The herald., 1898-01-23
TOLD WITHOUT CHANGE FROM
FORMER ACCOUNTS
Fear of Poverty Assigned as the Rea-
son For the Disappearance 4.
of the Woman
Associated Press Special Wire

voice. The defendant was lncllneu "
go into details more than his attorney,
Mr.. Harmon, desired. When asked TO
pay less attention to detail, Luetgert
with some show of anger, said that he
would tell his story thoroughly or not
at all.
The most important feature of Luet-
gert's recital today was his narratlon
of the reason for the presence of potash
| in his factory. He said 1T had been IN
| his factory nearly two months before the
| day of his wife's disappearance; that
| it had not been concealed and that he
was to make soft soap out of 1t. The
prisoner also told of his sleeping IN the
| factory, which he explained, was nee
essary because there were many things
to which he had to attend to at night
When Luetgert finally reached that
part of the story enumerating the hap
penings on May 1st, the date of his wife's
disappearance, the audience and jury
paid the closest attention.
DO you remember what transaction
you made on the morning of May 1st?'
asked Attorney Harmon.
Il ate breakfast early and went to my
office"
What was the first thing you did that
day?'
Il gave some orders, I old my men to
go to the basement to remove some bar
rels of salt. l then went down and saw
| that the three barrels of tallow were in
their place.
Continuing. the witness told of buried
bones he had in the factory basement
and of fat he intended to convert into
sausage. He told of the small meat
market he conducted.
when you purchased a barrel of pot
ash early in March," asked Mr.. Harmon.
what was your purpose?"
ITO make soft soap"
What arrangement, if any, had you
| made with reference to cleaning the
factory"
| lone day, after the New York trip, Mr..
| Charles came home and said there was
a chance to sell the factory. He told
me to keep the place very clean as the
people did not know anything about the
business and what we would call clean,
they would call dirty. Well, I argued
the stuff 1 had then for fat l could not
sell: potash was cheap and l thought
| it was cheaper to make soap. When
used to work for Engel Brothers, l
learned the recipe for making soap"
Inspector Schaak, who sat alongside
the jury, smiled as Luetgert told of his
experiences in the line of making soft
soap.
when did you first see this barrel of
potash?" asked Mr. Harmon.
The next day"
Where did it stand?"
1T was between the Office and the
| meat market, where everybody who
eame in could not help but see it,
Did you give any orders about that
barrel?"
Yes. I told Smokehouse Frank to
break it up and told him it was stuff
that would burn. and to cover his face
so that he would not get hurt
"Now, will you tell me why you de-
layed from March until two weeks before
May 1st, before making the soap?"
The men came too soon to see the fac
tory. before it was cleaned"
What time Saturday, May 1st, did
YOU return home?" asked Attorney Har-
mon.
"Oh, can't tell the exact hour. 1t was
, late in the afternoon"
What was said in conversation be-
tween you and your wife while eating
supper?"
Luetgert hesitated for some moments
before speaking.
well, my wife made some remarks
do not want to repeat" he finally re
piled.
Tell us all about that conversation, ;
said Mr.. Harmon.
Mr.. Harmon" replied Luetgert, ".
will not repeat what my wife said tha
aight unless forced to-"
Mr.. Luetgert," said his senior coun
sci, you will not be forced to tell any
thing you do not wish, but as your coun
; sci, | want you to tell every word tha
passed between you and your wife tha
night"
My wife asked me about the name
, of foreclosing mortgages and when
told her she said: Then we will los
everything l told her we would 'Thei
this is all we get for our thirty years
work. she said, since we came to Amer
lea
Il told her it could not be helped, tha
] | was not afraid to work and would fac
e the world afresh and work hard for
living if necessary
AS he told of the loss of his fortun
D and his Willingness to begin all owe
g affected. Tears came to his eyes, hi
: chin trembed and Jumps rose in hi
s throat.
e My wife said she was not afraid blI
d that 1 could work and earn living.
u continued Luetgert. but what wi
people say? They viii laugh a U.S. sh
n said. | told her to let them laugh: tina
e laughing would not take away my Wort
y She said: If this should come, I don
e want to live She said she wished tn
children We're dead. About this tim
Louis came in and asked for money t
go to a circus, and his mother told hir
4 that we had no money for circuses.
gave the boy ten cents
!, What happened neXt?" asked Han
| mon.
She said: IF the Sheriff should com,
n YOU will not find me here told her tina
c it was foolish to talk that way. She sal
a it was not foolish; that there was notl
n ing foolish about it and if things keI
o on as they had for the last two month
L would not see her any more. laughe