The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-07-18
Fatal. ENDING TO A JEST
MN InD 10 BELIEyE NE MAD
DrLfh.iUM IEEnLAs.
a., ,v.n, in His Room In Hotel and Sent
aBulle. to His Brain-'sad frae'
ticaI Joke.

- ,.o,,r leaders that very starting 'ei-
ooram was received and heralucu '"'o"s'
mis- country by the press soiilc toui
,.,,rs AGO Of the sensational suiCiue III
kew West. Fla, OF MI ~ '"o ao''
of a very prominent New i'iN
manufacturer. known TO the tidue 90 ~
,,ioncer maker of domestic hlsh 6'"uo
rir,rs. So eminent was his standlhs anu
81 brilliant seemed his future '.'"' 80
news created profound se"S",'V"
those even whose acquaintance VIZ . 49,,
uos merely by reputation. ~
reasm. was ever given ior the 10" -. go
and the meagor accounts Oh ~ -
ori,, ,nade mare pronounced the hrs' sus-
oi ,l;,,,n 81 treacbery and foul play which
a., ~, donbt still believed by those Oh ne
aoc,,oin,ances not actually ooshlza"I VI
tbe truly SD facts in the case fosSiD'S ,,
IL, difference 10 his familys feelings, Dut
docidedlv more probable Tor puS'i'0H ,'
reaeons the proprietor Of the husse ..
House tho scene Of the Tragedy -
gave TO the public the incioen's - 49,.
so strangely clothed the merest JeS' INV
a reality Of the darkest type.
BLOOD ON THE FLOOR
on three occasions that chance nd-,
put me in room No. s., on the INN"
floor front Of the Russell House my a."
tention was attracted to large REQ s'o'.'
I'm the center of the floor, that 10 NY
mind gave q most grucsome aspect 10 :"
room. that otherwise was noticeably pare
and crude in its furnishings. oii 80
visit | had asked the chamDermaAu VIZ
she did not see that il was removed DO
the only satisfaction that re"afneu III.
interest was the repeated assurance tl"I
evovthinp had been tried with no better
4fr.
to respond TO the scrubber's efforts whle
tho onnarontlv indelible stain remained
IN statu quo. Having heard of Mr. y.
suicide at the time of its occurrence, ana
knowing IL had taken place IN TINS nos
telrv. | began to suspect that room no.
G. was more closely connected with the
affair than the proprietor was WiIiln5
to make known to the guests thli.hlhe
at the time that this was withheld loi
no other reason than the usual supersr-
tition attached to such Affairs. might
prejudice some from spending a nght
I'm the same room. and possibly in the
same bed. that only a few short years
ago had held the lifeless form OF man
drenched in his own blood, spilled 10y
that stiff right hand which even theh
held in its death grasp the ugly seven
eyed instrument OF destruction.
[ bantered Mr. Merrill. the keeper OF
the inn, about this, but he strenuously
denied it and claimed that the stain was
caused by an ink drummer having let
drop a quart bottle Of indelible red nuld.
But having my suspicious now aroused
l did not accept this as the cause, but
proceeded to quietly investigate. After
main vain attempts l at last secured
these facts. which have since been fully
Tod lrr al
Of the house, who was induced 20 tax
by the appearance in my mana OF shlh-
ing "Merica dolla."
a FATAL JOKE.
In the latter part Of May. 1893, this
Mr.. N came as had been his custom
for several years, on business trip 10
the island. and settled himself ftr n
three weeks stay at the Russell House.
the best that Key West then afforded
lie was assigned 10 room No. 81. when
faces Duval street, tho principal thor
oughfare of the town, and, though cruoe
i'm its appointmcnts, is considered one or
the most airy and desirable rooms IN
the house. From the front window can
be seen the long. narrow street, with its
small verandahed shops, the most attrac-
tive Of which is d drug store directly
opposite bearing In bold letters the name
Thomas Otto" On the left Of this Mr.
Otto had established a very unique adj
vertisement in the shape Of large iron
cage. about fifteen feet in width, contain
ing a number Of gorillas balloons. ana
I'm fact one of nearly every specimen q
the monkey family. Being always up TO
some amusing antics, the presence e
this geological garden makes the front
rooms doubly desirable, as afforoinS sore
recreation from the mOnotonous hum
drum Of Key West existence.
Sitting on the lower Yeranda one sWe'-
toring day after two weeks Of dissipa-
ton and constant drinking, Mr.. Ms at
tention was called to what he considered
q terrible fight going on in the cage oppo-
site, and becoming more excited as every
move Of the participants filed his maud
lin brain with new tancies. he called
Mr.. Charles Merrill out Of his office ana,
pointing TO the melee object. asked which
he thought was getting the best Of IT,
the gorilla or the ape.
CONVINCED HIM
Now. Mr.. Merrill seeing chance for
some rather unusual sport, replied that
no fight Vas going on, that, in fact, no
monkeys were over there. y pointed
again and AGAIN, but each time received
the assurance that nothing of the kind
was happening. With grave misgivings
he called out Frank, the bar-keeper,
who, being very deaf at first shook his
head to every question Of the much con-
fused N. BY this time Frank had
caught the wink from Merrill, and, when
in a loud voice he was asked the ques-
ton, "Ain't those-hc-monkeys that I
hic-see over there?" he answered that
there were no animals Of the kind over
there; that, he said, was a nrst-class
drug store and 1t wos not the custom to
keep monkeys with which 10 leech people.
The faint smile of incredulity that was
noticeable on his flushed face when Mr..
Merrill first declared he saw no encoun-
ter was gradually changing TO look OF
horror and disgust. as his reckless condi-
ton and its terrible possibilities dawned
upon him 4 horrible thought seemed
that moment TO master every muscle IN
his face. his eyes became distorted ana
enlarged. his thin BLUE lips seemed press
ed together in a frantic effort TO prevent
his leaden tongue from wrenching itself
free Of its fastenings. and, falling TO the
ground and the nervous twitching ten
dons Of his jaws gave to the whole a
palsied effect most revolving, when. full
of despair and i'm a voice scanty OF hope.
he drawled out the single word JOSH
Now. with JOSH the old colored porter.
he had been on particularly friendly
terms. in lieu Of certain kindly offices
extended by the negro during this and
his former stays. and with one last
drowning effort he looked straight into
the old mans eye, pointed to the cage
and managed 10 saw "WhatS thOSe4'