Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-01-05
SINGULAR CLEWS.
Criminals Brought to Justice Through Small
Scraps Of Evidence.
London Exchange

Criminals Brought to Justice Through Small
Scraps Of Evidence.
London Exchange.
1t is curious fact that those who have
committed crimes are very frequently ar
rested with the evidence upon them.
LEROY, who killed Mr.. Gold on the
Brighton railway some years age, was
discovered with the old gentleman's
watch in his boot. Often, too, it is some
article of personal apparel which brings
about conviction.
Frarz Muller, Lefroy's predecessor,
who killed Mr.. Briggs on the North Lon
don railway, wore a straw hat with a
thinning having broad blue stripe edged
with black and white. This he left in a
railway carriage, and many of our readers
will remember how, little by little, the
structure of evidence, of which this
straw hat was the foundation, was built
up.
In recent burglary in Dublin the
thief was arrested on suspicion founded
on one Or two very small links. He had
entered a library in which on table was
small piece of wedding cake which hap
pened to be wrapped in such manner
that 1t might reasonably have been sus-
pecte6 to be packet of coin.
When the room was opened the follow
ing morning the cake was found scattered
on the carpet as though thrown down in
rage. 1t was observed, too, that q chair
had been used for assistance in reaching
a dispatch box from not very tall
article of furniture. The smart detective
who had the case in hand put two and
two together, and came to the conclu-
sion-frst, that the burglar was not a
young man, or he would probably have
eaten the cake, and, second, that he was
or small stature and had been obliged to
mount the chair in order to get at the
box. Acting upon these hints the de-
tective boldly accused "a well known
character" who had been observed watch
ing the house, and eventually traces of
the stolen property were discovered in
the burglars possession, and he was SEN
fenced to FIVE years penal servitude. As
the detective had surmised, he was very
short man indeed.
Rather more than sixty years ago the
Red Barn mystery first aroused public
attention. There was something SO ex-
traordinary in this strange story, and in
the fact that its secret was unraveled by
dreams, that for many years it was a
favorite ireside chapter of horrors among
the poorer classes. certain William
Corder was engaged to young woman
in his own county, Suffolk, and they
agreed to get married secretly on the 18th
Of May, 1924. The girl started forth dis
guised as man, the arrangement being
that she should resume her ordinary Co.'S
tune at place on COrder's farm known
as the Red Barn. Thence they were to
proceed to Ipswich, where they were to
be married.
Some time afterward Corder wrote from
the Isle of Wight, saying that he aud his
wife were living very happily. But the
girls mother, not hearing personally
from her daughter, grew alarmed, and in
March. 1928, dreamed on three successive
nights that her daughter had been muir
dered and buried in the Red Barn. So
convinced was she of the truth of the
augury that she persuaded her husband
to apply for permission to examine the
spot. He did SO, and on digging a few
feet found the remains of his daughter
enveloped in a sack. Corder was traced
to Brentford, where he was found mar
ried to the proprietress Of a ladies'
school. The dreams of the girls mother
can scarcely be called a clew, in the &C
cepted sense of the word. bat that they
were instrumental in bringing about
Corder's arrest Is beyond doubt.