The age-herald., 1897-08-06
TECHNICS FROM
 CURRENT TOPICS

I Notwithstanding the daily press famil-
 iarizes us with all the narrowing details | of murder and suicide. which succeed each 1 other with startling rapidity still there
 has never been forgotten a erime-the mur-
 der of Dr. Harry Burdell. New York den l tist-which was committed more than 1 forty years ago, in New York City From | time to time. references have been made to 1t in the journals of today and the mys- | tery which has always surrounded it has never been solved satisfactorily to thoughtful newspaper readers. About a year ago the death of pr. James Fowler,
 former partner of Dr. Burdell, at Bor-
 deaux, France revived interest in the mur-
 der, and, 1t Is now stated by relatives Of
 Dr. Fowler. that Dr. Burdeli was murdered by Mrs. Emma Augusta Cunningham, the
 woman in the case. who was his house.
 keeper. and was held for the crime. but
 acquitted after an exciting trial.
 Mrs. Cunningham had an accomplice, a
 manufacturer named John Eckel, who was
 infatuated with her. and gladly did her bid
 ding in murdering his rival. Dr. Burdell,
 for whom, as I said, Mrs. Cunningham kept
 house. Both man and woman were de-
 cldTtu lHIlOCe0I Dy lHe JuTyb put the SuSpi-
 cion of guilt always clung to them. Now
 that the family of MT. s. F. Wood of
 Chicago Or. Fowlers relatives), tell of a
 confession made by Mrs. Cunningham to
 Mrs. Fowler soon after her acquittal, has
 awakened fresh interest in the matter.
 young William Wood, grandson of pr.
 Fowler, gives to the public the first deii-
 nite and reliable information concerning
 Mrs. Cunningham's confession. In his ef-
 f-.,A h1~ .f 1,fe x1 father, Dr. Fowler for his family he
 aroused the enmity of unknown persons, and was the recipient of many threatens ing, anonymous letters. He was warned by these mysterious missives not to go to
 Bordeaux, where pr. Fowler died, yet no
 one can discover any connection between
 Dr. Fowler and the Burdell murder ex-
 cept the partnership which once existed between the dentists.
 Because of these threatening letters, and
 the renewed interest in Dr. Burdels mys-
 terious death, the Wood family have just
 told the secret which has been held invio-
 late by them for so many years.
 According to their statement, Mrs. Cun-
 ningham returned to New York three years
 after her trial and aequittal, and sought Mrs. Fowler, the wife of Dr. Burdel 8
 partner, who a very phlanthropic ItllSlOuS WOHldH anu Hdu DtITltuutu
 Mrs. Cunningham during the time of need when all the world was against her. To
 Mrs. Fowler Mrs. Cunningham told her pitiful story of sin and suffering She said she had planned the murder, which was committed by Eckel, in order to secure
 Dr. Burdell's fortune, by posing after his
 death as his widow. She then intended
 to marry Eckel, whom she loved The deed was done with an instrument known n dentists aSSiStdd hv
 a strong linen cord, used to strangle the unhappy victim. Dr. Burdell had just returned to his home worn with professional duties, and had thrown himself, exhausted, into his office chair and soon fell into a profound sleep. It was while he slept that the crime was committed.
 Every possible evidence of guilt against
 Mrs. Cunningham and Eckel was destroyed
 by them, and Mrs. Cunningham prepared
 to establish her claim to Dr. Burdell's es- tate, by pretending to have married him
 at the Dutch Reform church, in Blocker
 street, New York.
 After making her confession, nothing
 more was heard of Mrs. Cunningham-who
 had been acquitted three years before after a sensational trial-until the announcement of her death. which occurred Sept. 8, 1887, of dropsy at a house in Amsterdam avenue and 157th street, New York. Mrs. Gun nngham never married Eckel. The latter died in the Albany penitentiary, where he
 was imprisoned for complicity in the Brooklyn whisky fraud.
 After all these years the solution of per haps the most startling and exciting trial of it's time has come at last, and the in- terest in the mysterious Burdell murder Is as keen it was when Harpers Weekly and Frank Leslie gave columns to the weird. uncanny story Some of the papers, in reviewing the crime, and giving to the reading public the secret that has been
 kept well for nearly forty years, have reprinted pictures of leading characters in the tragedy, taken from old papers. That of Mrs. Cunningham represents placid self-poised woman, without a line or feat ure of her face to suggest either romance sentiment or capacity for crime. The men involved were commonplace to a degree in appearance.
 The following letter has been received
 and is gratefully acknowledged: My Dear Mrs. Ball. with you in your war on street beggars, and hope you will keep up the good fight until there is a thinning out of their ranks. Those who belong properly to Jefferson county should be made to go to the almshouse,s which,
 by the way, is a far better home than any of them have probably ever been accus-
 toned to. Those who do not belong here
 should be sent away. It is a false senti-
 ment which allows us to have these peo-
 pie with us forever. Respectfully,
 "CHAS. ROBERTS" It is very gratifying to find that I have the approval of friends in the position have taken regarding street beggars. They should be compelled to go to the homes provided for them by the taxpayers of Jefferson county. Something is due the
 women of our city, who do not care to be confronted at every street corner by these 1 horrible specimens of mutiated humanity. If the excitement of public life is essential l to their well-being. they not be cor 1 alled either on the corner of Fourth ave-
 nue and Nineteenth street or in the in- l closure surrounding our handsome court l house?
 As they are wards of the city and county | 1t would be well to have them near off cial headquarters. Thus, the shopping