The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-06-25
Miss Armstrong; Homicide.

gagged IN removing an old mansion on
the corner of California and Mason
streets were considerably puzzled at
finding a number of copper wires o n
Meeting the bathroom with the room
above. The owners OF the property
were equally puzzled, having never be-
fore known of their existence. The
wires were removed, and nothing more
thought of the matter. This recalls to
my mind an incident which many will
now remember.
On the l4th of July, 1862, a Professor
Crofty was found dead in the bathroom
I have just mentioned. Crofty was
well known among scientific men as a
professor of chemistry, and. besides, had
a large circle of acquaintance in this
city. He was supposed at the time to
have committed suicide, and his death
furnished a three days sensation for the
press. The accounts in four leading
newspapers materially conficted, which
made the matter all the more interesting
to the public. All agreed, however,
with a singular unanimity of opinion.
that he was dead. Even the Call, while
not positively admitting his demise in
the article, virtually conceded it in the
head lines.
Crofty, when found, was lying in the
bath, covered with wounds of so curious
a nature that no could explain how
they came to be inflicted. They were
deep, ragged and gaping, and there was
no instrument found in the room with
which they might have been made.
Even the detectives who visited the
scene of Crofty's death shook their heads
and were at sea. Those who discovered
the body found the door securely fas-
tened from the inside, and were obliged
to burst it open. The room had no other
means of egress or ingress.
Suicide" remarked one of the re-
porters.
"How came those wounds on the
back?" asked a detective.
"Who else was here?" responded the
journalist. And neither man had any
thing more to say.
A post mortem revealed nothing new,
except that the physicians had found a
state of blood which they could not sat-
isfactorily account for.
HE was frozen" said n young ply
sician, whose opinion seemed to have its
foundation in surmise.
You seem to have forgotten that this
is july" remarked IN elderly gentle
man connected with the University.
The newspapers We'd WITH each other
building up ingenious theories account
ing for the affair, the %coroner's Jury
found a verdict of suicide, for want Of
anything better, and the remains were
buried.
The reader who desires to get a more
detailed account of the affair-as related
at the time-can do so by referring to
the files of any of the city papers Of
that date. In fact I would produce
them here did space permit. The main
thing, however, is to clear up the
mystery of Crofty's remarkable death.
He came to the coast in 1860, and was
reputed to be a man Of sufficient means
10 live handsomely On the interest of his
money. %.
He stopped awhile al the Grand Ori-
entail Hotel, and there met Edward
Dean, a young man, who, like himself,
was a gentleman of leisure. The two
became intimate, and finally, tired OF
hotel life, they determined to seek
quarters which would be more on
genial and home-like. They found
these quarters at the residence of
with nicely and d%eliberation. Dean al
ways took a bath before retiring, which
was about midnight. In the morning
Crofty had purchased two seats at the
Metropolitan Theater and gave them to
Richard Armstrong, 4 mutual acquaint-
ance, who lived in very desirable
quarters on the corner of California and
Mason streets. Before the costly habi-
tations of Stanford, Croker and other
millionaires sprang into existence,
Armstrong; house came very near
being called a mansion. Armstrong
rented Crcfty and Dean three elegant
personally and partly because he was
running on a pretty close margin inan-
cially. The two found their new
quarters as attractive as men of taste
could wish. Armstrong was a wild
over. and the three men had some rare
old times together evenings.
One evening a hack. drove up to the
door, and a woman, clad in wraps,
bounded up the steps with astonishing
vigor and agility, like most Western
girls who are blessed with good health
and animal spirits. She dashed into
the hall in a style that sent a perceptlble
tremor through the building, and tell
into old Armstrong; arms. A fusil-
lade of kisses followed.
1t was his daughter Alice.
Next morning the usual formalities
Of introduction were gone through, and
Miss Armstrong became one of tie fix
lures of the place. A few days before
her arrival Professor Crofty had sug-
gestcd the idea of living somewhere
nearer the center of the city. After
Miss Armstrong entered the house, how
ever, no further allusion was made to
the proposed removal. The professor
began to pay Miss Armstrong the most
devout attentions, and, as a matter Of
course, she fell madly in love with
Young Dean, who paid her none. 1t is
generally conceded that one of the most
effective ways of wooing a woman is to
let some other man do it. The woman
tires of the interchangeable lover, and the
man who treats her with indifference is
preferred. Some men learn this by ex-
perience; Dean discovered it by acct
dent.
He presently began to turn his knowl-
edge to excellent account, and a bitter
rivalry sprang up between the two men.