Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-09-27


had stopped made it quite dark. ala
not soc or hear any one near the place.
I supposed at first that the man III Tue
road was drunk, but when l took holo
of him I found his clothing was wet,
and lighting match | discovered that
nv hands were wet with blood. saw
fhe daceaseds face by the light. had
never seen him before. The body was
still warm. I thought that life might
not be extinct, and placed the pouy
in nv wagon and drove rapidly back 10
town. | brought the body to the once
of DR.. Dixon: also a yallse when
found in the road near where the as
ceased lay. That is all know OF 'l'o
circumstance.
Jack Peters, the old gardener at DARK
wood Hall, in whose charge the place
had been for five years, was summoned
and gave his testimony
He stated that he lived with his wife
at Darkwood Hall. They occupied the
servants quarters in the north wing OF
! rhe building, He was at home on the
night Of Sept. 10. He heard no unusnal
! sounds. He was little hard or hearing.
/ The building he occupied stood about
F.! 60 wards from the road and about loo
wards from the spot where the deceased
/ had been found. He had come from his
work among the shrubbery at O'CLOCK
and had remained in the house I'LL
about s; then he had crossed the lawn
to bring scythe he had left. He was
returning with it when he saw man
/ &ho 1oyy toward
front gate. He did not recognize the
| man. He saw his face in the moonlight.
r was not the face OF the deceased. He
! did not speak to the stranger. He was
surprised at seeing him there, but 1t
was not very uncommon for people to
pass through the grounds. He thought
he would recognize the man If he saw
him again.
The ticket agent at Bartlett's Station
was next called and stated that a man
answering the description OF the de-
ceased had come in on the 1880 tram
from the east. He had got off the train
there, but the agent did not see which
way he had gone when he left the sta
ton. The man was a stranger to him.
He could rot state positively that the
man seen at the station and the deceased
were the same There was strong re-
eemblance between the two if they were
not the same.
Several others gave their testimony,
| but no clew to the murdered man s
identity or his murderer was obtained.
Jack Peters, the Darkwood gardener,
was the only one who gave any testi-
mony that was likely to afford anything
like clew to the murderer, but unless
| the stranger whom he had seen passing
through the grounds should prove to
have had some connection with the MUIR
der even this would be worthless. A
strict inquiry was made to ascertain
who the man was, but all efforts were
futile.
The inquest consumed a whole day,
but no ligat was thrown upon the mys-
terry surrounding the tragedy, and the
coroner's jury brought in verdict that
the deceased whose name was unknown,
had come to his death by a wound in
flicted by knife in the hands Of some
one unknown.
The peaceful and quiet village Of May
burg, whose very nature was utterly
pntagonistic to anything sensational,
rarely had its sober dignity disturbed
by any unusual occurrence, and, as may
be imagined, this startling and tragic
event occasiOned the most intense ex-
citement. The whole community was
shocked and indignant that auch d deed
could be perpetrated III their very midst
~
Keenly alive to the ignominJ that the
daring deed reflected upon the good
name Of The town, the mayor called the
council together and offered reward
Of 81 GOO for the apprehension and con-
viction Of the murderer.
This action resulted in bringing sew
erai detectives to the place, who at once
set to work to unravel the mystery
Meantime photographs of the murdered
man had been taken, after which his
body was embalIned and laid to rest in
the village cemetery.
On the evening of the third day after
the murder | was sitting in my office,
rejecting over the incident. when nv
eyes happened to encounter the valise
which had been found with the MUIR
dered man. It lay in the corner of the
room, where it had been left after the
inquest. Moved by a sudden impulse,
l took up the valise, and opening it be-
gan to examine the contents, with the
vague hope that I might hit upon some
thing overlooked by the coroner's Jury
which might furnish clew to the mys-
ferrous affair.
first examined the few articles of
clothing for marks, but could find none.
l then took the three novels and turned
the leaves carefully through each one.
hoping to find bit of writing On some
OF the margins, but not mark was to
be found. Taking up the small black
glass jar previously referred to, I re-
moved the glass stopper. Apparently it
contained nothing but about eight
/ ounces Of alcohol, After q short ox,,n;