npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-10-21 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

REVENGE.  URIN - • -Izr Ni a r• 111 IF A I r : 4:4 t;:l. e•  II the wars of the Middle when the fertile plains of Italy were devastated by hostile factions, prisoners for whose ransom a costly price was demanded were confined in the castle of the Prince of Tolfi, which was built on the summit of the towering and precipitous rock of Scylla, and commanded a magnifioent view of Sicily in all it. grandeur. Here, at the time of which we speak, in a dungeon, excavated deep in the solid rock, a miserable victim was immured, whom revenge pursued—the dark, fierce, and unpitying revenge of an Italian  I  heart. He was no other than Vivenzio—the noble and the generous, the fearless in battle, and the pride of Naples in her sunny hours of . The young, the brave, the proud riavceenzio had fallen beneath this subtle and remorseless spirit. He was the prisoner of Tolfi, and languished in that rock-encircled dungeon, which stood alone, and whose portals never opened twice upon a living captive. It had the semblance of a vast cage, for the roof, and floor, and sides were of iron, solidly wrought and spaciously constructed. High above, there ran a range of seven grated windows, guarded with iron bars, which admitted light and air. Save these and the tall folding doors beneath them, which occupied the centre, no chink, or chasm, or projection broke the smooth black surface of the walls. An iron bedstead, littered with straw, stood in one corner; and beside it a vessel with water and a coarse dish filled with coarser food. Even the intrepid soul of Vivenzio shrank with dismay as he entered this abode, and heard the ponderous doors triple-locked by the silent ruffians who conducted him to it. How dismal was the sound of their retiring steps! And, as their faint echoes died along the winding passages, a fearful presage grew within him that never more the face, or voice, or tread of man would greet his senses. He had seen human beings for the last time ! Here he was to end his life a life he had just begun to revel in! And by what means? By secret poison, or by murderous I assault? No—for then it had been needless to bring him thither. Famine, perhaps—a thousand deaths in one It was terrible to think of it; but it was yet more terrible to picture long, long years of captivity in a solitude so appalling that thought would lose itself in madness. He could not hope to escape, unless he had the power, with his bare hands, of rending asunder the solid iron walls of his prison. It was too evident he was reserved for some premeditated scheme of subtle vengeance. It was evening when Vivenzio entered his dungeon, and the approaching shades of night wrapped it in total darkness as he paced up and down, revolving in his mind these horrible forebodings. His heart sank within him thinking of his possible fate, and he threw himself dejectedly down on his couch of straw. Here sleep gradually obliterated the consciommess of misery. When he awoke it was daylight. but how long he bad slept he knew not. It might be
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-06-10 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

THE CRYSTAL DAGGER.  (From the (lernueis.)  CHAPTER L  years ago a oonse neat ion was prong the inhabitants , a town in Pornothe sudden death of clergyman . of rather singular character, who, in his latter years, was possessed of a large fortune. This had accrued to him in consequence of divers chance occurrences, but more especially that of a will made by the widow of one of his earliest friends, a friend who had fallen the victim of a mysterious and horrible crime. The clergyman left no children; but had many relations, of whom, though no one was in absolute want, the greater number lived in very narrow circumstances. On this account the astonishment and vexation of his family were indescribable when they found, on opening the testament of the deceased, that his relations were passed over altogether, and by some most absurd caprice he had been induced to leave the whole of his fortune to be expended in improvements on the public prisons and contrivances to mitigate the sufferings of those who were confined therein. It was to be expected that a will of this kind must excite hatred and suspicion on the part of those who so confidently believed that they were provided for, and would receive good legacies. Had this been the case they would doubtless have praised the clergyman as one of the best of men; but, as the matter now stood, all his foibles and peculiarities were raked up, and talked of in such manner that his memory might be held in the most odious light possible. They recollected the bitter expressions in which he was wont to indulge against the higher ranks of society—even against personages of the most exalted character—the contempt which he entertained for the existing rules and regulations of society; above all, his detestation of hereditary privileges and the rights of chosen castes. The conclusions drawn from this eccentricity were so formidable that, if the clergyman (who was in other respects a most exemplary Christian) had been alive, the mere imputation of such doctrines and principles, at a time when the influence of the French Revolution was in its zenith, would have, in all probability, deprived him both of his office and his personal liberty. But the hatred of his relations did not rest here. They went even so far as to ascribe to him a participation in the murder of that friend to whose fate we have already alluded, although the whole tenour of his life had been utterly inconsistent with such horrible propensities. Fortunately, not for himself, indeed, to whom all such considerations must then have been indifferent; but for a few adherents to whom his memory was yet dear and sacred, there was found among his papers the written account of an extraordinary occurrence, which at once afforded a satisfactory explanation of the dark shades which had before appeared in his character, and silenced for ever the malignant calumnies of those who  eiderable dueled of Frania, b the  artion,  Piotestant  there,  man  —that are oonstantly being practised in our midst.  • : r " 4116.
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-06-10 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

THE GREAT  BLACKMAILING CASE.  DETECTIVE WILSON'S REPORT.  PART VI.  HE rest of the day I spent endeavouring to decipher that mysterious writing of Thorwaldsen's. I Woe the usual sotvents of cipher - writing, taking the greatest number of the same letters as E, and so on, but could get nothing from this. I thought that the words nugl.l; he Swedish, or in some other language, still trying the same mode of rea...4: the cipher, I tried a number of dictiensnes, but in no case would nay efforts FIT:1 ott a Ingle foreign word. I tried using the letter in bunt of the one written, and still got no result. I tried two letters in front, then three, and so on. Then I tried using the one after, such as T for S, and so on; and then somehow a +bnught struck me, and I tried taking the letter after the first letter 'written, and the one before the next, and so on, in rotation. E I wrote down F, U I wrote T, and then I found I had the following sentence written: F ths ga frthr PIS prve (hr we no mrdr. It was plain sailmg now, and I sprang up and danced round the room, for not only had I read the message at a glance, but it gave me an idea which had once or twice occurred to me, but which I had dismissed as most improbable. Most of the vowels had been omitted in the cipher, and it was easy to supply them, and to read the following message " i this goes further; -'ll prove there was no murder.'  What an extraordinary statement I I thought; perhaps this was done to throw us off our guard. The fact of the murder was undeniable. The old man was missing, the state of the rooms, the finding of the human remains, all proved the horrible crime—the trouble was to shift the deed from the shoulders of the innocent Mr. Abel on to those of the guilty person cm ,persons. I tried the cipher over eau over again, in case I had solved it incorrectly; but the above was the only reading I could obtain, and so I was compelled to accept it. I obtained permissionto visit Mr. Abel, end. siter seeing his solicitor, to whom I confided a plan I intended to iry, we together entered the cell where the poor young gentleman was confined. He was delighted to see us, and still hopeful that innocence must win in the long run. Unfortunately, I knew of mazy cases where innocence was proved too late, and many poor souls, I knew, must have been done to death for crimes they had never committed, and the truth about which never became known. Still, I made a pretence of being cheerful, and we chatted about the murdered man.  By degrees Mr. Abel described him to me minutely, and at last, at my request, made what 'gas, I believe, a very good sketch of him, with a pencil and paper furnished by me for the purpose. I told him I wrinted to make myself up to rcePuible the deceased, and asked him "if he would mind my visiting, him next day disguised in that fashion." " It seems almost sacrilege.," he said; "and I beg you not to do this," and he really  "Beggars and their Sham Injuries" is the title of one of our articles -this week,—  4lrt, k t 4" 41/4 f
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-08-12 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

NARROW ESCAPE FROM THE GALLOWS.  T was one spring morning, in the year '6l. I was sitting on one of the large oblong tomb-stones scattered about the old parish church of Trinion, in the island of conam. It was my usual morning custom to take a walk from the town and rest awhile on the grey old stones. That morning I felt somewhat queer. I felt as if I were waiting for something which was about to befall me. No wonder that that I did not feel surprised, or try to resist, the gradual unconsciousness which stole over me. I was in this semi-conscious state some moments, when the figure of an old and 'wrinkled dame came before me. She spoke—to this day I know not what she said. I only know that she vividly brought before me the picture of a young girl, with whom I was more than intimate, portraying her with an exactness I cannot find words to express. She then, in fancy's picture, brought me to a spot I well knew on the main road, which lay at the bottom of the inclining path below me. There she portrayed the murder of the girl she had brought before me, and by my hand. Again we travelled with fancy's aid. This flight brought us outside a prison-wall. Inside there was erected a gallows. The hempen noose was swaying with the morning wind; and a young man was walking handbound towards it. He was on the trap-door, and his neck was encircled by the cruel rope, when—from out the gazing multitude—a wild cry was heard. The young man wasinnocent ; he descended from the scaffold, free. I looked at him as he pushed his way through the cheering throng. I was startled. It was myself! "Robert. what are you doing here F" It was the voice of her—the girl I had seen in the vision—which roused me. I started up, looked at her, rubbed my eyes, then looked again. I doubted the correctness of my vision. My companion laughed at my surprise,. and again questioned me as to why I was lying on the cold tombstones. Of course I could not toll her of the vision I had just had: it was only a cruel day-dream,' persuaded myself. I turned the conversation. What had she been doing lately? I asked her. She had shunned me, I knew not why. Some said it was jealousy aroused by my devoting somuch • time to my newly-arrived, fascinating oousin from over the seas. She answered me not. Her changed manner surprised me. What was the matter P I could not tell. "Would I go part of the road home with her ? " Of course; I was only too happy to be by her side, and gladly assented as I told her so. Walking along the road her manner again changed; again she became the affable companion, the tender sweetheart. We arrived at the spot where the vision had shown the terrible death. I had forgotten it. I only remembered that the girl I had loved so passionately was standing by me bib the corner where we loved to linger. We sat and chatted as in the sweet days of the past.  —refers our readers to the very Startling Story in this week's issue.—  1 / • l• , rel S' 1 4 e- • 1%1 11* '-15-31r. .V4t A4O S 4  I
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-09-30 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

AMAZING TEMPERANCE TALE.  OU'RE a reporter P" observed a barber the other afternoon, IN a customer leaned back in his chair. "I've done con siderable writing myself," he continued, as -he filled the reporter's eye with lather. "Ye., indeed: I've written a poem that was published in the Barbers' Journal, and I am at work on a temperance story that will panlyse the rum-sellers. Shall I repeat ?' As the barber had by this time begun operations on the reporter's chin with his razor, protestation would have been unavailing, and the author continued: "It begins like this: In a lone house—a small house furnished bare—there sat a thin, pallid woman dressed in meagre gurmenbt through which the cold wind blew in fitful gusts. Around her were huddlexl three thin, pale, half-starved children. There was no food in the pantry, no fuel in the stove. Why was this the case? Ah ! that's the question. "In a low grog-shop in the neighbouring hamlet, surrounded by a crowd of drunken men, there sat a being that had once been a man. He was besotted with rum. His bloated face was buried in his red hands. He was asleep. He was a drunkard. Why was ho a drunkard? Ah! that's the question. "'Mother, why doesn't father come home ?' asked one of the three pale children of the pallid woman in the lonely house. Ah! that's the question. " I will start out for him and bring him , home, mother ! ' exclaimed the child. "'Brave boy ! ' replied the parent, between her sobs. And so into the cold, (lark night the fearless child went out. But why was this midnight and perilous journey necessary Ah! that's the question. "A tap at the door of the grog-shop. A deep mutter among the men whose unlawful amusement it had interrupted. The door opened and the child walked in. "Father,' he cried, as he leaned over the sleeping wretch, will you come home with me ? ' Ah' that's the question. "Father and child—drunken beast and pure young innocence—hand-in-hand, pursued their lonely way over the dark and rocky road that led to the deserted home. By the side of the path was a steep precipice. Here the twain paused. The man sat down to think. What thoughts, think you, were passing through his rum-crazed brain ? Ah! that's the question. "They were awful thoughts—thoughts of murder. He had been torn away from his haunts by the firm, pale hand of his little child. His wife had set a spy on his track. The insult should be wiped out. But how? Ah! that's the question. "Five minutes of silent but awful meditation suffice. Starting to his feet the enraged man grasped his little son by the waist and held bum at arm's length over the steep precipice. " Father,' murmured the child plaintively, shall I over see mother again ? ' Ah ! that's the question. " I don't see why little Johnny doesn't come home !' exclaimed the pallid woman in  tq't
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-05-13 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

THE COMET.  it would cause Mabel, whom I knew he had so much regard for. "He appeared to be moved, and joined with me in entreating the landlord. "'But when the old gent is missed the will come to me and ask where he is; and what shall I say then P ' said ThorwaldBen, as though relenting somewhat. "'He is not known here. He had no friends excepting myself, and no one will miss him,' I argued. "'lt is too much risk,' said the Swede, after a pause, as if weighing up the matter. i "'lt sno risk for you,' I explained: for you can always turn on me, and then, if I have time, I can perhaps trace the actual murderer, and, by bringing him to justice, exonerate both of us.'  -o  " ' Yes, yes,' cried Fergusson, eagerly; 'what my friend says is quite true. Do for goodness sake, listen to reason, landlord. He will pay you well; won't you, Abel ? a hundred pounds even.' "A hundred devils!' retorted the brute;  do you think I will risk being an accessory to a murder for a hundred pounds? Not for a thousand. Where are the police?' and he moved as if to open the door. "Again I implored him not to go, and I would willingly pay him a thousand pounds, or fifteen hundred even; and so, in the end, after being urged to accept my terms by both Fergusson and myself, he agreed to take fifteen hundred pounds. I had to give Fergusson an order on my brokers to sell out part of the stock I held, and to remain a prisoner with him until the money came. "I had to telegraph to my employers, saying that I was too ill to return to the office that day, and in truth I was so, and could certainly have done no work; and there I waited, in those dreadful rooms which had recently been the scene of so ghastly a deed as the murder of my poor cousin.  " It was seven o'clock in the evening when Fergussen returned with the money, which the Swede accepted with apparent reluctance, and at last I was able to breathe the sir of freedom once more. I walked to the railway station, and proceeded home more dead than alive, Fergusson still accompanying me. "When I reached my door] said Goodbye' to him, at the same time thanking him for his kindness; but he said he would come in, as he wanted to have a ten-minutes' chat with me. "As soon as we wero seated-.- I against the table, upon which I leant my aching head, and he with his chair drawn cosily  _ over .the fire—he commenced: " ' This is a very serious thing, my dear fellow,' he said; 'and this man Thorwaldsen  , , has you entirely in his power.' "I groaned, for I knew how true this statement was.  "'At any time you might be arrested for murder, and, although I do not for a moment believe—indeed, I feel sure you are innocent—yet appearances are so strongly against you that I should fear the worst.' "Another groan was my only reply. " I have known men hanged on slighter evidence, my poor fellow,' continued Ferrrusson ; and, moreover, in order to exonerate himself, the landlord is sure to make the case as black as possible against you., "I was trying to believe otherwise, but this reasoning was mercilessly true. I did not want to believe the worst, but it was put
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-05-13 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

THE GREAT  BLACKMAIL! NC CASE.  DETECTIVE WILSON'S REPORT.  PART 11.  T this horrible accusation I was panic-stricken, and in my mad fear endeavoured to force my way out of the room, but the burly Scandinavian closed the door, and, setting his back against it, vowed he would kill me if I approached him. He still held the dreadful carving-knife in his hand, and he looked as though he meant all he threatened, as I shrank back. "It was like a hideous nightmare, and in a flash the whole chain of circumstances which appeared to connect me with the crime came to my mind. I alone could benefit by the old man's death; I was in his apartments until four o'clock in the morning, and then, instead of leaving openly, I had tried to sneak away, and had been seen by the landlord trying to leave unseen. I had shown signs of distress, which might be construed into feelings of guilt, when Ferrusson had chaffed me in the morning about my cousin's dying. "There was only one point in my favour, and that was the absence of blood-stains on my clothes. No one could have committed such a horrible crime as I was accused of and not have been incriminated in this way; and 1 looked at my clothes, feeling somewhat relieved in mind.  "Then, Mr. Wilson," said your client to me. "to my intense horror I saw a number of small spots and splashes on my coat-sleeve, on my white waistcoat, and on my trousers. I felt them, and they were still wet, and how they had come there I could not tell. This last discovery frightened the small remainder of my wits away, and, in imagination, I thought I coald see the stern judge putting on the black cap, previous to condemning me to a murderer's doom. lamof an imaginafive nature, and the horror of that moment to me passes belief. I was awakened from my nightmare by hearing Fergusson speak. "Landlord,' he was saying, you cannot think my Mend guilty of so horrible a crime. He is not capable of such wickedness.' _ _  "'I only knows what I see,' returned the man sullenly. "But, think, Thor waldsen ; would he have come here to visit the scene of his crime if he had been guilty of it ? ' "'Murderers are artful enough for anything,' retorted the brute, adding, I shall send for the police, or I shall be accused taineself.' "'Great heavens! I never thought of that I What shall we do—what shall we do?' and Fergusson paced up and down the room. "I had no control over myself then, for I remember throwing myself at Thorwaldsen's feet and clasping his knees, begging him, praying him, not to accuse me, nor tell of my visit the previous night. I avowed my innocence over and over again, and offered all my money if it would buy silence. I appealed to Fergusson to back up my entreaties, begging him to think of the grief  Rae anything queer or uncanny ever happened to you, "Comet" reader ?  •\I "2 :!‘ a 4,44' qv, .t 1,0
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-04-22 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

APIUL 22, 1893.  Yellooll .suing from the little office of Moser& Fritsen and h.  The conversation was in German, and although I worn in a general way to be a listener, the opening Pentences rooted me to the spot. It was late, and the partners had evidently stayed behind their workpeople to have a business chat. The busiaess chat over, they were preparing to go. "By the way, Mach," said Fritsen, "you never told ma how you lost that eye of yours." "I lost it on the battle-field."  " KOnigratz ? " " Yes ; the point of a bayonet." "How very strange! Was it about halfpast two in the afternoon ? And were you one of the light horse ordered to charge on the inbatry of the line on the slope of the , high hill almost opposite where Marshal Benedek's position was all through the fight ? " The very spot, and I was in the ninetythird squadron of Dragoons." "White jackets, gold belts, and a plumed helmet ? "  " Precisely. Why, how is it you know so well P" .  "Go on; I will tell you afterwards." "We down on the enemy. My poor yolfitirEther rode at my side. My mother had made me swear a great oath that I would never desert him. He was the flower of the family, and only eighteen, I twenty-three. It was a terrible moment when the bugle sounded the advance." "It always is for soldiers going into action."  "We came on at a rattling hand-gallop, the Gentian regiments pouring in a galling fire on our men, and emptying many a saddle."  " I remember," said Fritsen. "You remember," gasped the other, his voice suddenly turning stern and cold. "I remember—reading of the charge." "Well, we broke through the first rank, and were in the thick of it. My brother was unhorsed by the violence of the shock, and I was separated from him momentarily; but when the German regimental bugles had sounded a retreat, and the melee was nearly over, I hurried to the spot where I had last seen him, and although he was lying helpless on the ground—shot, as it afterwards turned out, through the shoulder—a burly pickelhaube, out of veritable blood-wantonness, turned round in full retreat, and with his bayonet pierced him through twice over. I sprang at him with my sabre and inflicted an ugly out across the shoulder, when with one hand he literally threw full in my face his gun and bayonet, the latter weapon penetrating my eye and going within half an inch of my brain." "And that was how you lost your eye ? " said Fritzen.  "Yes," remarked Pillseh, "and my poor brother his life. Oh! if heaven ever permitted me to meet with his murderer on this earth, and his identification was fully established, I would slay him without compunction. But what do you know of it ? " Fritwn muttered something about the incident having appeared in a Hanoveritui journal, and that seemed at the time to satisfy the other. I never understood, considering how flourishing the business was at No. 297, why Fritzen wished for a dissolution at partner 4  I  ! i  41  I  I