The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1885-08-02
THE GUTENBERG MYSTERY
Il PROBLEM OF DEATH THAT SEEMS
TO BE UNSOLVABLE

Equally Strong Reasons for Believing
that Watchman jaime Killed Him
self and that Some One Else Dad 1t.
A careful investigation of the Gutenberg
shooting mystery shows no new light upon
the circumstances surrounding the death
of watchman jaime. The town people adj
here yet to the belief that he was murdered
in cold blood. County Physician Converse
is equally firm in the conviction that he
killed himself
The main fact in support of the theory
that no one is responsible for James death
but himself is the character of the missiles
found in his body. The pistol with which
he was shot, had been held so closely to
his breast bone, that his clothing was
burned and patches of it were driven into
his heart. A quantity of small shot was
found in the body. They were of such
light calibre, that Dr. Converse believes
that, if the pistol had been held six inches
away, they would have done jaime little
harm. His pistol, found fifteen feet away
from the point where his body lay, has not
yet been examined with view of determ-
ming the character of the shot with
which it is loaded. 1t is in the
possession of Coroner Haughey of
Hoboken, who has been subpoenaed to
produce it at Coroner Hughes's inquest to-
morrow night. James friends say, how.
ever, that it was loaded with just such shot
as was taken from his body. He carried it
with light charges, to frighten or MAIN as
sailants rather than kill them, If this
claim be borne out by an examination of
the undischarged chambers of the pistol,
it will indicate that jaime was at least killed
with his own weapon. One chamber of
his revolver was empty when it was found.
and trail of blood led from the place
where it lay to the point near the roadside
where jaime fell to die
If his own pistol killed him, the next
question for solution is who used it? On
this point there is no light whatever. 1t
was suspected at the start that man
named Mills, whom jaime displaced as
Waterman, might have had hand in it.
jaime had exposed to Peters, who en-
ployed jaime, some thefts of coal by Mills.
and Mills is said to have threatened to get
square with him. But Mills is said to be
able to show he went to bed early
on the night of the murder; and
suspicion has been directed more strongly
against saloonkeeper Kaltschmidt. jaime
was an unattractive hunchback, but he was
much in Mrs. Kaltschmidt's society. The
saloonkeeper is said to have looked with
suspicion on this intimacy. On the night
of the shooting, Kaltschmidt went to the
river to battle. jaime was at the saloon
with Mrs. Kaltschmidt. jaime had clock
which he was obliged to wind every half
hour. It was last wound at 1890 o'clock.
At IL o'clock Kaltsshmidt got back from
the river. He admits he sent for his pistol.
He proposed, he explains, to sleep
outside for GOODNESS, and wanted the
weapon for protection. Those who
suspect him, believe that he got his pistol
for use against jaime. That is the whole
case against the saloon keeper. Speaking
loudly in his defence is the fact that his
pistol carried bullet, and could not have
lodged in James body the small shot the
post norton examination revealed as
having caused his death.
ssThe reasons that induce me to believe
that it was suicide" said DIR. Converse
last evening, 'sare these: the fact that the
same kind Of shot was found in the body
as that with which his pistol was charged,
is one circumstance. The closeness of the
pistol to his body when he was shot is
another circumstance. He vould scarcely
let an antagonist plant pistol right against
his breast without single struggle. There
is not scratch upon him. The ground
about shows no sign of a struggle"
Some of the townspeople think he may
have accidentally killed himself. They
say he was in the habit of toying with his
pistol as some men do their watch chains.
While twisting it in his hand, in moment
of abstraction he might have accidentally
set it off,