The Benton weekly record., 1880-01-02
miss ARRsrRoNGss HOMICIDE
A Scientific Bat Jealous lever Sets u
Trap which Proves Tn sse thc .sass5S
Of Death, and i'm which He
Himself Hs CdamgFaf,

o Trap which Proves tn sse fhc 5sss4S
of Death, and i'm which Ege
Himself as CaHgFat.
! 4 few weeks ago some WorkmeI el
! gagged iii removing an old mansion ON Il
!. corner Of California and Mason street
: We're considerably puzzled at finding
number of copper wires connecting IL
bath room with the room above HI
owners OF the property We're equally pll5
zled, having never before known of the
existence. The wires were removed, ail
nothing more thought of the matter. Thi
recalls to my mind an incident Nhic
many will now remember:
On the 14th of July, 1862, a Psofesso
Crofty was found dead in the bathroom
have just mentioned. Crofty was wei
known among scientific men as a professo
of chemistry, and, besides, had a large cir
Gle of acquaintance III this city. He wa
supposed at the time to have committet
suicide, and his death furnished tfre
i days sensation for the press. The ac
) counts in four leading newspapers ma
/ terially contiicted, which made The matte
4 all the more interesting to the public. Al
/ agreed, however, with q singular unanim
j ity of opinion, that he was dead. Eyel
the Ca9l, while not positively admitting hi
demise in the article, virtually conceded i
in the head lines.
i Crofty, when found, was living in ths
bath, covered with wounds Of SO curious ;
nature that no one could explain how they
came to be inflicted, They were deep
ragged and gaping, and there was no in.
strument found in the room with whicl
they might have been made. Even the
detectives who visited the scene of Crofty'E
death, shook their heads and were at sea
Those who discovered the body found the
door securely fastened from the inside
and were obliged to burst it open. Tie
room had no other means of egress or in
gress.
'sSHicide, y remarked one of the report
! ers.
Chow came those wounds on the back 90
asked 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 the blood which they could not
satisfactorily account for.
'sHe was trozen,' said young phvsi-
clan, whose opinion seemed to have its
foundation only in surmise.
You seem to have forgotten that this is
July" remarked an elderly gentleman
connected with the University.
The newspapers We'd with each other,
building up ingenious theories accounting
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 de-
tailed account Of the affair-as related at
the timc-can do so by referring to the
files OF any of the city papers of that date.
In fact would produce them here did
space permit The main thing, however.
is to clear up the mystery Of ('r0fty,s re-.
markable death.
He came to the coast in 1860. and was
reputed to be 4 man Of sufficient means to
live handsomely on the interest of his
money.
iie stopped awhile ut the Grand Oriental
Hotel and fbntt. mot Il Ham,
young man who, like himself, was Il gen
tleman of leisure. The two became ilti-
mate, and finally, tired of hotel life, they
determined to seek quarters which would
be more congenial end lome-like. They
found these quarters at the residence af
Richard Armstrong, :; mutual acquaint-
ance, who lived III very desirable quarters
on the corner of California and Mason
streets. Before the costly habitations of
Stanford, CroclSer, and other millionaires,
sprang into existence, Armstrong; house
came very near being called a mansion
Armstrong rented Crofty and Dean three
elegant rooms, partly because he liked tile
men personally, and partly because he was
running on a pretty close margin finan-
cially. The two found their new quarters
as attractive as men of taste could wish.
was a WidoWer, and the three
men had some rare old times together
evenings. His cellar was storked with
excellent wines, and his librar, With books
Of the very rarest vintage Of lite ~ are,
One evening q h:sek# ek#etroxe l'pto the
door, and a woman clad il wraps bounded
up the steps with astonishing yigor and
agility, ike mosf.of Western girls who are
blessed with good health eana 4 animal
spirits. She dashed into the hall iii i man
ner that sent a perceptible trenor through
the building, and fell intoold Armstrong;
arms. A fusillade Of kisses followed. 1T
was his daughter, Alice.
Next morning the usual formalities Of
We're gone through, and Miss
became one of the fixtures Of
the place. 4 few days before her arrival,
Professor Grofty had suggested the idea of
living somewhere nearer the center Of theI
city. After Miss Armstrong entered the
.'o''se' 1oNese ~ ~ 1'i '1sel 'i"S,os -, we
made to the proposed removal. The Pro-
fessor began to pay Miss Armstrong the
80 = 49,. eslisly',: l.' : 'osSi
49, - ~ - ',.s' - ~ VIZ ''',
,l os, - ~; 80 ~ - .e.s' - : ! So, ~
80. - 50. 80. ~ :. ~. l.oss 's'1se
ot,a. ,,,.n ,,a M .' 8 :. So','e ~,
s, aa,1 ~ - - -, o,'''.l, 80 .,1s
traa4s 10, ...,+, ;,,,,;a,a,as 80 l s.l Wv
-, - 80 is..
a.eaa ~, i,s.,,., -. 80 ! : ...
~ r,oso,tl,. 1,a<r., -, l.,,a,..,
o,1aa taovaa,,a,,t ,sl,s
= '''i,' : 81