New Britain herald., 1917-03-03
POLICE ON TRAIL
 OF TAFT SLAYER

! small electric bulbs and frequently | passed over by workingmen and l others living in that neighborhood. 1 Miss filling and Albert Nyberg. the 1 latter being the discoverer of the abandoned automobile with it's death
 load, were positive yesterday that 1t was the Taft car that they saw at the spot where 1t was discovered
 hours later. Hickey. according to in- ] formation given the Hartford police. was just as insistent that he was with
 Taft g short time before midnight. Whether the actual assassin was the one directly responsible or sim- ply an agent r q question of differ ence among those making the inves- tigation. It, is believed that the per-
 son. or persons. responsible desired
 to get Taft out of the way to safely
 guard secrets that would, if made pub-
 lie. jeopardixe their standing in so-
 ciety or business. Everything, detec-
 lives say, points to person, or per-
 sons. of . higher strata of intelli-
 gence, cunning and finances than would be found in the slums of the 5,lnderworld.
 { High Priced Gun Used. x The revolver, considered one of the
 most important of clues, Is not of the type ordinarily. bought by one of the inhabitants of the slums or ordinary underworld. irihabitant. It is not of the type that can be readily pur- chased, when first offered for sale, in a pawn shop. second hand store Sor from merchants ordinarily doing bus mess in the slums of a city. Experts recognize 1t as one of. the highest vpvs3 <S Sn AHn HP the type usually sold in high class such as would be bought by person intimately acquainted with high h-grade
 firearms or well off financially. The purchaser of the revolver i6 believed to have been person accustomed to buying the best, to have bought it with the pFemediated intention of getting Taft's lips sealed forever with expense as no object.
 The revolver had apparently never been fired until the one fatal bullet was sent crashing into Taft's brain. When found, there was one explod- ed cartridge with the rest of the chambers fully loaded and ready for use, in case the first shot had not an- swered the purpose.
 Detectives say that, with an ordin- ary tnhabitant or patron of the un- derworld regponsihlA no great effort would hayes been mnde to secure
 s1Eearon. ikny ftyrS Wcu1d 1 hXv9 dOnS, the leSg aexpenskve the more satisfactory. 4 pawn shop or second hand store would have been patronized and the purchase would have been of tho cheap type and, probably of .32 caliber. the kind gen. erally sold to patrons planning to do . 'sgun job"
 Had Many Women's Names.
 Equally as mysterious to the author ities as the identity of the assassin and the motive for the crime are sew eral slips of paper and a note book found in the pockets of Taft's coat or on the blood-soaked floor of the car. containing the names of from twelve to fifteen women, well known in so- ciety, of good families and never be- fore linked with the underworld and their addresses and telephone num- bers. Hartford and surrounding towns are included in the list At first the authorities considered this as conclusive evidence that the dead chauffeur has been a medium of bringing men and women together, taking them to meeting places and otherwise acting as an underground agent. They are not yet convinced that this supposition is far fetched al- though several of the women named have been interviewed, expressed themselves shocked at being even and emphatically denied knowing Taft, personally or by sight.
 One of the women named lives in New Britain, local detectives admit ted today, a widow of middle age, in moderate circumstances and consid- cred highly respectable by even in- timate acquaintances. That she has been leading a double life detectives doubt, but they are at 8 loss to know the circumstances of her name, ad- dress and telephone number being in the note book of the victim of the victim of the tragedy. She has em- denied knowing anything about Taft and says as emphatically she does not even know of him.
 Other women have been inter- viewed and, in the main, their stories are of a similar tone. Some, how ever. have been known to the police as suspects for some time.
 Chief of Police William J. Rawl- ings is of the opinion that mere rob- bery was not the primary motive. Officials are of the opinion that wom- en, who secretly visited the haunts of the bright lights and underworld found knowledge possessed by Taft dangerous and feared that he might make public the news of their secret trips.
 Gun anC CEartridges Found.
 Ref1ecting the suns rays, the high ly polished revolver, lying in a field adjoining Kensington avenue about 500 feet from the scene of the crime attracted the attention of eight year old George Nyberg, who lives in that and George Carlson of 237 avenue They had heen