The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-07-25

suicide by hanging.
One other adventure 1 met with
while holding my place had Q queer
inception and q tragic ending. In
days the cashier Of q bank carried
ried the key to the safe or vault and be
alone. In the Farmers d Mechanics
Bank Mr.. Keller, the cashier, often
remained TO fiX mp his accounts
after all others had departed. He
was q quiet reserved man, gentle In
his speech and actions, and had been
Gith the institution seventeen years.
seen In society, and IL wasn't once In
Eve years that he took q holiday.
lie did not smoke, chew, gamble,
bet, drink, or swear, aud he Appeared
utterly lnsensible 10 the charms Of
the female sex. He was held up as .
model Of excellence and . paragon
Of virtue, and the man who would
dare suspect him Of even q failing
would have been put down pretty
quick. While quietly investigated
the doings Of some Of the other re-
spOnsible employees. i gave Keller
no thought. The board Of directors
would have felt insulted had /
Swallowed him.
had been In the employ Of the
syndicate about q year and q half
when, one afternoon as / was going
to supper, I saw Keller on the street
half a square ahead Of me. / was
hurTyiBg up TO overtake him, when
a woman turned In from q side street
aud almost halted rs they met.
stepped into u doorway, and l saw
him look after her sharply. When
she came along to me I was surprised
to zee how hOmely che was In the
face and figure. She was coarse In
facial expression, had . squat figure,
aud looked more like q scrub woman
out for an airing than q lady. 10
wasn't like Keller to notice q woman
on the street, and his actions aroused
my curiosity. / was at tae same
place at the same hour next day and
this time the woman certainly
bowed TO him. He seemed flustra-
ted aud confused, and finally came
Ia a dead halt and looked after her.
When he resumed his walk | follow
ed tine woman To a second-class hotel
aud found her to be bOarder there
under the name Of Mrs. Ransom
Pierce, widow. She had been there
a month, seemed To have plenty of
money, and was respectable 30 far
rs any one knew. What was there
between her and the cashier.
They met on the third afternoon,
each bowling. On the fourth they
stopped aud chatted a moment, and
on the nth they turned off the street
together and walked fIve or six
squares In company. Next day q
note came to Keller in business
hours, and he read IL and smiled as
IL greatly pleased. In about ten
DAYS ! solved the problem. What
do you think the solution was? II
Was q Irritation, q mash! We gods
Our old and trusted cashier-a man
supposed TO he OF adamant, q hus-
band Sith a wife rs handsome as q
picture-"mashed" on a woman
built for the bayfield, instead OF the
parlOT! I refused To believe In my
self AT first, aud felt that deserved
so he kicked for my suspicious, but
within a month every suspicion had
become fact. They were writing
To each other daily, aud their meet
ings were frequent. In q qnlet way
found that he was absenting him
self from home three or four evenings
a week, and soon settled II that he
was in the wOman's company. KEEL
Ter acted so queerly about the hank
that I looked to see the others notice
IT,. A man with half an eye could
see that q great change had come
over him, but no comments were
made, aud neither did ! dare 20 to
any Of the officials with my story.
A climax comes to all such affairs
sooner or later. ! made up my mind
what course to pursue, and one day,
when the woman packed up and de-
parted for the East, believed the
climax at hand. That same after
noon all the employees were out Of
the bank by O'Clock; all except
Keller and the jauitOr. | was watch
ing from a doorway across the street,
aud when he appeared at $50 with
a satchel In his hand and headed for
the depot I followed him. let him
buy ticket Ia New York. get aboard
He had scarcely q word to say, SEEM
ing like one daZed by a blow. He
Vas taken to the police station and
the president sent for. When that
saichel was opened the contents
proved TO be So 800 in greenbacks,
all the currency the hank had Ola
nand. Keller was leaving wife,
home, reputation, aud everything To
enjoy life In Europe with q woman
who could not compare with his
own kitchen girl. He had no ex-
cusrs to urge, no explanations to
make. We honestly believed him
crazy, and II WAS arranged that he
should he taken home and nothing
done or said about the matter. He
was informed of this decision, but
while waiting for a carriage to arrive
hr drew a pistol from his pocket aud
blew his brains out.