The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-05-14

4 -
ing dead on his back en- the rise of a
small mound, I'm spot which seems TO
have been carefully selected. BY his side
were bottle labeled " essential oil of al
monds" and poison" containing small
quantity OF that preparation, a silver
cream-jag redolent with prussic acid. and
case Of razors. Among other articles In
his pockets was piece of paper OF which
was plainly written, John Sadlier,
Gloucester Square, Hyde Park" The
event at first produced surprises and CON-
miseration, but these emotions quickly
gave way 10 others of "A widely different
order. In very brief time IL became too
eviden, that Mr.. Sadlier had ample cause
to make lite a burden To him, IL the pangs
OF conscience and the dread OF shameful
exposure could do so. His career was
most remarkable. A native OF Tipperary.
In the middle class of life, Sadlier was
admitted an attorney AT the age of twenty
three. But before long, having obtained
the agency Of the great estates OF Lord
Portarlington and other noblemen, he
rose from the position of Quarter Ses-
sions attorney TO that Of an important
land agent. In lSi7 he contrived TO get
seat In Parliament, as member for Car
low, and in 1882 was appointed by Lord
Aberdeen Lord Of the Treasury. Sad
=
greater ambition. SO long as he was con-
tent 10 stick to what he understood. he
succeeded; but there came tipe when
he began dabbling In speculations which
were beyond the range of his experience,
and these brought him 10 grief.
One OF his chief objects was to buy enor-
mously in the Incumbered Estates Court,
in anticipation OF the rise which he cor
rectly anticipated would In few years
take place in Irish property and IL was
mainly the devices 10 which he resortcd
TO raise money for this end which caused
him TO plunge into dozen schemes, and
ultimately resulted in the ruin OF himself
and all connected with him.
1t was a remarkable circumstance, in
connection with this case. that almost
from the first the people of Ireland never
believed in the identity OF Sadlier with the
body found on the heath. Nor were the
disbelevers confined 10 Ireland. or 10 the
unlettered. There were undoubtedly
circumstances Ina the case which tended 10
invite the suspicion that il might have
been the body of another man. The ac-
counts of the proceedings at the inquest
are strangely silent as to the satisfactory
identification of the body. and the piece
OF paper with +" John Sadlier" on il, In the
pocket of the deceased, prevented inqui-
ries. The body was found early on sun
day morning, "A circumstance which sug
gested TO some minds that a day would
thus be likely 10 elapse before much stir
took place In the matter. And sum of
el 800, in notes and cash, paid 10 Sadlier
on the day before could never I'm any way
be traced or accounted for. There was a
disposition on the part of the Coroner to
bring the inquest to a somewhat abrupt
close before the dark doings of the de-
ceased had been limited at, and there were
those who. when doubts began 10 be free |
~ raised, recalled the fact that the Coro- |
ner was himselfa man against whom grave
charges had been brought, and who was
reputed TO have been intimate with Sad
lier.
Another strange circumstance subse-
quenuy ascertained was, that while the
ground all around was muddy. the boots
on the feet of the corpse were quite clean. |
On the other hand, post-mortem exam
ination revealed the presence In the stom-
ach of essential oil of almonds. The the
DRY of those who believe that the body |
was not that of the great defrauder |
Is that body sufficiently similar was
procured bv him and his friends in some
mysterious manner, and that he trusted
TO the assistance of those whom /
he knew.would attend the inquest, and the |
notorious fact that death does change a
mans appearance sometimes In such
manner as 10 render him almost unrecog-
nizable. TO complete one more fraud. /
Wild as these conjectures may appear,
there are cases on record almost sufficient \
to justify them, and only last month there
arose an instance in point. A few weeks
age there was found in the River Avon, in !
Somersetshire, a woman whose remains !
bore marks of injury. An inquest was
held and adjourned. In reopening the in
quiry, the Coroner commented upon the
strange case of mistaken Identity which
had occurred in connection with the case.
lin the course of their inquiries the Bath
police met with woman who stated that
the description of the deceased correspond
ed with the appearance of woman who
had cohabited with bargeman. and be-
tween whom there had been violent dis
agreement at Bath previous TO their de-
parture in the barge for Bristol. The
woman was taken by the police TO see the
body, and after a minute examination,
which extended to a scrutiny Of the teeth.
the condition of which confirmed the
woman in her opinion, she positively stat
ed that the deceased was the woman she
referred to. This identification was posi-
tive, and was singularly correct both in
general and In detail: and the woman's
testimony would have been unhesitatingly
placed before the jury for their acceptance,
but for one crcumstance-th simple fact
that the woman SO carefully examined and
so infinitely described had been found
alive. The lesson of such occurrence was
the extreme caution taken by iuries in the
acceptance Of evidence of Identification.
IL is indeed lesson which cannot be too
remembered.