Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-07-20
and that as good a prospect exists
for profitable mining on the At
lantic slope as on the Pacific.
THROUGH THE HEART.
A Beautiful Young Bride Found Mur-
dered In an Indiana Town.
Cincinnati Epouiror. july l6.l

Ind, sixty miles out on the Ohio
and Mississippi railway, was all up
side down yesterday over an nm
usually sensational suicide or mur-
der discovered there Saturday night.
The victim was a young and beau
tifnl bride, Mrs. Ella Shaffer, who
had been married only since last
April. Her husbands name is
John Shaffer, a resident of Ne
braska, and sort of speculator,
who has always had plenty Of
and plenty of trouble. Mrs.
Shaner was a Rochat, and came
from Dupont, Ind. She was
Shaffer's second wife, his first one
dying very suddenly about two
years ago, some say of sinking
chill. BY his first wife he had five
children, all small, necessitating
the help of housekeeper. Shaffer
found housekeeper Immediately
after the funeral in the person of a
young girl in the community known
as Sad jackson, a girl whose virtue
had not been regarded as strictly
iron-clad. He having this girl in
his house, ostensibly to take care Of
his children, created an immense
amount Of scandal, and tended to
ostracize him from good society.
He persisted, however, in the face
of active gossip, to keep his Sad in
the house Finally, about the be-
ginning Of the present year, he met
Ella Rochat, and became straight
way enamored. She had just ma
tured into womanhood, being but
nineteen years of age. Her beauty
was conspicuous, and was of the
typical brunette style. Her form
was full and her carriage elegant.
She was a prize such as widowers
rarely capture. Her ambition was
to make her husband happy; his
mission in life appeared to make
her miserable. She had scarcely
reached Nebraska and assumed the
responsible cares of a STEP mother
when her husband is said to have
begun Systematically to mistreat
her. She only wrote one letter
home to her fathers folks after
reaching the home of her husband
In this letter, however, no mention
was made Of her unhappiness.
1t appears that when Shafel
started for Dupont to attend hi
wedding, the girl, Sad jackson, lef
his roof and sought shelter il
Franklin, Ind. About three weeks
ago she returned and from thai
time anarchy reigned in the Shaffel
family. Shaffer was conspicuousl,
attentive to her. Leaving his youul
wife alone with his motherless chill
dren, he would go off to a Nortl
Vernon hotel with Sad and ther,
remain, much to the disgust ant
scandal of decent people. A com
) mittee was organized once or twic
s in the community and threats of
t prescription of cold tar were mad
A unless Shafer desisted from hi
e openly adulterous conduct. Hi
2 young wife demonstrated, but to n
4 purpose. She pleaded, but he
n pleadings only reached ears tina
: we're deaf to sympathy. In her owt
4 house, and almost under her owI
eyes, the interloper usurped all th
G rights which belonged to her as
wife.
8 Last Saturday afternoon ther
Q was a big storm in the Shafe
G dwelling, though Shaffer himse
and Sad Jackson are exceedingl
C reticent as to what happened in
d mediately prior to the TRACED.
+ About eight o'clock in the evenin
;c the sharp report of pistol wa
d heard coming from an old, dilap
n dated hen-hOuse, located in the res
it of and perhaps dozen yards frol
It Shafer's dwelling. A minute
i more elapsed and John Shaffer wa
n heard to exclaim, "0h, Ella hi
se shot herself" Neighbors hearin
70 both the report of the pistol an
e. Shaffer'S cry, FASTENED to the scel
ID just in time to witness a few Co
l- vulsiye shudders pass over the u
he fortunate young wife as she expire
ed The aim, who ever made it, was u
ut erring. The ball entered about Il
I'd center of the breast, and glanoin
at penetrated either the heart or Il
main artery, in the immediate !
n, cinity. Death had been almost /
0. stantaneous. Shaiier, being t
first person to reach the seen
ie hastened to explain his whereabou
re when the tragedy occurred.
ut said he and Sad had been sittil
1t. on the porch in front Of the houI
or and had not noticed the absence
cd his wife, when the report Of t
he pistol reached his ears. He had !,
ed. his pistol on the stand in the roc
of adjoining the porch, where he o.
ect Sad Jackson had been sitting. 4
off did not know when Ella had gain
AN possession of it.
rth The neighbors who listened
Shaffer's explanation by this til
a had discovered the pistol, a
a. 1l.t.. a, ~ Law raar tho 0nru