San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-11-22
THE HOLMES MYSTERY.
HASH WAS NOT IN 1T ALONGSIDE OF
HOLMES AND MISS WILLIAMS.
A Book of Crimes and Condolences
That Has Not as Yet De-
veloved Beyond the Pre-
face.

"
still surrounds the Chicago caree
OF II. III. Holmes. The sleuths O
the land are at their wits ends t,
discover just what he did after h,
arrived in this city. Holmes bes
friends are inclined to think hin
apt to be guilty Of murder which
would serve we'll his own ends
His confession of the crimes of hi.
blackened life is looked upon BY
his intimate friends as a cleverly
planned ruse to mislead the officers
OF the law, especially as to the
whereabouts Of Minnie Williams
With her old neighbors, about 63r d
and Wallace streets state place,
the belief prevails that she and hel
sister were murdered by Holmes
or his accomplices for the sake of
their Texas property. A thorough
search has failed to reveal the
slightest clue, since the time
when Holmes went to Texas and
claimed to improve the Fort
Worth lands left to Minnie by her
uncle. "There is a mud floor in
this basement" said E. d. Davis,
the jeweler, last night, "and no
one will ever know all its secrets
until it Is dug up from end to
end. L do not know anything, but
L believe that mystery of the dis
appearance of Miss Williams and
her sister might be solved by dig
ging in this cellar. Holmes had
vault in his room, whose closed
door would stif1ie any cries, and an
elevator from his floor to the cell
lar, which he could operate alone,
made it easy for him to convey the
evidence of his crime" The mys.
terry of the disappearance of Miss
Williams is complicated by sup
posed connection she may have
had as an accomplish in the carry
ing out of Holmes scheme to make
Holmes confessed in
that he had forged the
trust deed from Col. Belknap, his
wife's grand uncle, to d. f. Fisk,
as trustee, and those who investi-
gated the case surmised that Mary
Lelly, the notary public who pre-
tended to have Belknap's acknowl-
alignment, and Minnie r. Williams
we're one and the same. Holmes
confession Of the crime and the re-
payment Of all sums due, settled
hat case, but left the Belknap
in Whitman still standing
If record in the name of Minnie |
Willis M. Hit is now
oreclosing a trust deed on that |
in which Minnie Williams
S grantor. Minnie Williams
;runk Is still held unopened by the |
Wells, Fargo Express company.
It came here July 18th, 1898, adj
dressed to Miss Mamie Will
Jams, care of Mr.. HI. Gordon,
.220 Wrightwood avenue, Chicago.
The way bill reads from Midlo-
jhian, Texas. 1t was evident that |
Holmes was leading a double life,
n fact, at times, it might be said
10 was leading a quadruple life.
He had wife and three children |
1t Willamette and built a fine
home. In the meantime Holmes,
Williams and Pitzell had |
moved to a house on Dearborn |
avenue. Suddenly Holmes bios
'omed out as he had laid hand on |
money and hired |
apartments at the hotel. | learned
rom the clerk Of the hotel that the |
party had registered as Holmes
md wife. The clerk said Miss |
Williams had told him PitZell was
Ter brother. We found while Min |
lie was living at the Southside |
lotel she had been attended by |
doctor, who had never been paid |
or his services. l managed to get
The bill put into my hands, for
and in the guise Of a |
went to Holmes. He in
reduced me to Minnie Williams, |
saying: This is Mrs. Holiness The |
woman was of medium height, |
with a we'll developed figure, big |
brown eyes, light hair and
1 baby face. / managed to col
ect the bill. The next time I
saw Holmes was in the office of a
certain insurance company where
he had come as Hiram Campbell |
TO receive the amount of his in
,urance money. He recognized
me as the supposed collector and
was directly uncomfortable. He
was detained there while / went |
over to the Plaza Hotel and called |
On Minnie Williams. / secured
rom her a complete admission Of
the fraudulent character of the fire
and also secured the insurance
papers. When this was done my
unrL ,uas O. 4 a IN and had N n fur