The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-06-09

awakened a train of thought and brought
to his mind similar tragedies which had
been enacted in the past and which have
to this day remained shrouded in mys-
terry
mo- said the great thief talzer slow
1y after some deliberation, murder will
not always out. It is seldom, however,
that the man who is not a professional
criminal-and high grade one at that
who commits murder is not found out
Criminals of high degree frequently
murder their coparceners in crime when
they suspect their loyalty or honesty and
Just as often escape punishment for the
butchery. Men of this class are shrewd
to an inordinate degree and commit muir
der at safe time and place. Witnesses
can seldom be found, and if found dare
not tell what they know; hence the po-
lice have hard lines to work upon to en-
compass conviction in cases of this char
acter. Among people who are law abid-
ing as rule of life I have found that
there is generally only one motive for
the planning and commission of secret
murder-that is, where ones supreme
honor or dishonor is at stake. In this
class women are the unfortunate vic
TINS. They have been slain, assume, to
save their betrayers or lovers from infa-
my. or what some of them would re-
gard as infinitely worse-a distasteful
marriage"
The superintendent then recited nu-
merous cases in support of his PROPOSE
ton. Two of recent date We're those of
the beautiful Helen Potts, who was poi
Eoned by Carlyle Harris so that he could
escape matrimonial alliance with her,
and of the equally beautiful Jennie
=
few years ago on the beach at Savin
Rock, Connecticut -er resort, a
few miles distant fror Haven.
The latter's de~ou and still re-
mains a mystery.
Famous Crimes.
Four other murders of this character,
however, were told to me by the super
intendent which are famous the world
over in criminal annals Three of them
are unsolvable mysteries. The guilt of
the suspected murderer was all but prov
en- in the fourth, but he managed to Sc
cure a verdict of acquital The victims
were women. They were Annie Dow
ney, the pretty flower girl;'' Mary Ry-
an, comedy shopgirl; Mary Rogers, the
beautiful cigar girl, " and Helen jew
EFT, the loveliest cyprian of her day.
''Annie Downey," said the superin-
tendent, obtained the title of the pref
ty flower girl by selling roses, jacque-
minots and pinks on the Bowery. At
midnight on Jan. II, 1880, she retired
to her room alone. She had expected her
lover, but he apparently came not. The
house was locked up for the night, and
in the morning the girl was found dead
in her bed. She had been strangled with
a FELLOWSHIP No clew could be found
to the murderer nor trace of the man she
had importuned to marry her. &"
Here is still darker mystery narrated
by Superintendent Byrnes: Pretty Mary
Ryan and her brother Nicholas engaged
a big square room on Broome street Nov.
%, 1878. A curtain divided the sleep
ing apartments. Both were honest and
industrious. Their joint savings, as
told by their bankbooks, represented
800. The girl was a model of propri-
ETY., the neighbors said. At 3 O'Clock on
the morning of Dec. %, 1878, brother
and sister were found dead-Mary in
her bed and Nicholas in the hallway.
Over 100 people lived in the tenement,
and only one man-Patrick Burke
heard slight noise in the Ryan apart
ment. The girl had lover, who had
wronged her, but he was missed, and
the crime is still UNPUBLISHED.
Poe's Well Known Story.
The superintendent was in the vein
for story telling, and he continued:
IS The Mystery of Mary Roget, Edgar
Allan Poe's famous story, founded on
the mysterious murder of Mary Rogers,
the beautiful cigar girl, has made this
tragedy known wherever the English
language is spoken. Mary Cecilia Rog
ers was the only daughter of a respecta-
BILE widow, who kept a boarding house |
on Nassau street The fame of her
beauty was SO great that John Ander-
son, the celebrated tobacconist, induced !
her to serve as an attraction to his cigar |
store on Broadway, near Thomas street
The gilded youth of the day swarmed t
about the store and bought cigars galore |
In the vain tempt to win the favor
of the divi behind the counter. She |
was lavish her smiles, but was ac- |
credited w aving a marble heart. |
Her name Dove reproach- One day, |
however. sh Asappeared. A week later |
she was ag seen with tall, dark, /
handsome m in Hoboken. That was /
the last see of her alive Her body, ter !
ribly mangled and disfigured, was found |
shortly after floating in the Hudson |
near Hoboken. The tall, dark, hand |
some man had disappeared, and all |
efforts to trace him proved futile. "
Many more tales of tragedy did the /