The New York herald., 1878-11-08

)VEMBER g. 1878-TRIPLF
placed anywhere above ground without discovery Canse
.vssas ssa,ss 20 Gs made G ~ your
INTERVIEW WITH JUDGE HILTON.
When Judge Hilton reached the Chambers street
store of A. T. Stewart Co. he Joined by Mr. Will
lam Lbbey his partner to whom the strange story was
then communicated Mr.. Libbey agreed with Judge
Hilton that the object Of the desecration was the
biackmang of Mrs. Stewart. and concided IN the
view that extreme publicity the best course TO pur
sue both the detection of the criminals and the pro-
lection of Mrs. Stewart Both gentlemen were greatly
agitated. and their excitement in no way dimin-
ished by the crowd Of callers. who asked all manner
of questions and made all sorts Of suggestions Judge
Hilton received the HERALD reporter courteously
and. in the privacy OF his back Office. explained
the entire matter IL seemed to him. The fol-
lowing reyor Of the interview will show that while
Judge Hilton has decided views Of the outrage and
belief to its perpetrators hs carefully ahsans from
making direct charges.
when did you first hear Of the opening Of tho
vault JudgeY'
This morning. at my house. Mr.. Hamin. the
sexton Of st. Marks Church. called ut my house in
state of great excitement and told well Us he
could that the vault had been opened and the body
carried off,"
"what did you do?'
'Iwas thunderstruck at first. and tho moro
thought about it the more mysterious 1t seemed.s
MYsTERY
''why mysterious. aside from the fact Of the out
rage itself?'
Because but the sexton. Mr.. LIbbcy and
myself knew where the body 1t seems that some
months ago the sexton received note Of warning that
1,ao tkn lint
kept his eyes open he says. His duty demanded his
constant presence in or about the church and yard
and he kept sharp lookout for all the vaults. But
later on. perhaps q month ago. he came to me and
said that attempt had been made to open the vault
asked how. and he explained that the slab which
the inscription Of the Stewart family vault made
had been pried up at end. was naturally sur
prised and. after deliberaton and consultaton with
Mr.. Lbbey. concluded what to do.
WHAT JUDGE HILTON DID.
81 directed Hamill to take up the slab that marked
the location Of the vault and to it about fifteen
or twenty feet away. that any one attempting TO
find the Stewart vault would dig in the wrong place
and have his labors for his pains. The slab re-
moved as directed. It, by the way. had not
been directly the entrance to the vault.
but little above it. Over the vault. resting brick
supports were three smaller stones. perhaps three
Acct AouB suu TWO Acct WAucs WAiiCA oAy AAoAA
could easily lift the end Of. These had
covered with dirt and sod. and the grass
grew green and beautiful there absolutely sign
Of vault or anything but naturatgrassy growth. In
addition to this / told Hamin to hire . special
watchman with instructions to have him keep gen.
era lookout for the graveyard. but h not to be
told Of the slab device to know that there
apprehensions in any particular quarter
Ibid Hamin hire him p
..what expected and ordered was that he should
engage some poor person to whom the work would be
q help. thought he would be in the church. where
he could what going in the yard Instead Of
that it appears he engaged man who watched some
stables by. and that he expected to look in
now and them"
"Was he on duty last nightf"
mo. he was discharged last Monday. and this desc
Grafton follows Immediately. This shows that the
parties not only knew where to dig. but that the
watchman had been withdrawn"
"You supposed he was yet therer'
Certainly. Mr.. Hsmin. who has been the sexton
many years. says the man knew nothing Of the
changes made. knew nothing Of the cause Of his
gagement; SO he appears to be fully exonerated-"
what motive could have induced parties to do
thisY'
"only one-the hope Of getting money from Mira
Stewart OF myself"
| ..was there no article of value in the vaultr'
"Not thing. When Mr.. Stewart died sent for the
sexton Of St. Marks Church because he the sex
ton OF the church where Mr. Stewart hsd attended
years. had him before. I told him what
to do. He had full charge Of it althe undertskerl
work. the opening Of the church. the music and all
Mr.. Stewart buried with the simplicity that
characterized his life. He was clad In an ordinary
dress suit white shirt and cravat and black and
H. rbl .x,xJa ~sv,
cuff buttons"
"How about the three pearl studs p
"Nonsensei He never anything of the sort.
If had permitted it after his death he would have
turned in his coffin. Why it with great difficulty
persuaded him when last in Paris to buy new pair
of sleeve buttons TO replace the old pair that werc
worn out and troublesome. He meyer q watch
chain. but preferred and took positive pride in silk
cord to which his watch attached"
"But not the gold handles to the coffin valus-
bleY
They were plated In fact there was but one soil
tary article OF in that vault and that was tho
silver plate on the inside Of the inner cofin on
which his and the dates of his birth and death
engraved Even knew nothing Of that till the
sexton told me of it. No. there is but motive.
and that Is the hope of getting money
THE ROBBERS KNEW.
Do you tnink IL was done Ny paftles iainihA1 with
these factsY'
"You can judge for yourself. In the first place
they did not dig under the slab that bore Mr. Stewards
name; but they did dig exactly to the slab covered
with grass and dirt. which over his vault. They
did not take the gold plated handles. which Of
value. but they did take the silver plate. which
was of some value"
What did you do after the sexton told your"
II went TO tho graveyard and then TO the Police
Headquarters. Commissioner Nichols and Inspector
Murray there, 30 was Inspector DIks. who at
sent out general alarm. Then went back to
the graveyard
ITO what circumstances was your attention d.
rccted p
First Of all I noticed there was . rope tied about
the end OF OF the slabs the vault entrance"
THAT srnANox ROPE
swhose was itY'