The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-07-18
In HIS SHIRT SLEEVES.
A Habit Which Led to the Discovery
of a Murderer.

A DeauTIful woman found dead IN the
gray morning on the outskirts Of the
town. Two laborers going to their work
in the woods had discovered the body,
and in their fright had thrown their
axes down and beat a hasty retreat to
the village, where, under great excite
ment, they reported the matter to the
authorities.
ALI Brounfield was excited over the
terrible news. Never in the hiStory Of
the town had such a tragedy occurred.
The woman was well known in the com
munity as a young widow whose hus-
band had led a somewhat reckless life,
but who had left her well provided for
at his death, which occurred after two
years of welded life.
AS was most natural with the added
attraction of q snug fortune, the pretty
young widow was quite popular, and it
was rumored that she had half a dozen
suitors.
But this is in the nature of a digres-
sion. / have introduced you to the wo-
man-dead, and the principal object of
this story is to unraYel for the reader the
mystery of her death.
The mayor, five councilmen, the town
marshal and perhaps fifty citizens of
Brounfield, after they had heard the
stories Of the two labcrers, followed
them to the spot where Che body lay.
1t was a fitting spot for a murder. The
sandy road, arched by meeting trees
that shut the sunlight out, led abruptly
to a covered bridge, which spanned a
bleak and sluggish stream, and just fifty
yards from the water, in a clump of
bushes BY the roadside, the body lay.
Why did the murderer leave it
there? was the question we inyolunta-
rily asked ourselves as the white face
and staring eyes met our gaze. Why did
he not seek to conceal his crime by
throwing the body in the river?
The woman had been strangled; the
print of human fingers was visible on
her white throat. The fingers of the
right hand were closed tightly, until the
blue nails seemed to pierce the bloodless
palm. Evidently she had not died with
out q struggle.
"Look!" cried one of the men, point
ing to the closed hand, and we saw for
the first time that it held a little tuft of
coarse black hair.
'sThis may be a clew to the murderer"
said the mayor. Justice Brown, you
viii hold the inquest. Had we not bet
ter remove the body at once. to Broun-
feld?"
The justice assented, and we formed a
little funeral procession and bore the
dead woman to the town.
The two laborers who had discovered
the body were held as witnesses, but the
inquest developed nothing, except that
the woman was fond of taking long
walks in the afternoon, and that on the
evening preceding her death she had
been seen leaving her house by a colored
woman, who testified that she saw a
man, who wore no coat, join her in the
little town park and enter into CONVERSE
ton with her. Here the witness lost
sight of them and thought nothing Of
the incident. She could not describe the
man in his shirt sleeves. for she was not
near enough to distinguish his features.
She remembered, however, that he was
a tall man, and seemed to have a stick
or walking cane in his hand.
Who could have committed the crime?
Robbery was not the object, for the wo-
mans purse, containing seven dollars,
was found by her, side, or rather a little
satchel which she carried suspended
from her neck.
My business kept me in Brounfield a
week after this event, but when / left
they We're no nearer to solving the mys-
terry Of the murder than they were when
the body was found.
I remember how, a month afterward,
as / lay on my bed in a distant town
thinking it over, the testimony of that
colored woman at the inquest required
10 me and set me to thinking.
She had spoken of q man sswith his
coat off, who had stopped the woman
and engaged her in conversation in the
park. Had they looked upon this as a
clew and followed it up?
Was there a man in that town who
habitually went in his shirt sleeves? A
man who had been familiar enough
with the woman to address her as this
man did?
The more l thought of this the more it
appealed to me. I could not ridicule it
into silence. It seemed to take in my
mind the indefinite shape Of aclew to the
murder, until at last I felt confident that
I could clear up the mystery in which it
was shrouded.
I packed my valise and bought q ticket
to Brounield. l had yet some unfnish-
ed business there and SO a good excuse
for going.
Arrived there, 1 made inquiries con
corning the murder. A reward had been
offered for the murderer, but as yet he
had not been captured.
My DON was in the second story of
the little hotel. 1t was a hot night in
July, and although fatigued by my jour
ney Icould not sleep. 1t was perhaps
neal 10 O'clock, when the stiffness Of
death seemed to reign in the house, that
arose and resolved to seek the balcony
for a breath Of fresh air.
AS I walked out / saw a man in his
shirt sleeves, bare headed, sitting at the
far end, with his feet on the railing.
He gave an Involuntary start at my
approach.
"Ah!" he said, with something like a
sigh, 'sout for a breath of fresh air, eh?
It was 50 plagued hot in the house l