The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-03-02

Il should be delighted
Could you go as far as Aldershot to-
morrow
Il have nj doubt jackson would AXE
practise
Very good. I want to start by the
11:10 from Waterloo"
THAI would give me time"
Then, if you are not too sleepy, l
will give o a sketch of what has
happened, and of hat remains to be
DONE
Il was sleepy before you came. l
am quite wakefu1 now"
Il will compress the story as far as
may be lone without emitting anything
vital to the case. 1t is conceivable that
you may even have read some account
of the matter. 1t is the supposed muir
der of Colonel Barclay, of the Royal
MINISTER'S, at Aldershot, which / am
investigating"
Il have heard nothing of It."
1T has not excited much attention
yet. except locally. The facts are only
two days old. Briefly they are these:
THE Royal MINISTERS is, as you know,
one of the most famous Irish regiments
in the British army. 1t did wonders
both in the Crimea and the Mutiny,
and has inc that time distinguished
itself pom every possible occasion. 1t
was commanded up to Monday night
by James Barclay, a gallant veteran,
who started as a full private, was
raised to commissioned rank for his
bravery at the time of the Mutiny, and
so lived to command the regiment in
which he had once carried a musket.
Colonel Barclay had married at the
time when he was a sergeant, n his
wife, whose maiden name vas Miss
Nancy Dewey, was the daughter of a
former color-sergeant in the same
corps. There was, therefore, as can
be imagined. some little social friction
when the young couple Cfor they were
still young) found themselves in their
new surroundings. They appear, how
ever, to have quickly adapted them
selves, and Mrs. Barclay has always,
I understand, been as popular with the
ladies of the regiment as her husband
was with his brother officers. I may
add that she was a woman of great
beauty, and hat even now, when she
has been married for upwards of thirty
years, she is still of a striking and
queenly appearance.
Colonel Barclays family life appears
to have been a uniformly happy one.
Major Murphy, to whom l owe most Of
my facts. assures me that he has never
heard of any misunderstanding be-
tween the pair. On the whole, he thinks
that Barclays devotion to his wife was
greater than his wife's to Barclay. He
was acuteIy uneasy.i if he were absent
from her for a day. She, on the other
hand, though devoted and faithful, was
less obtrusively affectionate. But they
were regarded in the regiment as the
very model of a middle-aged couple.
There was absolutely nothing in THAR
mutual relations to prepare people for
the tragedy which was to follow.
Colonel Barclay himself seems to
have had some singular traits in his
character. He was a dashing, jovial
old soldier in his usual mood, but there
were occasions on which he seemed to
show himself capable of considerable
violence and vindictiveness This side
of his nature, however. appears never
to have q turned against his wife.
Another fact, which had struck Major
Murphy and three out of five of the
other officers with whom 1 conyersed.
was the singular sort of depression
which came upon him at times. As the
major expressed it. the smile had often
been struck from his mouth, as il by
some invisible hand, When he has been
joining in the gayeties and chaff Of
the mess-table. For days on end, when
the mood was on him, he has been
sunk in the deepest gloom. This and
a certain tinge of superstition were the
only unusual traits in his character
which his brother officers had observed.
The latter popularity took the form of
q dislike to being left alone, especially
after dark. This puerile feature in q
nature which was conspicuously manly
had often given rise to common and
conjecture.
THE first battalion of the Royal
MINISTERS (Which is the old 117th) has
been stationed at Aldershot for some
years. The married officers live out
of barracks, and the colonel has dur
ing all this time occupied a villa called
Lachine. about half a mile from the
north camp. The house stands in its
own grounds, but the west side of it
is not more than thirty yards from
the high-road. A coachman and two
maids form the staff of servants. These
with their master and mistress We're
the sole occupants of Lachine. for the
Barclays had no children, nor was it
usual for them to have resident Wis
itors.
Now for the events at Lachine be-
tween 9 and 10 on the evening Of last
Monday.
Mrs. Barclay was, it appears, a
member of the Roman Catholic Church,
and had interested herself very mucn
in the establishment of the Guild of
st. George, which was formed in con-
nection with the Watt Street Chapel
for the purpose of supplying the poor
with cast-off clothing. A meeting OF
the guild had been held that evening
at 8. and Mrs. Barclay had hurried
over her dinner in order to be present
at it. When leaving the house she
was heard by the coachman TO make
some commonplace remark to her his-
band. and to assure him that she
would be back before very long. She
then called for Miss Morrison, q young
lady who lives in the next villa, and
the two went off together to their meets
ing. 1t lasted forty minutes, and at 2
quarter past 9 Mrs, Barclay returned
home. having left Miss Morrison at
her door as she passed.
(TO be Continued TomorrOw.)