River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1886-04-22
TELL-TALE sPECTACLEs.

adventures are gwen luSt As narrated
Luck has much to do with success
in our profession, said a short. thick
set man with iron-gray hair as he tilt
ed back against the wall Indeed, if
you are following blind trail YOU must
depend upon luck to help you out. A
few years ago | was summoned by
telegram to a small town in Ohio to
| take hold of murder case. An old
| lady living alone on the outskirts Of the
town had been found murdered, but
the crime had occurred at least two
days before discovery. That robbery
was the motive was proved by the fact
that the house had been thoroughly
ransacked She was known TO have
mad several hundred dollars in money
and some valuable heirlooms. and ev-
erything had been taken. The search
had been so thorough that 1t was like
IL the murderer had spent several
hours in the house after his horrible
deed He had even taken the old wo-
mans Spectacles, snuffbox. thimble, and
other triiles of the sort; but he had
come and departed without leaving a
trace.
"Wel, the firstinference was that he
had come and gone in the night. The
next inference got me into trouble at
once. The sheriff and constables and
all the townspeOple had made up their
minds that the murderer was a Young
man name q John Winthrop, the old
woman's nephew, who hung out
around Cincinnati. II was known that
he often appealed to her for money
when hard up. and that only two or
| three weeks before the murder she had
refused TO advance him another dollar,
and that he had gone away cursing
| her
1T was fair clue to work on, and
went to Cincinnati to work up John
/ Winthrop. He could not be found but
| | found friends of his who strengthened
the case against him. The day pre-
viOus to the murder he was hard up,
and irving to borrow money. The day
after the murder he had plenty of
money, and offered to lend some. He
was gambler, a rake and all that was
I bad. and no one would be surprised to
hear that he had committed murder.
/ To still further strengthen the case
/ discovered that he had been on the
train running from Cincinnati TO
I Blankvillc on the afternoon of the
murder He was also known to have
returned To Cincinnati on the morning
after Better clues could not be asked
I for, but, hunt rs | would, / could not
/ turn him up. He seemed 10 have
dropped right out of the world. For
six weeks | went up and down the
country. seeking everywhere but al
/ in vain.
There was one thing in the case
which puzzled me. Why had the
murderer packed up and carried
away the trifing articles | have men
I toned? a tramp wouldn' I have done
it; and what the nephew could want of
! them was more than could under
stand. had never met with anything
/ like it in all my experience, and ny
mind was half made up on the very
start that the crime was the work of a
I lunatie. After six or seven weeks OF
faithfully work the ease was practically
I abandoned One day ! was at the Air
Line junction. q couple of miles north
of Toledo. and among other people
Z there, waiting TOR the train, was
a lone woman about 30 years of age.
| As She sat reading her spectacles fell
of, and ore glass rolled out of the
frame. 1t was my fortune to sit near
her and to pick up the glasses. As
did so she said:
=" There they 60 again! never
saw such pair Of glasses in my life
The Optician did not give You a
! good fit. | observed.
" Oh, | didn t get 'em Of an opti-
clan; / bought EN- of a stranger while
/ was travelling, but | never was 50
cheated in my life!
d" Was it very long agO?'
/" About three weeks.
well, | got away by myself to think.
/ mad seen that man somewhere.
Where was it? ] began and followed
my work all over in my mind, but
could not locate him. 1t was midnight
and | was fifty miles away when ! sud
denly placed him. He was one of the
Jurors at the Coroner's inquest. Next
day / was back in the village where
the murder occurred. The spectaclcs
were Unidentified by several of The
neighbOrs, and when | came to make
some cautious inquiries about the man
found him 10 be a worthless sort OF
fellow living a mile or so out of town
and making a poor living for himself
and family 10y digging wells and doing
odd Jobs. |. was true that he was j
Juror on the inquest, ami it was also
true that he had been at Monroeville
at the time named.
Il went alone to arrest him.
called at his house in the evening, un-
der pretence of engaging his services,
aud as he sat by his own tireslde, sur
rounded by his wife and children.
told him who | was. and charged him
with the crime. He wilted like a weed
in the sun as he comprehended what
my words meant, but his wife was
made of a different stuff. AnaXe stood
in a corner of the room. and she seized
it and tried TO split my head open.
had Just all ! could do TO put the hand
cuffs on her, aud then she turned on
her shivering husband. and re giled him
until he stopped his ears TO shut out
her voice He turned out To be a
weak-minded fellow, and it was plain
IL shown that she not only put up the
job, but went with him to execute it.
While he was searching for the money
she packed up the other articles, even
taking hair brushes, combs. and
towels. She had braced him up 70
appear At the inquest, and he had come
through il all unsupported. While il
was a clear case for the hangman,
some bubble of law saved their necks,
and both are now serving long
sentences in prison.
And how about the nephew?
asked. as he seemed to have finished
well. on the day of the murder ht
took the train, as | have told YOU, bu
got of at a town below Blankville
There he fell in with some local sports
and won about 500 at poker thai
night Upon his return to Cincinnati
his life was threatened by woman o.
the town for some grievance, and to b,
rid of her he made a clean jump L
Nashville, and was arrested there fol
gambling and sent to jail for thre'
months under an assumed name.
Yes. luck sometimes plays into ;
mans handin a strange way. said
fannsbay- % 4ha frr.nun hp plpyaf a.