Evening star., 1896-04-09
ONLY BLIND CLUES
No Solution Of the Brutal Hall
Murder.
POLICE ARE ARRESfING SUSPECTS
Hard to Find an Adequate Motive
for the Crime.
SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS

The murder Of the poor old cobbler, John
Wesley Hall, seems to be surrounded with
all the mystery that Edgar Allen Poe con-
Jured up to make his story, 1.-THE Murder in
the Rue Morgue," go fascinating.
1t is now nearly forty-eight hours since
the old colored man was done to death In
his little shanty on 9th street just above
street. but up to the present time the po-
lice, Sc far from apprehending his assail-
ant. seem actually to have no reasonable
clue to work upon. This is not due to the
fact that they have not worked Eard
enough. The murder, IN addition to it's hor-
rible brutality, seems so absolutely devoid
of motive that 1t offers a particularly inter
esting opportunity 70 the officers of the
law, and every man in the uniform of q
policeman is keeping & sharp lookout for
suspicious persons. The police Of the
eighth precinct are all on the qui vive, and
1t Is doubtful If ever there was a crime in
that section of the city which excited them
to such an extent.
They are keeping sharp watch on every
nan in the precinct who has ever been
suspected of any crime or who ever had
any dealings with the murdered man. The
neighborhood to the north of the U street
station is ordinarily not a particularly
quiet one, but for the last two days the
colored people around there have all kept
on their best behavior.
Complete Disnppearance.
Detective Lacey has carefully followed
up every suspicion Of clue, but SO far
without any success. Barrett and Owens,
the two policemen who have been specially
assigned to the case, are both young men.
but they have the reputation of being
pretty shrewd and clever fellows, and,
being young, are following up theories and
suggestions that more experienced men
might regard as unworthy of serious at
tention. Since the body of Hall was first
discovered they have barely stopped to
eat or sleep, but are out on a still hunt
all the time. But they seem to have abso-
lutely nothing to go On. When the mur-
derer left the little shanty Tuesday night
he could not have disappeared more COM
pletely If tine earth had opened and swal-
lowed him up.
As time gees on certain features of the
case become more surprising. Ordinarily,
when a murder is committed the criminal,
no matter Tow smart he may be or how
carefully he covers all mis- tracks, leaves
behind him some trace. He over
looks some trifiing detail, which in the end
suff1ces to send linn to the gallows. But
in the Hall case things are quite different.
1orant. and was certainly brute, enters a
little one-story house only few feet back
from the sidewalk, and in a thickly popu-
lated Deighborhood. at an early hour of the
evening, less than hundred yards from a
police sta ton, and with a brick and a
wooden chair pounds the life cut of a man.
He goes out. leaving the door partially
open behind him, and-and that Is all. 1t
people were passing the house, and If Hall
made any outcry it Is inccnceivable that
1t should not have been heard by dozen
people.
The SlashinE.
The fact that no one seems to have heard
a sound from the little house lends Gre
dence to the theory that Hall was knocked
senseless by the brick and fell to the floor
without struggle, and that the other
wounds about the body were made from
sheer deyilishness. Certain it is that the
razor cut in his throat was made some
time after the fatal blow was struck, for
the razor was locked up in the bureau
drawer, where the murderer found it when
he broke open the bureau in his search for
valuab.es. 1t Is more than probable that,
seeing the razor, the murderer thought to
make the job complete. for the breath may
not have altogether been driven out of his
victim.
Possible Fight.
But If there was no struggle then it is
difficult to account for the disordered con-
6ition of the room and the blood spots that
are spattered on all four walls. Hall was
a hunchback and a cripple, it is true, but
even so. men of that sort who are deprived
of the full use of their legs are often ex-
ceedingly strong in their arms. In his
death struggle Hall may have wrapped his
long, wiry arms about his assailant, scar
ing and scratching him with his bony fin
gers. He did not need his crutches then.
10 uyoo 6cYht F0~ II
very sweet and precious sometimes, even
to an old cripple. Then it was that the
murderer, unable to pick up the brick with
which he struck the first blow, reached out
and grasped the nearest chair. With this
he beat poor old Hall again and again.
The force with which 1t was used Is clearly
shown, for it was broken to pieces, and
even the heavy wooden seat was split into
pieces.
When the first investigation was made. II
was thought that Halls watch was stolen.
along with the money and the old pistol
that was In the drawer with the little toy
bank This morning. however. Sergt. Mont
gomery vent to the undertaker's estab-
lishment, where Halls body is lying, and
made more thorough search of the dead
mans clothing. He was rewarded by find
ing the watch in the pocket of the outing
shirt which Hall wore under his cobbler's 9
apron. The hands had stopped at 7:4oh
but this does not establish the hour of the
crime beyond question, for it was not
broken, and may have kept On until 1t ran
down at that hour yesterday morning. 1t
was running all right Tuesday evening
Lewis Munroe, one of the men who is
locked up at the station, told the sergeant
that when he was at Halls house that
evening he asked the old man what time II
was. The latter took out his watch and
told him it was ten minutes after Z. A
stolen watch Is sometimes valuable point
er leading to the detection of the murderer
so that In the present case the police are
even shut of from that possible clue.
So far there has been no reason to draw
back from the theory that robbery was
the motive Of the crime. Hall was known
to be the treasurer OF the '1yceum's con-
nected with his church, and was supposed
by his neishhors to have considerable
money about his house. They certainly ex-
aggerated the amount, for the books of
the iyceum show that he was only indebted
to that organization to the extent of G5
cents. If 1t had not been for the little toy
bank. which contained couple Of dollars.
in nickels, dimes and quarters, which be-
longed to Halls cousin. Hezekiah Prather.
the murderer would not have found a sim