The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1873-05-31
A CATSKILL MYSTERY.
Hudson River Scissors Grinder Muir.
dered-Arrest Of the Guilty.

Hudson River Scissors Grinder Muir.
dered-irrest Of the Guilty.
On the first of May last, Harm on
Hulcher, German scissors grinder,
reached Poughkeepsie from Albany,
having his machine with him. The
same day he left for Rondout, where
he stayed all night, and on the follow
ing morning took passage for Catskill
on the steamboat Eagle His usual
route was and has been for some time
Catskill, Hudson, Rondout and Pough-
keepsie. After arriving at Catskill he
piled his avocatiOn about the streets
for two or three hours and then started
for the house of German named
Waltz. Following the Catskill and
Athens post road north. Two miles
from Catskill is u toll gate, and one
mile further on is byroad leading to
a one and half story frame dwelling
on the side hill. This is where the
Waltz family reside. 1t is an old,
weather-beaten structure, without the
sign of paint upon it's dirt-begrimmed
sides, and it is about twenty feet
square, surrounded by vineyard three
or four acres In extent, from which the
Waltz family make a living and have
Tor number of years The family
consists OF old Mr.. Waltz and wife and
one son, about twenty-three years of
age. &c this house, on the night of
May 2, went Harmon Hulcher.
THE HUDSON RIVER SCISSORS GRINDER,
and he has not since been seen alive
The next morning the room upstairs in
which he slept was visited, when a
strange sight was visible. The bed,
lounge, or sofa bed, on which he slept
was besmeared with blood in the local
lty where the sleeper's head and shout
ders laid, and blood had trickled
through the crevices to the under side,
where the dark stains are still visible.
Where the blood had smeared the up
per side an attempt had been made to
destroy its appearance by daubing that
part of the lounge with blue ink; but
the person engaged in doing it must
have been a blunderer, for the under
side was left entirely untouched. The
blood had also formed in a
pool on the floor under
meath the lounge, and some one had
| also endeavOred to remove the red stain
by using plain and planning it off,
but had left enough behind to clinch
the matter. These facts, coupled with
the fact that the missing mans mother
and son il-law had arrived in the vii
| lage i'll search of him, led to the arrest
of old man Waltz and his son. The
arrest vas effected yesterday, when they
were taken before Justice E. Russell, oil
| Catskill, whose office was at once
packed with human beings, and the
| sidewalk in front of it was blocked with
people. The news of the arrest had
spread like wlldfre, and the affair was
| the main topic of conversation every
where, so great was the mystery sur.
rounding it.
CONFESSION OF WALTZ
Waltz, since his arrest. has made g
confession of the murder. He states
that it was done about l o'clock P. NJ.
on the 1st of Nav. He went to the
room occupied by Hulcber, whom he
found asleep, and struck him three
times with a Ratchet, the first time
with the blunt part and twice with the
sharp side. He only groaned and all
was over. Waltz then took the body
to stone wall, where the traces OF
blood were found, and covered it up.
There he left it until the next night,
when he took it down into the orchard
and buried it. The officers having
learned All thoy could, took him cut at
| his own suggestion, to the place where
the body was buried in the orchard.
A few inches below the surface the
body was found wrapped in blanket.
The head was horribly mangled Waltz
also confesses to having burned three
schoolhouses in the town, aad buried
the books, which have been found al
the place he designated. When asked
why ne committed the murder, he re,
piled: q done it for mischief and
not for gain. The bad spirit was il
me, and [ wanted to do something
hn1