Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-11-16

<IAs l5 his cot with hi; is
razor lying on the floor on the left
side of his bed, close to his dropping
d. left hand
Now, as he was known to be a right
handed man, this was strange to begin
with. But as he had lately come into a
little money through the death of rel
ative, the affair looked stranger still.
Private Nolan bore good character;
he was quiet, sober inoffensive
sort of man, one whom the married
ladies of the regiment liked to utilize
for hanging pictures, or other house,
work-he had been decorator-and
that he should commit suicide almost
Immediately after receiving the news
of legacy which should place him be.
yond want for the rest of his existence
was bit strange. The regiment gen.
orally did not understand it.
His history was well known; he had
no debts, no worries, no reason what
ever to commit the rash act which had
so prematurely deprived him of life of
his own accord. And the regiment con-
sequently got to asking: WAS it muir
der or suicide?' And the thinking por-
tion of the officers and the deceased
mans comrades came to the opinion
very reluctantly (for, mind. it affected
the character of the corps) that it was
the former They only mentioned their
opinion amongst themselves. There is
an innate feeling amongst soldiers that
you must never wash your dirty linen
in public.
But this was aqueer business and one
which touched regimental feelings to
the quick, and so, amongst themselves,
strict search and inquiry was being
made.
The case seemed plain enough for an
ordinary mind-in fact, coroner's in
quest held that "the deceased had COM
mitted suicide while insane" but there
was still that uncomfortable feeling,
= that nasty taste in the mouth, that
some one unknown, at present in tho
regiment, knew more about the matter
than he ought.
Private James Nolan came from Pres.
ton, Lancashire He had been born
and bred a miner, as his folks had be-
fore him, afterw ards taking to the dec
Grating trade. And he had belonged,
for short time, to the militia-the
Third battalion of his present regiment
His whole life could be, and was,
traced back to his earliest days. As
said he was an inoffensive sort of
man, and as such, had no enemies even
in his schooldays. He was given to en-.
during insult and thrashing sooner than
inflicting it.
The more inquiries we made the less
reason we had to suppose that he had
an enemy who would proceed to such
an extremity as murder.
Yet the cut in his throat which let
ont his life was, so the doctor said, GER
tainly not inflicted by himself-the de.
ceased. 1t had begun from left and ran
across to right, where it ended in
deep, dete rmined cash. And yet the
razor was found on his left side, nd
his left, not his right, hand was GOV.
cred with blood; and he was right,
handed man.
/ have always had fair share of Gu
riosity in my nature; and, putting
aside all eXtraneous ideas divesting
my mind of every opinion promulgated
Il set myself to work to solve the mys-
L
man, but | also must confess that 1t
was utterly unto unded, and / felt very
much asham ed of myself for having
entertained the suspicion.
There was an old French minister Il
believe) who, whenever he had any
case brought before him, from the
early days when he was local magis-
trate until he attained high dignities,
used invariably to ask: "Who is sheP"
inferring that a woman was at the bot
tom of every trouble. The correctness
of his maxim I leave for others to
judge.
Personally have found that in nine
cases out of ten woman was the NOV.
ing machine
Well, l had but little to go upon.
And, as is usual with unpracticed
hands, and even old hands (as was to
learn later in life), began on a wrong
tack by assuming an idea.
/ got Private Nolan's history from his
earliest days down on paper. But that
afforded me no information. His hab-
it's | knew, as belonging to my COM
pany, as a company officer does-to a
certain extent.
His ''chum"- and almost every Tom
my has chum-could not tell me
much. He was wooden-headed Lam
cashire lad, with broad accent and a
very dense mind.
No. / found l must trust to my un-
aided wits and besides, did not wish
to work openly-or, as | said, turn out