Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-06-09

and became a free lance
|WrrT7r on his own account, the
H#&k3N city of New York, and In
~ deed the whole United
States, were greatly ex-
- over a sequence Of more or less
-.,sr.ous crimes which, because of
.ss,r peculiar environment, became
s.oru TO press and public as The
rsxlcab Murders"
The srst incident in the series. al
,,c.eh out Of the common, occasioned
!. more than passing interest in the
.,mmerciel capital. But when sec
81 q third and a fourth repetition
-.-rrred under almost precisely the
Inc conditions, only the locality and
80 IDENTITY of the victim being
.s.nred. the police and the communi-
~ concerned began to sit up and
,>ke notice." as the talk OF the day
rhrssed It
n. avery case q "magnate" or q
.,,.tocrat" of the financial or indus
,,,sl world was the victim-"malefac-
a.. Of great wealth"-death, sudden
"a mysterious overlook each and
.,erv one: so, also, the interior Of
~ Of those convenient vehicles, q
,rblic taxicab, was the tiny theater
4 he crimes; and the companion Of
M victim always managed to disap-
sesr without trace.
Nd lover of criminal annals could
81 more puzzling settings for a set
j. APPARENTLY inexplicable crimes
v,tbout motive, without profit. so far
4, could be seen. For. after the sec
"a tragedy. the consensus of opinion,
,ersl and lay, was that great wrong
IA been committed by master
criminal actuated by mind Of fear
Al ingenuity. But let US enumerate
h regular order the racts.
Early In October, on one Of those
brieht. snappy autumn mornings for
Which New York is famous. two men
hailed and entered taxrcab from a
rublIc stand outside the Astoria bo-
HI One Of the men was elderly, cor
pole0t. purple Of face from gross liv-
Inz and predatory prowling; as fire.
oucnter Of New York's after-dark the
stsrs and lobster palaces, no less than
because he was one of Wall streets
sutocyass. be was well-known to the
nzht life Of the city and also to its
csbmen as the great Philo B. Live
ridge.
The second man was comparatively
rsirnidcant. SO much so that the
driver Of the taxi failed to notice him
particularly and could afterward fur
r'sh no adequate description Of his
physical characteristics. Yet 1t was
tbs smaller man who gave the order
to drive to the Chrome National bank.
when the taxi stopped at the curb
b front Of this famous financial IN
s.Itution on lower Broadway, the
smaller man had disappeared; his
eonpanion. the aforesaid moneyed
sulocrst, was discovered to be dead!
\ vas thought that the second man.
hiding that the fnancier was beyond
hsIp. and fearing trouble. had some
There en- route. perhaps during tenn
lofary trxfnc block. opened either Of
lls CAB doors and quietly stepped out.
Immediately vanishing In the crowd
When. where or how Liveridge had
lrexthed his last was q puzzle to
friends and foes alike. As has been
slready intimated. Phrio b. was q
roas liver, patron OF the Tender
lcIn's more or less shady night life.
nd the friend or protector Of certain
<flFknovn feminine habitues there
Il albeit be was arso one Of Amer
i1s noney-kings, suspected of sway.
nc Tsesidsnts and cabinets upon oc-
zsioa.
let, because Of these notorious
acts Neli-known to the initiate. the
uecry was generally and generously
zaop'ed that Philo B. Liveridge had
suddenly come to the end of his physi-
sa iether, seeing that he was well on
2 ne scriptursl age limit Of three
'cofe years and TENN fact, "old
enough to know BETTER" as one scribe,
pore irreyerent than his fellows.
w N ms opi'uary no'ice
A. a,' ~ neia perruncsory inquest.
anu iiioslcai verdict OF
49, ~ was returned tne re-
$3.50. ,eIs inferred 70 an ntoneo
~. " iasnionaDie rector ana
'.,so,,o z've,,dge would have been