Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-07


her brothers refreshment, at least, as Ions
as he is alive and how long his inside vii
last with all those burning things he takes
is more than can say. 'Chellys, he call:
'em- Hot 'Uns,' says /, if you ask me.
LAS Ion" as he is alive" repeated Will
thoughtfully, "then it isn't you, as has any
! objection?"
Not II returned Mrs. StrangewaYs, 'dC
you think if was a widow with plenty OF
| Oof, I'd stay down here? No, in such case
London for me- my lad
Here, come out into the grounds and let:
| have a talk, Sue," said her brother INC
one knows who is around the corner listen
ing in this laundering verandy."
| Mrs. StrangewavS complied, and for nearly
half an hour brother and sister paced ur
| and down, engaged in earnest conversation
The ucNU day Brother Will, ALLEGING that
he had to attend race meeting, took his
| leave, and the Strangeways were left to
| enjoy their connubial happiness undls
| turbed.
Two days afterward every available spot
| in Slowchester was placarded with Dills an
nouncing the arrival OF Hermann Trismegls
! ters the wonderful Magician of the -Four
1 Winds. Mrs. Strangeways declared her IN
| tention OF being present ut what the magi-
clan modestiy declared to be his "UnparIl-
| leled Scene OF Pre- ernatural DeluSlonS.
Pooh, pooh" remarked the Major, "the
| fellow is q humbug. You should see some OF
| our Indian jugglers, Mrs. Stran@eways. l
wouldn't stir a step to see the fellow"
! so l supposed answered his wife,
| placidlY "and therefore you can stay at
| home and take care of the house. l am
going to take all the servants, and as the
! nobs don't think me good enough to assocl-
ate with, l have secured the two rows OF
| front seats. and have given the tickets to all
! the loafers in the town. I'll make the sWelIs
! sit up Il hit. you bet"
| Major ; StTangewayS was secretly delighted
| at this snub to the Slowchester aristocracY,
| but he felt it his bOunden duty to grumble
| at being left Mt home, to which, however,
! his wife paid no heed.
q
when Mrs. Strangeways, at the head of her
| establishment, returned home, terrible
| surprise awaited her, for swinging from the
! rafterS OF the VeranGa OF the bungalow, was
| the body of Maj jor StrangewayS hanging by
| the neck. and as dead as the late Rajah over
whom he had exercised surveillance in q
| political capacity.
OF course, the female servants shrieked,
| the males stared, and the bereaVed wife
thought it necessary to 90 into a fit of tear
/ ing Mysteries, destroying everything which
came within her reach. The police and
medical assistance arrived in due course,
| and when the Major was cut down the two
men who were supporting the body were al
most prOStrated by the enormous weight OF
1 the corpse.
An examination of the clothes of the de-
ceased, however, showed that every pocket
was filled with coin: and that a handker-
chief. heavily weighted with 4 and shilling
pieces, was fastened round the waist.
At 1irst it WAS surmised that the Major had
thus loaded himself with silver coinage in
order TO make MS CedUn lnneuldte: Dub
when everyone of the pieces of money was
discovered to be base metal, and OF the same
manuactu as had puzzled the heads of
the Scotland Yard authorities, the county
police be9an to open their eyes very wide
indeed. Further inquiry showed that dur
ing the Majors visit to town alter his quar-
rel with the neighbors, he had gone down to
the docks to see the last OF some old friends,
who were about to sail for the land of the
PagOda tree: and that i'll Jamaica road he
had been seriously smitten by the charms
OF bu1om damsel, who was walking
swiftly along. No tool like the old 1ool,"
as the saying goes, and so the amorous
Major stalked his quarry to a low beer shop
kept by the father OF the charmer.
Explanations enSued. and alter a very
brief delay the Major found himself married
decidedly in haste, and left to repent very
much al his leisure.
Curiously enough the beerhouse from
which the Major had taken his bride had,
from various suspicious circumstances been
strictly watched by the police when on the
lookout Ior the coiners, but the proprietor
was wary old bird, upon whose tail the de-
tectives had been unable to sprinkle one
grain OF salt. The rural police were now
QuIUc saJlsncu; une ma1Ur'S CupltaI
the spurious mint 10 work, and after amass-
ing gigantic fortune, remorse had over
taken him, and he had hanged himself with
such of his base metal as he had been un-
able to dispose OF slowed away about his
person. This view was generally adopted
by the county. The Coroner's jury returned
verdict OF suicide while laDoring under
temporary insanity" and as soon as the
funeral ObSeuuies were over the widow re-
turned to London and began to enjoy her.
self thoroughly after her own fashion.
There was one person, however, who, in
his own mind, declined to accept the eX-
PLANTATION, and that WAS detective OF the
name of Renshaw, who had been one of
those engaged i'll the unsuccessful attempt
to hunt down the coiners. On the news of
the tragic occurrence he had hurried down
to Slowchester and made a minute examina-
tion of scene OF the sad occurrence. He
found that before going out and hanging
himself, the Major had been recruiting
nature with a glass of brandy and water
brandy PAM, as he would doubtless have
termed lt-1Or an empty tumDlef and un-
corked bottle of brandy, and a glass jug,
containing water, were standing upon the
ia Bile i'll u room close to the spot where the
Major had made his exit from this world OF
trouble. He must have then either fallen
backward heavily or else dashed his chair
upon the ground with such violence as to
break the back, and then, doubtless enraged
at this occurrence, and having nice coil of
of creased rope handy, an article no gentle
man is ever without, gone out into the YER
andah and hanged himself.
and unused the detective, 'hanged him.
self in the rummest manner1 ever saw. How
he managed, being short man OF feet g. to
get the rope over the ratter so as to fasten
the other end to one of the pillars in the We
rauda is more than can tell, but we will
let that pass for the time. When he was
found his feet were some four feet from the
=
table near, he must have made Il shot at the
moose, and with all that weight of pewter
round him, have jumped his neck clean into
the loop and done the trick. 1t won't wash,
Tom Ren shaw, it won't wash, and so it's no
good saying that it will
The result of his cogitation was that Tom
Renshaw had an interview with the Coroner,
and pointed out to him that if these points
were made public, the criminal, supposing
that the Major had not come to his death by
fair means. would be on the alert, and most
! IkaalN- hg a q
The Coroner agreed to take this view of
the matter, and several important points
were not brought before the jury, though q
post-mOrtem examination of the body was
made by medical man, to whom the bottle of
brandy found upon the table WAS handed
over
Cntil the departure of the widow, Rem
shaw pervaded the neighborhood, but with
no result, and for three weeks he appeared
to take no further notice OF the matter.
One day he returned to his lodgings alter
having been summoned to a consultation
with one of his superiors in the Yard, and
lighting his pipe, began, as was his custom,
TO soiiloquize. "And SO our friends the
smashers, have started a new game, and are
taking in the money changers with the best
imitation OF the Napoleon have ever seen,"
added he, glancinE at the shining coin in his
hand, "The police have found the ken
where they are manufactured, but the birds
had all flown, and there wasn't a single
piece of dufling make left behind. l believe
firmly that Fellow VIII is in it, brother OF
her that married the poor old Major He
amt in town, and hanged if l haven't my
own thoughts as to where the stuff may have
been planted for satety's sake. Anyhow,
I'll risk it,"
Having come to this determination, Tom
Renshaw examined the contents of q Glad
stone bag with great care, and then having
seen that small deal case was perfectly Sc
are. took the train, and in the course of
three hours was safely deposited at the
Slowchc>Uer station.
Tom Rcnshaw appeared to take matters
very easily. He NartooiI of the best dinner
W .ich the mo lest hostelry at which he put
up cold supply, and then descending to the