The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-06-09


been enacted i'll the past and which have
to this day remained shrouded in mys-
terry.
mo, said the great thief taker slow
ly after some deliberation, murder will
not always out. 1t is seldom, however,
that the man who is not professional
criminal-and u 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 All inordinate degree and commit muir
der at % safe time and place. Witnesses
can seldom be found, and ii 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 arc law abid.
ing as q rule of life I have found that
there is generally only one motive for
the planning and commission of secret
murder-that is, where ono's supreme
honor or dishonor is at stake In this
class women are tho 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 Us infinitely worse-a distasteful
marriage"
The superintendent then recited nu-
merous cases i'll support of his PROPOSE
ton. Two of recent date were those of
the beautiful Helen Potts, who was poi
soned by Carlyle Harris so that he could
escape q matrimonial alliance with her,
and of the equally beautiful Jennie
Cramer, whose dead body was found q
few years ago on the beach at Savin
Rock, Connecticut summer resort, O
few miles distant from New Haven.
The lattcr's death was and still re-
mains mystery.
Famous Grimes.
-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- i'll the fourth, but he managed to So
cure verdict of acquital. Tho victims
were women. They were Annie Dow
ney, tho pretty flower girl" Mary Ry-
an. comedy shopgirl; Mary Rogers, tho
beautiful cigar girl, (" and Helen Jew
EFT, the lovcliest cyprian of her day.
"Annio Downoy," said the superin-
tcndent, obtained the title OF tho prot
ty flower girl by selling roses, jacque-
minots and pinhs on tho Bowery. AT
midnight OH Jan. II, 1880, she retired
to her room alone. She had expected her
lover, but he apparently came not. Tho
I,Nr 30,
in the morning tho girl was found dead
in her bod. She had been stranglod with
a FELLOWSHIP No clew could be found
to the murderer nor trace of tho man she
had importuned to marry her.
Hero is q still darker mystery narrated
by Superintendent Byrnes: Pretty Mary
Ryan and her brother Nicholas engaged
big square room on Broome street Nov.
%, 1878. A curtain divided tho sleep.
ing apartments. Both were honest and
industrious. Their joint savings, as
told by their bankbooks represented
S7O0 The girl was model of propri-
ETY., tho neighbors said. At o. clock on
the morning Of Dec 90, 1878, brother
and sister were found doad-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 tho Ryan apart
mont The girl had lover, who had
wronged her, but ho was missed, and
the crime is still unpublished
Poc's Well known Story.
The superintendent was in the vein
for story telling, and no continued:
The Mystery of Mary Roget, Edgar
Allan Poe's famous story, founded on
the mysterious murder Of Mary Rogers,
the beautiful cigar girl, has mado this
tragedy known wherever the English
language is spoken. Mary Cecilia Rog-
ers was the only daughter of respecta-
bio widow, who kept boarding house
Oh Nassau street. The fame of her
beauty was so great that John Andcr-
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 swarmcd
about the store and bought cigars galore
in tho vain attempt to win the favor
of the divinity behind the counter. She
was lavish i'll her smiles, but was ac-
credited with having marble heart.
Her name was above reproach Ono day,
however, she disappeared A week later
she was again seen with tall, dark,
handsome man. i'll Hoboken. That was
the last seen of her alive Her body, ter
ribly mangled and disfigured, was found
shortly after floating in tho 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 tho
superintendent relate which have occur