The Donaldsonville chief., 1912-11-09

4 rlator at q good figure. He had wife
and a silly daughter. The wife was q
nice old lady, and everybody had a
good word to say for Aunt Maria as
she was known.
There was common talk among the
villagers in Oyster Bay tina the old
mans daughter became silly through
the starvation treatment which she re-
ceived in her younger days. Be this
as it may, the old law of compensa-
ton got in it's usual work, and she
gave her father the hardest blow that
/ ever he received in his life.
when I got over to Struble's cot
tage, which was in pretty spot, /
found both him and his wife In sort
of stupor, the result, the doctor said,
OF concussion of the brain. Their
faces and heads were covered with
1 bruises, and they were unable to give
an intelligent account of the affair.
They had been found lying in their
beds early In the morning by Rube
Thompson, a colored man, who had for
years done chores for the family He
gave the alarm. In the first instance
there was no thought og robbery.
"The silly girl, whose name was
Sarah, was missing, and it was my be-
| lief that she had something to do with
injuring the old folks. She had been
abused for many years, and 1t was
only natural that the worm should
turn and strike some time. The first
| suspicious circumstance was the ab~
sence Of the horses and wagon from
| the barn. Sarah was afraid of horses.
and she would not go near the barn.
While was trying to settle Sarah'a
connection with the case and her dis
appearance she turned up unexpected
| ". footsore and weary after a tramp
| OF many miles. TIE neighbors were
all anxious to talk with her, but I got
her alone as soon as could, and she
told me In her simple way the story
OF the visit of several men to the
house in the night, and all about her
giving away the hiding places of the
old mans money to save his life
Then made thorough search Of
the place. found in the corner of
the room torn cap and piece of an
axe handle which were covered with
| blood. AS soon as the girl saw them
she said that they belonged to Rube
Thompson. Several Of the nefghbors
corroborated her. I sent for Rube.
When [ showed him the club and cap
he seemed to change color and to
shake like leaf. charged him with
taking part in the crime, and, as
many another innocent has done be.
fore him, he lied in the effort to ex.
plain away the presence of his cap
and club in the .ouse. He denied be-
Ing near the house at all, although 4
had positive evidence of his being
there from several witnesses I ar
rested Rube and sent him to the
Queens county jail. He was indicted
for the robbery two days later.
Il believed that Rube was in the
plot as much as ever I believed any.
thing, but he maintained his inno-
cence, and was able to prove It aft
erWard. I tried In every way possible
to get confession from Rube as to
who his confederates were, without
success. I looked then in other direc-
tions for information.
when old struble's senses returned
learned that every piece Of paper
money that he had in his possession,
amounting to about $4,000, had been
marked by him with a red cross on
fha MARGIN
his doing 1t, and it was only one of
the miser's eccentricities, but it turn
ed out to be a very valuable factor in
the discovery of the criminals and the
release Of an innocent man.
Il sent a notice to all banks. In New
York, Brooklyn, Jersey City and Phil.
adelphia, requesting them to look out
for any bills that were deposited with
a red cross on them. In three or four
days got word from the old Bleecker
Street bank to the effect that money
OF that description had been received
there. I learned from the cashier that
the money had been deposited by
Lena Chadwick, whose address was 10
James street, a notorious sailors
boarding house.
I investigated Lena, and learned
that she had sold her interest in the
Boarding house and liquor store at
tachment to Left Flannel1y. the lead
er of the Red Robins two days after
the robbery Of Struble, and he had
given her $1,50G in cash. She had de-
posted just this sum in the bank.
Every one Of the bills had the red
mark. I brought Struble over, and he
identified every one of the bills as his
IaQneY Ea had hardlod o..