davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

had receivedd from his father when
he came of age, it was evident that a
conviction was foregone conclusion.
1t was this production of the watch,
together with the full testimony OF
the drivers, in which they detailed the
contract which they had made with
the prisoner, that convicted him; and
their evidences was corroborated by
circumstances that were not, and could
not be, contradicted.
The trial lasted more than week.
Collins attorneys, two of the most
prominent men at the Kansas bar, la
bored earnestly and to the best OF
their ability to clear him. He was,
however, found guilty of murder, and
sent to the state prison to await the
governors action in fixing the date
of his execution. However, inasmuch
as 1T has always been the custom IN
Kansas for,tlle governor never to fix
the date for the execution of person
found guilty of murder. the prisoners
are usually kept in the prison for an
indefinite period, and thus sentence
Of death in Kansas usually amounts to
a life term in the state penitentiary.
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

he had been posing as a wealthy man
in his own right, and had been at
tempting to keep up with the pace at
which the young lady's family and
other friends lived. He had been In
the habit of spending considerable
sums in buying her flowers, in car
rage hire and entertainments Of all
sorts. and had become deeply involved
in debt. As his father had only al
lowed him the SUM of twenty-five dol
lars a month for social purposes, and
this amount was not 1.-THE Of what
he required, he had been driven to
desperation and at his wits end to Sc
cure the necessary funds.
There were couple of colored hack
drivers in Lawrence who, Mr. Man
ming learned, had been often patron
lied by young Collins. As soon as l
received this information from Man
ming sent an urgent telegram to D.
F. Harbaugh. a man In my employ
ment, directing him to proceed to Law
renee at once and find out all that the
hack drivers knew about John Col
Inns. Mr.. Harbaugh had lived in Law
renee for a. number Of years before he
entered my service. He had been a
hack driver in that city. and had after
ward entered into the livery business
In Lawrence Many Of the hack driv-
ers were, therefore, known to him, and
some OF them had been in his own
service. On this account he did not
find it at all difficult to discover every
thing that was known about the young
man.
The men told Harbaugh that Collins
had approached them and entered into
3 verbal contract with both Of them
to have his father killed in return for
4 certain sum of money. Part Of this
amount he had paid at the time the
agreement was made, and he had
promised to pay the remainder after
the murder was committed.
they told Harbaugh that they had
never had any intention Of attempting
to murder Mr.. Collins, but had prom
| ised John that they would do 50 ~ Or
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

| der to work him for what money they
could get out Of him.
| You see, BOSS they explained, Ell
looked like easy money for us, and we
knew he wouldn't dare expose us when
we failed to do what he told us. There
he was. Ringing his money around, and
we didn't see why some Of IT shouldn't
come to us as well as to anyone else. =
They added that certain date had
BEEN named, on or before which the
murder was to be committed. When
that day had passed and Mr.. Collins
was sti11 very much alive, John be-
came angry and expostulated with the
men.
You haven't given us enough
money, boss" the hack drivers told
him. Murders pretty big business,
you see; and with all them police and
detectives about it's risky one. How
much more will you pay Id we bring
off the job?"
John Collins haggled in BUSINESS
like manner for some time and finally
promised to- give them hundred dol
lars more, which he did. They also
succeeded In extracting from him a
gold watch which his father had pre-
sented to him onlhis twenty-first. birth
day. This; money John Collins Sc
cured by borrowing from his friends,
and also by drafts drawn on his; ia
Their, as afterward. discovered.
The second date made for the muir.
der arrived and passed, and the father
was still alive. John Collins grew
furious and upbraided the hack, drfv-
ers bitterly for not having carried out
their agreement.
We'll, boss, it's this way" they told.
him. We've been thinking over this
here proposition and we've come to
B the conclusion that IL your fathers
got to be killed you had better, kill
him yourself. We won't kill him, and
that's all there is to it,
But I've paid you to do 1T, twice
over" stormed the young man.
Sorry, boss, but we can't doit,,'' the
hack drivers answered. "And, what's
more, we never meant to kill the old.
man. We were just working you."
John Collins, growing desperate, left
Lawrence and went to Topeka, to his
fathers house, where he undoubtedly
killed him with his own gun while he
was asleep, having previously secured
1t from the shelf He entered the room
softly and shot him dead, escaping be-
fore his mother could awaken.
With this evidence in hand report
ed to the committee of citizens who
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

and to have had II ready for use, With.
out Mr.. Collins having discovered that
1t was. missing from the shelf.
My inquiries into. the financial con.
dition OF the dead mans estate con
Quoted with view to discovering who
was likely to profit by his death, dis.
closed the fact that he had been CON.
sidered very much better of than was
actually the case. He had met with
financial reverses, and was in reality
possessed OF little more than his home
at the time Of his murder He was
carrying life insurance policies aggre-
eating thirty thousand dollars, of
which sum ten thousand went to his
wife and ten thousand to each of his
children.
/ Immediately wired to one Of my
operatives. Joseph S. Manning, to pro-
coed to Lawrence, Kan, where, as l
have said, young John Collins had
been a divinity student. with instruc-
tions to ascertain quietly all that he
could as to the habits of the young
fellow and his associates. John Col
Inns had left his lodgings at Lawrence
on the evening preceding the murder,
going to Topeka and directly to his
for the night at an early hour Ac-
cording to his own story, he had been
in bed at the time when he was
aroused by the shot that killed his ia
Their. | had been making my own in
vestigations concerning him before
sending Manning to Lawrence, and I
had learned that he had formed the
acquaintance of a very estimable and
wealthy young lady Of that city, with
whom he had become infatuated. He
had paid good deal of attention to
her for several months previously.
She had informed him that her mother
Intended to purchase or lease a cot
tage at Long Branch, N j., in which
to spend the summer months.
John Collins, who was thoroughly
infatuated with her, heard this news
with dismay. He surmised that she
would be sure to encounter some of
the many fortune-hunters who frequent
that resort in summer time, and that
she might readily fall prey to one
Of them, thus endangering his own
chances of winning her. Accordingly
he had made up his mind to spend the
season at Long Branch also, so that
he might guard the affections of his
beautiful young friend.
The Investigations of Manning con-
firmed the theory I had formed about
Collins. In order to advance his suit,
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

or agave, when it has attained
growth of six or eight years. The
pulque harvester taps this heart, which
might be compared with the center Of
the date palm, and with the aid of a
long reed or gourd he sucks the sap
from it, using his tongue as stopper
for the reed When, the reed is full
he blows it into a pigskin container
strapped to his back. In the course OF,
four or five months the maguey will
yield ten gallons OF sap. 1t then
withers and dies When fresh, pulquea
is sweet, innocuons liquid.
Neither meseal: nor pulque Is Elk
pensive. One can get a drink of the
latter for cent, while 14-gallon cask
of the famous tequila brand of mescal:
may be had for 49, pesos ($9.50l.
"The Mexicans surround the discevv
cry Of these maguey beverages with,
a legend of royal romance. Long, be-
fore the Montezrmas held sway over
Tenochtitlan, so the story goess one
of the early emperors took as his bride
the beautiful daughter of a vanquishedl
foe Theeprincess brought with her to
Tenochtitlan the secret Of a remark
able drink OF which her Lords and
master grew fnordinately fond. After
imbibing freely OF 1t he would become
gratifyingfy docile and torpid, leaving,
the princess free to her own devices.
Other Aztec wives induced, the. prin-
cess to- share with them the secret Of
this strange soporific and thus the
whole race came under the power OF
pulque.
1.-THE Aztec cannot be, charged with
the invention of the, nauseoas milk
pulque, compound of puhque and
milk with dash ofsrennet. The rem
net, part of a cows compound stom
ach. is partially purefied and the odor
thus impaired Is intensified and COM
plicated by that OF the pigslxin N
which the liquor is conSained. The
alibi which defenders of tae Aztec can
offer against the charge of being party
to this olfactoxy crime is that before
the Spaniards reached Mexico there
were no catsie, horses or donkeys In
the country. hence no rennet.
"Pulque cannot be shipped out OF
the country because no method of pre-
serving il has been discovered, so the
vast output of the extensive pfanta-
tions-it Is the most important indus
try of the states of Hidalgo Mexico.
Puebla and Tlaxcala-is consumed at
home. Mexico consumes $4.0OO,000
worth Of pulQue annually
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

An effort has been made by friends
OF the young man and by his family to
obtain pardon for him, but up to the
present time understand that it has
been unavailing.
During the course cf' the trial
great many people got the idea that
had been employed by the insurance
companies, on account Of the thirty
thousand dollars worth of insurance
that Mr. Collins had carried 1t was
believed that the companies had hired
nae to fix the crime upon the son in
order to avoid having to make the
payment. Ineed hardly say that there
was no truth in this suggestion. The
people who employed zse In this case
were citizens OF Topeka and lodge
friends OF the mugdersm man. ana
w!as IN no way coTfnscsga with tr
insurance companies irterested aass
case, but were merely acting as good
and law-abiding citiaenss Just as
soon as succeeded in satisfying them,
by showing them my evidence, that
John Collins was the murderer of his
father. they turned the evidence over
to the proper authorities, and his ar
rest followed.
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08
JOHN BEcAME ANGRY AND Ex POPULATED WITH MEN

had employed me, and they then de-
cided to hand my report over to- the
prosecuting attorney at Lawrence. At
the request of the prosecuting attor
ney, the county commissioners at To-
peka employed me to complete the
evidence, so that Collins might be- arr
rested and prosecuted for the murder
Of his father.
John Collins was promptly arrested
and placed,in Jail without bond, andi in
due time the, case came up for trial
AS mentioned; it had caused great
deal of. interest in the community, hE
reason Of the standing OF the dead
man and! the, mystery surrounding the
affair. But, when 1t became known
that the, som was charged with, the
murder the interest was duplicated
The entire country was aroused. over
the trial. All, the leading western
newspapers, had special reporters pres~
ent,, and. these telegraphed back
lengthy reports of the proceedings.
The courtroom was crowded, and
many noted lawyers came to, watch
the great. legal battle. which at. times
waxed very warm, as all the counsel
on, both sides were able men and stood
at the top Of their professions. Prose
cutting Attorney Jetmores was at his
best, making one Of the greatest tights
that ever saw to get his. evidence be-
/ fore the Jury. Among the spectators
during almost the entire trial was the
late Justice Brewer Of the United
States Supreme court at Washington.
who was visiting his daughter, the
wife of the prosecuting attorney. Mr..
Jetmore. At the close Of the case Mr..
/ Justice Brewer came to me and COM
plimented me very highly for my work
| In solving the mystery
| What clinched the case against the
accused man was the evidence Of the
two colored hack drivers to whom
have referred. They came to Topeka
| from Lawrence and took the witness
stand on behalf Of the prosecution
When they showed the watch that he
had given them. and which he u turn
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08
DEADLY DRINKS OF MExICANS
TOO Free Indulgence in PuIque and
Mescat Given as Cause for Many
offBorder Outrages.

/ Although, Francisco Villa hims saf
lis said to be total abstainer from in
.toxicatingr liquors. many Of the Maxi-
can border-outrages perpetrated byfhfs
men followed too free indulgence in
the Mexican national drinks, pufque
and mesch.
The National Geographic society OF
Washington, in primer issued on
these two beverages peculiar to- the
southern republic, says:
.AThee eolonists whoo settled on the
east coast of the United Statesa have
BEEN charged with introducing the
|tAmeriran Indian to 'ffre-water' IN ex-
change for the tobacco habit, but no
similar accusation can rest against the
Europeans who conquered the pulque-
drinking Aztecs of Mexico. TIE intox-
|Iicating properties Of this unique bev-
erage were known long before Cortez
marched his army across the cause
ways which joined the ancient Venice
| IKE capital Of the Montezuma to the
lake shores.
AsBoth pulque and mescaE are prod
ucts Of the agave or century plant,
which was of the same unitarian I'M
portance to the aborigines. as the date
palm to the Arab, the bamboo to the
Burmese, and the banana to the Gen.
trial American In addition to the two
important beverages, this plant sup
plies from its roots a. starchy food;
from It's nbrous leaves, cloth is woven
and rope is made; from its pulp the
| Aztecs obtained sort OF papyrus par
per ON which have been preserved
some Of their most valued writings;
| It's huge leaves when dried furnished
/ a roofing for adobe huts; its stems
stifl supply fuel, and rows of the sharp
spfned plants afforded an impenetrable
defense against the attacks Of wild
| a1imals as weM as an effective barri-
| caae against hostile tribes.
.sMescal and pulque are not, as many
believe, different names for the same
drink. Mescal is distilled from the
leaves and roasted roots Of the plant,
and ID ; sort Of brandy, containing
from 4 third to half as much alcohol
AS the average American whisky.
lPuloue. on the other hand, is the ter
mented sap of the plant, and Is 90
tanned from the heart OF the maguey
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

| The conclusion at which the police
arrived was that the murderer must
have obtained key to the house, by
means of which he gained admission
to the premises, and that, after hav-
ing shot Mr.. Collins, he escaped, going
up the main stairs from the lower hall
to the second floor, then proceeding
along the hall on this story to the win
dow at the end, cutting the wire
screen and springing out of the win
dow upon the roof of the one-story ad-
dition, and thence to the ground, dis
lance of ten or twelve feet, thus eff
fecting his escape.
thorough examination of the premises.
l. interviewed the widow and the son
and daughter. Mrs. Collins, who was
the second wife of the murdered man,
was between thirty-six and forty years
of age, of the brunette type, rather
above the medium height, and inclin-
ed to be slender. She was very at
tractive and was considered a good
looking woman, intelligent and re-
fined. In fact, the atmosphere Of the
entire household was that met with
among the best class of prosperous cit
liens.
After having spent four days in my
Investigations, / came to the conclu-
sion that the murder had been COM
mitted by some member of the house
hold and that the murderer had not
entered from without Various rea-
sons combined to bring me to this de-
cision. The chief among them was
the fact hat Mr.. Collins had been kill
ed with his own shotgun, and that the
murderer had shown familiarity with
the manner in which this weapon was
kept. and with it's place of disposition.
This shotgun was highpriced fire.
arm, and always kept carefully by
Mr.. Collins in fine leather case,
which was usually placed on the upper
shelf of a clothes closet in his bed
room. This closet, which was unus-
ually large, extended from the floor to
the ceiling, and formed almost an en-
tire side to the room. The ceiling Of
this room was exceptionally high, so
that a person of ordinary size could
not have reached the shelf on which
the gun was kept without the use Of
a step-ladder, which had certainly not
been used by the murderer. 1t might
possibly have been reached, however,
by a tall man while standing on a
high table in the bedroom.
Mr.. Collins had not used this gun
for several months before his murder.
1t had always been his custom, after
making use of the weapon, to clean 1t
thoroughly, take it apart. and pack it
in the leather case. The murderer.
therefore, had not only to take down
the gun from the shelf, but also to put
it together and load it with shell,
which was also to be found among a
quantity of ammunition on the high
shelf All of these operations could
not have been accomplished by any
person entering from the outside of
the house, even had he been acquaint-
ed with the place where the gun was
kept. On the other hand, it would
have been easy for any Of the inmates
of the house to have taken the gun
from the shelf on the day preceding
the murder, or several days before,
The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-06-08

In the spring of the year 1898, be
opened a private detective agency,
received a Geographic dispatch from
a number of influential citizens of To
peka, Kan, asking me to proceed tc
that city Immediately for the purpose
of investigating sensational murder
which had been committed there, dis
covering the murderer and bringing
him to justice. / complied with this
request at once, and arrived at Topeka
on the third morning after the crime
had been committed | found the en-
tire community discussing the affair
which had greatly shocked the city.
The slain man had been one of the
most influential citizens of Topeka. He
had been killed while sleeping beside
his wife, the weapon used being shot
gun, and one or two of the pellets had
struck his wife's shoulder, making
slight, though painful, wounds.
Mr.. Collins had been prominent
insurance and real estate man of the
Kansas capital, where he had lived
for many years. He was well known
throughout the state. His death oc-
CURED in his fifty-sixth year, and he
left two children, daughter, and a
son named John. He occupied com
Portable house.
John Collins, the only son, was a
student at the state university in Law
renee, where he was being prepared
for the ministry He had been there
for two or three years at the time of
his fathers murder, and his period of
He boarded at the school, and occa-
sionally paid visit to his fathers
home in Topeka, usually on Sundays
and holidays. He had just passed his
twenty-first birthday, and was about
five feet nine inches tall, with fair
complexion and light brown hair, we'll
built, pleasing in manner, and alto
gether a very prepossessing young fell
low.
The daughter was also above the
medium height, nice looking, intelll-
gent and well educated.
The Collins home, which stood on a
fine residential thoroughfare, was dis
turbed early one morning by the dis
charge of gun in the sleeping-room
occupied by Mr.. Collins and his wife,
which was situated on the ground
floor The son, who was in the house,
and the daughter, as well as the hired
girl, rushed into the room In aglta-
ton, to find that the father had been
killed instantaneously, while his wife,
as stated, had been slightly wounded
by some of the shot. John Collins
dressed himself as quickly as possible
and aroused the nearest neighbors.
1t was then little after daybreak.
Both John and his sister occupied
rooms on the second floor of the house.
All the windows were screened with
wire. and the doors of the house were
all intact and carefully locked. When
the police arrived, however, their ex-
animation of the premises disclosed
the fact that window screen in the
rear of the house and on the second
floor had been cut, leaving a hole
large enough for the passage OF a hui
man body This window was situated
Immediately above a one-story addi-
ton to the main building in the rear.
Luxemburger gazette. [volume] (Dubuque, Iowa) 1871-1918, 1916-03-30
China bIeibt Republic.
guanif,ifai per3iftet auf bic &runc
uub bleibt Trdiibcnt.

8efirg. -gin an %. Wdr6
berausgeecbencs Wanbat bes Staats :
Separtements eibt bcfannt, baB Die
Ronardie anfseeeben purbe uno Die
republitaniihe Ge9ierung tpieber IN
8raft tritt.
Sas Wanbat crtldrt, bab Die 8es
polution bcpciie. bnb rift ale 3beile
Deg 8cidcs iiir Die @onnrd1ie limb mn
oab lid, bobcr Yuanidifai enti6lollen
hat, bic Monard)ie foaen 81 laiIcr
unb Die @rGiiDcutidait Der Hepublit
neiter5ufilbrcn.
Sic foiIcrIideu 3nii9nien peroer
bon bcnt YrGiibcutcn Dem Staatsratf
slriid9cacben pcrocn, tpclher Der
Scnut nicbcr cinbcruicn piro.
Gin Shib Chang, Der ilfoIgc nct
monurdiihcn 9erpegulg aus DEM ad.
binctt au5gciGicbcu lpdr, bat bns neu(
Ntanoat OILS Stnntsietrctdr inter
seihnct, na6bem er pieber i'll hds
&ubinctt ein9ctrcten mar.
Luxemburger gazette. [volume] (Dubuque, Iowa) 1871-1918, 1916-03-30

aber ih lam nidt bulben, bab Die
sarantierten Sreibeitcn Der Stride
ntibbrauht iuerben.
,gn. @minen3 reocn III oern 9tr>
tenbrief bon Der @0gIifteit, bab Die
bon Sbnen 9ctpuni6te gnti1etonng
(Seleien's Siee) nieuei6t burd Die
8erbreitung anitefenoer 8rantbctten
berbeigefiibrt perbeu tornte.
ylluter bieien llmitdnben tpcroc i'd,
trosbem i6 BIG ieBt Die dlberitc &C.
bulb geiibt babe, in 3utunft ale yer
ionen, tpeldc Die Rclt9ionsfreibcit CUR
Ierbebun8 bes belgiifen Solfes 9e9en
Die lcgitimc unb DEM SDlterredt cntz
iprehenbc Sffupation5 : 8%erpaltung
miSbrauhen, ~idonun9slps bebanpcln.
Gentrums= Organ iiber Sarbinal.
gcrIin.-0ic fatbolii6e ~aDln.
Goltsst9." Ifreibt in eiuem aom>
mertar gu benz BON General b. Billing,
benz General @ounerneur bon 8el9ien,
an ben &uroiual Wtercier 9erihteten
8arnunssihreiben: vTon reli9ip'en
Stanbpunft aus miB Die Yoltttt nno
Religion perquidenbe Saltung oes
&aroinals tief beflagt iperoen, llno Die
8orte, in benen er Der Soffning
Gusbrud gibt, baB Die beuti6en
armeen bur6 nnitedenbe &rantbeiten
babingerafft tperben mD9en, tnnnen
nidt ihurf genlis berurtbeilt iperDen.
Der @urbinal beroient Die id)drfltc
aritit nift blpb tpeeen ieines Salies
aegen 9eutIhlanb, ionbern tpesen oes
unbei6reiblihen WiBbrauhes, ben er
nit ieiner seiitliten Stclung perilbt.
Scr General @ouperneur b. Biting
bat big iest Den Sesereien segeniibcr
Die srDbte @ebuIb unb NaHit6t
oeiibt"
Luxemburger gazette. [volume] (Dubuque, Iowa) 1871-1918, 1916-03-30
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sc. Yeter unb Ynuls>@emetnDc. aus
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