The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1900-05-18

the property of Miller & Morse, hav-
ing been purchased about year be-
fore, directly after an attempt had
been made to rob the cashier, whose
coolness and pluck at the time had
thwarted the robber. 1t was kept on
little shelf by the cashiers window,
where the cashier could seize it in
stantly if second attempt to rob her
should be made.
AS soon as it was found that not the
lightning, but bullet, had caused the
death of Miss Dodge the police began
investigations. In case Of this sort
there are always found one or more
persons denominated by the police as
suspicious" This case was no ex-
ception. A gentleman descending in
one of the elevators about 2:30 o'clock
had noticed on the stairway, visible
through the bars of the steel elevator
shaft, a man ascending toward the
floor on which was located the Office Of
Miller & Morse. The elevator shot
down so quickly, however, that he
could give no adequate description Of
the mans appearance.
AC OOy w n1ItCl JOACS OLdJCQ LltlL
when the storm broke, accompanied by
a heavy clap of thunder, he heard a
crash overhead and something that
sounded like the report of a pistol
But he made no investigation at the
time, ard when asked why he didn't
he reluctantly admitted that he was
scared Dy the thunder ard had his feet
up in a chat. in the middle of the room,
as his mother had taught him, and
was afraid to move. When the building
was actually struck a few minutes
later, he had fed In sheer desperation
to sound the alarm. Perhaps the rea-
son his story received no more credence
than it did was because it was thought
he might very easily in his terror have
mistaken the crash and reverberations
of the thunder for the imagined sounds
in the room above.
Those who advocated the suicide the
ory thought they had very strong
grounds for their belief when it trans
pired that Miss Dodge had lately spec
ulated in wheat and lost. Here seemed
to be a motive at least. Whether she
had used the firms money for this pur-
pose was not clear. So much of the
cashbook had been destroyed by the
fire that it was difficult to tell if false
entries had been made. Mr.. Morse
stoutly maintained that none of the
firms money had been missed. Still,
there were some who believed that he
would make such an assertion even if
he thought it had been misappropri-
ated Miss Dodge was comely girl,
and not a few believed that Mr..
Morse, who was a bachelor, loved her.
Certainly after her death he did what
he could to defend her character 1t
was learned that he had taken her to
places of amusement on several occa-
sions and once or twice had taken her
for a drive.
1t appeared, however, that Miss
Dodge had lover, Frank Porter, hv-
ing in a neighboring town, who often
came to see her. He was in the city on
the day Miss Dodge was shot and was
able to account for his whereabouts
during the afternoon except for about
half an hour. But that half hour was
a fateful one, for 1t covered the time
in which Miss Dodge met her death.
He had been with two friends up to
about 3 o'clock and then, leaving them.
had started for the hotel where he
staid when visiting the city. At half
past he entered the office of the hotel
and chatted a little while with the
clerk, who knew him well. The clerk
noticed nothing unusual in his manner
at that time.
The story Porter told was that it be-
gan to rain heavily when he had gone
about half way to the hotel and that
he stepped into a doorway for shelter,
remained there about 20 minutes and
then proceeded directly to the hotel.
No one had yet been found who had
seen him standing In the doorway.
The police inclined toward the the
ory that Porter after leaving his friends
had gone directly to The Telegraph
building, which was only short dis.
tance, and there had quarreled with
and shot his sweetheart. The motive
they advanced was jealousy of Mr..
Morse, who, they claimed, was grad
ually supplanting-if indeed he had not
OItcT III Tie
affections of Miss Dodge. Accordingly
Porter, though not arrested, was kept
under strict police surveillance, with
orders from headquarters to arrest him
IL he attempted to leave the city.
A few thought Mr.. Morse might have
returned to the office and shot his CASH
Ter. How came it, they asked, that his
desk was open and the cashbook ON
1t? 1t was his custom to close his desk,
roll top, when he left the office for
the day. He may have been the man
seen on the stairs, they pointed out,
having gone up that way in order to
avoid being seen by the elevator man.
They mentioned two possible motives,
the first and strongest being jealousy,
rs usual, and the second the rather
unique one that upon examination of
the cashbook he had discovered that
the firm had been robbed and in his
wrath had murdered the cashier Mr..
Aforse could not establish a perfect
alibi. After leaving the office at l
o'clock he ate his luncheon in the exs
change restaurant and then went to
his boarding house. He saw and spoke
to two or three people in the house and
then went to his room. This was about
2 o'clock. He had intended to go out