New-York tribune., 1912-02-25
.EEAIBUSH SHOPNAN
KILLED; ROBBED OF $50.
Crime Occurs in Luncheon Hour
F.. as Crowds Pass BY, but No
: One Heard Fatal Shot.
POLICE HAVE NO THEORY
rnspector Hughes Directs Work
of Police-No Clew, Unless
Finger Prints Help Solve
Brooklyn Mystery.

po1icA Department yesterday dIIerllooll'
oban some person or persons entered
tbA baberdashery of Walter Meseritz'
NO 779 Flatbush avenue, Brooklyn, at
the luncheon hour, and while crowds
srsssed the door shot him 10 death and
ssscaped with a mere handful Of plunder.
No one, so far as could be learned, heard
the fatal shot, except the man who fired
r.. No living being the police could find
ND % q late hour last night had observed
any visitor to the store near the time the
crime was committed.
All the evidence obtainable yesterday
pointed to the theory that the motive for
the murder was robbery. Investigation
showed. however. that in ell probability
! the total value Of the booty for which
THE robber took life did not exceed $50.
The cash drawer was rifed of the SIT or
so which il contained, according to the
ledger; a gold watch and fob were miss
ing from the body Of the dead man, and
three safety razors had been taken from
a tray in the showcase. Thirty dollars
IN the safe escaped the eye of the robber.
1t was said at Police Headquarters in
Brooklyn late last night that several
safety razors had been pawned during
the late afternoon at a shop in Court
street. This was looked upon as a clue
OF the utmost Importance by the detec-
lives working on the case, and it was
seven boasted that an arrest would fol-
sow before the night was out--a feeling
in marked contrast to the dispirited view
.of the case which prevailed far UP into
the evening.
Inspector Hughes, Of the Detective
Bureau, was on the scene less than three
hours after the murder and went over
the ground carefully, in company with
several Of his men. Finally he returned
TO the little shop from which the body
of the dead man had just been removed,
looking none too confident
What is your theory of the crime?"
he was asked.
Hughes Has No Theory.
What is the use of forming theory"
,he inquired. your theory is just as
good as mine. We have found no one
who saw any one either enter or leave
the shop while Meseritz was alone,
though there was bunch on the corner
all the time One man may have done
the job, or IL may have been ten. All I
can say is that the person or persons
who did 1t were Of a very low order Of
intelligence"
Whether the police were working at
ony definite clews the inspector would
not say. A number Of finger prints were
found by the sleuths who first arrived
s3n the safe, on the showcases and par
s,icularly fine specimen on a silver ham
lied shaving brush found lying beside
The dead man.
The ghost Of Hamlet's father did not
vanish into the midnight air more COM
pletely than the bold gun man who
pulled his trigger during the noon hour
within few yards Of hundreds Of pass
ersby. any one Of whom might have re-
mem bered as he passed the door that he
needed a shirt or a collar button and
have entered even as the deed was done.
But none Gid. People continued on their
way. the vehicles rolled by without
slAcking their speed and the trolley
Cars changed their bells in passing. per-
haps just in time TO drown the fatal re-
port.
Killed During Luncheon Hour.
The exact moment Of the shooting will
never be determined unless the shooter is
some day induced to tell. It is put down
on the blotter in the Flatbush police sta
ton as about 1910" The testimony Of
DR.. Wilson 3. thinner, Of No $50 Wood
ruff avenue. who was first called by
Beseritz's young nephew, places fl a
It occurred between u o'clock, when the
haberdasner's assistant, Walter Smythe.
sWent 70 luncheon, and a few minutes
after ] o'clock, when Jesse Schnitzer,
Meseritz's fourteen-yea r-old nephew,
came in with his uncles midday meal
Jesse, son Of his sister. worked for
Meseritz on Saturdays, when school did
not keep him busy elsewhere, About
t0:45 o'clock yesterday morning, he was
allowed to return 70 his home. at No. 9e
Pulaski street, with instructions TO bring
his uncle some luncheon at o'clock II
was only minute or two after the hour
when he returned, Smythe having then
been away since noon. He did not see
his uncle when he first entered the store.
Then he looked behind the counter near
she door. Meseritz lay stretched on the
floor. blood oozing from wound behind
his left ear.
Jesse dashed 20 the drug store Of Reid
Il Snyder, at Flatbush and Woodruff
avenues. He was sent around the cor
ner 70 get Dr.. Zimmer, who fastened
with him to the PROSTATE man. A few
seconds suflced TO convince the doctor
that he was dead. Death had been in
stantaneous, the doctor said. but it had