The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-09-22
erms $500 per- onna.np. in aa,on.n
'rrom the Cincinnati Times and Chronicle,
Curious Mistakes i'm Ideutitv.

"AAstAhes In Auemtnfy.
Among The mysteries OF the late "trun r
murder IN New York occurs that peculis :.
but not unfamiliar one, that the deceased =
sworn to by as many different persons. From
the volumes OF law reports, and from the rc,-
ords of detectives offices, we might comm
page after page of fascinating narrative upo
'nls single theme, but our limited space per-
mus - us to give but few examples. Tbose
80 we note, however, will be found upon ex-
'"a,ion 10 throw shade even of ridicaIe.
"pon 'nat sublime reasoning throuob consist.
ohoy upon that unerrino c,lcuIus of nro.-
49, 'nroush which Kepler arrived al
avs VI matter, Newton deduced their
."' ana without which we would "a
''uiost as ignorant as in the time wben Moso.
caheu the moon the second in rsaori,,do -
the heavenly lights. For some intares,i,.
particulars on our subject we are indah,ad D."
Eugene Crapsey, who has made the mvstor,.. 4.
OF New York speciality in journalistic writ.
ing.
In 1851 Captain John Buckson, master az g,
sailing vessel, lived, with bis wife Nancy in a
beautiful little cottage in the village OF Sc .
hOLht nCdi L lOFluCuCCJ huOuC loiduu. li0
was man of spotless character, religious -
most to Purtanism, but also very passionate;
and that Nancy, being greatly younger tha
himself and very tair to look upon, shonid
have grown fretful and unruly, did not add
much quietness to his temper. They quar-.
reied often; and late one evening a neighbps
passing the cottage saw through the tpel
wihdow The husband standing over the wiz,
~ naaa 'nrea;en,ng m a attitude, with long WIN,
eoru IN MS hand, and heard also an uncoi
trollaole burst OF rage anu many threats 20
violence. ~
The next morning the cottage was closei
and deserted. This, however, excited DO
tention, as John was supposed to have left Oh
a sailing trip, and Nancy was accustomed To
depart frequently, without announcement, I'd
visit relatives in neighboriDg town. But
that afternoon a little dog accompanying
picnic party in the adjacen. woods paved and
howled at heap of sand, until the merry
party examined it and found lhere-tne corpss
OF Nancy Burkson.
The people of the town focked round thu
horror, recognizing the deceased, her clothes
and her jewelry. She had been stranglei
with cord, and chloride OF lime had bee 4
sprinRied on the body to hasten decompOsl-
llon. Ihe cottage was searched and a whin
cord found upon the floor which fitted exact-
y to the marks on the victims neck; and "a
o'S Soiai was ooA Vi cnlOrlde OF lime Ike
that scattered upon the body.
Burkson was arrested, indicted. and on thu
day OF the trial that would have sent him %
the gailows, Nancy Burkson alive and We 4,
though cross as ever walked into the VILLAGE.
fresh from visit to distant relatives The 8.
ticles OF dress and lewelry on the corpse We
recognized by Nancy as taken from the b,l.
reau of her cottage.
One morning in 1851 New Jersey whai =
man complained TO his ''boss" that barrel VI
pitch had been stolen from the pier. Th,
same morning the clerk of New York hotel
complained to his proprietor that Mrs. Ada
Richard-once well known to Cincinnati un-
der another name-a woman OF marveIos
beauty OF form and no small charm OF fel-
ture, but senusous as Lola Montez, and 3
trail OF characterized suddenly and inexpl.
cably left without paying her bill. The nexs
day there was found foating;in the NORTH rir-
er barrel OF pitch, and tied to it by rope
al onnd the waist was corpse of a beautiful
woman, clothed only in a night dress and
stockings. A gag fastened in tie
mouth twas the only mark OF vio-
lence, but that was sufficient to evidence
murder. The form was of wonderful beauty
as must have served Tor the model to TItarh
Venus. 1t was noticed that though the stocs-
ings were almost too small tor the shao "
limb, they were two sizes too large for the
loot. Upon one of the lower limbs was ne
cieatrice OF an old wound.
The body was inferred without recognition,
but the head preserved. A few days alter, .
gentleman intimately acquainted with Ada
Richard recognized the face as hers beyond
the shadow of doubt. The police then in
terviewed her quasi husband, Charles Ri h.
ard, cautiously concealing from him her sup
posed death. He freely entered into de-
scription OF her history and person, spoke
with some pride OF her being obliged to wear
stockings too large tor her foot in order to tlt
her well rounded limb, mentioned the mark
of an old wound and It's position, regretted
the injury to her beautiful teeth by the loss
of one on the left side, aud laughed at her
having wo. n earrings so heavy as to cut har
ears, and necessitate second piercing yety
high up. The stockings, the wound, the lost
tooth, and the marks on the ears coincided
exactly with the corpse. Richard was then
shown the preserved head, and fell back 10
the utter horror of sudden recognition. The
mystery was solved but only for day Of
sudden Ada Richard, beautiful as ever re-
turned from months wandering amol,s The
soldiers at New Orleans. No further discos-
cries have ever been made.
Our third and last case occurred in the
"snti'st 20 400, - Al L-----A U~Iias of Pen n-
sylvana. Mark Wilson and Miss Wallace. q
lovely girl OF eighteen, had been engaged Tor
without explanation forbade him to enter he
house. Wilson plunged into dissipat ion, and
Rapidly lost his character, his business, aad
his small means. He was frequently head,
with fevered energy, 10 lay his ruin at hsr
door, and to VOW revenge with most de'er
mined bitterness. Shortly alter, he made
preparations 10 leave for Europe, but before
doing so by some means persuaded the eir to
take drive with him. He gave out at he
livery stable that he was going to an occ %.
ional picnic resort, in wild gorge among tls
neighboring hills. Neither of them returned,
and two days after the body of the girl, sab.
bed To the death with pOcket-knife, sworn
to as Wilson's. was found in the turbid " At
ers of brook that threaded Picnic Gorga."
She was buried, in an agony of sorrow, bg b or
loving parents, and the day after the iunel Al.
Mrs. Wilson, nee Miss Wallace, returned iro On
New York with her newly welded husband.
Who was the murdered girl, or how knlfe
like that of Mark Wilson's came in her heart,
the most rigid investigation never could dis
cover.