The Meeker herald., 1922-09-23
True rsa
Detective Stories
BROKEN GLASS
c.p,nss. y II. wheeler sysais.... Is


WHEN Sergt. John r. Brennan OF
w New York's police force reached
Sixty-ninth street and PARK ave-
nue. shortly aftsf' the accident which,
caused the death Of John AcHugh, ~
found practically nothing which could
come under the head Of evidence
McHugii, Il appeared, had been drv-
Ing along h Q light buggy. shortly
after dark. An automobile. speeding
from behind, had struck the buggy
and smashed It to bits, killing Nc
Hugh instantly. Apparently the only
living witness to the tragedy was the
horse, but, az Brennan said. there's
no way Of maxim = horse talk"
So the sergeant set to work to col
lect what bits Of evidence he could
gather from the surrounding street.
Caught on one Of the spokes Of the
buggy wheel, where It had evidently
been torn OH BY the force Of the col
lision. was a nickel plated lamp rim
bearing the name Of the Ham Lamp
Company, Rochester, N. Y" That.
and a small, fragment Of automobile
tire about three INCHES In length, ap-
reared to be the only results Of the
damage which the automobile had suf-
fered,
But Brennan figured that. A. the
lamp rim had been torn from Its
socket. the lens Of the lamp would
naturally have been shattered. 10 he
net to work to pick up the bits OF
glass, When he returned to head
quarters that night he brought with
him an envelope containing twenty.onf
pieces Of glass. together with the nick.
eled rim. the buggy spoke on which
II had caught and the Jagged piece
torn from the automobile tire.
"What are you going to do with
that Junk :" Inquired his associates on
the force. "If Sherlock Holmes had
had. those he coula have told you the
make of tile car, the complexion Of
the man who was driving II, the H.
cense number and how many gallons
Of xas there was In the tank-but,
outside of a book, ~hat good are
thew"
maybe none at ALL" admitted
Brennan, .but II you'll use some brains
when ron look at 'em- you'll note sev.
ersl things that may be of help in To-
catiu' the car that killed McHugh and
then drove Of into the night. never
did take much stock in tie Sherlock
Holmes stories-it's easy enough to
AZ II 80 that your hero can solve q
problem that you know the answer Of
but here's one case in which think
that his deduein' theories will come In
pretty handy.
..See that smudssr' and tho ser.
seant held up the buggy spoke and
pointed to what appeared to b . worn
place on tie wood toward the end
which had been nearest the wheel.
"At first / thought It was merely
where the paint had worn of and the
wood showed through. But the rest
Of the buoy was spick and span.
Only q few days out Of the shop. 80
examined 1t more carefully and
found that II was q bit Of gray paint.
scratched of the body Of the death
car itself!
'Take that lamp rim, now. There
are fourteen cars on the market that
ars equipped With lamps made BY that
company. 80 that reduces the number
Of suspects that much more. We've
rot to look for 4 gray car of one of
those fourteen makes. which elm.
mates more than 70 per cent of the
cars In the city"
"But what about those pieces Of
siassf What are they soin' to tell
your"
Eventually. the name Of the man
who owned the carr replied Brennan.
.There are three kinds Of eiass there
one plain glass. one mirror lens and
one concave.conyex lens. II you'll a,
EN- together you'll SEQ that the car
carried eirht.inch sas headlights and
stx.,nch oil sidslishts. Therefore II
was an old model. The bit Of rubber
was very evidently ripped of a four.
inch fire. Now. You members Of the