The Caucasian., 1903-04-02
THE BURDICN CASE.

The detectives and head oi the police
of Buffalo assumed that BurdicN had
been murdered by a woman, and Oh this
theory they caused the arrest IT Can
adian girl who had been in the employ
of the Burdick home several weeks and
who is handsome 1t was al outrage.
but the same detectives again bluldered
bv shadOwing every woman having &C
auaintance with the Burdcks. 1t was
not until they had theorized beWllder-
ngy that they abandoned the women
and reached the conclusion that a man
was the murderer. 1t appears that Bur
dick, who was a millionaire envelope
maker, and his wife did NOT live happily
together. Mrs. Burdick had become
enamored of Arthur Pennell lawyer
of wealth and prominence, whose wife
and Mrs. Burdick were great friends.
In the course of time the relations be-
tween Mrs. Burdick and Pennell
dawned forcefully on Burdlck, who, af
ter forgiving his faithless spouse several
times, on her pledge of fealty to him
withheld a divorce proceeding. The
scandal soon became public and such
rare bit afforded unlimited scope to
gossipers. After the police had aban
doned the woman theory they rested
their suspicion on and shadowed Arthur
Pennell, who, they held, had partlcu-
lar interest in the removal of Burdick,
and this plea they emphasized after
Pennell had been killed while automo-
billing with his wife, when the machine
becoming ungovernable ran over cliff.
Pennell was instantly killed and his wife
died few hours after the accident. The
theory of suicide was set up by the
same police authority in the absence of
something better.
Such, in substance, is the case which
has scandalized the public, and the close
of the investigation when Mrs. Burdick
was compelled to disclose her relation
ship with Pennell, has left the murder
of Burdick unsolved. The police failed
to establish Mrs. Burdick's guilt in con-
nection with the murder of her husband.
That Mrs. Burdick was faithless is too
true. That Mrs Pennell was cognizant
of her husbands inhdelity may not be
questioned, but that she had intended to
divorce herself from Pennell and marry
Burdick or that the two women had de-
signe 1eagl exchange of husbands, is
a feature of the case which may be ac-
cepted with the create t degree of al
lowance. The very thought is revolving
and skaters the confidence of man in
woman. Unfortunately Mrs. Pennell is
beyond recall and therefore can not re-
fute such reflections, but it is fair to as
sumo that she was woman who had
priced her virtue beyond price and all
influence. 1t is sufficient to say that the
details of the case are shocking, and the
sensationa1ism has beeen aggravated be-
cause all concerned were prominent in
social life and had great wealth. Such
a case in the scale of the ordinary class
would scarcely have attracted more at
tention this is generally given to the
proceedings of police court. 1t is the
standing of the persons implicated that
has given it spice and afforded the wild
est range to vitiated taste and appetite.
According to press reports women of
good repute and leaders in society
decked in fashionable attire, crowded
and jostled each other SO as to reach
the points of vantage where they could
absorb every detail of this siekening ex-
posure of immortality, but there is COM
fort in the reflection that the women
who attended this inquest have little to
do at home and that almost any kind of
excitement is welcomed as divertise-
ment of the routine of their everyday
life. L is safe to say that few if any of |
the women of Buffalo having the cares
of everyday duty in the direction and
management of their homes could spare
the time, even if they had the inc1ina-
ton, to attend such exposure. In this as
In similar cases there is a moral direct |
and striking. The home over which vir-
tue is not fully enshrined in the wife
and mother is blasted. There may be
concealment for little while, but with |
exposure follows the curse which is
more terrible than death. Fortunately
the depravity of Mrs. Burdick and of |
Pennell is the exception and the penalty
of their crime is as startling as it isl
real. Rurdick murdered, Pennell and his
wife killed and all these are removed
from all hearings of detraction, but it
has been developed that Burdick was
kind and indulgent father, an affection
ate husband and that his every effort
was directed to the comfort of his loved
ones and to his home. And Fate as i