Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-05-27
A STRANGE STORY.
CAN ITS EQUIVALENT RE FOUND?

ldllA udEG ~ NlAC Az NeNN
the improbable that, happens,
and any one who will
who will give the matter 3 close study
will find that this idea is full ~corroborat-
ed by passing events. Dickens,
Thaekeray, Hugo, and BalZac have
been metaphOrically crowned with
laural, the emblem'of genius, for the re-
markable talent displayed by each in
the construction Of romances that re-
Semble reality, yet any n who will
take the the trouble to investigate
the records of any old public de-
partment will find that the prototypes
of Jean Vatican, Becky Sharp, and Mr..
Peessniff are in everyday life, and that
the remarkable books of fiction are
surpassed in the improbable by sober,
staid, monumental facts that occasional
" come to light and that cannOt be
Sushed aside. Such is the character OF
a case that was recently brought to the
notice Of he police department OF the
city, but was subsequently handed over
to the mercies of private detectives.
Several years ago one Of the most pop
lar teachers in the Irving School, in this
city, was a young lady whose real
name il would not do to publish, out
who was called Harriet.
SHE WAS HANDSOME,
intelligent, and possessed all the attri
butes that 90 to make woman attrac
tive. She was q favOrite both with the
principal and scholars, and her bright
ness. and beauty won her many friends.
As was very natural, a young lady o
such disposition and accomplishments
could not be without hCr admirers in
the opposite sex, and Miss Harriet had
no small number. Only one possessed
her heart, however, and the admiring
throng gradually lessened until there
were but two, Harriet and her sweet
heart, q mutual admiration society.
He was young. She was young. He
did not have the means to support her,
but wanted to marry her; and thus 1t
came about that a secret marriage was
proposed, to which she consented. 1t
was consummated, but the twain still
appeared in public as lovers, and she
went on with her teaching as usual and
he continued
THE EVEN TENOR OFHIs WAY.
This was kept up for nearly q year, the
time being passed in stolen visits, though
the fruit was not forbidden. At the
end of that time the husband died, and
if an observer would have noticed he
would have discovered that theteacher's
grief was deeper than a sw~eethearts
though twas in that position that she
stood before the world. Neither ever
breathed a word of the clandestine
marriage, and the young teacher was
confident that the secret reposed only Ill
her bosom, and that there il should re-
main until her soul has passed beyond
the threshold of the hereafter. She
continued her vocation Is teacher, and
everything appeared to run smoothly.
About six months after the death OF her
husband she was suddenly confronted
one day by an eX-admirer, who politely
informed her that he was acquainted
with the secret that she was carrying,
and, Moreover, of the fact that she had
enjoyed all the privileges ola wife with
out being
MARRIED TO THE MAN
whom she believed was her husband.
The Young woman insisted that she
had been married, and he defied her to
prove it. She did not have the certificate
that was given to her dead husband,
and she did not know the name of the
Justice of the peace who performed the
Ceremony. The fellow then coolly
informed her that if she did not marry
him the whole matter would be made
public. She resisted his coercion for q
long time, but finally, rather than have
her name banded from mouth to mouth,
she consented to the performance OF the
She Immediately gave up
teaching and started with her husband
on a wedding trip. They made a tour
of all the Eastern watering-places, and
finally wound up i'm Chicago. There
they lived for q short time, when sud
denly the second husband took sick ana
died. The widow returned to st. Louis
attjred in the deepest mourning, and
when questioned by her husbands
family as to the nature Of the disease
that carried him off answered that II
was heart disease. After a short season
Of mourning she
LAID ASIDE THE sOMRRE WEEDS
and was once again transformed into a
belle. She evinced no disposition to go
into society, but was the same inteill-
gent, demure creature as before the
secret marriage. Her natural fasclna-
tions were irresistible, and suitors again
thronged her home. Meanwhile the
family of her second husband, but pub
licly known as her first, became suspi-
eious for some reason regarding the
manner of his death. They reported
the matter to Chief of Police Nc
Donough, and requested him to send q
detective to Chicago to invesgate. The
detective was sent, but the Chief advised
the parents to turn the matter over to
the hands of the Pinkertous or some
equally efficient private detectives. This
was done, and the st. Louis man was
recalled. Pinkerton placed one of the
shrewdest men on the case, and little
by little evidence accumulated that
placed the wife in anything but an en-
viable light.
1T WAS DISCOVERED
that they had lived in one of the palace
hotels of the Garden City, and that ex-
trayagance ran riot. Although living
well they did not live happily, for the
husband continually informed the wife
that he was not her choice, and that it
was a marriage for convenience. Peo-
pie who met the couple at the hotel and
elsewhere testified that the man appear
ed exceedingly healthy, and the night
before he died the proprietor stated that
he PLAYED billiards until q late hour,
and appeared to be in the best o fspirits.
Bellboys and walters testified to the
quarrels between the two and the vio-
lent temper Of the man. The detect
i've found that the burial Certificate was
marked heart disease, and that the
body was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
He went to the city Of the dead and in
! quired, and was informed that q week
after burial two men came with the
order for the body, saying that 1t was
going to be sent home. 1t was dug up
and handed over to the men, and then
all trace of it was lost.
H VIE WAS ASKED
concerning the order, and denied max
ing out any such document. The de-
tective was baffled. He inserted
personals in the newspapers for the men
who removed the bOdv- Offering large