The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-01-04
This paper is Democratic IN principles
and is Independent In its vtelos on all
local questions. ID.
The Trenton Tragedy.

"s-z ~ 1TCtAtOAA AftSCOys fgaH-s
The most interesting case of murder
that has come to light since the
Railway tragedy is the killing of Mrs.
Knifin at Trenton. If it was the
work of burglars ON the one hand, it
appeals to the public mind with
that force which is the result of
personal interest. IF rufians can enter
6makns' dwellings in well settled
neignborhoods, with police and watch
men close at hand, and can there do
women toSdeath with chloroform, the
question oAcurs to everyone to ask,
who is saf9g'
On the other hand, if the murder
should prove to be the outcome of a
plot to remove Mrs, Kniffin from
somebody's path, thesstory acquires an
interest which the strange imagine
ings Of Gaboriau and Boisgobey can
not surpass. AT the time of
this writing, there is no
satisfactory version of the facts avail
able. The ridiculous abortions which
the New York papers offer in Che
guises of reports leave us almost
wholly Eth the dark on all the
essential points, Evidently they
try Ito convey the impression
that either Or. Kniffin or
Miss Pursell committed the murder,
anaethen they fail to tell us whether
the arrangement OF trains is such as
to afford a physical possibility Of
the doctor being on the scene,
seeing that he certainly went to
Broadway on Thursday night, and
returned on Friday night. But, on
the other hand, they give US no means
OF judging whether Miss Pur-
sell was likely to have the
nerve Or the. physical strength
for such a crime. Mrs. sKnifin
was partly choked and partly chloro-
formed to death. Was Miss Pursell a
strong enough girl to overpower a
fullgrown woman and smother her
cries in the throes of a death struggle :
Prima facie, there appears TO us to
be one almost overwhelming argu-
nseat against the theory, that she Ibid
the murder or even had any conscious
relation to it. Let us admit that a
woman, of twenty-five, inspired
by anger, jealousy, or other
stpong passion might have the
courage and the energy to
commit SUCH q murderl as this. Such
things have happened. Still wescan-
not believe she could summon up the
cold resolution to spend long hours of
darkness in the house, almost in
the room with her dead victim
| waiting for the accidental discovery Of
her crime. 1t seems to as that as soon
rs the death of her victim would be
assured she would run screaming
to the street with her story
OF burglary, which certainly would
fit such a course of conduct as well as
the policy which is assumed in the
theory that Miss Pursell committed
the murder. Fsw
Just let the reader imagine that the
murder was committed three
and four, let him then reflect on the
hours of darkness that should eIapse
before the morning broke, let
him think Of the cold gray
light stealing into the chamber
Of death and finding the awful corpse
and the horror thrilled criminal in
CHASTITY companionship, let him think
Of the starts the alarms of thai long
night and the still longer o
mgr-can he. believe that any woman
went through such an ordeal, when a
rush into the open street and q wild
scream for help would have ended the
agony?
Supefhcially viewed. there may be
few points il the case which favor