The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1882-01-28
tFrom the New York Dispatch.l
THE BITTEN FiNGER-NAlLS.

lnE BIZ TN FlNGER-NAILS.
NJ. lie Commissaire, may I speak with
you?"
The man who uttered these words
looked frightened, abject and wret ched.
He had the look of a ragman, and was
hollow checked, with sunken eyes and
unkept hair. Hewore an old blouse and
pants that were threadbare and patched.
1t was on the 31st of January, 1868,
that this man ran into the office of the
commlssalre of police, Jules Minteaux,
IN Paris. The object glanced from one
to the other, and then at the commissaire.
Each official mentally photographed him
upon his memory.
"May [ speak with you, monsieur 2"
repeated the man.
'Who are you? What do you want ?'
asked the cOmmlssaire, CURLY.
"My wife-Mme. Purvois-has COM
mitted suicide. She is dead, monsieur.
[ live in the Rue Feron, No. T."
"Suicide-when?
"Some time during the night, mon
sieur. Last night when I came home
from looking for work she was alive and
in her usual spirits. She always had a
| smile for me, poor as | am, and even
though we hadn't a sou in the house.
"Well?" broke In the commissaire, alb
ruptly.
eve were very hungry, both of us,
but | cheered her with the good news
that had obtained the promise of work
at my trade, and we went TO bed supper
less, thinking of what good things we
would have when [ had earned my first
5 francs. An hour ago L awoke, and
mon djeu! she was dead. She was not
| lying beside me on our pallet, but on
| the floor, monsieur. In her hand was a
razor, and she had cut her throat from
ear TO ear. The blood was on her face
the floor. 1t seemed to be everywhere
in the room. Oh, monsieur, it was a
! horrible sight!"
| ga woman does not usually commit
suicide with a razor, and people Of your
appearance do not usually posses such a
tool" said the commissaire.
"Ah, but the razor is not mine, for l
| have none; [ do not know where she got
it. She must have thought of killing
herself before"
"She may have been murdered?"
"That is impossible, monsieur. The
door was fastened on the inside with a
wooden bar. and had there been a strug-
gle it would have awakened me as well
as our neighbors. :"
clad she been drinking?'
"She? No, monsieur; she disliked
liquor"
"Umph!' said the official; "she must
have been woman of nerve to cut her
throat with razor; and you a sound
sleeper not to have been aroused by the
fall"
81 was tired from walking the streets,
monsieur, and slept heavier than usual.
The tired and hungry always sleep
sound. They are like the dead, for they
do not dream"
81 will be at the Rue Feron, No. 7,
directly"
The man, who had given his name as
Ambrose Purvois, put his ragged cap
over his tangled mass of hair and went
out. Following him, at q signal from
| the cOmmissaire, was a mouchard, In
plain clot hes
"Do not let him get beyond your
reach, SAID the commiss aire.
Within the half hour the commissaire,
with two or three of his officials and a
surgeon of police, entered the dingy Rue
Feron. To reach the abode of Purvois,
they had to pass through a court, a
blind passage, and up three flights OF
narrow wooden stairs. Entering the
apartment, or rather narrow room, they
beheld the victim lying in the middle OIL
the floor, stark and cold, the CLASSY ewes
wide open, and enc of the hands clutch
ing the handle of the blood smeare6
razor.
On the pallet sat the hus oand with his
hands over his face, meaning as if af
fiicted with the most mcOnsolable grief
The officials bade him stand up. He die
so. The c)mmissaire questioned hin
sharply, while the surgeon made hi
customary examination of the body.
"Where were you married to thi!
woman?"
"In Marseilles, monsieur"
"How long ago ?"
SIN March next it will be three years
[ was in better luck then. I had money
put up, too.
"What was her maiden name?''
"Lisette Camareau. She was an or
phanr'
"How long have you lived here?"
"Only SIX months, monsieur--we hav,
existed. not lived. To live is to enjoy
oneself, and be happy. Poor, poor girl
she was so kind of heart. F."
There, that will do, now, " said the
official. The surgeon had made his in
spect1on of the body; the other officials
had examined the room, and had IN thei
brief, quick and yet thorough manner
questioned the neighbors in the group
of scared people in the narrow passage
way anxious to get sight of this new
horror of the Rue Ferons.
at may be suicide, said the com
missaire.
"The wound has the appearance o
being inflicted by a nervous hand, ad
ded the surgeon.
One of the officials, detective, ex
amined closely the woman's hands-th
= one which was closed about the razo
handle, and the other which lay stitfene,
beside her. He made no remark, how
} ever. but arose from his STOPPING posi-
4 ton.
E The body was removed to the morgue
; tbe official inquest was made, and the
: report of the decision sent to the project
II WAS that "There was no evidence Z
= show that the woman, Lizzie Purvois
; had died other than by her own hand