The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-05
GERMANY FACES
 CRITICAL PERIOD Coming Winter Promises Bad
 For Industries THE DECLINE OF WAGES Crime of Incredible DepravIty Comes to Light in Weimer-Another
 Atrocious Murder Ia
 Reported.
BY STEPHEN BURNETT.

Berlin, December 4.-(Special l-Despite the official assertions that Germanys in- dustrial depression is less. the latest sta- tistics to hand prove that the coming winter will be one of the most critical periods the empire has ever known. Strikes are far more numerous this year than last. That there are grounds for dissatisfaction among miners and collies Is proved by the decline of wages within the past year.
 In spite Of this reduction living has be- como more expensive in Germany, on &C., count of the higher customs duties and indirect taxes, so that the miners strike in the Ruhr, where wages have gone down 5d per day. is easily understood.
 ''The KonjenlJur." new review devot- ed to industrial and social problems, con- tains an interesting chapter on work mems statistics, showing the increase of unemployed.
 Thus we read that in July of this year there were So4ooo applicants for 20300o open situations. To these employed must be added. since September the 20,0eO workmen who find a seasons job on the ia9Q ouIlnH lto SQulincT anu dTt QTlFtus as soon as the harvest is oyer, to the city. where the over-crowding of the labor market Is likely to be more acute this year than 1t ever has been
 A crime of incredible depravity has been committed at Weimar by a seamstress named Rotter, aged 25.
 The neighbors noticed that a fiat occu- pied by widow. aged 6o named zeiss, had remained closed since Satur- day, and yesterday they forced the door. Frau zeiss lay in the passage in a pool of blood, her head battered and shape less mass. The oupboards and drawer were wide open, and there was some evf- dence of a robbery.
 Some one saw Rotter, who sewed for Frau Zeiss twice a week, carrying a large box, and the police found her about to leave Weimar. With callousness the woman acknowledged the murder, giving all details and exhibiting no emotion when taken to view the horrible specta- cle of her vfotim.
 Frau zeiss. who was always very gem erous to Rotter. was struck on the head from behind with & fat-iron. She ran screaming into the passage where the foul deed was completed. The murderess then washed her hands and searched the rooms, taking everything of value. She locked up the fiat and on leaving threw the key into the river. She pawned somo of the stolen articles. Rotter Is described as a handsome, vain woman, fond of fine clothes. The reason which she gave for her crime was poverty.
 A dispatch from Buharest states that an atrocious murder has been committed in the town of Remmic Sarat. A couple Ad fofa all fA lfv,o< while at dinner. After the meal her hus- band stretched himself out for a nap After he had fallen asleep his wife poured petroleum over his clothes and set fro to them.
 The man woke up shrieking with pain and his wife rushed into another room, locking the door. All ablaze he opened the window and shouted for help. A policeman heard his cries and entered tho house only to find him lying on the floor dead. When arrested tho wife expressed her satisfaction with having committed the crime.
 Love may laugh at locksmiths, but sometimes the invisible walls erected by society are too strong for 1t. So 1t was in the case of Lieutenant Buahholz, who a year ago went up from the Cadet school, in the Berlin suburbs of Gross Lichterfelde. to the 175th infantry regi- ment stationed in the West Prussian fortress of Courbiere.
 He was then IS years of age. and soon afterwards in the neighboring town of Graudenza, he caught the eye of a pretty bookkeeper, Minna Piepke, who was 12 months his junior. She was nattered by the gallant attentions of the young offi- cer, and soon they had no thought ex- cept for one another.
 In vain did the 1ovesick lieutenant's comrades warn him of the fatal conse- quences which his infatuation would have for his career: in vain did the girl s parents. who belong to the artisan class. urge her to give up a liaison that could bring nothing but distress. Separation was the one thing which neither of the lovers could bear to think of
 On Sunday evening the girl failed to re- turn to her home. Her mother sought and found her in Buohhoiz's quarters, at the fortress. An angry scene followed. in which the woman was peremptorily ordered to depart.
 In her distress she thought of appealing to the commander of the regiment, but failed to find him at home. The father, who is . laborer at the grain market, then went up to the fortress to reason with the misguided girl. He found the neutenant's door locked and received no answer to his knocking. An alarm was given. the door was forced open. but it was too late. The lovers lay stretched on the floor, the girl already dead, and Buchholz shot in the head with a bullet, from the effects of which he may re- cover. but which had shattered one of his eyes.
 Correspondence found in the room showed that the unhappy pair had agreed to die together rather than be separated