The Monticellonian., 1916-07-20


sense, a sort of instinct which enables
the detective to run down his quarry.
the following narrative seems to dem
onstrate. If this is not so. what i'm
pulse led me TO connect the unknown
murderer with the strange young col
ored woman with the red hair?
One day early in the nineties, re-
ceiyed a telegram from James Arnold
chief of police of Dallas, Tex, and
Ben Cabel, the county sheriff, request
ing me TO come to that city immediate
ly for consultation in a murder case
Knowing both these gentlemen well, |
telegraphed back that l would start
on the following day. which | did
| found the chief of police and the
county sheriff waiting for me at the
depot and we three drove Immediately
to a hotel There the nature of the
case was explained, the names here
given being fictitious ones, for obvious
reasons
On the night of tne preceding Sun
day prominent citizen of Dallas, who
may be known as Temple had board
ed a heavily loaded electric car down
town in front of one of the principal
churches of the city being bound for
his home. The car contained at least
forty or fifty passengers. most of
whom were returning from the eve
ming service in that church, at which
Temple had also been present. Tenn
pie lived on the outer edge of the city,
in fine residential district. When
the car reached his house he got off
and started toward his front gate. AS
he stepped from the street to the edge
of the sidewalk a colored man. who
had been lying in wait behind tree,
sprang out. and was seen by num-
Der of passengers to strike Temple
a powerful blow on the head with
something resembling a baseball bat.
After striking one blow the negro
dropped his weapon and fed into an
alley, where he was soon lost to view,
leaving his hat upon the ground.
Those who had witnessed the assault
from the rear end of the car fastened
to Temple, who lay unconscious on
the sidewalk. picked him up. and car
ried him into the house. The ply
sicians, who were hastily summoned.
found that Temples skull had been
fractured and assistance was impossi-
BILE He only lived a few moments.
never recovering consciousness.
The weapon with which the blow
had been inflicted was a piece of one
and ene-half inch gaspipe. nearly four
feet long, and it had been used so yio-
lently that the pipe was bent midway
to almost a right angle. The hat which
the murderer had dropped was new,
cheap. broad brimmed black one, of
unusually large size. 1t was, in fact,
too large for any ordinary mans head.
and for that reason. probably, IL had
fallen off when the negro delivered the
blow.
The witnesses of the crime all had
plain view of the murderer, whom they
unanimously described as tall young
negro, very black. well-built, we'll
dressed, and with the features of a
white man. The lips were thin, the
nose straight, and the general impress
sion was that he was white man
purpose of Disgusting himself
The dead man had brother, prom
inent physician of Springfield, H., who
had been sent for and had arrived at
Dallas two days after the murder.
The doctor was anxious to have his
brothers murderer brought to justice,
and had been the moving spirit in the
vaIa nj of cprgiapC
Next morning the police chief. sher-
If, and myself went over the ground
] examined the hat and the piece of
pipe which the murderer had used.
The pipe was new, and had been cut
from the end of long joint. evil
IDENTIFY for the special use to which it
had been put, so that the assassin
could conceal it in carrying it to the
place where he lay in wait for his VIC
tim.
There was large colony of negroes
in Dallas. as in most other Texas
towns. but nobody seemed to know
anything of a negro with the features
of a white man. All the witnesses OF
the murder agreed that they had new
er seen anyone before who looked at
all like the murderer.
Since ever crime has its motive.
began by Investigating any possible
cause for the homicide. Mr. Temple,
l discovered, had been the superlntend-
ent of a Sunday school He was in
the wholesale lumber business, and
was associated with two gentlemen,
x4-b h., D.
ry. When the partnership was form
ed each had taken out ten thousand
dollar life insurance policy on the life
of one of his partners, which policies
were carried on the company's funds
Temple, l learned further. had in
Cured the enmity of a number CT
citizens, among them being brother
in-law, who had been heard to threat
en- his life Temple had had some lit
igation with the proprietor of a saw
mill, who lived in the eastern part of
the state of Texas. The litigation,
which involved the sum of some fifty
thousand dollars, had been in court for
several years, but. short time be
fore the murder decision had been
rendered in Temples favor. The saw
mill proprietor had the reputation of
being a good citizen, honorable and
reliable in business affairs, but had
killed two or more people during the
course of his life, having been exon
Grated by the courts on each occasion.
1t was clear, therefore, that there
might have been several motives for
the commission of the crime.
Non, ooypas tho strange mart of my