Mexico weekly ledger., 1886-06-24
A TELL.TAi.E INK MARK.
II Led to the Detection OF Murderer.

A few evenings since a st. Paul o
Pioneer Press reporter stepped into a u
mall retail establishment on side g
treet of St. Paul TO make the pur- U
base of cigar, and after securing 7
he weed, was turning to leave, when
he proprietor remarked: "Some . !,
lme ago noticed an item in your Z
,aper which said that in San Francis T.
o they photographed the thumbs OF Q
and that there seemed to be q
greater difference in their thumb c
rails than in their faces. Now, that d
= wrong impression Of the matter.
It is the underpar., or sole, of the
humb which is photographed, as the
ines and circles in tue skin are net
.he same on any two persons IN the
This fact is not generally
known but, if / am not mistaken, is
taken as subject of illustration in
Mark Twain's Life on the Mississip-
ri, in which murderer is ferreted
out, but at the end the wrong man
pays the penalty of the crime. For
many years was in the detective
business, and in one case the only |
clue had was the imprint of a mans
thumb. 1t is not a very long story,
and if you are not in hurry l will
tell you about it," Being requested
to relate the incident, he resumed:
'At the outbreak of the war, l en-
listed from Illinois, and after re-
ceiving my discharge at Memphis, 1
made my way up the Mississippi to a
city situated ON the river-the name
of the place I will omit for various
reasons-for the purpose of visiting
relatives before returning to New
York, my native State, where I had
been offered the position as head of
detective agency. The city where
l was visiting then had population
of. perhaps eight or ten thousand in
habitants, and by the time set for my
departure I had cultivated quite an
extensive acquaintance, among whom
was very eccentric old man living
alone with his granddaughter, young
lady just verging into womanhood
and between whom there was strong
attachment. Very little was known
concerning them, but from the young
lady herself l afterward heard very
remarkable history concerning her
parents and grandfather. They had
formerly lived in Virginia, where the
old man had been highly connected.
His only child, daughter, married
against his wishes, a shiftless, lazy
fellow, and was disowned by hel
, father, her mother having died severa
, years before. This man, finding tina
he would get none of the fortune
, which rightfully belonged to hi
wife, soon tired of her, and befor'
they had been married a year, b.
: kicked her out of the house on win
p ter night. She returned to her faith
S er's house and asked forgiveness, bu
I he was relentless, and in a week
time she died in the almhouse afte
s giving birth to a daughter. Whe
9 it was too late the old man repente
of the manner in which he had treat
a ed her and took his little grandchil
if and left for the West, hiding frol
n the disgrace to which he had subject
ed himself. Buying home he devt
/, ted his life to the education of h
=. grandcbild. The house in which the
m lived was situated on a high blu
overlooking the river, and was game
4 only by a narrow path running u
If the side Of bluff.
n This path, must confess, l hs
,e traversed almost daily for some tin
previous to my intended departure
ct not for the purpose of viewing Il
" scenery after reaching the SUNNI
i. but for the pleasure of an hours ch
ia with the old mans granddaughte
,5 On one of these occasions the youl
lady told me that one of the pecu
al arities of her grandfather was that
n. had for years kept quite a large ST
ali of money in the house, not trustil
the bank for its safe keeping, a
>, that size was always in fear OF
nd life in consequence. This story
had heard from my own reiatlv
mt and was not greatly surprised wh'
mr. ON my way to the steamboat landl
one morning to secure passage to
ar Louis, [ heard that during the nis
o;r some one had broken into the
mans house, murdered him as he
coo in bed aud made his escape with
tho money. This news banished all my
Of tention of leaving, and l at once b
tened to the scene of the tragedy
.or prevailed upon the young lady to
ara cept the hospitality of my relatl
md until the matter could be straighte
up, which she thankfully accept
ri then set to work to ferret out
,,o murderer. The entrance and
had been made through q windo'
om the rear of the building, and, W
looking for tracks under the wind
uo 1 notice a black mark on the
,,sI which had been painted white. U
N close examination it proved to be
imprint of a mans thumb. The L
-, . ner IN which it came there was et
arm explained. The money which
: been stolen was hidden in com
writing desk in the old mans
u II