Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1880-02-12
the secret. The lock was extracted in a
few minutes and the door opened.

few minutes and the door opened.
Every thing lent to the mystery. The
obscurity gave to the heteroclitic OBJ
Jects fantastic shapes. Samuel Stauffer
bought and sold everything, furniture,
artistic collections, novelties, ANTIQUES,
silver goods and kitchen utensils-each ch
was an article of trade with him. A
thick dust-a sort of secular ashes, and
always respected, was everywhere
blending the colors vand softening the
angles. The spiders, working without
fear, had finished by uniting bronzes,
paintings and crockery. l
The door was guarded by two police
men to prevent the invasion of the Curl
GUS crowd. The chief conducted by
the butcher and grocer, both familiar
with the household, and followed by the
surgeon. assembled the stairs slowly, one
after the other, and arrived in front Of
the old jews room. They knocked
pure formality. The door, closed only
with latch, offered no resistance. The
policeman advancing few steps found
himself in the most profound obscurity,
and demanded if some one had brought
light. No one had thought of it.
Walk straight ahead" said the
butcher; the window is opposite the
door" fi-sa taf t4s
The chief having followed this advice,
opened the window and threw back the
blinds, which intercepted the light of
day. The light penetrating quickly into
the rooms, lit up a horrible tableau.
and feeling of terror caused those to
recoil who stood behind the policeman.
The disordered bed was not only mussed,
but trampled; the covers were thrown
about and dragged into the center of the
room, with two chairs overturned. On
the table, soiled by the grease which
had dripped from the candle, was a
carafe half filled with water, and q
broken glass. Everything denoted a
violent struggle. a terrible resistance
that of q victim against murderer.
In front of the bed-hanging on the
wall-was one of those clocks called q
cuckoo. But what hideous sight.
One of the weighted chains which hung
from the cuckoo was wound about the
neck of the unfortunate Samuel Staut-
fer. suspended four inches from the
floor. The face already purple, the fea-
lures inflated and convulsed, showed
that all hope was lost. Samuel was
dead.
The surgeon hastened to ascertain, as
soon as the body was stretched on the
oed, how long since life had become ex-
tinct The iron chain was deeply in
crusted in the flesh, making a fearful
bloody collar, horrible to see
The hands of the clock, arrested on
the face, pointed to three in the morning.
There were therefore seven hours that
the broker had ceased to live. The mo-
tion must have left the clock at the same
time that the last breath left the lips of
the dead man. N aff st.
Was it murder or suiciden Justice in
her turn should decide. If one Judged
simply from the inspection of the place,
The struggle was a startling evidence of
murder. The broker had been sur
prised in hi bed, sound asleep; he had
as long as his weak body and
tge would permit. Two chairs over
turned, the broken glass, noises which
were lost in the storm; the murderer
seizing the chain of the cuckoo and
strangling the Jew, had left him
hanging just grazing the floor; this was
the theory of the policeman-a theory
so plausible that the assistants and even
the surgeon listened without dispute.
" If you imagine a suicide, ,''recom-
the policeman, who was warm
ing up to the subject and agitating his
arms, "then Samuel Stauffer got upon
! chair and, kicking it over with his
oot, remained hanging by the neck. 1t
s inadmissible. How can you explain
ihe broken glass? Why two chairs
1verthrown instead of onepT Why the
lisordered state of the bed, the blankets
ragged to the foot of the wall, nearly
lnder the clock? Find a connection
with the theory of suicide and explain
t if you can!"
He stopped out of breath. Every one
was silent, regarding the corpse with
horror.
After a minute the surgeon said:
Pardon me, master! But from whence
came the assassin, and how could he
lave opened the door?n az lssg srI
"You think it was suicide" said the
tartly."
But" said the big butcher, coming
g Samuel Stauffer had ser
Yant." ,l..s
81 The servant, ah! have forgotten
lim," said the policeman, with trium-
ohant look toward the surgeon.
Quick! go and find him!n ~
Herman and the chief entered the
room which was occupied by Jean
Muller.
In one corner the domestic of the Jew
"a young man of twenty-fve-half-
iressed, was crouched on the floor like
some wild animal, holding his head in
his hands, without voice, haggarG and
to be under terrible impress
sion. l $685. y siuii -saA
''What are you doingPn asked the
policeman, who dared not approach. -
No reply. Muller did not bulge.
They assisted him to rise and supported
him under the arms. He let them do it
with complete Indifference. Herman
handed him his jacket and supported on
each side the young man was conducted
into the presence Of his murdered mas
ter.
When he recognized the room of
Samuel Stauffer a trembling seized his
limbs and by quick motion he at.
tempted to escape, but the iron hand eff
the butcher checked the despairing
effort.
The chief OF police turned his head
his suspicious were beginning to be con-
frmed more and more f~si ssf
Brought before the bed opposite the
corpse already cold, he regarded it stu
Didly, but without fear. 1t was not un-
til he turned and saw the fatal chain that
any terror seemed to possess him. He
trembled violently, Lis teeth chartered
and falling on his knees he appeared to
ask for mercy. But not sound issued
from his lips; he made only the most in
comprehensive gestures Hx&