River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-05-02

| door instead of a window was foun,
| open in the basement. 1t was a storm,
night. and If anyone had come in earl
in the evening by the front door h
| had esca ped observation. The servan
did not sleep in the house, and o
course had no knowledge except wha
/ she had obtained when she came in il
the morning. There 1t was. and there i
remained. The heirs from the neigh
/ boring state appeared, and as soon a
/ they could decently do so they carried
away the body of Gartley and burie,
il beside that of Mr.. Delars, and wit
out devoting many minutes 10 the cere
monies of mourning they proceeded t.
substantive their claims to the prop
erty which now Gartley, happily 70
them. had no further right to, If in
deed he ever had any except so far a
rumor had conceded il to him, 70
there had been no time since the dealt
of MIR. Delsrs to look over his paper
and settle up his business. As for tn,
police force and the city detectives
they beat around the bush helplessll
for weeks and finally gave the job VI
aud concluded Ia wait until the mattel
worked itself out. as most police force
think murder will do.
For twenty-five years my fathel
worried over those murders. and on hi
deathbcd he told me almost with hii
last breath that the true story of il al
would come out some dav. and I would
probab bly, he the one to whom the facts
would be revealed. This was surpris
ing To me. for ! could not understand
what had to do with il, but my father
shook has head and told me to wais
Then he died, and among his papers
found the papers in the case, with &
note in red ink upon them to preserve
them carefully. This did for fifteer
years. making in all forty years sine,
the time of the murder, and still Their,
was no sign.
Five years ago in a western city :
man died who had been known Their,
for many years as a philanthropist
Not one who vas known all over the
land. but one who had in his OWL
neighbOrhOod done great good for the
poor and the suffering. lie lived alone
in good style and had a competence
the comfort of many others. He ha6
come there twenty years before from 9
foreign country and he was linguist
and had travelled for long time al
over the world. lie was greatly be
loved after his first years resi-
dence and when he died his houss
was filled for two days with thosC
who mourned and who came e
see him for the last time. What
especially attracted my attention aft
er reading the headlines and running
my eve over the story, was that the re
porter had discovered evidence going
to show that the man, who haC
been known as Charles Wilkinson, wa;
really named Delars. as there were pa
pers bearing that name in his safe
That struck me as something strange
but | was to receive a greater surprise
for within two days I received Letter
from the law firm to whom Wilkinson
had intrusted his final affairs, inclos
ing another from the dead man. They
had found ii in his safe after his death
and it had apparently been writer
only short time before. You may b,
sure / wasn't long in opening it ant
going at once To the signature. L
was signed George +. Gartley,' and i
was the genuine thing, for had seel
too many of his receipts for rent not Il
know that il was straight. OF course
l was surprised. but much more 5,
when read what he had to say to me
hav the letter at home among mn
L.. /. u \ Ill
said. because know il as / know mn
prayers. Briefly. then. he told me HI
was the Gartley had known as agen
and clerk for Mr.. Delars. and that h
had murdered Mr.. Dclars for a larg'
sum of money which he always kept il
his safe, as he was afraid of the banks
II amounted to at least one hundre,
thousand dollars and was IL banl
notes. and TO one knew he had il eX
cept Gartley. The story about his be
ing Mr.. Delars' heir was only PARTIAL,
true. the settlement had not beer
completed.
Gar tley had lost some money il
speculation. and, fearful that Mr.
Delars would discover it. and knowing
Of the large sum in the safe. he con
cluded he would kill him and have al
the monev he needed. This he did
and 50 cleverly that II it had not beer
for ~ father he would not have beer
SO much as suspected. He knew in q
very short time after the killing thai
he would he called on to answer the
charge of murder, and at once. with
devilish cunning. proceeded to throw
- n
about that part of the city wher,
tramps are to be found. and il was NJ
difficult task to get one about his owl
size and figure. He talked to hin
awhile. and told him he wanted a mar
! to do some work for him about hi
house and preferred 20 give ii To th'
needy rather than those who wer'
better fixed. The tramp agreed Il
come To the plumber given that evening
at nine O'Clock and to say nothing
about il. as Gartley did not want hi
people. so he said. To know that he wa
hiring tramp labor. The nan appeared
promptly and Gartley let him in. Thel
talked for half an hour. and then sud
, denly Gartley struck his visitor from
behind and knocked him senseless- HI
then tied a rope arodnd his victims
neck to choke him To death IL the blow
had not killed him. and at once tool
off his own clothing and the cloth
ing of the tramp and transferred
everything he had ON to the body
Of the tramp. even To his watct
and the ring on his finger. ",
had been correct in his estimate, and
the tramp was 81 nearly his size tina
the clothes fitted him perfectly. III,
was sharp again in another direction
for the man he had chosen had no
been long ON the road aud was in gooS
physical condition and clean. In othel
words. he was not tramp. This done
ard the tramp's clothes saturated will
oil aud put in the fire. Gartley proceed
ed To- smash his face and neck into sucf
/ . NJ -. - Ia t1a from