New-York tribune., 1897-08-31
HUNTING FOR MURDERERS.
TWO MEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION
WITH GEORGE sTELTzS DEATH.

AFTER THEY HAD ROBBED POOR BON
THEIR VICTIM WAS KILLED BY CHOKING
Two arrests have been made by the Brooklyn
police in connection with the murder comnhtteu
In the yestiblIe Of the Church of the Most Holy
Trinity Montrose and Graham aves. on sun
daC night One Of the prisoners is James Mad
den. who. when found by Policeman Dresser. of
the Bushwick-ave station. asleep on a pile OF
lumber at McKibben and Lorimer SITS. gave his
address as No. 19i Wyona-st.. which Is In East
New-York INQUIRY at that address showed
that he did not live there. and nothing was
known Of him In the neighborhood The correct
address of the man is No. 294 Wyona-st.
Madden lives with his stepsister. Mary j. Fos-
ter He was recently released from Raymond
Street Jail where he served twenty-nine days
for assaulting man.
All the members Of the Central ONCE Squad
are at work on the case and Captain Alexander
j. Lees Of the Bushwick-ave station. In whose
territory the crime was committed. has all his
reserve men out trying TO find the perpetrators
Of the crime
CAPTAIN James Reynolds. Of the Bureau OF
Criminal Investigation and Information. VINO
was on his vacation when the murder occurred
on learning OF the facts returned hastily yes'er-
day from the Catskills. to direct his men. He
and Detective Weiser were at the church nearly
all Of yesterday Captain REYNOLDS maze
careful survey Of the buildings.
John F. Dehler. of No 137 Montrose-aver one
Of the leading parishoners of the church, said
yesterday to a Tribune reporter that after re-
turning from a pleasant trip on Sunday ABOUT
7:3O o'clock. he called the attention of Alfred
c. Roesch the sexton. who lives at NO i-o
Montrose-ave.. to the lights in the church MI
Roesch went 10 the church. according to the
latters statement and found the body of George
Steltz lying face upward in the vestibule OF the
church There were blood stains on the moor
and on the steps leading to the choir loft near
where the body was found. on the left hand side
of the steps is a door leading to the priests
house This. Mr. Roesch declares. was locked
and there could not therefore have been an ef-
fort made to force an entrance TO the priests
house.
There are two poor boxes in the vestibule of
the church. Both are tubular iron arrange
ments which lead from the vestibule to the
basement. Formerly the poor boxes were frail
affairs and could easily be broken into. Within
the last year they were rifed. and that led to
the change. on the basement floor the tubular
base of one poor box circular strip of brass
was taken of. and the contents of the box re-
moved.
Some Of the police authorities incline to the
belief that the murdered man. hearing the noise
in the basement. went down to make an IN
vestigation. and was struck on the head with
the strip of brass The blow. however II 1t We're
given in that way. was not fatal. for SteltZ
reached the main floor There. beside the steps
leading to the choir loft. 1t is thought, another
struggle took place. in which the aged man was
killed.
The police of the East New-York station early
yesterday morning found a man covered with
blood on the statiOn-hOuse steps. When placed
under arrest he said he was Edward Ferris. of
South NOrwalk Conn. He was too drunk when
taken into custody 10 give an account OF himself,
and when arraigned later before Justice Kramer
in the Gates Avenue Court. he was held on sus-
ncion.
II is thought by the police that the decd may
have been committed by the same thieves VINO
broke into the Catholic church at WINDSOR Ter
race less than week ago The robbers at that
time roamed through the church at will. and
are said 10 have dOnned cassocks belonging to
the pastor. .
crowds thtcnged the home OF the dead man all
day Yesterday. AT the church a similar scene
was witnessed Children in great numbers
focked outside the doors. and in the neighbor-
hood the untimely death Of Mr.. SteliZ seemed 10
be the only topic discussed
Captain Lees. Of the Stagg-st. station. inclines
10 the belief that the deed was done by ordinary
sneak thieves II think" said the Captain
that the men were recognized by Steltz. and
that they killed him to escape detection He
has had all the pawnshops in the neighbornood
Il
the man. He believes that the work was done
by two men. and expects to make arrests be-
fore noon to-day He has specially detailed De-
tectives Dougherty and Lees on the case. and
every effort Is being made TO run down the
murderers
Mary Sweeny. cook in Esman's restaurant,
No. 115 Leonard-st. saw two blood d-spatterei
men coming from the direction of the church
just after 10 o'clock on Sunday night. One OF
the men she describes as being short and stout,
about twenty-six years old. He wore black
l1,Ix hot hlafE Gnaf nd
shirt and trousers Of dark material The other
was about twenty years old and Of boyish ap-
pearance. She informed the policeman on that
post Of what she had seen.
The funeral of Mr. SteltZ will be held in the
church tomorrow morning. the burial being in
Holy Trinity Cemetery in Newtown. He leaves
q wife, three sons and one daughter.
Mrs. Barbara Schmbach. a parishoner. said
last night that she had seen a chisel under one
OF the confessionals only a few days ago. She
thought nothing of il. but her suspicious We're
aroused when she learned of Steltzs death and
she Informed the sexton. Roesch Of what she
saw. Search made for the chsel but il
could not be found
DR.. Valentine the Coroner's physician and
DR. Fleck of ST. GATHERINGS Hospital performed
an AUTOPSY on the body of George SteltZ yester-
day. and found that the man had been choked
70 death Two bones in the thorax were frac-
tured, and seven wounds were found in the back
part of the head. none Of which caused death.
FIERCE FOREST FIRE ~ MONTANA.
Anaconda Mont. Aug. 3o.-A fierce forest fire
Is raging a few miles OF here and spreading
with alarming rapidity toward this city. The
fire has already burned over ten thousand acres
~ ,inoher 4 messenger from the burned district
saws that Georgetown and Silver Lake are both
In the track OF the fire. and unless something Is
done to check the flames a great loss OF property
and life may result. Nesr Georgetown terrible
fire has been generated and flames hundred feet
high ca be from the village
THE CZAR TO VISIT PARIS THIS FALL