Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1893-01-21
A CRIME ON THE LINE.

the maDgled body Of man who haC
apparently fallen or had been thrown
from a passing train, and run over al
he lay there by succeeding train, Of
who had been walking on the line
contrary to all railway rules, and had
= thus been oVertaken by swift death.
It might have been case Of suicide,
for there was no money on his person,
and nothing to establish his identity.
Still, the fact that he was well dressed
maze the absence of money, watch,
or papers, indicate murder rather
than self-destruction. The body was
found a few minutes after IL o'clock
on the night of the 9th. On the
afternoon of the 28th the body was
identified. The victim was Alexander
Rogers, a respectable merchant who
lived at Brenton, suburb about
twelve miles from London. No reason
could be discovered why he should
have committed suicide, and when he
left his Office on the 9th he had both
money and watch. He had been kept
late that night and it had been his
1AUOuO1Ou w UdhO UuC y SLOSh OApAO
which did not stop until it came to
Brenton.
At the inquest, one of the station
men at Brenton said that when he
closed the doors of the train, as it
stood at Brenton station, there was
one empty frst-class compartment
which had both doors open. He had
stepped in and closed the door furth-
est from the platform at which the
train stopped; after which he closed
the other door. He thought nothing
Of the circumstance at the time, be-
cause the door might have been
opened by the passenger who left that
compartment, under the impression
that the train was going to stop at
the opposite platform. The 9 o'clock
express sometimes stopped at the
middle platform and sometimes at
the side platform, depending on
whether the S:45 down was late or on
time. He had noticed no signs of a
struggle in the compartment Mr..
Rogers held first-class season ticket
He thought someone must have come
out Of that compartment at Brenton,
otherwise the door on the platform
side would not have been opened.
A verdict of murder against some
person or persons unknown was
brought in, and the body Of the I'M
fortunate man was buried.
The day after the verdict was rem
dered, and the day it was published
in the morning papers, Jonas Grant,
Of Brenton, presented himself at
Scotland Yard, and told an eXtraordi-
nary story. He was travelling on the
9 o'clock express on the night of the
9th. The night was very dark
Shortly after they left the terminus
he noticed by the increasing noise
that they were running parallel with
another train. He looked out on the
left hand side and saw that the ex-
press was running faster than the
other train, and that the carriages of
the latter were gradually falling be-
hind. There was nothing strange
about this, for frequently as many as
three trains ran parallel to each other
as far as the junction, seven miles
out Suddenly his attention was ar
rested by struggle IN carriage.
He could not be sure whether it was
a first, second, or third-class COM
partment, but he knew it was in a
carriage near the engine. He sprang
to the window, but just as he did so
the door of the carriage opened and
one of the men fell out. He could
not identify the man who fell, as his
back was toward him, but he got a
full view OF the murderer, and could
never forget his face. At the same
moment the murderer saw him and
dropped back in his seat without
closing the door. Mr.. Grant then
gave description Of the murderer so
minute that the police seemed to
recognize the person described.
When asked why he did not come
forward next day and tell what he
had seen. or why he did not at least
put In an appearance at the inquest
Grant hesitated. At last he said
that the whole thing so startled him,
and was all so vague with the excep-
ton Of the face of the murderer that,
he had some reluctance about coming
forward. He knew the carriage was
near the front of the train, for mo-
ment after the man was thrown out
they passed the engine.
The police at once made inquiries
after a oesperado named Wallace.
whom they recognized by Mr.. Grants
description. 1t was found he had not
been &C his usual haunts since the
9th. His description was telegraphed
all over the country, and in a few
days Wallace was arrested near the
coast making his way on foot toward
Southampton. He was well supplied
with money, but there was no watch
upon him or ANYTHING else that could
be identified as belonging to the MUIR
dered man. The police were conf
dent that he was the murderer, but
when the trial came on they had no
new evidence against him, and every
thing depended on how the judge and
jury looked on Grants testimony.
Grant repeated his story in substau-