The morning times., 1896-10-22
DEATH HIS ONLY ESCAPE
Banker Rambusch Killed Him.
self 10 Avoid Arrest.
SUICIDE CALMLY PLANNED
Left II Note Requesting That the Body
BE Identified So That His wife
Would Have No Trouble III secur-
Ing the Insurance-Had Swindled
for Twenty Years.

Fredericksburg. Va, Oct. 31.-It was
crlucit IfUiA papers iuuni ON ". L. Rain-
buscn'S person That he had contemplated
suIcIIe, but was nastcued IN COiunittin the
ueeu soon lie uid by the aDlraIancc
III yesteruay's evening papers OF Il cut Of
himself ana Il detdiiCu account OF LlS crime
iie itutresscu u icttcr To the fresDyt, nan
minister asking tndt he offer prayer over
h's grave, anu beg heavens protection Tor
his vile and daughter.
lie requested IiIdJ ils remains DE buried
here, and That parties naIned by him be
wired tu come here ana identify his body,
that his family would nave 10 trouble IN
SECURING the Insurance money. He claimed
when lie came here that he was in i'll
health, anu mad been ordered by his ply
sicIdn 10 seek rest and recreation, and as
he li,h not visited the battieileIds OF this
section SINCE he participated in the stormy
scenes OF the war, lie had come 10 tins
place.
he had no effects with him save a small
maui satchei, III which We're change Of
underwear and a few other belongings, and
The one hundred and twenty-five dollars
louhG on his person. This he requested bc
uSeu III settling his unpaid hotel bill and
funeral expenses.
He was very methodcal in all he did.
and went to his death with u delibera-
ton and calmness that only man OF
iron nerve could command. Those who
came In contact with him were impressed
with his intelligence and digniiied man
ner.
The verdict of the coroner's jury was:
Murdered by his own hand
FRIENDS HEARD FROM.
Telcgrams have been received from
friends IN Wisconsin and New York, but
as they are somewhat c OnfIiCuu Tue
senders have been summoned here in
person. The letters To his wife and Mr.
John Curtis. of Cent ervine. his cousin,
were. at his request, forwarded mopen-
ed. In neither Of his communications to
Parties here did lie refer To the grav.
charges made gainst himself i'll the
Eapers, doubtless thinking that tue dis
ChSure OF his identity would be sufficient
to publish his wrOugdoiug FAR and wide
RambuSch was for years the most
rr>pec cd citizen Of the City of Juneau.
He was trusted with the funds Of the
iich and poor Of the county, VINO had i'm
plicit faith in his honesty and business fore
sight. As real estate operator he was
always shown considerable Difference in
the county clerks office. and when lie
searched among the official records 10
one questioned his motives.
The exposure finally came with a sud-
htiiItSS tIdt IlG Icbplt OF llle
city.
OPERATED FOR TWENTY YEARS.
EamhSuCh's operations extended over a
period of twenty years. He must in that
time have handled between 1000, 900
and So coo. 900 in the work of buying and
exchanging mortgages. How much he re-
ccived from his clients or how ,nucn he
paid them cannot be determined.
He left no account hooks worthy If the
name. What he did leave do not extend
over the whole period that he has been
In hnSinr>s, and do not show i'll more than
Il few instances OF his having received
money for mortgages. They do not show
that he has paid large sums for interest
on mort cages. He handled thousands Of
ortgacCS, as lie was the trusted financial
agent of number OF wealthy investors.
The manner in Which lie WIS caught well
Illustrates bis peculiar method of dealing.
one of Rambuscb's clients was Mrs. Laura
Winfield Spence, OF Fond du Lac. She had
dealings with RImbuSch. anI her husbands :
suspicious Were aroused. on October : lie
came here to leaTnif the taxes Were paid On
all of the land on whiCn his wife had ad-
vanCed money. EambuScb was out OF the
city, and he began an investigation Oh his
own account
DEFALCATIpNAMoU NTS To $3.50 600.
In looking over the register of deeds rec
ord, he found that RambusCh had cNeCu-
ted Il fictitious mortgage for s., 500 Ram
busch heard OF this fact. and, becoming
frightened, he drew $500 from the bank
and LETT town. Mrs. Spence placed an at
tnchmcnt on all of his property the next
day, and then the whole story OF his
transactions began to unfold Itself.
lnquirin. investors who trusted Ram
blSch implicitly have crowded the town
during the week. a few days ago a small
bottle of clear fluid, in Which rested
little sponge, was found. This, on being
submitted to chemical test. proved to be
an erasing fluid. and by its use tits supposed
RambusCh had manipulated deeds and
records at viii
The dcfalcation already brought to light
reaches the sum of $3.50, 900. and those en-
gagged in the work of Strengthening the
books claim the end is not yet. The only
assets thus far discovered amount To S25,-
600, and consist of the records in RAM
busCh's office, worth about $40, 600: stock
in the Citizens bank to the value of ST 500.
a few notes of doubtful value and piece
OF mortcag ged real estate.
The confession of RambuSch. which came
in the form of Il letter to his Wife. is far
FROM complete 1t told nothing of what
he did with the money.
He said that for twenty years his life
had been n lie.