Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-06
FOLLOWING A TRAIL
Detectives Close o the Track of Elsie
Kreglo's Murderer.
BELIEVED TO Be IRVING FORD
Montgomery County Being Secured
For the Suspected Man.
THE INQUEST ADJOURNED

Unless the police are nightly mistaken
they have hit upon clue which is like
| ly TO furnish the solution II the mystery
| surrounding poor Elsie kreglos murder
| AS a result of the information which
they have received Inspector HolInberg-
or and The detectives who ar, working upon
the case are satisfied that they know the
name of lEe murderer. Up to l. o'clock
today the man was still az large but there
| Is every reason - believe that he will lie
put under arres; before long, possibly be-
| fore evening.
The key to the solution, if it be the right
| solution, was furnished by the revolver
which the murderer left behind iiira beside
| the body of his victim when he started to
| escape through the bushes.
This revolver is a 44-caliber bulldog and
q vicious looking weapon. On the handle
! Is scratched the letters IF ID A" They
| have been identified as the letters which
| are put ON all pis tolls sold by ID. y. Wal
| ford, a cutlery dealer at 47I Pennsylvania
avenue From Mr.. Walford The detec tives
| ledrted that a pistol exactly answering
the description of the one found near the
body Of the murdered girl was sold
| couple OF years ago to n negro by the
| name of Irving or Irwin l.. Ford. Tracing
up the case from this point a number of
facts have been uHearthed which make it
| appear that they are not far wrong in the
| belief that Ford is the man who is wanted
above all others just now.
Revolver Identified.
Ford is described as a powerful negro
about six feet in height. He has recently
been employed as a laborer on a farm near
| Burnt Mills. Md. OF course. there was the
chance that Ford had disposed of the pistol
| long since, but the investigation which was
| set on foot by the authorities developed
| the fact that the revolver in question was
| in Ford's possession a recently as a fort
night ago. About that time he is said 10
| have traded some .3S caliber cartridges
| which he had for some others that would
mt his weapon. A number of colored men
| have been found in the naighhorhool of
| the farm where Ford was employed who
| have identified the revolver as the one that
| Ford owned. This fact taken in connec-
ton with others almost equally important
| induced the detectives to make tne Journey
| tC Burnt Mills last evening
Evidence Found.
Ford is a married man with one child.
! Detectives Weldon and Horne reached the
| house at late hour last evening in COM
pany with some Of the Montgomery county
ofncials. The house was surrounded and
thorough examination Of the premises was
at once instituted. The mans father was
| in the house, and he informed the officers
| that ms son was not at nome and that ne
| did not know where he was He said ihat
| on Monday last Ford himself had been off
at work on farm some distance away
| III was in the room If the suspected man
| however, that the evidence which is re-
garded as the most convincing was un-
| earthed. pair of drawers was found on
winch were several large stains which
! were almost certainly blood stains The
| largest was on the inside OF the righr leg
and showed that the garment must have
| been saturated with The nuid. In tub IN
| the yard was found shirt which had been
| recently washed and which had been lett
| to soak.
There are several other fei lures about
| the case which point decidedly toward
| FORD as eelng the guilty party. A man
| who is employed in bakery in the north
| ern part of the city has informed the DO
| lice that Monday afternoon somewhere
| aEout $50 O'Clock he saw a colored man on
| the Burnt Mills road who seems to answer
| the description that is given of Ford. The
| man was in his shirt sleeves with his coat
rolled up in bundle on his arm. He was
| heading away from the city and was stag
| gering along like man under the infiu-
| ence of liquor. Once he tripped and nearly
| fell, and the baker asked him if there was
| anything tie matter with him. He replied
| that he was all right. excepting that he
| was very tired.
Again, TIE man Ford is said to answer
| perfectly to the description which is given
| by Belva KreSlo, the twelve-year-old sister
| of Elsie Belva has told the police since
| the murder taat about 10 O'CLOCK Monday
| morning she and Elsie were walking
| house, wien they Were accosted by a col
| ored Ian in a very impudent manner. They
| did not know the man and were badly
| frightened. When they reached home a
| little later in the day they told their pa
| rents of the occurrence, but in the excite
| ment which followed the murder this par
| ticular incident was lost sight of for the
| time being
| Since getting on the track of Ford the
| examination has shown that he was not at
the place where he told his father he had
been at work Monday. 1t is also regarded
as a suspicious circumstance that Ford
| should have been away from home last
| night, for II is said that this was a very
unusual performance on his part
| Securing the Country.
| The Maryland authorities are taking an
| active interest in the search for the sus-
pected man, and deputy sheriff and posse
| have heen securing the peighborhcod all day
| on the lookout for him. He is said 10 have
| ccme from this city originally. but has been
| employed for a couple OF years in the neigh
| borhood of Burnt Mills, and is well known
| to many people in that section of tho coun-
| tiy For this reason ii is thouS hit that there
| will be no great difficulty in apprehending
| him. All the police stations in the city have
| been notified to look out for a man answer
! Ing to the description, and word has also
| been sent broadcast through the surround
| ing country that Ford is wanted to answer
| for the crime.
| During the last twenty four hours the
| police OF the several precincts have been
| very active in making arrests, and number
| OF colored men have been locked M on s,is-
| p.cton. Now that the detectives have some
| definite clue to work upon. there has been
| no let-up in the drag-nct system Of opsra-
| uons, for it is thought that Ford may be
| caught in this way The police are so thor
| oughly satisfied that Ford is the man they
| are after that they arc bending ali efforts
| In his direction. Detectives Weedon and
| Horne drove away from police headquarters
shortly before noon today, and il is sum-
posed headed toward Burnt Mills 4 num-
| Der of mounted men and policemen i'm cfri-
] zen's dress have also been detailed to search
| all possible hiding places adjacent to the
| city, and to keep up the hunt through the
| county.
Examining the Hood
| piece Of the undergarment which was
| found in Ford's room last night was TODAY
sent to microscopic at the Agricultural