The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-14
New York American.)

(NeN York American.)
At exactly 4:36. N half hour he
fore sunrise. on the morning of We'd
nesday, August Is. caretakers of a
Dresden found the body of a some
what sllowily dressed woman lying
half submerged on the shores of the
shallow lake in the grounds.
She had been stabbed in the throat.
Ii was Impossible to tell from the con-
dition of the body inst how long it
had been in the water. The face,
through sinking in the mud. had been
protected. but the Woman's general
appearance showed that she could not
have been in the water more than a
few days.
The park was much freauented by
lodges. societies. clubs and private
parties giving outings. The murder
cast a dnuht upon its safety. and at
the solicitation of the proprietor the
police called in DR.. Gross. the famous
criminoloeist. to investigate. A thor
ough search was made of that part of
the lake where the woman had been
found. Marks were discovered show
ing where the woman had been drag
sed down into the lake and a white
canvas cap was picked up On the
top of the hat was the perfect inn
print of Il bloody hand, each line
showing almost as clearly as though it
had been etched. The hat was not
very clean; the sweat band was
greasy; it had evidently been worn
upon several occasions. All foot
marks had been obliterated.
The resort owner told the police
that there had been a picnic held in
the park on Saturday night by a sing
ing society; on Sunday night by an
athletic society. and on Tuesday even
ing by a bowling club. Almost all the
members of all these clubs. he said,
a worn white caps such as the one
found i'll the thickets. There was
nothing at all upon the woman in the
way of letters to identify her.
DR.. Gross carried all the exhibits.
including the woman's clothes. back to
a room in the temporary morgue He
had with him his camera and a micro
scope. Later he sent his assistant to
his laboratory. The assistant return-
cd carrying with him Il thin, curious
instrument of steel about a foot long.
a small porcelain cup was at one end.
Not half an hour later DIR. Gross re-
turned and made the following state
ment:
The murdered woman was a bare
foot dancer in the Italian vaudeville
company which arrived here in Dres-
Y u "CCn dSp. DIN Nao hllltl VII
Sunday night. The murderer was a
member of the athletic society which
spent the day here or Sunday. He is
q nan between 80 and 40 years of age.
is inclined to be stout, has hack hair
which is beginning to urn gray and
he is a iewelcr."
The owner of the resort was skepti-
cal. The woman is a blonde he
said. Il know there are blonde
| Italians i,i1f che, &c nat ~, Jtol;o,,
Il did not say she was an Italian"
said DIR. Gross. II said she had come
with them from Italy and that she
Was a barefoot dancer. l knew she
was q barefoot dancer at first from
her shoes. She wore shoes much too
large for her. and a woman as shoWily
dressed as this n would have been
more apt to have worn shoes too tight.
Barefoot dancers, alone among wom-
en-. cannot afford to ruin their feet by
wearing tight shoes. Besides. an ex-
animation Of the muscles of her legs
and of her feet give conclusive evil
dence. Barefoot dancing gives a pre-
else development that cannot be mis-
taken.
But there are other dancers" said
the chief of police. That does not ex-
plain, doctor, how YOU come to your
conclusion that she just came from
1'''f ~ XII III AS u NoQuSs
willie company"
oh. the flea told me that" replied
DIR. Gross.
The tlea?" they chorused incredu-
lousy.
why. yes said DR.. Gross. I'm my
microscopic examination of her cloth
ing J. came across a dead flea. In the
fiounce of her dress l also found a
live ant-but of that later. Now in
Dresden. as you know. we have practi-
cally nc fleas. But in Italy they are
common; Prince and pauper alike suf-
fer from them. They are very hard to
get rid of, as they have a trick of hid
ing in ones clothes. One flea may
harass a person for weeks. Besides
1 recognize her shoes as those of a
manufacturer in Milan-every shoe
has its own distinctive marks either in
shape, in arrangement of nails and
pegs. and SO on. We can tell at once
from even a heel print just who the
maker was. Again. the skirt is a Pc
culiar Italian cloth made in Naples
and the corset came from Rome. But
all this can be settled at once by send.
ing for a member Of the company, 1
admit that there are other possibili-
ties, but we must follow the weight of
evidence.
II will send for the manager of the
Italian company" said the chief. "but
l do not see how you can tell thai she
was murdered on Sunday night. The
proprietor has said that there were
picnics here on Saturday. Sunday and
Tuesday"
"Ah." said DR.. Gross, II have told
YOU that I found both a dead flea and
a live ant in her clothing. Now, ex-
perimeDt-and l tell you. my dear
chief. hat these experiments are UNI
authoritative and their conclusions
may be found In the reports of the
Royal Scientific neutrality-suspicious.
! say, have shown that a flea cannon
live more thar sixteen hours in water,
Therefore ] know that the woman was
not killed by one Of the Tuesday night
picnickers. as less thar sixteen hours
elapsed between then and the time the
corpse was found.
But the ant was alive. Now, an
ant lives seventy-two hours in water.
There had been no picnic on Monday.
II the wonnan had been murdered on
Saturday the ant would have persisted
before Wednesday morning. But an
| a INF could 1-orv u,oI1 e,,r,,Sra ,,~ao- 80