St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-14
BROOKLYN DEODANDS.
Relics of Famous Crimes Pre-


RROOkLYN DEODANDS.
Relics of Famous Crimes Pre-
served in the City of Churches.
In Brooklyn an old English custom
survives that has been practically abol-
shed in both Great Britain and the
United States, writes st. Louis Globe
Democrat correspondent. In the dark
ages whenever man met his death by
violence the deadly instrument was
promptly confiscated by the thrifty
monks and named deOdand {given to
Cod. The term was literally applied,
and in time came to cover all the imple-
mentS of felony and in some instances
nearly all of the personal property of the
Southern France, where crimes of
violence were of frequent occur
renee, the income for the de-
mands was so large as to eX-
cite the jealousy and cupidity of the
feudaI lords. In the course of years the
crown took this right away from the
| church, and found it in many cases a
source of revenue. The custom pre-
vailed in this country until the ReyOlu-
| ton, and then died out. In Brooklyn
| the instruments of crime have for very
authorities and put upon exhibition in
| the county court house. The cOllcc-
ton is open to the public at all reasopa-
| bic hours, and is found in the inner
| room of the district attorneys office. 1t
| is contained in handsome glass and
| walnut cabinet that reaches from floor
| to ceiling and covers an entire side of
| the apartment. The collection is very
well arraged, and enables the spectator
Il Ii Of -
| Kings county (of which Brooklyn is the
capitaD without trouble OF delay. Over
| thousand objects are exhibited, and
| make an interesting and CHASTITY dis
| play.
| SOME OF THE INSTRUMENTS.
The eye first falls upon a series of
knives, rusty and blood-stained. well
illustrating the cosmopolitan character
of our great cities. The English dirk,
the American bowie, the French poin-
ard, the negro'S razor, the Italian still
etto, and, most ominOuS of all. the orr
entail creeSe with its serpentine shape
and cold gray color, are expressions of
| the interminable race-miXture which
| makes up our population. In the center
| of the cabinet are a series OF strange
looking glass Walls and tubes, porcelain
disks and watch crystals. Some are
clean and some covered with white
eating. Others stand out prominently
through white spots of metal on their
surface. These are the appliances used
by the chemists in the great Dr.. Irish
and GlOblewski poisoning cases. In the
latter case they enabled the authorities,
who were trying the Polish prisoner for
numbering his second wife, to prove him
guilty not only OF that crime, but also
of the making way of his first wife by
similar means. GroblewSki was found
guilty. but as there were grave doubts
| of his sanity, he was sent to the state
lunatic asylum.
On the floor of the cabinet are piles of
| burglars tools. Besides the mask, gag
and dark-lantern of the yellOW-cOvered
novel, are powder-blOwerS, diamond
drills, safe openers, ''patent levers"
sectional jimmieS and all the latest inn
pements of scientific burglary. Many
of these tools are of the highest work
| manship and show to what terrible uses
human ingenuity can be perverted.
HISTORY OF BLoOD-COVERED KNIVES.
In one corner are some ugly blood
covered knives which played a deadly
role in horrible murder. In January,
1886, AndreaS Fuchs killed William
Simmons and diSmembered his body
with these knives. Both were mechan-
les, and the motive was jealousy. Fuchs
was sentenced to be hanged, but became
insane and was sent to the asylum.
An innocent looking object is a heavy
cart-wrung, which, on close scru-
tiny, turns out to be split
and broken in three places. With
it Henry Rogers, the leader of the Bat
tie Row gang, a desperate of great
strength and reckless courage, killed
Officer John Donohue in July, 1872.
The ruffian's strength and the ferocity
of his attach can be easily inferred
when it is recalled that the one Oh two
blows given to the luckleSs policeman
fractured the massive piece of wood as
if it had been walking stick. Rogers
was hung for the crime the same year.
Far different in appearance is light
steel hammer, below which is suspended
piece of human skull. With this
hammer John M. Wright, a noted
ruffian, killed well-tO-dO junkman,
| Wright'S wrath by refusing to treat to a
glass of whisky.
OTHER LETHAI. WEAPONS.
MurdererS use all sorts of instruments
in producing death. Besides the cart
wrung and the hammer, there are other
odd lethal weapons. One of these is the
| kerosene lamp which Patrick Kennedy
threw at his wife, who died from the
combined effects of the blow and the
: | DldZlIlS OH. AuOtlltI Is a. lOllS Utu Sldt.
With this James Flaherty, while drunk,
killed his drunken wife. A third is a
vicious eowhide with which Thomas
Burke whipped his wife to death.
Although many of the crimes whose
silent witnesses are displayed in the
collection were inspired by drunken
rage, yet strange to say, drunkenness
appears to have been a very insignif-
,, cant cause in the commission of the VIC
lations of the law. Joseph Bagnarello
the curator Of the deOdandS, said:
l. 1.-THE crimes, which are recorded
here, are, in most cases, the actions Of
. Intelligent men who have deliberately
taken up law-breaking as a profession.
! Most of the deadly weapons come from
: people of this class, and all the tools do
of course. The rest come from insane
| people, drunken men and people wht
commit crimes in the heat Of passion
The Survival Of the Fittest.