The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-04-05
The New Tale of Two Cities.


From tho N. y. GrSphic.)
The Goodrich murder develops all the
elements OF a sensational novel, and be-
cause of this quality It touches all classes
more deeply than any other recent TRACE
dy. The mystery that enVeloped 1t was
Its first charm, but this alone would have
been but nine days wonder. When 1t
was known that woman was In some
way connected with It, the interest deep
ened, only TO be increased by the dtscoV-
cry that more than one woman was con-
cerned in the dead mans story. Love
came to the surface as q power in the
tragedy; then the jealousy OF a woman
scorned and turned away from the house
that should have been her home. At last
the jealousy Of a man, spulued for q richer
rival and maddened slowly to the despair
Of revenge, came TO crown the emotional
elements. Thus, the groupings Of the first
scene were complete. AS in the yellow
covered novel, the thread Of the chap
ter is snapped of when once the interest
has brought together the characters who
are to make its pages lurid; or, as In the
theatre, the first fall Of tho curtain sets
tongues In motion TO ask Of one another
what will be the denOuement Of the strange
opening scene, so, in this true tale Of two
cities, the public watch eagerly for the
next issue Of tho newspaper which shall
take up and follow the thread Of the mar
ratiye, It is no marvel. The passions
that moved the heart Of Charles Good
rich, his friends and his foes, have their
open or hidden counterpart In all Others
The details Of the tragedy are becom-
ing complete to the point Of romance
There is the lonely house In Brooklyn,
lit up by suspicious lights, and sometimes
filled with more suspicious cries. An In.
visible tie connects It's brown.stone front
with a mean and miserable tenement.
house IN New York. The master Of the
spacious mansion visits the apartments OF
poverty, and his visits are returned but
are not unmatched. Here heavy villain
appears upon the scene. A foreigner,
black. bearded and desperate. loving and
revengful, wearing the traditional cloak,
he vulgarizes the conventionallsm Of
tragedy (if he be indeed the guilty one)
by the use Of Q pistol instead OF o stileltO.
He does not complete the circle OF char.
acters, however. Other figures, male and
female, fit about the stage. The most
CONSPICUOUS OF these Is Q beautiful blonde,
Of Juno.like appearance, who was not q
stranger 10 the Brooklyn house, whatever
may have been the tie that bound her TO
the owner. Surely, nothing more is
needed TO complete the opening chapter
Of the tragedy. Indeed, audience and
readers grow impatient for their hearts
are stirred to the core.
Yet the element Of pathos must not be
omitted. The heroine first suspected OF
the murder Is poor sewing'girl, whose
weary work, day In, day out, supports an
aged father and mother and two little
children. She Is content 10 labor on q
crust Of bread, but she cannot bear TO see
others starve. Apparently, she Is no bet
ter and no worse than other women who
pass her on the street, except that hel
temptationsi are almost too heavy to bt
borne. She was sought out by rich
man, an honorcd member Of o Christian
church, to minister secretly to his pleas
ures, or to adorn the harem which ht
seems to have kept at his homeland sht
yielded to his promise OF bread to hel
furnishing family. And now with heI
breaking heart sits staring at her blasted
life-quiet and determined, because she
has herself to defend against the world