the outcries
made?
whether l had fallen into a sound sleep or not after
had retired. After having closed the blinds Of my
window l went to bed immediately, but l don't think
went to sleep for q short time after going 70 bed.
When the outcry was made l must have been at
least half asleep; at any rate l was not fully awake.
When 1 heard the cries first | did not paw much at
tention TO them, as there are so many noises in the
street early in the morning; but as they were con-
seemed to me more like cries of distress than any-
thing else, SO l got up and looked out of the window.
The first thought that struck me was that there
were robbers in the house, and that the young man
with the blood on his shirt had been hurt by them,
person would go to their assistance and have the
robbers arrested.
Reporter-How did you become finally aware that
murder had been committed
General Blair-Wel, the young men appeared to
be so terribly excited and continued their oQtUry 80
long that / called for a servant and sent him out to
ascertain what was the matter. He returned and
told me that Mr.. Nathan had been killed.
Reporter-How did the young man appear as he
BAT at the window? was there anything peculiar
about his manner? ? was he excited looking?
General Blair-He was in no wise eXcited-looking
there was nothing peculiar about his manner. He
seemed just as If he had placed himself at the
window to cool of.
Reporter-You say after closing the blinds Of
your window you went to bed, and did not go asleep
Immediately; then there was a certain lapse of time
between the time you saw the young man at the
window and when you saw him on the stoop-that
is, more time than would be required for him to
come down two flights OF stairs and reach the door?
General Blair-There must have been, | think,
about a half an hour between my seeing him the
first time and the second time. / do not want to be
positive as to the exact time, put l think there must
Here the conversation ended, the General re-
marking that he was not DESTROYS Of being prominent
in the case, but that he had no objection to his
statement being made public, as he considered it
Tie New York World has the following
WHY NO BLOODY FooTsTEPs?
IL has been much remarked in this tragedy that
there were no bloody foot-tracks from the side of
the corpse to the front door OF the mansion except
those made by Mr.. Washington Nathan when rushing
forth horror-stlicken from the scene of the butch
cry on tie morning it vas discovered. The argu-
ment seems to be, that If young Mr.. Nathan tracked
the blood out of the room, then the murderer ought
TO have tracked blood too, a line OF thought which
omits the consideration of a very important element
in the case. Young Mr.. Nathan advanced to the
corpse at a time when it had lain for some hours in
its position, and when the blood had only flowed
and lowed till coagulation supervened, bat had been
soaked up by the carpet, till, for a yard and more in
all directions about the head and chest OF the body,
the floor was bloody. In advancing to see what was
the matter, one would naturally come close up, close
enough, at least, to come within the bloodied circle,
and, OF course, bear away the blood upon the feet.
But the assassin, in his walking near the body, il
indeed he ever went near it after the killing, save to
step over 1t on his way from the safe to the large
room, had no occasion to step in blood, and probably
could not have so stepped II he had tried without
waiting a few minutes till the yelling tide had
formed a sufficient pool upon the floor. Why,
after telling the unfortunate man and then
stepping over his body into the outer room,
need the murderer approach the corpse? 1t
mad no clothing on from which to take a watch,
purse, papers, key, or the like, and the blows struck
were so fatal that no motive could have recalled the
ruffian to complete his work. The absence OF any
bloody foot-tracks of the assassin seems therefore a
very natural and perhaps even a necessary incident
of the case. Young Mr.. Nathan's feet were stained
because the blood had had time to be sucked up and
spread by the carpet, but during the time the muir
derer was IN the room after the killing, the blood had
9Ot had time to spread.
'No CLUE AS YETI
In these four words of superintendent Jourdan 70
q reporter yesterday the whole story IS told. De-
spite the almost supeThuman efforts OF the officers OF
The law, the rutlan who so foully murdered Benia-
min Nathan in the sanctity Of his own dwelling,
only five days ago, still is at liberty. The detec-
tiVes are charged by some persons with being at
fault, and the detection OF the murderer is believed
10 be q remote possibility in reference to which both
superintendent Jourdan and Chief OF Detectives
Kelso do not care to express an opinion. Certain it
is, however, that not the slightest clue has been OBJ
that no person is under suspicion. AS a
last resource, a new feature is TO be intro
duced INTO the case tomorrow, on which the
detectives will work. This feature is in reference to
The dog, the implement with which murder was
undoubtedly committed, and the new assertion
S ont 'I q TOOL y OF Ma another G1S a ua snip f car enters dog.
OF which would DE obviously improper to state at