Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-06-22

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and, upon opening it, had seized him by the
throat, and in a quick, fierce struggle,
stabbed him repeatedly with short, broad
bladed knife The wounds showed that il
must have been powerful hand which dealt
the blows, for the knife had been stuck in to
the handle and any of the numerous wounds
would have caused death. AIRS. Cunning
ham, who kept the house, John c. Eckel,
boarder and her cenGdant, and another
boarder named Snodgrass, were arrested,
but they were not convicted. 1t was thought
that In the legal proceedings, both in the
coroners inquest, which lasted MANY DAYS.
and the subsequent trial of Mrs. Cunning
ham, the officers of the law Numbered mex
cusably. Mrs. Cunningham claimed to
have been secretly married to the doctor
That their relations had been intimate, and
that she had tried to persuade him to
recognize her as his wife, and that
they were on exceedingly bad terms, and
had had legal troubles over the affair was
proved. The theory of the crime was that
the woman and Eckel had planned the MUIR
der with the idea that she should, after the
death of the doctor, claim her widows dover
IN his estate, which was valued at one hun
dred thousand dollars. She did make such a
claim after her acquittal on the trial for the
murder, bnt it was not allowed. Through
the blunderlng or otherwise of the Law
officers, all the accused parties escaped con-
die not commit the crime, who did, and what
was the motive for the murderP They were
In the house at the time of the murder, there
was recognizable motive for perpetrating
1t, so far as they were concerned; but if some
other person did it, it must have been done
for robbery, and no robbery had been COM
mitted. Death only was sought; and the only
persons who could be shown to have an in
terest In the doctors death were those who
were accused of causing it. But, legally,
the perpetrators of the crime remain undis-
covered.
The murder of Mr. Charles III. Rogers is
comparatively recent. Mr.. Rogers was clean
ing the snow frsm the sidewalk In front OF
his house, No. ~ East Twelfth street, about
seven o'clock on the morning of December 81,
1868. While thus engaged he was suddenly
stabbed IN the abdomen by some man, and
died from the wound a few days after. Before
his death he related the cIrcu instances of the
attack upon him. Two men were coming
down the street, when one started toward
Mr.. Rogers, while the other, to whom he had
given his overcoat to hold, remonstratingly,
said, Don't, JIM" The man jim immedi-
ately attacked Mr.. Rogers with knife,
slashing him about the head and cutting his
hat to pieces, but not touching the scalp. In
the struggle the assailant seized Mr.. Rogers's
watch and chain and took his pocket-book,
but MIR. Rogers IN turn tore off the skirts Of
the thiei's coas, and the articles were found in
the pockets. 1t was at the last moment that
the robber gave the fatal stab In the side,
from which Mr.. Rogers diod. In this case
the police had portion of the mans coat
and his hat, which was lett On the sidewalk,
as evidence for the discovery of his identity;
they had also the facts that he was with a
companion at the time and place, and that he
was known by the name OF "Jim." 1t will
occur to most people that if such murder
were done In these days, and the police had
so good evidence to work upon, there would
be slight chance for the murderer to escape
detection; but in 1859 the administration
of New York was in a state which enabled
almost any scoundrel who had money and
political influence to go scot free. The city
was IN the hands of thieves and scoundrels,
and possibly on this account it was that the
ruttlan who murdered Mr.. Rogers could never
be discovered. A number of arrests were
made, but no convection obtained.
The next murder which startled the CITY
was that of Mr.. Benjamin Nathan, the
wealthy Hebrew, which occurred on the
morning of July 20, 1870. Mr. Nathan was
| found lying dead, with his skull smashed, il
bis house in West Twenty-6fth street. A
heavy iron instrument used by ship-carpen-
tiers, called dog, was found near the
| body, and shown to have been that by which
the murder was committed. In this case il
was clear that robbery was the motive of the
crime; and from the fact that an immense
reward was offered for the discovery of the
murderer, without bringing a response, it is
Il logical inference that one man only was
concerned in the affair, and that he had no
accompliees. He probably obtained entry to
the house by false keys, and was engaged in
robblng the place when discovered by Mr..
Nathan. A single heavy blow on the head
with the massive iron dog would have been
enough to kill. Several we'll known criminals
were arrested on suspicion. but there was not
| the slightest evidence against any of them;
and the Nathan murder remained the last
''unsolved mystery" until the murder of Mrs.
Hull horrihed the community last week.
In the several cases cited above it will be
| observed that In two instances robbery was
the motive of the crime; in another, it must
appear that pecuHlary gain through the death
OF the victim could only have ompted the
assasslns; IN the case of Mary Rogers, brutal
| passion was the cause; while the motive for
| the killing of Helen Jewett remains as un-
| dlscoyerable as the perpetretor of the crime
The story that young Robinson murdered the
| girl to prevent her exposing the fact of his
| consortlng with her is scarcely credible 1t
| would have been the act of lunatic Yet
| 1t was not known that the girl had any enc
mics, and robbery was not the purpose of the
murderer, for no robbery was committed
| The motive was as much a mystery as that
which prompted the shooting of Corliss, a
| murder which antedated the Jsvett case. In
| that instance man was called to the door of
the hotel where he lived and shot dead. 1t
was In the early evening, aud in a public
street; but who did the Shooting was never
known. 1t was suspected that it was a
woman; and revangeful jealousy might have
prompted her to the deed.