Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-06-25
FIVE HUNDRED MURDERS.
Uuheard-O or Slaughter OF Innocents in 1
Suburban Village.

Uuheard-Of Slaughter OF Innocents In
Suburban Village.
Jack the Ripper has appeared at
Montclair, n. j., says the New York
Herald.
This time his murderous knife has
been turned against chickens. The
villagers speak of him as the unknown
miscreant;" irreverent have dubbed
him "Cooney No. l."
He came in the dead of night, fin
ished his fiendish work well, and de-
parted, leaving no trace behind.
Not even q dog barked.
Strangest of all, although the rip
per's principal victims were hens, the
king of the barnyard was not even
heard to utter clucking protest.
Before the day dawned 500 dead
strewed the sward of the barnyards
of some of Montclair's prettiest homes.
A reward of 800 has been offered
for the apprehension of the miscreant.
and the best detective talent of New
Jersey is now at work on the case.
The ripper cut the Threats of his VIC
tins. Either he few about on broom
stick, or else he must have had confed-
crates. II is impossible To see how one
man could have cut the throats OF 500
chickens distributed over an area of at
least two miles.
The knife used has not yet been dis
covered. All the throats were cut in
the same manner that is, transverse
ly and with a deep thrust just suffi-
Gent to leave the head hanging to the
trunk. In some cases the comb was
removed. There were isolated cases
of acknowledgment, and In some OF
these the gizzard had been cut out and
carried away by the scoundrel. Some
chickens have been known to carry
diamonds around in their gizzards.
Some chicken coops were more
harshly stricken than others, in that
| hens and roosters and chickens alike
fell before the butchers knife. In
other cases Mr.. Cock-a-doodle-doo was
left to mourn the loss of all his wives.
No hens escaped The murderer must
have been particularly sore on hens,
or eggs-it is impossible to say which.
Early on Friday morning, when the
family rooster should have walked pa
terfamilias as usual, his voice was
stilled on Elm street. As a consequence
cook was late for breakfat, papa missed
his train, and the children stayed home
from school. But great was tho mourn
ing when il was discovered that the
erstwhile peaceful coop had been con.
verified into q scene of carnage. Dead
chickens lay everywhere, but in this
case there were no eggs In the lay.
Reverently the remains were gathered
together and prepared for the evening
meal.
Everybody on Elm street had chick
en- for dinner on Friday evening. There
was no change in the menu yesterday
and will be none today. The roosters
and aged hens have been converted
into soup.
did a little detective work myself
Yesterday. A good rule to follow In
running down q murderer is to look fol
him near the scene of his crime imme
diately after its commission. found
colored man moving lawn on Elm
street. He tried to look innocent
but my searching glance discounted
him.
Heard about that chicken slaugh
ter?" said /.
"No, boss. hain't," said he; but he
turned an ashen hue under my sleuth
hound eye.
/ impressed upon his mind the fac
that 500 had been slain. The gigantic
number startled him, but he agar
protested his entire innocence.
The Montclsir police are working OF
this clew.