The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-01-24

such weapon. The hammer had a handle
about three feet long. and Strother said it
| was used to break the Jumps of coal by
, himself and the man who fired the furnace
in the daytime.
The finding Of the hammer In the base
ment directed the suspicious of the police
to Strother. who had remained In the room
during the surgical operation. and had as
sisted in moving the injured man. They
kept him under, close surveillance while
they continued the search for the dia-
| monds After a long and careful search
the hiding place Of the gems on top Of the
! wall between two rafters in the front base
| ment. was revealed by the diamond in the
! ring flashing back the light from the torch
in the hands of Patrolman Dooley.
POLICE ARREST sTRoTHER.
FOUNTAIN AND TWO WOMEN.
When the Jewels were recovered. Strother
was closely questioned concerning his
movements during the evening" and finally
taken to the Ninth District Station. Foun-
tain. the tanitor. was arrested at his home.
but was released few hours later. The
two negro women who had called on
Strother in the bathhouse were also locked
up. but after a searching cross-examina-
ton were released last night by Chief
Desmond. with the Injunction to report at
the Chiefs Office at 10 o'clock this MORN
ing.
Strother was put through a series Of ex-
aminations by Captain Gaffney yesterday
| morning and afternoon. but nothing was
elected from him to implicate him in the
crime. He stuck to the story printed above.
but contradicted himself in many details
and was especially unfortunate in regard to
the time Of the happenings In the bath
house. At o'clock yesterday afternoon he
was taken to the Four Courts. where Chief
Desmond sweated him and the two women
alternately for four hours. At the end OF
that time he was sent to the holdover for
the night. and the women were allowed
to go home.
CHIEF OF DETECTIVES
DESMOND GIVES VERSION.
Chief Desmond. at the conclusion Of his
sweating of Strother, said: "All the EVIL
dence thus far in our possession points to
Strother as the culprit, but he persistently
denies his guilt. He Is badly tangled on the
time at which several incidents occurred.
which he related, and contradcts his own
statements repeatedly. He says he was
drinking pretty hard that night, but de-
clares that he did not commit the crime.
He says no one was In the cellar between
the time he left Mr.. Cooper with his callers
and the time he returned to find him in
5ured. except himself He cannot account
forth secretion of the diamonds in the
cellar. nor the bloodstains on the hammer.
According to his own admission. nobody
could possibly have entered the cellar dur
ing that time without his knowledge, and
he says nobody did. II any other hand
dealt the blow and robbed the injured man
Of the diamonds. then Strother must have
q knowledge Of who the murderer Is, and
concealed the Jewels for him. and Is now
endeavoring to shield him.
Il am now making every effort to dis
cover the identity of the parties that
Strother says called upon Cooper that night,
and to that end my men are searching for
the cabman who drove the carriage. This,
of course, may be a wild goose chase, as
6trother may have invented this story, but
am taking no chances"
The Chief refused tc state point blank
whether he believed Strother TO be the
guilty party. One theory advanced by some
Of the officers working on the case is that
Cooper did have callers that night and
that dispute arose in which Cooper was
injured, and that Strother, arriving after
the assailants departed, found Cooper un-
COLSSiouS uAlO iOppSA Aili, ueileNlUR MIN
not seriously wounded. and trusting to cir
cumstances to fasten the robbery upon the
assailants. In support Of this theory, It is
pointed out that Strother made no ATTEMPT
to escape, and that If he himself had COM
mitted the assault he had ample opportuni-
ty. when going to the Cooper home to
notify his son, to secrete the diamonds
where they could not be 50 easily found.
The supporters Of this theory argue that It
may be discovered that the sledgehammer
was not the weapon used. and that the
blood stains upon it may be accounted for
in some plausible manner.
CAPTAIN GAFFNEY SAYS
ROBBERY WAS THE MOTIVE.
Captain Gafrney declares his belief II.
Strothers guilt. and says the motive was
robbery. He says that he has evidence to
show that Strother knew that Mr. Cooper
had sold his establishment, and that he
might be thrown out Of employment.
Strother formerly owned a house at No.
116 Rankin avenue, where he lived. and the
Captain says the house was sold at Sheriff's
sale TO satisfy a $500 mortgage and in
terest
T. E. Highleyman, Mr.. Cooper's business
agent, the Captain says. had promised to
redeem the house for Strother. and Mr..
Cooper promised his assistance also. When
Strother heard of the sale of the bath
house he became respondent. believing he
would lose his place and have no oppor-
tunity to make payments upon the house.
In this mood. the Captain argues. the
negro became desperate and decided upon
robbing his benefactor.
The police and the surgeons believe that
Mr.. Cooper was either struck while he
was asleep or that he was struck by some
one whom he had no reason to suspect
of sinister designs upon his life. as there
was no indication Of a struggle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE
VISTA BATHROOMS.
The Vista bathrooms occupied the first
door rooms Of the eastern part Of the Wis.,
ia block. The entrance is through a door
on Franklin avenue. which leads into a
small square room which is partitioned in
the middle this eastern half being used as
an office and the western half as re-
ception-room for guests. From the recep-
tion-room a door leads to the cooling-rcom
adjoining on the west. There are eight cots
in this room, Immediately behind which
are small closets. curtained off. for cloth
ing Of guests. At the south end Of this
room is a smaller cooling-room. South OF
the Office and reception-room and accessible
through the cooling-rooms are the rubbing