The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-07-13
THE FATAL POTATO.

4 GHB FATAL POTATO.
CitOiHRai PoA,
zone o tthe queerest cases l ever had"
said the old detective, Occurred some-
thing over twenty years ago, when !
still had much to learn in my business,
and, fortunately for me, knew that l had,
1t was memorable US an illustration Of
the Importance Of small things and l
have pigeon-holed 1t in my memory as
the affair Of the fatal potato
"a red.headed servant girl, so scared
that her eyes stood out like Holsters,
rushed into the station house early one
morning, bowling that all the police were
wanted around at Mr.. Morton's. The
The sergeant at the desk, s~upposlng
there was propably just some row among
the servants, grinned at the sight Of her
and asked what was the mater.
"She gave q whoop oil 'murderI' that
raised his hair and startled every one In
the station. The idea OF murder in the
%aristocratic mansion OF Samuel Morton,
on Fifth avenue, within FIVE blocks OF
tho station, naturally rather excited us.
Two detailed men and myself was
then ward deteCtive-ran around there
as quickly as we could,
"Sure enough, there had been q muir.
der. The cook, a sturdy.built, middle.
aged Englishwoman named Harriet
Wardrop, lay on the kitchen floor, In
the back basement, with u dirty cotton
handkerchief twisted and knotted about
her neck, stone dead and quito cold.
When she had not sent up her em-
plOyer's coffee, which he was accustomed
to taking in bed, or answering the bell,
the red.headed girl came down To sec
what was the matter, and that was the
plight she found her in.
'.rlie last seen OF Harriet alive was at
near 10 o'clock the night before, when
the two upstairs girls left to 60 to their
room In tho attic. Her room was in the
basement, and she said that she was
going to bed in a few minutes. She had
no yisitor-never, indeed, had anyways
perfectly sober, and seemed 10 be al
waysa woman OF perfectly correct habits.
Really, however, not much was known
about her further than that she had
come there from Philadelphia seven or
eight months before with good refer
ences, and behaved herself well, and
made no confdants. 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 robbery. Her
gold watch was on the kitchen table,
two months wages in her pocket, and
no attemptseemed TO have been madeat
plumber in the still richer field upstairs.
Why had she been killed.. It was mys.
t%erious. One OF the cops with me was
so puzzled that he declared It must be a
case Of suicide,
~ saw that she had been strangled and
l wondered what q strong fellow the
murderer must have been 10 have twist
ed with fatal effect so soft a band as a
handkerchief about so big and solid a
neck and to do 1t SO deity and power.
fully as TO prevent an outcry or even a
struggle. 1t takes q good deal OF pres
sure to squeeze In awhole neck 80 tight.
ly rs TO cause death.
"But when l came to examine moro
closely l found that a novel and inge.
NOUS device had been employed to make
the job easier. Folded into the hand.
kerchief and placed 80 that II would
press directly upon the windpipe was a
potato about the size OF q hens egg.
While turning the tuber over In my
hand l noticed that there were two deep,
curving cuts In It's smooth, creamy skin,
such as would be made by finger nails
Clutching It, and each showed q thin
line Of blue color. At first ! thought
nothing Of that, for / knew that some
potatoes, such as tho NeshannoCks, have
a delicate skin OF violet tint under the
white outside. But when l looked more
carefully | saw that this potato was
not q NeshannoCk, but IN early rose,
which-as l soon proved by scratching
it-had no such Colored second skin,
and l observed that the blue color
seemed 10 80 deeper than merely the
surface.
"Who, l asked myself, would be like.
ly TO habitually carry under his finger.
nails such an abundance Of color as
would leave deposits like these? Well,
a dyer for one. Yes, OF course, q dyer
but there were more dyers In the city,
for aught / know, than one could shake
a stick AT, and II would DO ridiculous to
seek a blue.handed dyer, since hands
that were blue n day might be red or
green the next.
1.-THE newspapers the next day in their
sensational treatment Of tho incident
characterized II az a profound mystery
and snid that the police had absolutely
no clue to the murderer
"As l had hoped, that encouraged
some person who had known Harriet
Wardrop 10 come forward. A small,
nOatly.dteHsed, respeCtable.looking, mid
dle.aged nan with keen, lurtive eyel
and IN habltually depreCatory manner
presented himself at tho inquest. He
came 10 see II the woman, whose death
he had read In the morning paper, was
his wife, from whom he had separated In
Philadelphia a year before and had mol
seen or heard Of since. His name John
WNrdrop. Hisoccupation2 Dyer. Where
did he work. With Henri Detaille 4
Co, Parislan dyerS, on Blocker street
Yes, the dead woman was his vile, liz
= recognized her perfectly, aud the BiRhI
4 made him weep. Poor woman She VA
Z hard TO get alone with, but she had
i good heart
n made an excuse Of his signing 4
formal recognition 10 got him 10 take Of
his gloves, His hand was Of a btillianI
orange tint While the coroner KEEP
him Ia attendance at tho Inquest | hut
rled 10 DelAille 4 Co.'s ~dye.house 10 asl
SOME questions.
UYes, John wArdrop worked there
. lie was a quiet steady man and an OK
Cellent workman. They had employed
= him about ten months. Did they know
anything more about hlm2 No, excep
that they ianCied there was likely 10 3,
a match between him and Jane blair,
: g%oodloOkinE plump woiian aboutthift
years old, who had been their cAshie
for several years, Had they done an,
dafk.blue dying latsly9 Yes, only thI
day before yesterday. Who did III
w0fk2 John Wardrop
~ saw Jane Blair. With a good dea
: Of hpsltanCy ahe admitted that lhe anl