The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-21
THE JUGGLING OF Mr.. JENKINS.
HE TALKED LOUD AND LONG ABOUT
THE BASS MURDER.

tile" on "A Charge of Conspiracy.
/ Jenkfns's Contradictory state
mems Regarding the Alleged
Marking of a Pistol by "a woman
Gain Him the Attentions of the PO-
lice Departmental Trap is Set,
Properly Bnited, He Walked Into
It, and May Have Trouble in Clear
ing Himself of Some Ugly Charges.
/ Atlanta. Ca. Sept. 2O.-The mystery sur
rounding the murder of b. A. Bass, the
! commission merchant, whose body was
! found at daylight one morning three weeks
! ago, lying on the sidewalk a block dis
tant from his home with a bullet hole
/ in the back of his head is about 10
! be cleared up.
! II. I. Jenkins. a well-known tobacco
/ salesman, has been arrested by the city
| detectives as the murderer, the circum-
stances leading up to his arrest making
a detective story of thrilling interest and
| reading more like fiction than actual fact.
II is said there is a woman in the case
and the part she plays in the mystery will
! be shown.
At the time of Bass murder the de-
! tectives affected to believe that it was
/ suicide, induced by the fact that the
man was under Indictment for keeping an
extensive fence" for thieves plumber,
and that his trial was close at hand.
The coroner's jury, on the contrary.
found that Bass had been murdered, and
one of the witnesses before that body
| gave testimony that cast suspicion on
| City Detectives Green. Conn and w. d.
Mehaffey.
! 1t was said by this witness and reiter-
/
to defend him on his trial for keeping the
| fence that these detectives had threaten
ed TO put him out of the way because of
his intention to give damaging evidence
| against them before the grand jury on a
charge of persecution and conspiracy. Ihe
! officers of the law put little faith in this
| accusation, however, and refused to make
Il any arrests.
Several days ago II. T. Jenkins, the
| tobacco salesman now under arrest, came
/ in as a factor in the case by publishing a
| long interview in which, as the close
| friend of Bass he accused Detective Conn
/ of having committed the crime Jenkins
| declared he had worked upon the case
with determination to avenge his friends
death, and had found a woman, Conn's
mistress, who could identify as Detective
| Conn's the pistol placed in Bass hands
| by the assassin, to give his death the APP
| pearance of suicide The pistol he said,
had been marked with a hat-pin by the
fed it,
According to the story told by Jenkins,
| the woman was intimate with Bass, as
| well as with Conn. but she was true to
| the former and would betray the latter
He said Conn had confided to her his in
| tentions TO kill Bass and she had gone
| 10 Bass late at night to warn him.
The detectives located the woman. She
! Is a Mrs. George A. Dampmors, known,
| the police said, as a frequenter of ques-
| tiOnable houses.
To save herself, the woman. it is said
| consented to betray jenkins. The detect
| ives had Mrs. Dampmors to arrange a
meeting with Jenkins at the house of a
woman in their employ on the southern
outskirts OF the city Jenkins and the
woman met there yesterday. Detective
Cason of the local department, Police
| Commissioners Brannon and two other
| the door of which they had cut a hole
| in order to see and hear all that took
| place between the two.
| They kept their post for eight hours,
| during which time Jenkins made admis-
| sions to the woman-drawn out by her
| questions, in which she had been coached
| by the detectives-that point strongly TO
him as the man guilty of Bass murder.
Jenkins insisted upon celebrating his
/ meeting with the woman in royal style, or
dering liquors and collation. all under
| the eyes of the four men in the closet.
Jenkins evidently did not suspect the
| trap but was slow in falling into it. The
/ woman succeeded in securing his equiVo-
! cal admission that he had offered to give
| her $500 if she would swear that the pistol
| found in Bass hand was the property of
| Detective Conn; that she had marked it,
| and thus fasten the crime upon him and
| bring him to the gallows for 1t.
The scene during the part of the inter-
/ view relating to the murder was dramatic
| at one stage. Detective 81 Basch of Sa-
| vannah, who is in town. was sent for by
| Jenkins 70 advise him how to get out Of
| the trouble he was in. Jenkins realizing
| that his conflicting statements regarding
| the manner in which Mrs. Dampmors had
marked the pistol had attached suspicion
| to him.
mark of any kind. At one time Jenkins
said II was marked with a penknife
again with a hair pin and then with
| hat pin by the woman who, however re-
| fused to corroborate him.
After leaving the woman's house Jen-
kins went to the Weinmeister hotel where
| he was followed by Detective Cason and
arrested by Chief Detective Wright
The warrant against Jenkins is for con-
spiracy He will be given preliminary
No attempt has been made by the de-
| partHent to force a full confession from
him as yet He is also kept in ignorance
| of the fact that the detectives were in
| the closet yesterday and witnessed the
! meeting with Mrs Dampmors.
When seen in his cell jenkins refused
! to be interviewed, except to declare that
! he would be able to prove an alibi. Jen-
kins tonight in a short talk claimed that
| he will be able to prove an alibi. On the
morning of the Bass murder ne claims to
| have been at Newman and gives the
names of number of drummers and
| others by whom he can establish that
| fact.
A strong chain of circumstantiaI evil
deSce is being woven about jenkins.
and there seems little doubt now that
he either committed the murder or knows
who did it. 1t is presumed that Jenkins
| feared that Bass would give him away
| as a member of gang of thieves. Jen-
| kins is also said to have been jealous of
| Bass
Mrs Frances Hodgson-B Burnett, author
OF Little Lord Fauntleroy," makes all of
| her own dresses.