Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-05-06

II
/ without 2. shudder, so frightfully was i
mutilated The nose in particular no
ticed had beenknocked into a grotesque
ly fantastic shape, thereby giving rise t.
the so6riquet by which she was familiarly
known. She had come to inform me O
| very important piece of evidence which
she had discovered, and which, say al
once, led ultimately to the Identification
aud conviction of the thieves. Into the
details of the case need not enter; il
was only remarkable because it intro.
kduced me personally to 'Clubnose,' u
and enabled me eventually to learn from
her own lips the story of her life, which
purpose here briefly setting down..
Some five-andctwenty years ago a
crime was perpetrated in London which
was marked by such exceptional features
OF atrocity as to send a thrill of horror
through the whole community. A mid
dle-aged gentleman of eccentric habits
was attacked in his own house, and not
only beaten and left for dead, but mutt
lated in a peculiarly shocking manner.
The miscreants also carried off a consid-
cradle quantity of valuable property.
The victim of this atrocious crime, strange
to say, in spite of the horrible injuries he
had sustained, was not killed outright,
and though for weeks his life was de-
SPARED Of, he eventually recovered, only,
however, to be for the remainder of his
days helpless cripple.
/ For some time the police could find no
clue to the perpetrator of this barbarous
outrage; but at last suspicion was at
tracted to a woman who was known to
have been occasionally employed about
the house to do odd jobs of cleaning. A
person answering to her description, it
was discovered, had been seen leaving
the house in company with a man on
the day on which the crime was COM
mitted. Some minor circumstances
tended to confirm the suspicion that this
woman was implicated in the affair, and
shewas accordingly arrested and charged
before magistrate. After one or two
remands, for the purpose of obtaining
further proof, the magistrate decided
that there was not sufficient evidence to
justify. him in sending the case for trial
and the accused woman was discharged.
That woman was Margaret Saunders.
She had all along emphatically protested
her innocence, and after her discharge,
she vowed that she would never rest un-
til she had proved it by bringing the
real offenders to justice. The police,
baffled by the failure of their charge
against herself, were compelled to con-
fess themselves completely at fault; from
them, Magaret Saunders could expect
no assistance. Alone and unaided she
set to work upon her self-imposed task.
At the very outset, when it seemed to
her that every moment was of value, she
had the misfortune to fall down fight
of steps and break her leg. This neces-
STATED her removal to the hospital, and
it was as she lay there chatting at the en-
forced delay and inaction, that there
came to her the first ray of light to guide
her on her search. In the next bed to
her there was a woman who was also
suffering from severe accident. On
visiting day she heard this woman say
in low, anxious voice: els Robert
safe?'' fs-
!" Yes" was the reply, also in a wom-
ans voice. 'He's in Glasgow, ready
to bolt, if necessary; but there'n be no
need for that, the boobies have chucked
up the game, as they mostly do when
they'v We failed to fix a charge upon the
first person they spot-unless there an
extra big reward offered, which there
amt in this case.'
How it was suddenly borne home to
her that this Robert - was the man she
wanted, "Clubnose'' told me she never
her all of minute, she said, and she
the instinct that prompted her to the con-
viction. She lay and listened, but could
catch nothing more. She got a good
ot%
visitor, and felt certain she should know
her again anywhere. Before leaving the
hospital, Margaret Saunders had scraped
up speaking acquaintance with the
patient who was SO anxious about
"Robert,'' and learned enough to find
out in what part of London she must
look for information about the character
and antecedents of the said Robert. !"
1t was this incident, by the way, that
suggested to her afterward the value of
assuming the disguise of hospital nurse.
The ingenuity with which she ferreted
out.the facts which eventually determin-
ed her, to track Robert" to Glasgow,
was wonderful. And not less wonderful
was her logged patience. Even when
she had run her quarry to earth and was
convinced in her own mind that she had
her hands upon the real criminal, she
had to wait until she could piece the bits
of evidence together, and above all, until
the victim of the outrage, whose brain
had been seriously affected by the in
juries he had received, had sufficiently
recovered his mind and memory to give
some ineligible account of the attack
upon him. Even when he could do so,
he protested himself exceedingly doubt
full of being able to recognize or identify
his assailants; he knew, however, there
were two of them-a man and a woman.
1t was nearly eighteen months after
the preparation, Of the crime before the
patience and perseverance of Margaret
Saunders were rewarded with sufficient
success to justify her in communicating
with the police. The Scotland Yard
officials were at first hardly inclined to.
credit her; but her earnestness convinced
them at last that there was " something
in it." Perhaps they were helped lit
tie toward that conviction by the fact
that she solemnly swore she would never
finger penny of the reward. "She
had hunted this man down to clear her