The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-06-19
miscellaneous.
some Celebrated Crimes In h Eis-
tory of New York.

al lfiNSlClN IIiSA 'NNSh "a
sJesnread interest. This leads me to recall
number of similar mysteries which have
Jla;ed the closest and most patient lnvestlga-
.:an which. therefore, retain a bloody proml-
w." omca IN the history of New York. One of
! lb Was called the Manhattan well MUIR
jnr Nearly eighty years have elapsed
w. ro il occurred, and yet, during this long
;nteryaL. it has lived in the chronicle of 70
,"sntic crime. The victim was a young wo-
Inan who accepted an invitation from her
inTer to take a sleigh ride. The pair went
A together in the evening, and soon after
nard the lover returned alone. The young
,roman was missing, and his reply to all
',,astions was that she left the sleigh soon
Her they started, and he did not know
mbither she had gone. \ few weeks after
mJ some boys, while looking into a we'll
W. the suburban fields, discovered her corpse.
The lover was tried, but acquitted never
,bale,s. public opinion never accepted the
ulrIict and there can be no doubt of his
guilt.
~borrowing character occurred. A young
r;rl noted for her beauty, who was one of
;ba attractions of a cigar store, disappeared,
and three DAYS afterward her body, entirely
nnde. was discovered floating in the Hudson
river near the Jersey shore. Every effort
WAS made to investigate the matter, but with
no success. All that could be proven was
that she had been occasionally seen with a
vounr man who wore the uniform OF a naval
officer. There must have been a number OF
nprsons engaged in such a crime, but they
left no traces, and hence the mystery baffled
the keenest penetration. 1t may be added,
a. AN illustration of the connection between
romance and crime. that both this and the
foregoing tragedy were each made the basis
IF A work Of fiction. The first was used by
Theodore $. Fay in his novel Norman
Leslie" while the last was handled with
admirable skill by Edgar \. Poe in his tale
entitled The Murders in the Rue Morgue.
Poe examined the subject with all his powers
of analysis, and presented a very ingenious
solution of the mystery, but, though 1t may
have satisfied HIM, 1t has never been gener-
ally accepted.
The victims in the preceding cases have
been women. We now find a change Of sex
in the chronicle of blood and mystery. One
Of the most remarkable crimes of this kind
was the assassination of DR.. Lutener, a we'll
known aurist. who had an office on the first
floor of a Broadway building. The u%ntortu-
nate man was of licentious habits, and it had
been noticed that women came frequently to
his office. One day the report of a pistol
was heard, and when the neighbors repaired
to the scene they were shocked to behold a
corpse weltering in its own blood. \ wo-
man had been noticed leaving the place
about the time the shot was heard, but she
mingled at once in the Broadway throng and
was never identified. 1t Is highly probable
that the doctor received his death wound
from one of his own victims, but, as III the
Mary Rogers tragedy, there was no clue to
aid in the investigation, and the case must
remain among the bloody mysteries of New
York.
The Burdell affair was also the work of a
woman. Harvey Burdell, a well-known den
list. was slain at mignight IN his office, which
was the front room of the second story, the
weapon being a dagger. His housekeeper,
Mrs. Cunningham, with two daughters, and
also a young clerk, formed the entire family.
The boy who tended fire for the doctor came
down IN the morning and told the family
that the latter was dead, aud Mrs. Cunning
ham Immediately tainted. She was tried
tor the crime, but the prosecution failed to
make out a case, and hence acquittal follow
ed. The prisoner was an abandoned woman
If great " of will and equal ingenuity.
She was determined to retain her hold upon
her victim. who had made several efforts to
getrid Of one of whom he had become weary.
This lead hIm To threaten to let the house,
Of which he was the owner, and thus force
her To leave. Her plan in order to antici-
pate such action was to obtain a wedding
certificate. and remove the MAJ by toul
IleaEs.
The first was easily accomplished. She
appeared one evening at the house OF a
clergyman, accompanied by an accompllce,
who gave his name as Harvey Burdell, and
they We're married. The next step, how
ever, was not 50 readily accomplished: Bur
dell lodged in the house, but took his meals
elsewhere, and was too suspicious to be APP
preached with poison. Hencethe desperate
woman determined to use cold steel, since a
pistol shot would awaken alarm. Burdell
generally spent his evenings in disreputable
resorts, returning home at midnight. The
murderous woman entered his room with a
false key, awaited his return, and as he came
III gave him a mortal wound on the throat
ant followed it with other stabs, numbering
tull score. Such at least was the theory of
The prosecution. After the deed had been
Zone her bloody clothing and also the weapon
We're made INTO n h,nIN, OIL @b,o-,, into tho