Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-26
TIE PRELLER MYSTERY.
AQuec Le,ier Received BY Maxwell.

AQueG Letter Received By Maxwell.
A st. Louis telegram says Max
well, who killed Preller, received sew
eral letters this morning from cranks
and others who have read of his case
in the newspapers. One crank, who
writes from New Orleans and signs his
name Louis Daubignick, speaks Of Max
well as an old friend, refers to an in
teryiew had with him at the Southern
Hotel, and says:
. You ought to understand the posi-
tion in which you have placed yourself.
Your stubbornness will cause you good
deal of trouble before you can get out
of it. The only thing that remains for
you to do at present is to tell the truth
TO your attorney, and to prove by Mr.
- that you procured the body; that
Mr.. Preller is alive, or at least that he
was alive at the time your subject was
discovered in your trunk. As to the
Disappearance Of Mr.. Preller, it seems to
me that the st. Louis detectives ought
to look into it a little more thoroughly.
Have arrested at once the man who
procured you the body, for it is posi-
bic that he may disappear at the time
you need him as witness. cannot
help believing that MIR. Preller has been
murdered in some way, aud believe
that IIarriette Steve lhis mistress). Of
Boston. knows more in regard to him
than the police Of st. Louis. would
be an excellent idea to have her under
the surveillance Of the detectives. !
have been informed that she has in
her possession a new set of dia-
monds, and | can only ask myself,
Who could have made her such
valuable present? 10 you understand:
| met Sir Percy Burrell, of West Cream
stead Sussex. last week. He assures
me that he had seen Mr.. Preiler at the
Spanish Fort in company with a lady
on the lst Of May. about the close Of
the Exposition. Sir Burrell is now at
Saint-Malo. You could send dis
patch to the British consul, asking him
to get Sir BurIell's testimony. Finally.
my dear Danquier, hope that you will
get out Of this hole with clean hands"
Maxwell tried TO hide this letter, but
the authorities got it away from him.
The letter and other testimony goes to
prove that the body in the trunk is not
that of Preller, and that the prisoners
name is not Brooks. In conversation
to-day the prisoner denied that his name
was Brooks, and said those who re-
garded him as Maxwell were right. He
said he had had a hundred names, and
he had been known as " Walter II. Len
nox.n again as Walter II. Maxwell" ,"
and every time he went to a new place
lby this meaning place Of diversiOn)
he gave a new name. In London he
said he was once known as The Only
Jones'" His practice had been when
out on a lark to use the name of some
very religious individual. 1t was pos
sible that in this way he might at some
time have given the name of Brooks,
although it was not probable that he
ever called himself Hugh NJ. Brooks.
lie positively denied that his family
name was Brooks.
There is other testimony to prove
that Preller is alive. a well-known
St. Louis drummer says that few days
after the body was found in the South
ern Hotel young man answering the
description Of Preller appeared at the
town of Ellston, No., organized
singing class, remained a month, and
then left without collecting his tuition.
Before he left he gave a high hat to a
colored man which has the initials &C.
A. p" inside of the sweat-band. Prel-
Ter was something of musician and
vocalist, and this and the high-hat evil
dence go to prove that he is the man
who entered and left EllstOn so myste.
riously. It's believed by many that
the reason Maxwell has exhibited such
exceptional coOlneSs is that he knows
that at the right time he can prove that
Preller is alive and that he cannot be
tried for numbering any other man but
PTeller. Between the United States
and British Governments there is an
extradition treaty containing a clause
to the effect that the person eXtradite1
can only be tried for the offence named
in the warrant. This clause was
inserted to prevent one Government or
the other from extraditing offenders for
alleged criminal offences and then try
ing them for some political crime. Max
well, therefore, can only he tried for
the murder of Preller, and if the latter
can be produced at the trial Maxwell
can Immediately claim his discharge.
The only way he can then be tried for
a new offence will be by the st. Louis
making another trip to New
Zealand, filing new evidence, and get
ting leave to prosecute the person in
question for some new cause.
A Boston telegram says DR.. T. II.
Graham Dewey, of this city, who knew
or Brooks, the alleged mur-
derer Of Preller in st. Louis, and was
a fellOw-student with him in the Sur
geons' College in London, said in all
interview to-day that he knew him in
England under the name of Maxwell,
not Brooks. Still his name might have
been Brooks or anything else, because
none Of his associates at the college
knew who his father and mother were,
nor anything about his origin or ante
cedents. DR.. Dewey thought the de-
scriptions Of Hugh NJ. Brooks published
in recent cablegrams did not exactly
tally with the man he knew as Maxwell,
nor did he think there was anything
peculiar about his manner, such as W.
A. Shaw, of Philadelphia, whose state
neEt has been published, observed.
. MAXWELL said DR.. Dewey, Z" was a
man of ordinary and entirely common
place appearance. There was nothing
savage or wandering about his. look"
The Doctor did not think Maxwell or
Brooks could have been a solicitor, be-
cause he was in the habit Of boasting
OF all he knew, and if he had known
any law he would have been certain to
tell of it. He was fond of chemi-
cal experiments, and was a very mild
md inoiIensiye person.