The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-06-03
The Harris Murder Has so Far Baffled
the Police of Gotham.
A REALLY SINGULAR CRIME.
Millionaire Borden's Butler Shot Dead at
High Noon In His Employers Door
way, and the Assassins Vanish,
Leaving Not Trace Behind.

. cry trail followed by the police has proven
to be a circle, endless and resultless
Scarce clew they have had that did not
turn out to be valueless. Several arrests
have been made but in no case, when test
ed, did the chain of circumstances prove
sufficient to cause the prisoners to be held
for further Development At every point
the force has been bafiled and puzzled
When incidents seemed to point to a Ger.
tain direction, there was an utter absence
of motive without which crime is impos
sible of creation. In one or two instances
in which motive might be assumed there
was nothing besides on which TO base o
case, and so the murder, the motive for il
and the men who did it are absent.
Not in years has the force felt itself in
such embarrassing conditions. Every mem
ber on it is jealous on the case In addi.
tion to the $40, 600 reward offered by Mr.
Borden there is not a detective nor a pa
trolman but feels that the capture of the
murderers will bring him, under the new
regime, deserved and certain promotion
Acting Captain Steinkampf feels there is
in the solution of the mystery gold badge
and premanenoy in the captainoy for
himself Every Central Office detective
has his eyes on the chair of Mclaughlin
which may soon be vacant and realizes
these days when merit is the sole test of
fitness. Every one of the four commission
ers is extremely anxious to demonstrate
the efficiency of the force. Add to these
the dozens of private detectives who are
laboring for the $40, 600 reward and it may
readily be seen now exhaustivey every
end is being covered. And yet the muir
derers are at large, and every day spent in
truitless search adds to their security.
The Crime.
Perhaps that which makes the task at
present so difficult was the early assump-
tion that the motive was robbery or theft
an assumption that was utterly at var-
anoe with all criminal history. Mr.. Borden
was known only in limited circle His
wealth had not been the subject of public
notice nor had his operations in business
been conducted so as to excite attention
He was but one of hundred milionaires
and only one of dozen more prominently
known who lived within "a stones throw
of his residence. He was not q man of
! any political activity nor one who had
created resentments of any kind and so
the theory of theft or robbery, as will be
shown later, is in the present case entirely
untenable.
But whatever the motive. the crime was
| one of peculiar interest Whether the but
Ter was the victim of accident by interfer-
ence or of design in his own person. there
can be no doubt that the murder was one
of premeditation. The incidents surround
ing it will bear rehearsal 1t was commit
ted at high noon in one of the most pri-
vate aristooratic residential portions of
our city. Two men assembled the steps
leading to the door of Mr.. Borden at 25
West Fifty sixth street. They rang the
bell The maid and the butler only saw
them. They attempted to brush by the
butler. There was a scuffle the flash of
revolver and the butler fell dead 1t was
the work of scarce an instant. The maid
was naturally excited She did not reoog-
nize the men, She scarce knew whether
they were white or colored While she
hesitated the men ran. They were seen
running up the street and around the cor
ner and then were swallowed up in the
great city as completely as though they
had never existed.
The street through which the murderers
passed in thevery center Of "the diamond
back" district. 1t is a street from which
all peddlers of fruit and merchandise or
organ grinders and beggars are relgiousy
excluded. 1t is as private as any part of
any public street ever can be, The police
are daily under the eye of men who have
influence and they are particularly Jealous
that it should be as exclusive as possible
The Police BafHed.
In addition the residents pay priya to
guardian, so that the block on which the
murder was committed seemed ordinarily
doubly secure. The rear of the Borden
home LOOKS almost directly into the home
of Mayor Strong, in which President
Cleveland lived during the eventful fall of
1899. The residence of William @. Whit
ney is only just around the corner. as is
the palace which Coils p. Huntington is
building, Within an easy stones throw is
the residence of eX-Chief Byrnes, while
clustered within a very short distance are
the homes of the three Vanderbilts and OF
Andrew Carnegie
This is the district in which the crime
was committed, one where a man walking
hurriedly almost would attract the atten-
tioO of an officer, a district devoted to the
homes Of millionaires and corresponding
in outward quiet to the studied elegance
of the homes within Trucks IN such a
district are frowned upon because of the
jarring noise, as their wheels would crate
on the granite blocks, and the ordinary
citizen when he strolls through it does II
eltnef Jhfougn uecesslVy oI, II ne DO
cynio to enjoy the absolute restful feeling
with which the civic authorities when
they set about to do it can impose on any
residential portion of the city. And yet
here in this exclusive block there was the
sharp ring of revolver, the screaming OF
q maid and the mad race of two or posi-
bly, three criminals for their lives and no
body saw them save a few residents who
languidly gazed at them through ourtained
windows. They would not know them
again. The police saw nothing of the men
at the time and have seen nothing since.
The whole Central office detective force
has been turned loose on the trail, but
without the slightest avail.
Dangerous Man.
LYNN, Mass, June 2.-John Taswell