Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1894-09-28
AN EDITORS STORY.

1t was in western city some years
ago." remarked the city editor, "that
was holding down the city desk on a
daily for the first time We had man
on the paper who was simply crank
on homicide, and he was more than a
mere reporter, for he had detective tai
Ient Of the highest order. He didn't care
much for the common crimes-bur-
Iglaries, larcenies and such-but give
him good. mysterious murder, and he
was splendid. Not only did he have the
history of all the famous murders at
his fingers ends, but he delighted in
ferreting out the most mysterious crimes
that came within our province. In every
case, except the one I am telling about
and there were a good many killings
in that town-he traced out the muir
Iderer before the detectives even dreamed
Iof his identity.
81 have since thought the secret of
his success was that he put himself
mentally in the place Of the murderer
and reasoned it out from motives rather
than from the 'clews' Of the ordinary
detective.
{" There is seldom much method in
murder, he once said to me when III
rarely communicative mood. Most men
would commit it in about the same way
under the same circumstances. 1t is
only when a murderer goes about it
Systematically, as do the thugs of In
Idia, that murder becomes truly mys-
FERROUS.
81 once asked him why he did not
become regular detective.
GO L was born and bred a newspaper
man, he said, and habit is too strong
to break. That was literally true in his
case. OtherN ise l might not have to
tell this story.
Zone morning the body Of fine look
ing man was found in an alley adjoin-
ing the electric light works in the very
heart of the city The afternoon papers
had chance at it, bat didn't make
much out of it, so [ at once assigned it
Ito Jones, as we will call him. Although
he did not show up at the usual hour,
had 40 doubt that he was already at
work on it, as it was as mysterious
case as even he could desire.
s"The victim was identified as trav
cling man who had just arrived, and,
as far as known, he had no friends Or
Iacuuaintances in the city. 1t was not q
case of robbery, for all his money and
valuables were left on the body. There
was a slight confusion Oh the back of
the head and small needlelike hole di-
Irectly through the man S heart. 1t was
especially strange that such crime
could have been committed in a public
Ithoroughfare, while there was absolute
" no clew to the murderer Or his mo-
tive
"But these difficulties were only such
as would ordinarily put Jones on his
mettle, so did not doubt that he would
have d good account Of the affair. l
was therefore somewhat surprised
when he came sneaking in about 6
O'Clock in the evening to see what his
assignment was He looked worn and
Ihaggard, but denied that he was i'll, So
gave him the murder assignment. I
thought I saw startled look i'll his
eyes, but he maintained his outward
Icomposure and went out without a
word.
ST did not see him again that even
ing. About midnight began to wonder
why I had not heard from him, but
only speculated on the possibility of
something having happened to him, for
the idea that he could possibly fail
never occurred to me- Finally, after an
hour had gone by, telephoned to the
police station. Word came back that
there were no new developments in the
case, and that Jones had not been there.
Sending two men out to hunt him up,
set to work myself to make up story of
the murder from the afternoon papers.
Just then Jones came in. His step was
unsteady and his face flushed He had
Ievidently been drinking heayily-some-
thing never knew him to do before
but he was not drunk, rather he seemed
at high nervous tension, although out
wardly as calm as ever.
ST decided to let this breach of dis
cipline pass and merely asked him for
his murder story. He replied that he
hadn't written it,
"'Well, get to work on it at once, l
said rather sharply.
''Then he really surprised me by say
ing that he had nothing to write beyond
the bare facts already known. The po-
lice had developed nothing new, and he
supposed that I had worked up the story
from the evening papers.
And has it come to pass that you
wait for the police to develop a murder
case for you? l exclaimed angrily. 'As
flor the reports in the evening papers,
Iyou can fake better story than they
had!'
''He sat down, IN apparent despair,
at his desk. Then I relented and Ca
joled him little, begging him not to
spoil his great record by falling down
on such all assignment There's a start
er for you,' said /, throwing him the
article I had commenced. Now, &C
ahead and fill that out with column
description Of the scene.
"'I haven't even visited it,, he re-
piled. Nevertheless he picked up the
pages and read them as if impelled by
some hateful fascination. Then ne took
60 his pen to make u few minor correc-
tions. Then, as if totally oblivious Of
my presence, he began to write.
''As sheet after sheet fell under his
fingers I snatched them up, read them
hurriedly and shot them down the copy
tube to the composing room. I read
rapidly. as an editor will, taking but
small account Of the matter SO long as
it ran smoothly, while ! had too much
confidence in him to question the ac-
curacy of his statements. only realized
that he was writing great story, the
greatest he had ever done. He seemed
inspired with the very innermost
thoughts of the murderer, and under
his touch every trivial incident came
out with distinctness and coherency that
made the cause and methGd of the crime
perfectly plain.
'fFirst lie described the scene with
accuracy Of detail that would have been
impossible for one who had not studied
it closely. The selection of the spot he
explained by the fact that the bright
electric light, streaming through the
windows OF the power house, made it
impossible for the passerby to see into
tho cbado7vs Tins while Uncomfortable