Nevada County picayune., 1889-07-17
TRACED BY 4 POTATO.
Queer Means by Which Murderer
 Was Discovered.

''OnC of the quccrcSt cases eve had. said all old detective. ''oc cured something over twenty year ago, when l still had much to lcari in my business, and, fortunately fo me, knew that l had. It was memo rabIe as an illustration of the impor tance of small things and l hay, 1 pigeon-holcd it ill my memory as th' affair of the fatal potato.
 "A red-beaded servant girl, sc scared that her eyes stood out lik, | lobsters. rushed into the station house early one morning, bowling that all the police were wanted around at Mir. Morton s. The ser. gcant at the desk, supposing ther, was probably just some TOW among the servants, grinned at the sight ol her and asked what was the matter.
 "She gave a whoop of Murder! ' that raised his hair and startled every one in the station. The idee of murder in the aristocratic mansion of Mir. Samuel Morton, of Fifth avenue. within five blocks of th, station, naturally rather excited us. Two detailed men and myselG-l was then ward detective ran around there q, quickly as we could.
 Sure enough, there had been q murder The cook, q sturdily built, middle-agcd Englishwoman named Harriet Wardrop, lay on the kitchen floor. in the back basement, with a dirty cotton handkerchief twisted and knottcd about her neck, stone dead and quite cold. When she had not sent mp her employer coffee which he was accustomed to taking in bed, or answered the bell, the red headed girl came down to see what was the matter. and that was the plight she found her in.
 "The last seen of Harriet aliN, was al near ten e clock the night be- fore. when the two upstairs girls left to % to their room i'll the attic. Her room was in the basement, and she said that she was going to bed in a few minutes. She had no visitor never, indeed, had any, was perfectly sober, and seemed to be always q woman of perfectly correct habits 1 Really, however, not much was l known about her, farther than she had come here from Philadelphia seven or eight months before witl good references, had behaved herself well and made no conlidants. But she must have admitted to the house the man who choked her.
 "There were no signs of any struggle and there had been no rob berv. Her gold watch was on the kitchen table. two months wages il her pocket, and no attempt seemed to have been made at plunder m tho still richer field upstairs, Why hat she been killed? It was mysterious One of the cops with me was s' puzzled that he declared it must be case of suicide. saw that she ha( been strangled and 1 wondered wha strong fellow the murderer mus have been to have twisted with fata effect. so soft band as a handker chief about so big and solid a neck and to do it so dcftly and powerful, as to prevent an outcry or even struggle. It takes q good deal O . pressure to squeeze in whole necI
 so tightly as to cause death,
 But when came to eNamln , more closely found that nov'
 and ingenious device had been en ployed to make the job easier
 Folded into the handkerchief an
 placed so that It would press directl
 upon the wind-pipe, was potat
 about the size of hens egg. WhiI
 turning the tuber over in my han'
 noticed that there were two dee curving cuts m it's smooth, cream :. skin. such as would be made ny fiji 1 gernuIs clutching, and each shove a thin line of blue color. At first | thought nothing of that, for l kne
 tbat some potatocs, such as the N