The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-11-02
A LIGHTNING FLASH
Which Led to the Tracing Out of a
Great Crime.

/ ann not detective by profession
indeed, / should not care to be one. I
am simply a reporter for one of the
New York daily papers. But either by
sheer chance or because of some special
mental gift. have been enabled sew
eral times to Hnearth the bottom facts
IN criminal cases which had sorely
puzzled the members of the detective
force. So that now, whenever a partic-
ularly interesting murder, robbery or
disappearance takes place, it seems to
have become matter of course in the
Office that should be the one detailed
to write it up.
The West Side affair, however, came
into nay hands by chance, pure and
simple. Ny wife wanted to 60 to the
theater. 1t was a very warm evening
in June, and | was not anxious to go,
but what my wife wills usually
takes place, and we went. After the
play L would have taken the nearest
route to the Brooklyn ferry and home.
For some reason, but known to herself,
my wife preferred to return by the
one elevated railroad which happened
to be the furthest from the theater,
though distant growlings of thunder
warned us of approaching storm and
we had no umbrella. / love peace even
better than q dry coat, so we walked
across town and took a train on that
road. We were the only occupants of
the rear car. She took seat by the
open window, while | busted myself
with my note book. The storm was
coming on rapidly, the thunder growl-
ing louder and nearer and the lightning
flashes sharper and more frequent, but
paid little heed to them, until at last,
as the train slowed down, while round
ing a curve, one vivid, binding flash
filled the car, paling the lamp-light.
and distinctly heard a shriIl cry,
drowned, however, quickly by a crash
of thunder. My wife grasped my arm
excitedly, her eyes staring.
''Great heavens she cried, did
you see that?"
Eyes, it was sharp one"
''No, no; don't mean the lightning,
John. A woman is being murdered.
] saw her by the flash. She's hanging
from window close to the track and
a man is pushing her of. Didn't you
hear her shriek?"
.'Oh, nonsenser' | said. You
couldn't have seen all that Some one
was frightened by the lightning and
screamed-that's ALL
''Itell you did see it. She had hold
e Al al
in the window above her, trying to
wrench her hands loose. Why, saw
his face plainly. He had a smooth face
and his head was bald-perfectly bald.
] couldn't be mistaken
She was considerably agitated and
would have had me get out at the next
station and 60 back to the spot; but it
was now raining hard, and, feeling
sure that her eyes had deceived her, /
fatty refused to leave her to make her
way home alone at such time.
Still, poor man can not well neg
lect the smallest chance of good item,
and when | had seen her safely home L
hurried back to New York and to the
police station nearest the place, where
i found, somewhat to my surprise, that
some time before young woman had
indeed been carried there, unconscious
and so terribly injured by falling from
the window of lodging house a few
blocks away that she had died within a
few minutes. Nothing was known of
her but that she had hired q room in
the house about a week earlier, giving
the name of Smith and paying in adj
vance. Her landlady had spoken of
her as a quiet, ladylike person, who
kept much bv herself and received no