The Raymer enterprise., 1911-07-13
A MODERN
BORGIA

During his long and remarkable ca.
feer. Michael Danevitch was called
upon to solve problems Of q very var.
ied nature. In bis own particular way
the man was genius; and 1t almost
seemed as thought nature had en-.
dowed hip With an eighth sense. for
he saw and srasped points which no
one else could see. He was q perfect
actor. and bis powers Of mimicry and
OF changing bis expression and per.
sonal appearance were little short Of
marvellous. He could with ease a..
sumo the role Of an ambassador or
peasant woman. and he possessed to
= remarkable degree the faculty OF
patience. which is indispensable to
anyone who wishes to distinguish him.
self In the detectives art.
One summer night Col Ignatoff.
who was In command Of an infantry
regiment Of the line. temporarily sta.
toned In Moscow. returned to his
barracks after being out all evening.
and. complaining Of being very Ill.
ordered that the regimental doctor
should be sent for. When the physi.
clan arrived, he found that his com.
manding officer had vomited violently,
and was lying on the bed In a state
OF utter collapse. The soldier-servant
who was with him said that his mas.
ter had suffered dreadfully. and de.
scribed his feelings as II fire was
raging within him. The doctor ap.
piled remedies which restored his pa.
tent to consciousness, and he finally
murmured that be believed his illness
TO be due to some iced fish soup Ia
favorite Russian dish OF which he
had partaken freely. He thought It
probable that the fish from which the
soup was made were not quite fresh.
On being asked where he had par.
taken Of the soup. he was seized with
another spasm and died without being
able to answer. A post.mortem ex.
animation was made, and resulted In
the discovery that death was due to
an irritant poison that had set up
Inflammation OF the stomach This
seemed TO be quite consistent with the
victims theory that his illness was
due to unwholesome soup.
The fish sorp Is very common dish
In Russia. It Is highly seasoned, thick.
ened with rich cream. quantity OF
olive oil Is added, and the mess Is iced
until nearly frozen. As II is only
partaken OF In the summer great care
has to be exercised that the fish is
quite fresh. Any carelessness In this
respect Is apt to produce serious Ill.
ness. II was a knowledge OF these
facts which led the medical men to
conclude that the colonel's death was
entirely due to the soup. The dead
man was buried with military pomp
and splendor. II was known among
his intimate friends that he was
married man. but owing to ''incompai.
ibility" he and his wife had long lived
apart All his effects he left by will
to nephew named Peter Baranoff.
captain In an artillery regiment,
which was also stationed in Moscow.
II was generally supposed that Col.
lgnatof was wealthy. but It became
known after his death that he died
worth very little, This gave rise to
much gossip. and It was limited that
he had squandered his means on a
certain lady to whom he had been
greatly attached. Col Ignatof had
been In his grave about twelve
months, when Moscow was furnished
with another sensation. Although he
had died poor, relatively. his nephew
had fallen heir to something like sl5..
900. The young fellow had never
been very steady. and, after his
uncle's death launched out into ex,
cesses which earned stern reproofs
from his military superiors. How.
ever, an unexpected and effective stop
was put to his method OF enjoyment
Late one night man was picked
np near one OF the gates OF the krem.
lin wall In state OF unconsclousness,
and was conveyed by police patrol
to the nearest station.house. as the
natural inference was that he was In.
toxicated He was identified as Cap,
tain Peter Baranoff, from letters and
cards found In his pockets Within an
hour of his admission he died. without
having regained consciousness. As
no reason could be assigned for his
premature decease, an autopsy was
performed and Il was then found
that. as In his uncles case, there was
violent inflammation OF the coat OF
the stomach and the intestinal tract,
In the stomach were the remains OF
some halfdigested morsels OF fish:
and II was also made evident that q
little while before his death the de.
ceased had partaken freely OF vodka.
This led 10 the supposition that intox.
fcation was accountable for the uncon.
scious condition In which he was
found. but intoxication would not &c.
count for his death. After some dis.
cussion among the medical men. how.
ever. II was decided to certify tina, he
had died from eating impure food.
which by It's poisonous action had set
up Inflammation. which had been
rpuch ovvravated by tho vodka Some