Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-12-05

of rubbish out of a stall. Hidden ava,
with it was fine saddle, and as it wa!
brought to light the man exclaimed:
BLESS me, here's the dead man sad
dle!''
Was it missing?" | asked.
- 1t was stolen on the night of his muir
der. That's the reason he went down tc
Lossing's on foot. -
Who stole it? What for? An outsider
who stole the saddle for its worth, would
/ have carried it off. An insider only would
have stored it in the STALL Who was In
side? white man and two negro assist
ants Within an hour | had ascertainec
that the white man, whose name was Eos
ter. was absent for an hour ON the evening
OF the murder, and that since then he hac
acted very queerly. | arrested him
charged him with the crime, and he die
not hold out fifteen minutes. His motive
was robbery. He did not intend to kill his
victim, but only to stun him. He had just
struck him when the dogs barked greeting
| to Graham, and, overcome by sudden
fright, Foster dashed away and dared not
return. He thought he had only to keep
still to render himself safe, and. but fo1
my being present when the saddle was
found, he might never have been sus-
pected Graham was cleared and Eos
ter was hanged The change had been
brought by the fondling of dog.
] The second case occurred in Ohio, in a
j town not far from Cincinnati. A young
man, Frank Meyers, had become infatuat-
ed with a doubtful woman. The affair
created a scandal, and his father and
friends made every effort to break it up.
The young man was finally brought to see
! the error of his ways, but when he attempt
| ed to sever the tie the woman sought to
hold him by threats. This angered him,
and he INDUCED In some hard talk of what
| he would do In case she further annoyed
| him. Thus matters stood when he set out
one evening to see her and make a last at
| tempt to settle. 1t was a summer night
and they were seen walking in the supurbs
of the the town. They were overheard in
home pale and excited, his clothing dis
arranged, and his face bleeding from
scratches. An hour later she was found
! dead, choked to death
| Young Meyers was arrested at midnight.
He did not even assert his innocence. 1t
was only on his examination that he pro-
| tested, and even his own father believed
| him guilty. | happened to be in town,
relating the incidents of the one | have al
ready narrated. The prisoner himself sent
for me and told me this story:
Il met the woman, Mrs. Albright. by
appointment We walked out on Clark
avenue to be alone. | told her that my
mind was firml made up to see her no
more, and she was very angry | should
! have returned with her. but at the little
bridge she ordered me to leave her, threat
ening to do desperate things if | did not
relent by the morrow. | did not return
| by the highway as our meeting was a
secret one and | did not want it known
| crossed a corner of the graveyard, fell off
the fence as | did so, and there my face
was scratched by the briers''
But you hardly denied your guilt" |
said.
Because | was confused and stunned bv
my arrest, and because | saw no use of it. -
he replied Il have told you the truth |
want you to bel p me prove myself clear. "
| left him with the feeling that he was
lying to me, and that nothing could be
done in his case. Ten or twelve DAYS had
elapsed, but there had been no rain.
went to the bridge, crossed the creek at the
| point he told me to, and soon came upon
| his trail. At the graveyard fence | found
a broken rail and the spot where he had
fallen. | found the briers broken and
crushed, and from the thorns | gathered
| several small fragments belonging to the
suit he wore. Further on he had stepped
into ditch where mud was soft at the
time. 1t had now dried hard and pre-
] served the print. | measured it, and when
| returned to town | had begun to believe
that Meyers was either good talker or an
innocent man. His story was all right in
one sense, but all wrongin the other. Did
he make the trail while leaving the woman
alive or dead?
An old saying always goes with an ar
rest: eff he didn't do it, who did?"
/ Somebody must be held responsible. After
| two or three interviews with young Movers
and his parents, | doubted if he could have
choked the woman to death. He was frail
and In poor health, and she was robust and
strong. She had scarcely struggled at all,
| proving that she had been attacked sud
denly and that the grip was a terrible one.
| Her neck was discolored as we'll as her
throat, proving that two large hands had
been employed. However, no suspicious
characters had been seen in the neighbor-
hood, and the murderer, if other than
Meyers, had made his escape. was COM
pletely blocked, and could only hope that
accident would help me out.
1t was said that the body had not been
| robbed. The only theory seemed to be re-
venge. If it were not Meyers, then it was
some former lover, and | went to Cincin-
natl to make inquiries. On the way up my
watch stopped, and my first call was at a
jewelers.. | had not been in his place
sixty seconds when in walked stout.
strong fellow, who laid lady's watch on
the show case, and said
Il am going away, and | want to sell
this. 1t belonged to my wife, who is
dead
I'VE don't buy secondhand watches, ~
replied the jeweller, but he carelessly
picked the watch up, examined it, and
then said:
This is one of our watches. | remember
selling it two or three months ago"
'1es, replied the man, reaching out
for it.
Lets see the name, continued the jew
eller, as he went for book.
Never mind replied the man ''If you
don twant to buy, very well; m in hur-
ry."
''Sold to Mrs. Albright, of -" said
the jeweller, as he handed it over.
The woman who was murdersdI" |
said to the stranger. Were you her hus-
band?"
N, yes!" he stammered.
And you have not been near --?
That is strange! You will go with me to
the police
He tried to draw his pistol, but was too
| quick for him. The police recognized him
as bully and a degraded character. and
inside of half day l had established the
fact that he was formerly a lover of the