Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-12-20


far worse conspicuouk1y marked a
mans carries his arm ii sling can
hardly, fail to. attract attention, espe-
''ciaily when this distinguishing mark
is accompanied BY another equally
: glariag, one in ths term Of hseA Of
brilliant red -hair:1 - !:
"Hoh q, staretsl" interrupted:
sprague, whs had been listening with,
grswingt tntee e 1877 - -. lns~ he
accountant 8: nans3'' - :: ~s'.'s ''S'''' S&s %
l. Eyes" ~ piled, tn. repeFtsr; ;s:'"his
!. name ii Msllas CkafhanpE
!: Thomas Chatlan!,'.: exclaimed
sprague, as the Image of The miserable
young man came to his mind.
Eyes, replied Sturgis, answering his
thought, the man you mes sAly : few:
hours ago. sSE ~ i
There was brief silence, broken at
last BY 6prague, who asked:
HAS he escaped7"
Sturgis hesitated..
THAT depends upon how we look at
it," he said, gravely, at length; "he has
paid the penalty of his crimes"
"What do you mean?",
HE is dead" answered the reporter:
"Dead? But tell you I saw him"
Il know; but he has died SINCE"
"Suicide?''
''No;" the reporters voice sank to q
whisper; murder"
"Murder?" repeated the artist, star
tied. But how do you know that?'
''This lump of lead tells the story"
said Sturgis, holding up the shapeless
piece of metal which he had taken.out
of the vat.
"Whatis it? A bullet?'
Eyes; the bullet which Chatham car
ried in his arm from the time that he
was wounded by Arbogast, the bullet
which has enabled me to trace him step
by step, from his fight from the over
turned cab to DR.. Thurston's and finally
to his death in this very room; the
bullet whose peculiar shape is record
ed in this shadow picture taken by
Thurston by means of the Roentgen
rays"
So saying, he handed sprague the
photograph. But the artist had ceased
to listen
I'm this very room?' he unused aloud,
looking about him with awe.
Eyes. The story is simple enough.
The man whose instrument Chatham
was is not one who would care to be
numbered up with tools, which become
positively dangerous as soon as they
cease to be useful. This man, totally
anhampered by pity, gratitude or>fear,
determined to destroy the accountant,
whose discovery might have imperiled
his own welfare. What mattered a
human life or. two, when weighed
against the possible loss of his own
life or liberty, or of his high%social
standing and his enormous wealth; for
this man is both renowned and rich,
and he appears to have brought whole
sale murder to science
do you mean to say. that wholesale
murder can be INDUCED in with i'm
punity in a city like New York, at the
end of the nineteenth century," asked
sprague, aghast.
"Yes; when it is done in the system
attic and scientific manner that has been
employed here. For this murderer is
the most remarkable criminal of mod
ern times. He has not been satisfied
with killing his victims; he has sue
ceeded in completely wiping them out
of existence. Criminals have often at
tempted to destroy the bodies of their
victims, but they have never before sue
ceeded as this man has. He is chem
list of remarkable talent, and he has
discovered q compound in which bone
as well as human tissue is rapidly and
totally dissolved. There it is in yon-
der tank. See how completely the
liquid has destroyed the bone handle
of this knife"
Sturgis, after showing the damaged
knife to. his companion, resumed his
whiting upon the cover of the box
on which the artist was seated.
"Chatham's body has been dissolved
in that tank within very short time.
It has entirely disappeared; this fiat
tened bullet alone is left, lead being
one of the few substances which are
not soluble in the contents Of :. the
tank. Fortunately he overlooked that
fact. Genius has it's lapses.''' p.
f. Presently sprague ventured to say:
"1f numerous crimes have been com
nitted here, Al you intimate, do not
s,lnaerstand hew it 10 that suspicion
has never rested On this house b.
FORE" -: -, f,
THE author of these crimes has
taken every preeaution to render tho
chance Of dis,every quite remote. Hh
dwelling -honse on enc street, and the
bogus Chemical eonpany:Ga, the e4hsy,
are in communication tA1ough thin
underground passego, wAiao appa1-
emily having no sennsstien with eash
other. Aoreevs1, 10 d to ,shrewd to
make frequent ues e ths Asath cham
ber.. That aess M saassAsas aslast
resort when he is obliged to commit
the murders With Iii >ewa hands; but
I suspect that this man has other
agents like Chatham. who do the