Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-12
EMPTY SHELL AND MEN
Discharged Cartridge Found and StOrI
Related by Becker Family.

Discharged Cartridge Found and story
Related by decker Family.
Near a seat at Fortieth and Dodge streets.
a man, who is said to be thoroughly re-
sponsible. found an empty S2-caliber cart
ridge Thursday morning and took It to w.
L. Selby, a member of the coroner's jury
in the Rustin case, thinking Mr.. Selby was
the proper person to receive the shell. Mr..
Selby will turn it over to the police. He
said in regard TO the matter:
while / do not attach much imp6rt-
ance to the empty shell. 1t shows a disposi-
ton on the part of people to furnish all
possible evidence to throw light on the
Rustin mystery. II other people would dis
close every material fact, not rumors,
which they know, 1t might be possible to
definitely fix responsibility for the death
OF DIR. Rustin."
Mr.. Selby said he would not make known
the name Of the person who found the
shell and thought people who brought in
such things should be protected from noto-
riety in connection with the case unless tn y
were needed as witnesses.
Members of the family of ]. A. Becker,
Forty-first and Dodge streets, say they
heard noises back of their house on the
morning OF the Rustin tragedy and the
| young OdubhltI u MI. btChGIs Florence,
l6 years old, says she saw three men come
out of the weeds back of their house and
, go north on F~orty-first street about
3 o'clock in the morning.
Mr.. and Mrs. Becker and their daughter
all heard the noises and got up and looked
out, but could distinguish nothing, though
Mrs. Becker sat by the rear window for
twenty minutes. she says, This was at
1855 in the morning. The noises continued,
but as there seemed TO be no trouble Mrs.
Becker, as well as her husband and daugh-
ter, retired.
An hour later, or 3 O'Clock, the daughter,
Florence, got up again to get a drink, she
says, and, going into the bath room, which
faces west on Forty-first street, saw three
men come out OF the shadow of the tees
back of the house. south. and go past the
house going north.
There is a gas lamp on the corner there
and l could see the men plainly" said
Florence Becker last evening. They all
had their coats off, but as they went past
the house they put them on. Two of the
men were In the shadow cast by the third
and 1 could not see them very well.
could not see his face very we'll
II thought at the time that the thick-sei
man 1 saw was the same man l saw about
noon the day before Miss Florence con
tinued. This man laid down on the grass
In the rear OF those houses there" and she
pointed to two houses fronting on Forty,
first, next to Farnam street.
II was uncommonly interested In tn,
noises that early morning because we hat
reason to believe that someone was try.
ing to steal our Chickens said Mrs
Becker. For that reason I listened a ioni
time. but decided that the noises wer'
made by a couple OF men who were DRUM
and were vomiting and SOLDERING off.
would have notified the police right ava!
were 1t not that I felt a little foolish. yo'
might say, about bothering them. A shor
time ago we heard noises in our CHECKER
house and we called up the police and tWl
officers were sent out. but nothing wroni
was found. For this reason ] did not fee
like bothering them again.
However, when we got our evening
paper the day DIR. Rustih was killed,
said TO myself. Those noises last nigh
had something to DO with IT, and notifisH
the police about 5 o'clock I'm the afternoon
Detective Mitchell was sent out and b