The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-09-20

their sensational treatment OF the Incl
dent characterized it as a profound
mystery. and said that the police had
absolutely no clew TO the murderer.
As had hoped, that encouraged some
persons who had known Harriet
Wardrop TO come forward. A small,
neatly-dressed, respectable looking.
middle-agcd man, with keen. furtive
eyes and an habitually deprecatory
manner, presented himself At the in
quest He came to see If the woman,
whose death he had read of in the
morning paper, was his wife, from
whom nc had separated in Philadel-
phia year before, and had not seen
or heard from since His name? John
Wardrop. His occupation? Dyer.
Where did he work? With Henri
Detaille q Co, Partisan dyers, on
Bleecxer street Yes, the dead woman
was his wife. He recognized her per-
fectly, and the sight made him weep.
Poor woman, she was hard TO get along
with. but she had a good heart
Il made an excuse of his signing n
formal recognition to get him to take
of one of his gloves His hand was of
a brilliant orange tint. While the
coroner kept him in attendance at the
inquest L hurried TO Detaille & Co s
dye house to ask some questions
Yes, John Wardrop worked there.
He was n quiet, steady man and an eX-
cellent workman. They had employed
him about ten months Did they know
any thing moro about him? No, ex-
cept that they fancied there was likely
TO be n match between him and Jane
Blair, a good-lOoking, plump woman,
about thirty years old who had been
their cashier for several years. Had
they done any dark blue dyeing lately?
Yes, only the day before yesterday.
Who did the work? John Wardrop.
al saw Jane Blair. With a good
deal of hesitancy she admitted that
she and John Wardrop were engaged
to be married as soon as he got a
divorce from bad wife who had left
him, and expected that he would soon
be free Was she well informed as to
his habits? Perfectly. They boarded
in the same house, on West Washing
ton place, and he very seldom went
out in the evening. Did ne 60 out the
night before last? No; they parted on
the stairs going TO their respective
rooms at twenty minutes before ten
o'clock, their usual hour for retiring.
He could have gone out afterward,
without her knowing it? Yes, but of
course he didn't
when l got back to the inquest
the corOner's jury had just returned a
verdict that the deceased had come to
her death by violence at the hand or
hands of some person unknown. l
had made up my mind to arrest John
Wardrop on suspicion, but was in no
hurry about it As had not been on
the stand 1 did not have to tell any
thing of my suspicious and the potato
could not give any thing away, for |
had it safe in my pocket, wrapped in
tissue paper. The reporters went
away to write the case up as a pro-
founder mystery than before. John
Wardrop went to draw some money
from his employers to give his poor
wife a decent burial And /, having
taken time to get n warrant for his ar
rest, followed him.
He paled slightly and showed some
dye-room, where he was doing some
work that had to be done by him and
could not wait until the morrow.
Still he controlled himself, and sought
70 cover his nervousness by talking.
l said little, and let him talk on. which
was the worst thing he could have
done, for thinking up so many words
led him away now and then from the
straight story he had made up. At
last, when l deemed the time ripe for
II, slipped the potato out of my pock-
ct and suddenly holding it I'D before
him, said:
You should have washed your
hands before you grabbed this potato
out OF the dish-pan on the table
He threw up his hands with a
shrek and sank down on a bench, all
limp and broken up. Before he could
recover himself he confessed. He and
Harriet had quarreled for years and
finally separated. Then after a time
she had made up her mind to get pos
session OF him again, found where he
was and sent him W ord that he must
meet her late at night, when she would
~. 4
went, but the sight of her and THOUGHTS
of Jane Blair. with whom he had fall
EN- in love in the meantime since part
ing with his wife, made him desperate.
asked him how he had managed to
strangle her so quietly and without
any struggle, when she seemed to have
double his strength. He explained that
he possessed sufficient mesmeric force
to render her passive and had en-
ployed 1t on that occasion. Having
rendered her completely unconscious
by mesmerizing her, the rest was easy.
L could not help feeling some sympathy
for him when he said she was a tar
tar, still, business was business, and
when had heard him through | told
him:
Now, John, get your coat on and
come along
In a moment sir. Let me wash
of some of this dye first
Il assented. ne washed, pouring
some stuff over his hands from a bot
tie to take the color out, as / supposed.
Suddenly he turned the bottle up to his
lips and took a big swallow of its con-
tents before l could jump to him and |
grab him. As / seized him the bottle /
dropped to the floor and smashed, while i
he dropped into my arms as dead as a
maui Cyanide of potassium, as 1 sub
learned, was his final nip, /
but il was the fatal potato that killed /
him. Cincinnati Post.
rs your wife very busy with her
household affairs?" yes, buster
than ever Too bad she will insist in
iolng her own work, isn't it?'' She
ioesn I any longer. She's got serv-
mt girl To lnnLr nftnr r,nr- Il, |