The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-03-31
LANGDON IN JAIL.

numbering E9lS MlSGEeSSo
Many North Carolinians know Sam
uel P. Langdon, late President Of the
CUmnock Coal Mine, Chatham county,
where nearly forty men lost their lives
just before Christmas by an explosion
of fire damp. Langdon is in jail at
Philadelphia. A young girl, said to
have been his mistress, lies dead. The
following dispatch from Philadelphia
gives some Of the particulars:
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, March 26 There
is little doubt that Annie McGrath, the
beautiful eighteen year old girl who
was found dead at 1926 Girard avenu
on Monday night, was murdered by
Samuel P. Langdon, the wealthy coal
operator, whose mistress she a
The evidence thus far adduced points
almost conclusively to the theory that
Langdon killed her, and then attempted
to commit suicide, but weakened in
this and fed from the house. He is
still a prisoner in the cell room of the
City Hall, where he will probably be
kept until the chemical analysis of the
girls stomach is completed.
The wet towel which lay over the
girls face when the boc Y was found is
IN the possession of the detective de-
partment, but it's condition is kept a
profound secret. The most incriminat-
ing fact, however, is that the girls lips
and almost the entire interior of the
mouth were burned and discolored, as
If by acid poison, while Langdon's
tongue from tip to palate is a series of
ulcers and mucous patches, which, &C
COrding to his own statement, were not
there before Monday. This condition
Is almost e1 actly similar to that exist
lag in the girls mouth, except that in
the latter it is more aggravated.
The statement made by Bertha Stew
art, the colored servant employed by
the couple, clearly show important
facts. She was the last person, with
the exception of Langdon, who saw the
girl alive. This was about $50 o'clock
Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Langdon, as
she was known, came down stairs and
told the servant to prepare for dinner.
She then returned to the bed room,
where her supposed husband had been
with her all day.
There was no further sign from the
upper part Of the house until 4:30
o'clock, when she heard a piercing
scream. She hurried up stairs and
knocked at the door. Langdon, clad
only in a night shirt, opened the door
slightly. and told her that her mistress
was suffering from a bilious attack, to
which she was subject. Through the
aperture the servant saw her mistress
lying on the bed with the towel on her
face. She was motiOnless, and may
have been dead at that time. L9ngdOn
had evidently been lying on the floor
WENT TO DINNER ALONE.
At 5 o'clock he came down alone to
= A-HI L. - - $780,
her mistress, who was not we'll. He
gave her the keys of the house and left,
| saying he was going to New York.
Tfr night the body was discovered.
The girls relatives deny that she was
ever subject to bilious attacks.
Tuesday morning the Stewart girl
received q postal card from LaDgdon.
1t had be. n mailed after he left the
house the night before and instructed
her, if her mistress was no better by
Tuesday, to notify her father, Henry
MCGrath, 2018 Gratz street.
When arrested LangdOn complained
of being i'll and shortly afterward he
vomited copiousIy. He told Police
Surgeon Andrews that his tongue and
throat were ulcered from excessive
smoking; but that he had not before
been troubled by such an election,
The surgeon found the throat in good
condition, and says that smoking does
not produce such an liberation as in
this case. The mouth looked as if it
had been burned by an irritant. such
as ether or chloroform. The condition
might have been produced by mineral
acid in q small Quantity. 1t was clearly
recent.
The authorities refuse to say whether
1 or not thu FNwo1 0INuC n CnN+C hT1F
they admit that there was no odor Of
planned by the fact that both ether and
c~hloroform evaporate rapidly, and
after the lapse of some hours would
leave no Odor.
One of the first results of ether, said
the doctor, is stimulation. A person
just put under it's influence might be
come excited and scream loudly.
1t is almost certain that the Com
mOnwealth holds this theory of the
case.
Detective Frank P. Geyer, who IN
raveled the Holmes murders, is on the
case, and when asked for his opinion,
said: "PeopIe don't scream unless
placed in a perilous position. Only
one theory can be held. The girl is
dead and the man is alive and locked
up"
It is also stated in a later dispatch
that letters we're found in Langdon's
pockets showing that he was probably
engaged to a young lady at Raleigh.
However, this may be a mistake. The
lady mentioned lives at the coal mines,
is a book keeper there, but has visited
Raleigh, and may have written letters
to Langdon from here.
THE CUBAN RESOLUTIONS.