Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-05-19

the outside portion was consumed
and in the creases of 1t the servant de.
tected kind of white dust. She kept
the paper and when her master died
and her mistress was arrested and
charged with the murder. 1t was pro-
duced In court. The analyst had nc
difficulty in ascertaining that the white
dust was arsenic, and the murderess
was condemned to death and was ex-
ecuted.
Who was the murderer Of Mary Web
Der? was a question which some years
ago sorely perplexed the Lancashire
police authorities. Webber was a SER
want, and left her mistress's house one
evening to keep an appointment with
respect to which she had. her mistress
subsequently remembered. appeared
peculiarly anxious. Mary Webber
never returned home. Her dead body
was discovered the next day in a lone
ly spot near a wood. There was nc
doubt she had been murdered-strang-
led by some person with large, power
full hands, the fingermarks Of which
were to be seen upon her throat.
No one could say who It was she
had gone to meet, but 1t was generally
supposed that she must have had an
appointment with some lover at that
spot where she met with her death
Upon examining her box, the detective
found three notes in a strange hand
writing. seemingly disguised, and only
signed &c. L." These letters were ev-
identity from an admirer. They were
peculiarly disappointing, however, for
each contained only few words max
ing appointments for meetings at va
rious places. one appointment being
for the fatal night. The writer Of the
letter was in all probability the muir
derer. Suspicion now centered around
a young fellow in whose company
Webber had been seen.
The day before the murder the sus-
pected man had, 1t was developed, WIS.,
tied a shop to purchase sheet OF
note paper He had then asked for
pen and an envelope and requested
permission to sit at the counter and
write a brief letter. When he had
gone the shopman found a half sheet
of paper left on the counter in the
blotting pad at which the man had
been writing. This half sheet the man
put back in the box with the other pa
per. The last note found in the dead
girls box, making the fatal appoint
ment. was written on a half sheet OF
paper. This and the piece left by the
accused man In the shop were put to-
gether. Microscopic examination re-
vealed the fact that the two halves
made one sheet. The man was exc
cuted.
A piece of paper played an extra
ordinary part In the trial Of a Wilt
shire farmer at the Salisbury Assizes
The prisoner was charged with having
sent an anonymous threatening letter
to a neighbor. Witnesses acquainted
with the prisoners writing were call
ed to prove that the letter was in his
hand. Others. equally as we'll able to
Judge, declared that the writing was
not his. But the prosecution had what
appeared to be most conclusive evil
dence of the prisoners guilt
Threeof these anonymous letters had
been written on three pieces Of paper
which had been roughly torn out of a
single sheet. In a writing desk in TIE
prisoners home the detectives found
a scrap Of paper, which, when fitted
with the three pieces on which the let
ters were written, exactly formed one
sheet. The ragged edges Of the diff
ferent portions exactly fitted each 9TH
er, and the watermark and name OF
the maker, which was divided into
three parts, were perfect when 1.-THE
pieces of paper were placed together
The evidence appeared overwhelming
and the prisoner, protesting his inno-
cence, was sentenced to penal servi-
tude. The prisoner was removed
when suddenly a person stood up In
court and denounced himself as the
r. al criminal He was the son Of the
prisoner-a youth Of eighteen.
He wrote upon a piece Of paper from
memory the contents Of the three
threatening letters. His handwriting
was exactly that In the criminal epis-
ties: mistakes in spelling which ap-
peared in them were reproduced In the
sons writings. He had, he explained,
had access to the writing desk In his
fathers room. and had abstracted the
paper from It, There could be no
doubt Of his guilt. and the father was
pardoned, while the son went to pris-
on for evenryars.
piece of stamp sticking paper was
the means Of assisting justice to Sc
cure notorious burglar named Bar
rett. who made a specially of jewel
safe breaking. He one night entered
n wealthy gentlemans country man
sion I'm Surrey. and working with his
usual skill. he succeeded In effecting
an entry into the safe and abstracting
iewels worth several hundred pounds.
In his operations however, one OF his
tools inflicted a slight injury to one
of his fingers. and Barrett tearing OF
a piece Of stamp paper from some he
carried In his pocket. applied 1t to the
wound. The remainder Of the paper
he accidentally dropped on the floor,
where 1t was discovered by detect
i've. The next day Barrett was arrest
ed The piece of stamp paper ne had
put on his finger was still there and
proved useful in obtaining him seven
years penal servitude.
A piece of newspaper which had been
used as a bOokmarker, was one or
the strong links in a chain Of circum-
stantia, evidence which brought Pom
tin. train assassin to his deserts.
Pontin murdered a gentleman traveller
1, a French express and, having hid
his victim as we'll as he could under
seat. alighted at a station and cooliy
walked away reading newspaper.
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