Bisbee daily review., 1903-04-14
A CASE OF
 SUSPICION

At the age of twenty-one was clerk. tng for dry goods merchant in a small | town in Ohio and stood as high in the community as any other young man there. There was only one incident in the year past to regret A young man named Albert White and I had been rivals for the affections of a girl named Ida Walters, and on several occasions had had hot words, but when I with drew from the race we became friends again-at least, there was no enmity between us.
 One night in midwinter when had returned to the store to post up the books White rapped at the back door. and I let him in. He had seen my light through the shutters and called in friendly spirit. The door sagged little, and when White opened 1t there was resistance, and his nose got bump. It was bleeding as he entered. but I got a handful of snow and as sisted him to check the flow.
 Before noon next day 1t was known all over town that Albert White was missing. Before night men were look ing for him in every direction. A cid- zen had remembered seeing him at the store door, and, of course, was ques- toned I told of his visit, but did not mention the trining accident at the door. They asked no questions to bring it out. That night was arrested on a warrant sworn out by his mother as the murderer of Albert White, and cir cumstantial evidence piled up against me at the examination. A week later satisfied everybody except my employ CT that was guilty of the crime. MT. and Mrs. Walters swore that White had told them that he feared me, as I had threatened his life. Miss Ida swore to the same thing and added that she had always feared would shoot him when we met at her house. They found blood on the store floor, and that meant that l had killed White as he. sat by the stove.
 This young man, this red handed murderer" shouted the prosecutor. had asked the girl in marriage and had been refused. Fired with jealousy and burning with desire for revenge. be began planning this deed. We know that White feared him, and he would not have gone to the store unless he was lured tbere."
 All of which was false-every word.
 The great question, of course, was what had become of the body. It was supposed that I had carried it to some hiding place. Around the town were | as many as fifty old coal and iron shafts from fifteen to forty feet deep. | Some were covered up and some open. All about us were huge snowdrifts,. and the idea was that had buried | White under one of these or flung the body into an open shaft More than 5O0 people searched for the body for a week or more, but no trace of it could be found. When told about the nose bleed. no one believed me. The saloon keeper could have set things right, but
 he maintained silence, afterward ex- | plaining that he feared White had been overcome by drink and perished in the storm. Those who came to the store to question me testified to all sorts of false things, of which this was typical:
 ''The prisoner hesitated to admit that he had lately seen the missing man. | dent that he knew more than he was willing to tell"
 Three young men swore to having heard me threaten Albert Whites life
 What had become of Albert White? All the searching had failed to get trace of him. After 1 had been held to the higher court certain incidents oc- cured to me for the first time. re- membered that White carried 6 basket of groceries as he came into the store. I remembered that he said he must go straight home when he left. He lived | a mile beyond the saloon where he had stopped, but he could shorten the dis tance by cutting across a field. had never crossed this field, but felt sure there were three or four old shafts scattered about I thought it all over as lay on my cot in jail one night, and next day my employer was direct | ing search. At the bottom of thirty foot shaft which was not over 250 feet from Mrs. Whites front door and the mouth of which was almost con cealed by a snowdrift, they found Al bert This was the seventeenth day after my arrest. He had attempted a short cut going home. Blinded by the storm, he had fallen into the pit. The five or six feet of snow at the bottom bad broken his fall. In his basket were loaf of bread, two or three pounds of beef, some sugar and dozen eggs. He had consumed everything and was a very hungry young man when finally discoveSed. He had figured that the saloon keeper would give notice of his leaving there at 10:45, because both had remarked the time. He reasoned that search would be made and that the old pits would speedily be exam fred.
 was at once restored to liberty, as a matter of course. but I want you to note curious phase of human nature. Neither the prosecutor DOT the town marshal took me by the hand and ut- tered . word of congratuIation. Not one single witness who had testified against me evinced the slightest desire to rejoice. So far as eoGid judge at