The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-09-07
SKELETONS IN BOOKS
SECRETS THAT ARE UNWARlLY LEFr
IN LIBRARY VOLUMES.


The letter began, "My Sweet Anne"
Surely n stranger must ne pardoned
log reading it through for it was found
hidden snugly away between the leaves
of Il dusty and ancient volume Of poems
drawn from great library. The find
er took it carefully to the librarian.
Another one:" said the librarian in
quiringly. "Ont OF the old edition OF
Moore. eh? We'll, I guess we won't
send 1t back. generally return per-
sonal letters IL they are OF enough In
tercst nnd nobody calls for them, but
II | sent everything bncl that we find
tic directors would be about my ears
Tor wasting postage stamps" The aft
crnoon was quiet one, and the II.
brarian continued:
I'VE shake every book that IS return
ell, and almost always something falls
out. 1t may be IL letter like the one
you hnve just found or visiting card
or hairpin. Almost invariably the
treasures that we unfold bear the eur
marks Of feminine possession. am
/ not charging women with curelessness.
am simply stating fact.
Generally the things we find are
documentary In their nature. Last
week l shook out Of book on home
life signed and Endorsed check for
$40 made payable to the dressmaker
whose statement OF account was
pinned to It. On another occasion q
atty dollar bank note futtered out.
Both were called for within short
time. Occasionally one gives us
glimpse Of love secret or tragedy.
Not SO long ago a letter was taken
from book which was Of such an un-
usual nature that 1 remembered the
names concerned long enough to recog-
nize them In the newspaper reports of
q court case which divided q family.
The letter was addressed to a woman
and Oiled with the frank and open
avowal Of a mans forbidden love, for
the woman was the wife Of another. 1
carefully secreIed the missive and q
few hours later was confronted by
tall, heavily yelled lady, who asked IL
q letter had been found In q book
which happened to be a morbid prob
lem novel of great popularity at tho
time, the work Of well known Eng
lishwoman. The question was asked
In voice which tried hard not to
shake. I handed the letter over, and
the woman hastily took herself off.
Scarcely month later ran across her
name in the newspapers as defendant
In divorce court.
"Yet the writings we find in books
are not always 80 intimate. Sometimes
they savor of domest!city and the de-
lights of the kitchen. Indeed have
enough recipes for desserts and sweet
meats to publish the collection as n
cookbook. Now and then u book is @
veritable mine. ! have found In them
gold, silver and precious stones. Em-
broldery silk by the yard and Of rain
bow hues may be fished out from some
novels, and, alas, an occasional ciga-
rette paper.
''The evidences of masculine forget
fulness are rarer. have forgotten al-
most all such instances, but Of those
which do remember there is one Of
which the details are as clear to me
now as If they had happened yester-
day. Indeed 1t viii! never leave my
mind. for it led to the capture Of
gang of criminals.
ga wealthy but solitary old bachelor
was found lifeless on the floor of his
library one morning. On his body no
wound was discovered. and as far as
the detectives could ascertain no one
had gained access to the house. The
cnse excited great public interest, and
followed the developments with close
ness in the newspapers. There had
Of koll re lofI ND
more of heart failure, but tho autopsy
put q new phase upon the case. for it
showed that the old man had come to
his death through an insidious yet pow
erful poison. The question then arose,
Who administered It? AS was rend-
ing the detailed report Of tho doctors
suddenly dropped the paper. I remem-
bered that q month before a stranger
had come in one wet, dismal night and
asked for recondite work by for
eign author. 1t was q standard
treatise on poisons and a volume se!=
dom read.
II hurried to the library and sought
the book. Opening 1t and rapidly rum
ming over the pages you may imagine
my astonis hment and almost horror to
Auu A4S DStWcSH l"O pd8c6 uStOtSO
to a detailed account Of the very poison
that caused the old man'e death a
smirched and thumb marked piece Of
paper. On It was writing In small
and angular hand referring to the
chapter and page ON which the poison
was described. I then looked up the
cecord of the books withdrawal and
found the name which the man had
given. I also found that the book had
not been taken out since. Having as
certained these facts, went ut once
to the police. Taking the information
as clew. the detectives. after long
and arduous search, followed 1t to Its
logical end and arrested the only rela-
tive the old man had possessed. med.
ical student, whose existence had not
even been known. Flo confessed his
share in the crime and, with his accom-
plices, paid the penalty. That casa
30 ~ 80 to-