Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-07-01
The Bridgeporl Tragedy.

The death Of Capt COly0cOresseS IS involved |
in as much mystery as ever. The case is one OF
the strangest on record. The captain was shot
on Monday night. The previous week he had
an engagement 10 meet an insurance broker in
New York on Thursday, to make arrangements
for some payments on his policies. On We'd
nesday he went TO Bridgeport. He took supper
at the Atlantic hotel. While at supper he
placed his small hand bag in chair, laid bis
oyercoat over it, and put his hat and umbrella /
across the overcOat The head waiter objected
to his occupation Of two seats. The captain re-
piled that he would have two or none, and he /
was allowed to 90 on with his supper One of
the clerks of the hotel, who handled the bag, |
declares that it was empty at that time. Some /
time that evening the captain went down to the |
steamboat landing, went on board the boat, and !
staid in the vicinity until the boat had left. He
then went to the hotel for the night. Although |
he had an engagement in New York, he re- |
manned in Bridgeport all day Thursday. How |
he spent his time nobody knows. He was not |
seen about the city from breakfast time till four
O'Clock in the afternoon. Then he went to Hall |
& Reeds and priced some carpets, and to another
place and talked about some furniture. On |
Thursday evening4le again went to the landing |
and hung about the boat till it started, going |
on and off sitting alternately on the deck and |
wharf and walking about. He did not 90 on |
the boat that night. About twelve O'Clock a
policeman found him still about the landing,
three-quarters Of an hour after the boat had left
The officer told him it was time 10 90 to bed. |
The captain inquired where there was good
hotel. HE knew the hotels in Bridgeport well,
having often been to both the principal ones.)
The officer took him to the next beat and the
policeman on that beat took him to the Sterling
hotel. The house was locked up. Mr.. Wilson,
the proprietor, was aroused and let IN the cap
tain After getting inside he proposed TO go
away again. The policeman demonstrated, and
the captain finally remained. On Friday he
went to New York. He told the broker with
whom he had business that he had left some
papers at home, and must return TO Litchtield.
He did return on Saturday. The next day he
engaged team of Seth Pratt to take him to the
Naueatnck milk train His wife persuaded him
not to 90 on Sunday, but to wait till the next
day. He went on Monday evening by the She
paug and Housatonic roads, His movements in
Bridgeport on that fatal evening have been de-
scribed.
The discoveries since his death tend to make
the affair more mysterious than ever. pow
der flask and a box of caps were found under
the end of a bridge on Clinton street, where he
was shot. At another place on the same street
were found two bullets tied up in piece OF cot
ton cloth. The question naturally arises, when
were these articles secreted under the bridge?
Was it done before or after the captain was kill
ed? Why was it done before, even if crime
was premeditated2 Why were these articles
concealed on Clinton street? What reason had
anybody TO suppose the captain would 20 down
that street? Suppose we say the things were
concealed after the shot was fired. 1t is scarce
w reasonable to suppose that an assassin would
return to that street, of all the streets IN the
world, after he had committed murder there.
The conceament, them must have been made
before the fatal deed was done, and who can
give half way plausible reason for the articles
being hid away ut all, on that particular street,
before the captain was killed? Then, again ~
fact that the small bag was ritied is
thing According TO the captain ,e nrrt ~
it is supposed that he had ,onid coll co. VI
hna l.
pieces. ysheet of thick paper The rail-
SHOWS iaS are like them. The si~iy pieces
ioa stuff the small bag 60 g.. ToI ma W. W.,
could weigh probably FROM nv in PSG%uS bndcy
his time ut open the bag and take out these
papers, when the bag was precisely the thing
lie needed to carry them in? Unless he tied
them up with cord, he would be in great dan
ger Of dropping some of them. He could not
put such a bundle in his pocket, and bundle
OF bonds would attract much more attention than
n bag. The weight and bulkiness of this great
quantity of bonds seem not to have been much
considered.
The difficulty of fixing upon satisfactory
theory deepens as new developments are made.
1t is a singular circumstance that the captain
was shot directly in front of the house of Hiram
Mathews, portrait painter a native, and until
recently Il resident of Litchdeld. Mathews was
seen dressed almost Immediately after the shot
was heard, but he did not go out of his rooms
Another circumstance is that Clinton street has
a smooth tagged sidewalk on the north side
and only rough earthen one on the south side.
IL was on the south side the captain was killed. |
Why he went down Clinton street at all, nobody
can tell; and why did he go on the rough side
of the street, which happened to be on the side
where stands the house in which Mr.. Mathews
hvesf The next day woman's belt and rosette
were picked up near the spot where the captain
was killed. From this circumstance, and from
the captains strange conduct on the Wednesday
and Thursday preceding his death, it has been
argued that there is a woman mixed up in the
case. We give no credit to this theory. 1t is no
unusual thing to find wOmen's gear, such as
bows, rosetteS, and the like, on the street.
The most distinguished detectives in the
country have been ut work on the case, and, SO |
far, they have failed to find any trace of the
person or persons who shot Captain Colvoco- |
resses. 1t may prove to be, like the Burdel and |
Nathan affairs, one of those utterly mysterious
cases whose unwilling battles human sagacity; |
but we are of opinion that within a few days, or |
at longest within a few weeks, il shall be DEM |
onstrated to eveIybody's satisfaction whether or |
not the captain was murdered. In this imme- |
dlate locality it is considered an outrage to |
make even suggestion of suicide We can't |
help that. Ignoring facts does no good; and it |
is an undoubted fact that the theory of suicide |
finds many supporters in Bridgeport, New York, |
and indeed wherever the story of the tragedy |
has been discussed. From a personal acquaint- |
ance with Capt. ColVocoresses we should iudoe |
him to be the last man in the world who would |
take his own life. So far as ut present appears, |
he had no probable motive for doing So The |
first and natural feeling of his friends is to |
treat the idea of suicide as an enormity, and |
this feeling is credtable TO the sentiment of |
friendship. 1t attests the confidence with which |
the captain has inspired his neighbors and |
townspeople during his residence here. The |
mystery surrounding his death is unfortunate. |
His exceeding reticence and secretiveness have |
left open to doubt what little certain kuowl- |
edge would make clear. If he had and was |
robbed Of $4,000 worth of securities, nobody
but an idiot can doubt that he was murdered |
His friends are confident of being able to prove
that he did possess and was robbed of this
amount. We are assured that they soon will |
be able to prove the captains possession of these
securities. That done, all controversy must
end. These facts to support the murder theory
are numerous and weighty. Suspicious per-
sons were seen on the Sunday night boat and
seen again on Clinton street Monday evening
Smith, the man through whose agency the cap
tain obtained thirteen of his policies, aud who
knew about his financial affairs, has not been
accessible TO people who have called on him.
He iavors the suicide. He was presumably the
only person in New York who knew of the cap
tain's intended visit there on Sunday or Mon
day. Perhaps it would be well to find out to
what parties he communicated this informa- |