Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-10-21


sidered they had right to know and
then declared a recess. during which the
excitement ran high. Judge Dick turned
the letter over to the district attorney
and both officials positively declined to
allow it TO be seen. They said that it
was private to Mrs. Rambusch and
could not be made public.
The letter was dated October u and
was written from the Colonnade hotel
in Philadelphia. 1t was very long and
is supposed to have gone into details to
some length But that is mere con-
lecture Bali that could be learned about
it was that in it Mr.. Rambusch made a
confession of greater or less length, eX-
planning how his scrookedness had COM
menced and continued until it had over
whelmed him. He asked her to forgive
him for his miSdOings and then ex-
pressed "A desire not to have his body
brought back to Juneau for burial.
It is generally taken for granted that
Mr.. Rambusch has not granted out his
Mr. Rambusch has not carried out his
threat to commit suicide, because if he
had done so the fact would probably
have become known from Philadelphia
There is diversity of opinion as to his real
zntention to end his life. Those who
think he spent the money as fast as he
got it believe that he has killed or will
Kill himself and take his statement as
proof Of the correctness of their theory
about his stealings. Those who believe
that he has boarded his gains think that
the letter is bluff intended to throw the
authorities off the track The authorities
Va Philadelphia have been Communicated
with. and if he is not dead an attempt
will be made to trace him from that city.
Had False Keys to the Courthouse.
Yesterdays developments have clearly
shown that Rambusch had operated with
q bOldness that is startling. This morn
ing set of keys were found which
proved 10 be duplicate keys for all the
offices and vaults in the courthouse and
the further discovery was made that
the official records have been tempered
with II seems that Mr.. Rambusch had
privileges extended to him because of
his high standing that could not have
been granted by the officials to anybody
else, and it is said that when his doings
were criticised by officials who were
styled over-officious the people were in
digarant that anybody should accuse Mr..
Rambusch of doing what was not right.
Il is now evident that liz used his keys
to get into the offices and vaults when
nobody was around and make such use
of records as he saw fit. Ex-Register
of Deeds Miller makes the statement
that three of four years ago he was as
tonished to find Mr.. Rambusch in his
vault very early one morning, and when
he found that Rambusch had a key
to the vault he threatened him with ar
Eest if he did not surrender it at once.
A careful examination of the records
IS being made as part of the investiga-
ton. which is expected to show up all
OF Mr.. Rambusch's croOkedness. This
morning some erasures were found. An
unsuspecting examiner would not notice
anything was wrong, but by holding the
books in certain light faint tracings
of lines can be discovered, showing that
whole parag graphs have been wiped out
by some process That discovery has
allied the officials and lawyers with
alarm, because it is not known to what
extent the records may have been
changed.
MIDDLE Grows Worse Every Minute.
The middle grows worse every minute.
People are coming to town by the score
to see what they have lost and new steals
are being discovered every hour. 1t is
NOW known beyond doubt that Mr.. Ram
busch drew absolutely fraudulent mort
cages. signed the names of the holders
of the land and filed the mortgages. A
saloonkeeper in Juneau who never has
had occasion to borrow money finds that
he has a $4,000 mortgage upon
his farm, and many others are
learning that their mortga ges
have been tink6red with in one way OF
another In a small batch of mortgages
examined this morning three were found
IudI were WHOLLY LCtlllOuo tlIiu lAAOS DIV
the total amount of Mr.. Rambusch'
stealings by nearly $4,000. There is nc
telling what the total amount will be. Il
will take weeks and perhaps months t
get at all the crookedness, but Sheriff
Binte and his assistants, who are makine
the investigation. still believe that it vii
be more than 100000.
Some of the Largest Losers.
So far George Hawkins of Waterfowl
is the principal loser and his losses are
variously estimated at from $4,000 tt
$60,0009 Mrs. Spence and the Nelson
estate come next with losses of about
$4,000 each. In addition to these there
are .8smalI cases almost without end
Judging by the rate at which they ar,
being discovered they will aggregate
more than 100000 In the case Of thu
Nelson estate some genuine notes ant
securities have been discovered which
reduce the. loss by about $1,000 Al
manner Of stories are Gfoat about indi
vidual losses, but many of them ar
without foundation and in several in
stances where croolledness was sus
pected things have been found to be al
right.
Last night it was stated that no evi