davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30

"'Sir; You have taken me ON my
weak side BY defying nc You chal-
lenge me. and / accept the challenge.
And | will begin by declaring once
more that the Saint Nicolas tragedy ~
mystery for babies. | know nothing
SO simple, no natural; and the proof oil
the simplicity shall lie in the succinct.
ness of my demonstration. 1t is con
tanned in these few words: when a
crime seems to go beyond the ordinary
scope of things, when it seems unusual
that it's explanation is to be found in
superordinary, supernatural. superhn-
man motives,
81 say that there are many chances,
for we must always allow for the part
played by absurdity in the most logical
and commonplace events. But. of course,
il is impossible to sac things as they
are and not to take account of the ab~
surd and the disproportIonate
''I was struck from the very begin
ming by that very evident character OF
unusuolness. We have, first of all, the
awkward. zigzag course Of the motor
car, which would give one the impres
sion that the car was driven by nov
ice, People have spoken Of drunkard
or madman, justifable supposition
in stself, But neither madness nor
drunkenness would account for the in,
credible strength required to transport,
especially in so short a space of time.
the stone with which the unfortunate
woman s head was crushed. That pro-
ceeding called for muscular power SO
great that | do not hesitate to look
upon it as second sign Of the unusual
ness that marks the whole tragedy. And
why move that enormous stone, to finish
Off the victim. when mere pebble
would have done the work? Why again
was the murderer not killed. or at least
lessness, in the terrible somersault
turned by the cara HOW did he disap.
pearl And why. having disappeared
did he return to the scene of the acci-
dent? Why did nc throw his fur coat
there: then, on another day, his cap;
then, on another day, his gogglcs'
"Unuaual, useless. stupid acts.
"Why, besides, convey that wounded
dying woman on the drivers seat Of
Why do that. instead of putting her
inside. or finging her iAto some corner
dead, Just as the man WIS flung under
the brambles in the ditch9
Unusualness. stupidity.
Everything in the whole story is
absurd. Everything points TO hesita.
ton, incoherency, awkwardness, the sill
llnesS or a child or rather OF mad
blundering savage, of brute.
"Look al the bottle of brandy. There
was a corkscrew; it was found in the
pocket Of the great coat. Did the muir
derer use it? Yes, the marks Of the
corkscrew can be seen on the seal But
the operation was too complicated fol-
him. He broke the neck with stone
Always stones: observe that detail
They are the only weapon, the only i'm.
plement which the creature employs. II
is his customary weapon, his familiar
Implement: He kills the man with a
stone. lie kills the woman with stone
and he opens bottles with stonel
A brute, I reneat, q savage; disor.
dered. unhinged. suddenly driven mad
By what? Why, of course. by that
same brandy, which he swallowed at 9
draught while the driver and his com
panion were having breakfast in the
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30

field He got out OF the limousine, in
which he WAS travelling. III his goat
skin coat and his fur cap, took the bot
tie, broke of the neck and drank. There
is the whole story. Having drunk, he
went raving mad and hir out at ran
instructive tear, dreading the inevitable
punishment, he hid tho body of tho
man. Then, like an idiot, he took up
the wounded woman and ran away. He
ran away IN that motor car which he
didsnot know how to work, but which
10 him represented safety, escape from
capture.
stolen pocketbook Why who says that
ho was the theft Who says that. ii
was not some passing tramp, some la
burcr, guided. by the stencil of the
corpse1
livery WELL you object, but the brute
would have been found, as he is hiding
somewhere near the turn, and as, after
all, he must eat and drink.
"Well. well, ! see that you have not
yet understood. The simplest way. !
suppose, to have done and TO answer
your objections is to make straight for
the mark Then let the gentlemen of
the police and the gendurmerie them
selves make straight for the mark. Let
them take firearms. Let them explore
the forest within radius Of two or
three hundred yards from the turn, no
more. But, instead Of exploring with
their heads down and their eyes fixed
on the ground, let them look up into
the air, yes, into the air, among the
leaves and branches of the tallest oaks
and the most unlikely beeches. md
believe me. they viii see him. For he
is there. He is there, bewildered, pit.
eously at q loss, seeking for the man
and woman whom he has killed, look
ing for them and waiting .for them and
not daring to go away and quite unable
to understand.
81 myself am exceedingly sorry that
] am kept in town by urgent private af
fairs and by some complicated matters
of business which [ have to set going
for | should much have liked to sec the
end of this rather curious adventure.
Pray, therefore excuse me to my
kind friends In the police and permit
"ARSENE LUPIN,"
The hpshot will be remembered. The
gentlemen Of the police and the gen
darmerie shrugged their shoulders anG
paid no attention to this lucubration
! But four of the local country gentry
took their rifles and went shooting
with their eyes fixed skyward as though
| they meant to pot few rocks. In hall
an hour they had caught sight of The
murder Two shots, and he came tum
bling from bough To bough. He wa:
only wounded, and they took him alive
That evening a Paris paper, which
did not vet know of the capture, print
ed the following paragraphs;
Enquiries are being made after {
| NJ and Nine. Bragoff, who landed n
| Marseilles six weeks ago and there
hired a motor car. they had been hv
ing in Australia for many years, during
| which time they had not visited Eu
rope: and they wrote to. the director o,
the Jnrdin d d'Acclimatation, with whom
( they were in the habit Of correspond
ing, that they were bringing with then
a curious creature. Of an entirely un
known species Of which it was Difficult
70 say whether it was man or mon
] key.
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30

I speed. There were posts to give notice
| of the danger
The breathless peasants reached the
! Quiucuny of beechcs that formed the
! cage OF the forest. And one OF them at
/ once cried:
"1here YOU arel
''Whatl
| -fUpset,'
The car, a limousine. had turned tur-
| tie and lay smashed, twisted and shape
less. Beside it, the woman IS dead body.
! But the most horrible, sordid, stupefy-
ing thing was the woman S head.
crushed, hattened, invisible under a
| lodged there by some unknown 'and
prodigious agency. AS for the man
in the goat skin coat he was nowhere
to be found.
He was not found on the scene of
the accident. He was not found either
in the neighborhood Moreover, some
workmen coming, down the Cote de
Morgucs declared that they had not
The man, therefore, had taken refuge
IN the woods.
The gendarmes. who were at once
sent for, made n minute search. assist.
ed by the peasants. but discovered
nothing. In the same way, the examin-
ing magistrates, after n close inquiry
lasting for several days, found np clew
capable OF throwing the least light upon
this inscrutablc' tragedy. On the con-
trary, the Investigations only led to fur
ther mysteries and further improbable
tiles.
Thus it was ascertained that the
block of stone came from where there
had been a landsln. at least forty yards
away. And the murderer, in few min
utes, had carried it all that distance
and flung il on his victim Is head.
On the other hand. the murderer, who
was most certainly not hiding IN the
forest-for, if So he musts inevitably
have been discovered. the forest being
of limised extent-had the audacity,
eight lays after the crime, to come back
to the turn on the hill and leave his
goatskin coat there. Why7e With what
oblects 1nere was nothing i'll the pock-
cts of the coat, except corkscrew and
a napkin. What did il all mean?
Inquiries were made of the builder OF
the motor car, who recognized the lin
CUISINE as one which he had sold three
years ago to q Russian. The said Rus
sian, declared the manufacturer, had
sold il again at once. To whom2 No
one knew. ne car bore no number,
Then again, it was impossible TO
identify the dead. woman IS body. Her
clotneS and underclotnlng were not
marked in any way, And the face was
quite unknown.
Meanwhile. detectives were going
along the national road in the direction
opposite to that taken by the actors in
this mysterious tragedy But who was
TO prove that the car had followed that
particular road on the previous night7
They examined every yard of the
ground, they questioned everybody. At
last they succeeded in learning that on
the Saturdav evening a limousine had
small town situated about 200 miles
from Saint Nicolas, on highway
branching out Of the national road. The
driver had first mled his tank, bought
some spare cans OF petrol and lastly
taken away small stock Of provisions;
a ham, fruit, biscuits, wine and half
bottle of Three Star brandy.
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30

were added to the old The accusation
of murder was shifted from the one TO
the other. Aud there il ended. Outside
those tangible, obvious fncts there was
nothing but darkness. The name Of
the woman, the name OF the man. the
namo Of the murderer were 80 many
riddles. And then what had become of
the murderer9 If he had disappeared
from one moment to the other, that in
itself would have been n tolerably curl
Gus phenomenon. But the phenomenon
was actually something very like mir
acle. inasmuch as the murderer had not
absolutely disappeared. He was .therel
He made practice Of returning to the
scene of the catastrophe! In addition
to the goat skin coat. a fur cap was
picked mp one dav; and, by way of an
unparalleled prodigy, one morning, aft
er n whole night spent on guard in the
rock, beside tine famous turning, the
detectives found. on the grass OF the
turning itself, pair Of motor goggles,
broken, rusty, dirty, done for. How
had the murderer managed to bring
back those goggles unseen by the de-
tectives? And, above all, why had he
brought them back
Men 9 brains rceled III the presence
of such abnormalities. They were al
most afraid to pursue the ambiguous
adventure. They received the impress
sion of heavy, sitting, breathless at.
mosphere, which dimmed the eyes and
bafhed the. most clear sighted,
The magistrate in charge OF tho case
fell i'll Four days later, his successor
confessed that the matter was beyond
him
Two tramps were arrested and Mt once
released. Another was pursued, but not
caught; moreover, there was no evidence
of any sort or kind against him: In
short, il was nothing but one helpless
muddle of mist and. contradiction.
An accident, the mcrest accident led
TO the solution, or rather produced a Sc
ries of circumstances that ended by
leading TO the solution. A reporter on
the staff Of an important Paris paper,
who had been sent to maks investiga-
tions on The spot, concluded ms article
with the following words;
81 repeat, therefore, that we must
wait for fresh events, fresh facts; we
must waU lor some slucky accident. AS
our time. The elements Of truth are
not'even sufficient TO suggest plausible
theory. We are in the midst Of the
most absolute, painful, impenetrable
darkness. There is nothing to be done.
All the Sherlock Holmeses In the world
would not. know what TO make of the
mystery, and Arsene Lupin himself, if
he Will allow me TO saw so, would have
to pay forl cit here
On the day after the appearance of
that article, the newspaper in question
printed this telegram;
"Have sometimes paid forfeit, but
never over such a silly thing as this.
The Saint Mic olas tragedy is mystery
for babies. ARSENE LUPIN.'
And the editor added:
"We insert this telegram as a mat
ter of curiosity, for it is obviously the
work of wag. Arsene Lupin, past
master though he be in the art of prac-
tical Joking would be the last man to
display such childish flippancyf
Two days elapsed; and then the pa
per published the famous letter, so pre-
else and categorical III it's conclusions,
in which Arsene Lupin furnished the so.
luton of the problem. quote it in
full:
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30

According 10 al. Bragofy -.
eminent hrcnaeologist. the s, mao
question Is the anturopoid apee'mq|
or inc ape-mun, the exisfendps, OF
mad not hitherto been defin;to1 VI
The structure is said TO ha a,scy pro
liar to thnt Of Pithecanfhr vahct
1891. 10 Java|
This curions. intelligent ana
ant animal acted as its ownsr;s oose
on Their property in Australia sery|
10 clean their motor ear and anu y
tempt to drive il. e even
1.-The question that is hcino
where are -. and Inc. Bragaai,ss ssS 1s,. Cd
IS the strange primate that LAM, Wh|
them at Marseilles9' ''Asa "
The answer TO this question ~.
made easy. Thanks to the b;ras
piled by Arsene Lmpin. ali tba I.s aiu
OF the tragedy were knowns Thaa
him. the culprit was in the h.r
the law. "ano'
Yon can see him at the .Jard;r i.
climatation, where he is loclsod j.
der the name Of "Three Stars ~
is, in point of fact, n monkev. H.,
IS also man. He has the genHa' HHS'
and the wisdom Of the domest;c ~ :,
and the sadness which they fes1 =,
their master dies. Bnt be.Iso
other qualities that bring him =
closer To humanity; he is treaclsr
! cruel, IDLE, greedy and quarrelsome.
above all, he IL immoderatcly 5on
brandy, Aono
Apart fzom that, he is mopbsc
less indeed :!
a few days nfter Three Sta,s !.
rest saw Arsene Lupin stand;u>
front of his cage. Lupin was mar;<
| ~ trying to solve this interesting +
lem for himself. I at once ss,J
had set my heart upon having M
ter out with him:
"You know, Llpin, tyllt iuterpa|
of yours, your argumenY your IstA
short, did not SURPRISE me 40 mN
you might thinki' ~
why1"
"Wbyi Because the incident II
Cured before, seventy or eighty
ago. Edgar Allan Poe made Il ihy
ject of one Of his finest tales. In
circumstances, the key to the riddl1
easy enough to fnd.p
Arsene Dupin took My arm and
ing away with me, said.
II "When did yeu' guess it, your
con reading your letter, %
fessed,
"And at what part of my letts
HAt the end.'' =.
cat the end, eh7 After I had
MI the i's. So here is crime
accident causes to be repeated,
quite different conditions, IL ;ss On,
still with the same sort ~ her,
your eyes had to he opened, as
other people 's. 1t needed the ASST
Of my letter, the stter in whi
amused mvself-apsc ct from the
cics OF the facts-bf employing
gument and sometimes tas idk
words used by the Ameiean pod
story which everybody has real
YOU see that my letter was moi
lutely useles and. that one may
venture TO repeat to- people IN
which they have learned only tdf0
them.
Wherewith Lifpln tuyned on hh
and burst out laughing in the ~
an old monkey. who sat with
| Of a philosopher, gravely' meditd
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30

There was a lady on the driver s.
seat She did not get down. The
blinds of the limousine were drawn.
One Of these blinds was seen to move
several times. The shopnan was posi-
gve that there was somebody inside.
Presuming the shopman 3 evidence to
be correct. then the problem became
even more complicated, for, SO far, no
clew had revcaled the presence of q
third person.
Meanwhile, RS the travellers had sup
piled themselves with provisions. it
remained to be disc ovcred what they
had done with them and what had be
come of the remains
Tho detectives retraced their steps II
was not until they came to tho fork of
the two roads, at a spot eleven or
twelve miles from Saint Nicolas. that
they met shepherd, WHO, in answer
TO their questions. directed them to q
neighboring field, hidden from view be-
hind the screen of bushes, where he
had seen an empty bottle and other
things.
The. detectives were convinced at the
first examination. The motor car had
stopped there; and the unknown travel
ers. probably after night s rest in
their car, had breakfasted and resumed
their Journey in the co0rse of the morn
ing.
One unmistakable proof was the half
bottle of Three Star brandy sold by the
grocer This bottle had its mock broken
clean off with a stone. The stone en-
ployed for the purpose was picked up,
as was the neck of the bottle, with its
cork, covered with tin-foil seal. The
sea- showed marks Of attempts that had
been made 80 uncork the bottle in the
ordinary manner.
The detectives continued their search
and followed ditch that ran along the
6cid at right angles to the road. 1t
ended in q little spring, hidden under
brandt les. which seemed to emit an Of
fensive smell. On lifting the brambles
they perceived corpse, the corpse of
man whose head had been smashed
in, so that it formed little more than
sort of pulp, swarming with yermiD.
The body was dressed in Jacket and
trousers of dark brown leather. The
pockets were empty; no papers. no
pocketbook, no watch.
The grocer and his sbopman were
summoned and two days later, formally
identified, by his dress and figure, the
traveller who had bought the petrol and
provisions on the Saturday evening.
The whole case, therefore. had to be
reopened on a. fresh basis The author
itics were confronted with a tragedy no
longer enacted by TWO persons, a. man
and "A woman. of whom One had killed
the other. but by three persons, includ.
ing two victims, of whom one was the
very man who was accused of killing
his companion
As to the murderer, there was no
doubt; he was the person who travelled
inside the motor car and who took the
precaution 10 remain concealed behind
the curtains, He had FIRST got rid of
the driver and rl1ed his pockets and
then, after wounding the woman, car
ried her off in mad dash for death.
coveries, unforeseen evidence, one
might have hoped that the mystery
would be cleared up, or. at least, that
the inquiry would point a few steps
along the road to the truth. But not
at all. The corpse was simply placed
beside the first corpse New problems
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30
A Tragedy in the Forest Of
Morgues.
The village was terror. stricken

The village was terror stricken.
II was on a Sunday morning. Tho
peasants Of Saint. Nicolas and The
usighborhood were coming out of
chhrch and spreading across the square,
when. suddenly, the women who were
walking ahead and who had already
turned into the bigh-road fell back with
loud cries OF dismsv.
At tho same moment, an enormous
motor car, looking like some appalling
monster, came tearing into sight at a
hcadlong rate Of speed. Amid the
shouts of the madly scattering people,
II made straight for the church, swerved
iust as it seemed about to dash itself
20 pieces against the steps, grazed the
wall Of the presbytery, regained the
continuation of the national road.
dashed along, turned the corner and
disappeared, without, Jy some incom
prehensible miracle, having so much as
brushed against any of the persons
crovding the square.
But they had scent They had seen
a man in the driver Is seat, wrapped in
a goat.skin coat, with a fur cap on his
head and his face disguised In pair of
largo goggles, and, with him, on the
front OF that seat, flung back, bent in
two, woman whose hend. all covered
with blood, hung down over the bon
And they had heard. They had
heard the woman g screams, screams of
horror, screams OF agony.
And it was all such a vision of hell
and carnage that the people stood, for
some seconds, motionless, stupefied.
'Blood!'' roared somebody.
There was blood everywhere. on the
cobblestones of the square, on the
greond hard sned by the first frosts of
autumn; and, when a number of men
and boys rushed off in pursuit of the
motor, they had but TO fake those sin
ister marks for their guide.
The MARKS, on their part, followed the
high road, but in very strange man
ner. going from one side to the other
and leaving a zigZag track, in the wake
OF the tires. tnat made those who saw
il shudder. How was it that the car
had no, ouinned against that tree7 How
had IT been righted, instead of smash
ing into that banks What novice. what
madman. what drupkard. what fright
eped criminal was driving that motor
car with such astounding bounds and
swerves?
One of the peasants declared:
"They will never do the turn in the
Forest
/ And another said:
"of courss they won {! She s bound
10 upsetl' a.
I The Forest of Morgues began at half
mile beyond Saint Nicolas: and the
pad which was straight up to that
R2int. except for slight bend where
left the village, started climbing, i'm.
kliately after entering the forest. and
lie an abrupt turn among the rocks
1 trees, No motor car was able to
this turn without first slackening
Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-05-04
PROUD HUSBANDS
 SAW WIVES MARCH
SUFFRAGETTE PARADE IN NEW YORK YESTERDAY ATTRACT ED PROMINENT PAR.
 TICIPANTS.
Fifth Avenue Display Most Effective and Orderly Ever Seen In
 America.

New York, May 3.-Ten thousand persons-mostly women, marched up Fifth avenue today to make the most effective and orderly demonstration that America has ever seen. Nearly every state in the union was repre- scented in the parade.
 The shibboleth of the cause, Vote For WOmen,' was spread in black and yellow banners all along the line of march. And breaking in between the battle banners were a thousand ban ners telling in succinct and pertinent phrase just why these thousands of women Were demanding the right to help make the laws which they must obey and of the ten thousand there were probably one thousand men.
 State senators and assemblymen, judges of the high courts, prominent members of the bar and ministers and, with the exception of the mayor, most of his official family who re- viewed the parade from the grand stand put exclusively at their dispos- al by the parade committee, sho,Nered continued applause upon the march CTS as they stepped briskly along in military fashion fast the stand in front of the publc library, where 1,600 proud husbands, including some of the foremost political, professional business and social leaders of the city, reviewed their marching wives It took the parade precisely two hours to pass the reviewing stand.
Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-05-04
CULLEN M'VAY IS
 WITH FAMILY HERE

Cullen McVay, who is trusty on the state convict farm at Cummins, Ark, arrived in the city last night on the Iron Mountain train and spent the night here with his family. McVay passed through this city Friday with some horses that he was taking to the state farm from Little Rock. He and his brother, Ed McVay, are mak- ing ideal prisoners and because of their good conduct in the state ser vice they have been rewarded by be- ing made trusties.
Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-05-04
VARDAM SERVANT
 HikED TO TIE CAPITAL

Washington, May 3.-After six weeks hike from his home in Missis.. sippi, William Gregory, former nc- gro servant of Senator Vardiman. limped footsore and traVel-stained, in- to the Capitol ill search of job He got it, He goes to work today as 2 porter in the Senate office building for Senator Vardaman believed the display of grit made by Gregory in search of office deserved to be re- warded.
 I'm glad William is here," said the senator today, 'for he will prove an example to the members of his race.' He added that his old employe never would take seat in street car while woman was standing"