The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-06-05
TRACED TO NEVELS.
[Concluded from First Page. ]

DR.. Bailey complied(
Q.-Is this one of the axes?
At is.
B-Where is the handle to it?
A-The fact is l kept the axe stored
in room back of my office. Lately a
broke the handle chopping kindling.
Q-From what cause did Mrs. Natson
come to her death?
A-The blows on her head.
(Which one?
A-Either one was sufficient to kill.
Q-When you left the house what in
structions did you leave. if any?
Al left the house in charge of col
ored young man named Will Robertson.
with instructions that nothing should be
disturbed until the jury came the next
day.
Q-How long was he in charge of the
yard?
A-Two days.
Odd you see any papers in the yard
before you left?
A-Yes.
Q-What were they?
A-There were half a dozen copies of
the evening JOURNAL in the yard that
had never been disturbed. l looked at
them with hope of ascertaining how
long Mrs. Matson had been dead The
SdEl1OSb 0dl0 VI any JOORNAL L COulu uUQ
in the yard was Decem Der 18th.
Odd you send for an undertaken?
A-Yes; l notified J. NJ. Knight He
came in about half an hour and removed
the body to his morgue.
Joseph Ensninger put the coroner
through a rigid cross examination, and
brought out the fact that there were no
cuts in the bedding or cloth that had
been wrapped about Mrs Matson's head
Q-How do you account for the fact
that there are no cuts in any of these ar
ticles when you say that her skull was
cut open after head had been wrapped
up?
Al don't know. Unless l am mis-
taken there was also an old skirt wrapped
about her head. and 1 am sure that was
full of cuts 1t don't seem to be here.
Q-Would it be possible to cut the
skull without cutting the cloth?
Alt is hardly probable, but is posi-
bic. 1t would depend on the texture of
the cloth. (This made Mr.. Ensminger
laugh.)
Q-You summoned the coroner's jury,
did you not?
GLOW long were you in session?
A-Ten days, think.
Q-What was your verdict?
A-Murder by unknown persons.
"Doc" Wards Discovery.
L P. Ward, the ex- policeman, who dis
covered the only clue thus far secured,
and the one on which the entire prose-
cution of Novels is based, was next
called. His discovery was that of
''slung- shot" so called. made from the
top half of small coupling pin. The pin
is about four inches long and has an eye
at the upper end. Through this is a
rope OF ''handle."
Officer Ward testified in substance as
follows:
Q-Where do you live?
Ain North Topeka.
Q-How long have you lived here?
A-Since 1874.
Q-You have been on the police force?
Ayes.
Q-What other official positions have
you held?
Al was in the fire department year
and was deputy street commissioner for
nine months. l was on the police force
two years the first time and four years
the last time.
Q-When did you leave the force?
A-When the Pops got in over two
years ago
Q-What did you do after you left the
force?
Al was with the Rock Island secret
service.
Q-Where were you on the Goth day of
last December?
Al was in Topeka most of the day.
but after supper 1 went to Tecumseh to
help Sheriff Burdge and the Wilkersons
look for a man wanted for assault.
Q-How long were you gone?
All night
Odd you know of the murder be-
fore you left Topeka?
A-No
Q-When did you hear of the murder?
A-The next morning.
Q-What time did you go to the Mat
son house?
About 10 o'clock in the morning.
Q-Who let you in?
Al think it was Jimmie Harlan.
Q-Who was with you?
ALBERT Hopkins and Dee Wilker-
son. They didn't follow me into the
house
Q-Who else was there?
Al was informed that the coroner's
jury was sitting in the next room.
Q-What did you find in the sitting
room?
"A pile of rags.
Q-The same that had been wrapped
over Mrs. Matson's head and body2
A-Yes.
Q-OlQ you inquire II the pie naQ
been searched? (Here objections were
interposed, but overruled by the cOurt)
A-Yes, and they said they hadn't
been shaken out
Q-What did you do then?
Al took them up one piece at time
and shook them.
Q-What was the result?
A-When l picked up this shawl
piece of iron fell out of it, and fell on
my foot
Q-Is this the piece of iron? Here
Ward was handed the slung- shoE)
A-Yes, that is it.
Q-Who was in the room when you
found the slugf
A-The colored boy, Robertson.
Odd you show him what you had
found?
Ayes.
Q-Show it to anyone else7
A-Nobody else there to show it to. I