The times., 1897-09-10
.LAUREL'5 GREAT MYSTERY
Continued from First Page,

was a place where a man had e"idehtiy
been sleeping. Slowed in that sofu vi
human nest was clothing. The !irst tiiihg
picked up was u mans coat, the next
u.an S shirt, and the next u SILK tie anu
a worn sock There was no woman
clothing in there, though every foot OF
that terrible tangle W as beat over
TIE coat was a good one. 1t was bound
with braid and TINS binding did not show
much wear The buttons were covered
and were not very much worn 1t was
a cutaw ay coat of dark blue diagonal
It was SIN al size and was worn by
slfall man. There appeared no reason
why a man should throw away so coed
coat. There was no store mark In it,
but in the breast pocket was matter
Indicating that the name OF the owner
OF that coat as Mark A. G.. Clift,
Norfolk drug clerk. The first thing taken
from the pocket was small leather bound
book, stamped in gilt letters The Era
Key to the United states PharInacopoeia,
1894" on the fly leaf written in ink in
a stiff hand " as this: Mark A G. Chft,
Norfolk, Va, Macdonald s Pharmacy.
In the same pocket were four bills to
the credit of W. A Lund, trustee for James
E. Scott, druggist, 254 Church street,
Norfolk, Va. One bill was against Ned
Kelley for $3.50, and was dated August
2s. 1904. Another was dated April 5,
1897, against r. Smith, for $23 24-
Another was dated jelly : 1887 against
Herbert Wilmer, for S6.70. The fourth
bill was dated July 1857, against b. f
rwiford, for SLIGO. The bill against Vii
II p..r.fS III
on InIy TO- This is tie latest date found
on the bills. Among the papers receipt
for the rent of a room at No. 567 East
Main street, Norfolk for The month ending
June IS, 1897, was found. This was
signed by Mrs. 4 Dyson.
The shirt was a good one, but stained
by blood. Its wearer was victim of
liemorrnoids. A bone button was in the
collar band and cuff button in one wrist
land. The clothes were found half = mile
from V here the body was found Directly
after this discovery The Times teIegraphed
Druggist James +. Scott TO tell what he
knew about Cliff. The following dis
patch came back:
MARX A. G. Cliff was drug clerk who
had lived in Norfolk several years. He
was married. His wife had child by i
former marriage. He has a father and
other relations in Baltimore. ! employed
him several times az relief clerk and col
! leefor He left here suddenly on August
/. alone. His wife has since gone 10
Baltimore. l think he drank hard al
times. JAMES E SCOTT"
Tie clothes We're tied up and taken &C
| the hotel. where they viii be kept Till the
| case is solved. Later iii the day the
searching party renewed its work. The
| railroad track was followed, and the work
| begun at piece OF heavy woodland bout
% mile farther to the southwest than the
old graveyard. Stuffed down tree box
| IN South Laurel, a subdivision in which
! there are No houses, was a bundle Of what
| looked like rags. 1t was womaE's skirt
| roughly tied up. 1t was green and yellow
| III color and badly Iotted. 1t was th'
| SKIRT of a short thick woman. The dress
from the band to the hem measured thirty
five inches and the waist band measured
tw ent Y eight inches. The material was
| cheap brilliantine and at one tiIne was
| black. The waist band had been cut b.
G;.u instrument. This old garment ma,
play no part in the solution of the tragedy
but it was all that was found on the second
| search.
The reporters took the road. They haC
frequent traces OF he big man and Sna al
| woman and the two dogs that We're seer
by Duvallir the woodson Saturday
August Z They had passed over the roat
| from the Relay House to Laurel early il
| August. People who had not heard OF tn
murder recalled the pair and the dogs :
| .raca ttoy and then wa : found of the Ia rp.
man and small woman descr4 4bed by Sy
vester Smith as having picked peas 70
Nat Wheeler and having worked on Has
lup's place, near Savage. This couple
Travelled over the same road, but it was II
June that they came along.
At Ellicott City the reporters strGcl
the trail of a male and female tramp
This woman gave birth to u child a
Fix Ridge and died In hospital a
Baltimore in July.
It was proved tnat the man with tn
stubble red m,istache and the squint in tn
left eye accompanied by the little VIC
man with short brown hair came from
Baltimore, and struck Laurel on Friday
August s.
In view of the altered phase OF tn
case, due to the discovery of the Gilt
clothing, the trail was not foil owe'
further down the road than Laurel.