The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-10

ment to Sing Sing, he and a certain bur
glar named George Forester bad planed
to rob the Nathan mansion. Murder was
no part of their scheme, for they had in
tended TO commit the crime in the summer
during the absence Of the family, and it was
mere accident. he said, which
led his pal to select a night on which
the old gentleman happened to be at
home. His theory was that Forester, find
| ing himself surprised at his work by Mr..
| Nathan and fearing that he would give the
alarm, had killed him with one vigorous
blow of the dog. He knew the dog. he
said, because it was one with which they
had often worked before. Mr.. Jourdan at
once put two expert detectives on Forces
ter's tracks, but he was nowhere to be
found. He had not been seen in any Of his
accustomed haunts since the night OF the
| murder and for two years his whereabouts
| re manned an impenetrable mystery, but
| the authorities never relaxed the vigilance
| Of tleir search, and at last-it was some
time in 1S72-he was hunted down in re-
mote part of Texas and brought back to
the city by Detective Phil Farley. He was
taken to police headquarters and held for
| Identification.
Now, on the morning succeeding the night
of the Nathan murder, young Catholic
| servant girl, while on her way through
Twenty-third street to early mass, saw two
men come hurriedly down the steps OF the
Nathan mansion and disappear with rapid
ity which excited her suspicion. Or course,
when the news of the murder was made
known, she communicated this circumstance
to Superintendent Jourdan. Therefore she
was brought forward at this juncture TO
identify the criminal. | was standing
directly by Forester in the court
room when she was brought in, and
asked if be were the man that she
had seen running down the steps Of the
Nathan house on that August morning in
1870. | have never seen greater agony
depicted on human face than was shown
in his as he stood up in the court room and
subjected himself to her searching gaze.
The perspiration stood out on his forehead
in great beads, aud his hand clasped the
back of a chair before him with a force
that almost shattered the frail bars. The
girl looked at him for fully ten minutes
and then shook her head in hesitating
way and said, that although she
believed him to be the man, still as two
years had elapsed since the morn
ing that she saw him, she could not be posi-
tive. As soon as this ordeal was over For
roster sent for me and confessed that he
owed fifteen years in Joliet Ill. He begged
me to send him back there, and so at his in-
stigation, l notified the authorities of
that prison and he was brought to Illinois on
a requisition from the governor of that
state. 1t was the first time in all my crimi-
nal experience that l had ever seen a man
go with absolute relief and contentment to
fill fifteen years sentence in state prison.
l have never heard of either him or
Ellis since that time. Washington
Nathan is still alive, though l understand
that he has never been quite the same man
that be was before the terrible shock Of his
fathers death and the false accusation I'M
der which he has suffered. Irene McCready
grew rich in her nefarious business, retired
to private life and died some years ago.
Her house is now used as a restaurant The
Nathan house remained unoccupied for
many years after the tragedy, and was
finally torn down to make way for the
great express building which now occupies
it's site. In regard to Forester, l cannot
speak fully without violating professional
honor. for the man was a client of my Of
fee, but l can say this, that from what I
learned from him, Washington Nathan
had no more to do with the killing of his
father than |.
A. H sHUMMEL.