The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1881-03-13
CHAPTER v.


innocence.
CHATTER V.
II need scarcely be said that the great
fire. in which not only Tennicl Il Court
ney'S bank, but the building next to it in
which the fire was first discovered, and
several other prominent buildings had
been destroyed, together with the cruel
murder of an old and universally respected
citizen like Luther Tenniel, furnished
Eldredgc with double nine days wonder
Indeed the proyerbial nine days had
past and gone some time, and still these
| two events continued to be the town talk
| Of Eldredgc. At the time Of which we
write Eldredge had grown to be a large
city and an important business center; yet
its growth had Of late years been very
rapid, and II still retained certain amount
Of that prOvncialism characteristic of
these large cities Of mushroom growth, of
which one of the peculiar features is the
familiarity of every one with every one
elSe's business In such place, of
course, in the case of well known promi.
nent man occupying the position of Mr..
Tennicl, who had grown with the city,
everybody knew or thought they knew all
his private affairs, and numerous were the
spccnIalions and rumors among the large
family Of newsmongers as TO the particu.
lars relating TO the principals in the mel.
ancholy tragedy.
As Mr. Tcnniel had feared, the condition
Of the bank proved to be somewhat in.
ynlynl upI Elutnrl Tn,e, H.,
many held to be more or less responsible
for this state Of affairs. 1t appeared that
every one had prophesied something of
this kind some time previous, Leighton,
while young man of very good habits,
had always lived up to the full limits of
his salary, which twas liberal one; in
society matters he had of late years taken
a somewhat prominent part, and every lit
tie indication Of extravaganza in the past
was now wildly exaggerated, and the wise
heads shook gravcly rs they undertook to
put this and that together, and constructed
their own ingenious theory as 10 the course
Of events which had led up to this sad and
wicked ending Of n young mans appar.
emily promising career The newspapers
did their share in weaving the mCShcs Of
luc Htl III NHlNu NC uulOllulldlt YOUNG
man was so terribly entangl0d. Ubiqui.
tous reporters interviewed, or sought to
interview every person nearly or remotely
connected with the chief actors in the
tragedy. Even poor Helen, as well as her
mother, were for many days the victims Of
these importunae newsgalhcrcrS. Start.
ling headlines protaccd the four or
five columns day which the daily
papers devoted, in the interests Of
curious public, TO narrative Of all possible
details and numerous comments clCrcOn,
concluding with sundry letters from self.
important persOnagcs on "thG late terrible
tragedy" and other similar captions, in
which these self constituted mentors in.
s,ructcd society upon It's duties, until finally,
when every conceivable phase Of the case
had been presented and discussed, and
material for more was lacking, the editors.
in-chicf Of all the leading papers condos.
ccndcd themselves to write editorials on
the subject, in which they avcrrcd in
highly moral tone the duty Of all journals
TO refrain from any discussion prcjudcial
or otherwise 10 the accused (who had been
for many days previous referred to in their
columns as " the murderer ~ until the law
should have taken its course, and the
proper tribunal decided on the merits OF
the evidence in the case.
The question Of the phonograph had Of
course been taken mp during these discus.
sionS, but only ~ n rule, TO be dismissed
very summary as probablyvery unreliable,
no instance having yet been known OF the
phonograph being so applied with any
practical success All this to the intense
disgust Of Mr. Fellows, whose good opinion
Of Mr. Courtncys ability was very much
shaken when he found that even that gentle.
man, notwithstanding some former enthu.
siasm in the matter expressed himself
somewhat skcptically as to the possible
value of this missing witness.
In a word, the crCumslanlial evidence
against poor Leighton was SO strong and
public opinion so firmly against him, that
the only witness capable Of furnishing re.
liable evidence on the subject was lost
sight Of, and inasmuch as the photograph, |
saved by Leighton almost at the risk Of his |
life, had never turned up II was not unlrc.
qucntly asserted and very generally be- |
licycd that the account wrung from him by |
persistent reporter of his efforts TO secure
This important testimony, was shrewdly
manufactured by the wrclChcd criminal, In
vain cndcavor to turn the tide of public
sympathy IN his favor.
That Edward Leighton, on recovering
us senses on the morning after the events
recorded In the last chapter, should have
i1uhu himself under arrest, charged with
w. .le murder of Mr.. Tonniel, Is what all our
'oaacrs ~ wlll have long ere this, anticipated,
mr' enhlels remains had been rescued
from INC building in response to a sudden
cry ,hai he was known TO be within it.
BESIDE nm was also found the weapon
WIN whlCh the decd had been commit.
yea, ana winch Leighton At the coronor's
Inquest aolnlt'ed TO be his, An account
OF ms last interview with Richard Court.
ncy too although that gentleman had
not been examined before the coroner Ind