THE MYSTERY
-OF -
A HANSOM CAB.
BY FERfiIS U. HI'MK.
HAPTKH II.—coNTINI'KI'.
At the conclusion of Koyston s tv
idenee. during which (iorby had
been continually taking note-. Hob
ert Chinston was called. He de
posed :
I am a dulv qualified medical prac
titioner. residing in Collins htreet
Ka.st. I made a post mortem exam
ination of the body of tin* deceased
on Friday
( * Tiiat \VN> within a few hours af
ter his leath '
A V ; seeing from the position
of the handkerchief and the pi escnce
oi chloroform that he had ded
through • 11] ii "toi'iu. and Knowing
how quickly tiiat poison evaporates,
I made the examination at once.
('n'uin i : (to >n, sir.
1 >r "liiri-ton : Jlxtcrnally. the body
was healthy loo..ing and well nour
i-h d. 1 here wen* no marks of \ io
lencf. Ihe -taming apparent at tin
back of the legs and trunk was due
to post nioitem congestion. Inter
nallv, the biain was hyperiemic, and
there was a considerable amount »t
congestion, especially apparent in
the Mipulicial vessels. there was
no brain disease. Ihe lungs were
healthy, but slightly congested. On
opening the thorax there was a laint
spirituous odor discernible. Ihe
stomach contained about a pint of
completely digested food. Ihe licit
was tlaceid The right heart con
tamed a considerable quantity of
dill k. t!uit 1 blood 1 here was a ten
dencv to fatty dcgenerution of tiiat
organ. lam of the opinion that de
ceased died fiom the inhalation of
some such vapor as chloroform or
methylene.
( v >. You say thero was a tendency
to fatty degeneration of the heart.
Would that have any thing to do wit h
tin* death of deceased"!
A. Not of itself. Hut chloroform
administered while the heart was in
such a state would have a tendency
to accelerate the fatal result. At
the same time. I may mention that
the post mortem signs of poisoning
by chloroform are mostly negative.
l>r. Chinston was then permitted
t> retire, and Clement Hankin. anoth
er hansom cabman, was called. He
deposed : 1 am a cabman, living in
Collingwood, and usually drive n
hansom cab. 1 remember Thursday
last. I hud drivt n a party down to St
Kilda, and was returning about half
past 1 o'clock A short distance past
the grammar school I was hailed b\
a gentleman in a light coat ; he wat
smoking a cigarette, and told me tc
drive him to l'owlett street, Kasl
Melbourne. 1 did so. and he go!
out at the corner of \\ ellingti n pa
rale and l'owlett street. He pai
me half a sovereign for my fare, am
then walked up l'ow lett stre t. whih
1 drove back to town.
g. What time was it when \oi
stopped at l'owlett street.'
A. Iwo o clock, exactiv.
ij. How do you know
A hecaiiM' it was a -till am
1 heard tin postotlicc clock -tiike
0 CiOck .
l>id you notice ai \ thin„' p t
culiar about the man in tl.e 1: r l
coat'
A. No. he looked just the satu a
any one else. Itl u:gh he was— n.
S w' T .1 of the tow n out f T a lain
His l.at was I A.. i low l \t-; hi
*y i s and 1 i :ld nt
Ihd y a notna il ; » ui it
1 in 0 *
A Yes, I did. \Ymn he wa
handing me tLe hal: -"vut : n I v \
he had a 1 .1L. .0i. lill .c . 11.; ! : t
linger of ... - i. _• hi . as. !
Q. He did not say why lie was on
the St. Kilda road at such an houi
A. No. he did not.
Clement Rankin was then ordered
to stand down, and the coroner then
summed up an address of half an
hour's duration. There was. he
pointed out, no doubt that tbe death
of the deceased had resulted not
from natural eau-e. but from the ef
fects of poisoning. Only slight evi
deuce had been obtained up to the
present time regarding the circum
stances of the case, but the only per
son who could be accused of com
mitting the crime was the unknown
man who enteied the cab with the
deceased on Friday morning at the
corner of the Scotch church, near the
Burke and Wills monument It had
been proved that the deceased, when
he entered the cab.- was, to all ap
pearances. in good health, though in
a -tate of intoxication, and the fact
that ho was found by the cabman
Rov.-ton, aft* i the man in the light
coat had left the cab. with ahandker
rhief saturated with chloroform tied
over hi> mouth, would mm in to show
that IM.- had died through the inhala
tion of chloroform, which had been
deliberately administered. All tli«
obtainable evidence- in the ca>e wa
circumstantia!. but. nevertheless,
showed conclusivelv that a crime-had
been committed. I lien-fore, as the
cire-umst.ince- of the- case pointed t
one e-orelusion, the jury could not
do otherwise than flame a veidict ir
accordance with that conclusion.
The- jury retired at J o'clock, and
after an absence e>f a (juaatcr of ar
hour, returned with the following
verelict : "That the eh-cease-d. whose
name there was no e-vid« ne-e to show
died on the 27th el ay e»f July, fron
the effects of poison, namely, chloro
form, feloniouslv administered b\
some person unknown; ami the jury
on their oaths, say that the said un
known person feloniously, willful!}
and maliciously did murder the sak
decease-eel.
CHAPTER 111.
e»NK H'M'KKI) l'Ol'M S KtWAIiD.
V. R.
M r RI >KU.
£IOO REWARJ).
"W he-leas. 011 Frielay, the 27th o
da\ of July, the body e>f a man
name unknown, was found ill a han
som cub. And whereas, at an in
i ipiest held at St. Kilda, on the Mil
day of July, a verdict of wilful mur
tier against some person unknown
was brought in by the jury. Tin
deceased i» e>f medium he ight, wul
a dark complexion, dark hair, cleai
shaved, has a mole; e>n the left tern
pie, and was dressed 111 evening
dress. Notice i> hereby given tha
a reward of 1100 vrill be paid by tin
government for such information a;
will lead to the conviction of tin
murderer, who is presumed to be ;
man who entered the hansom cal
with the deceased at the corner o
Collins and Russell streets, 011 tin
morning of the 27th day of July."
' ; CHAPTER IV.
J MH. eiOIJBY MAKES A sI'VKT.
"Well. said Mr Gorbv, addres
ing reflection in the
1 "I ve been finding enit things th
o o
last twenty years, but thi> is a pu?
z'.er and no mistake."
Mr. (ioiby was shaving, antl a
] wa> his usual custom, conversed wit
j \i\> reflection.
"Hang it. he said, thoughtful!
. stropping his razor, "a thing with a
t end must have a start, and if I don
get the -tint how am I to get th
„ end "
, A- th«. murci did not answe-i ti.i
ijnostii-n. Mr. (iorbv lathered hi
> face and -tart* d .-having in
me -wnat med.anica; fashion. fo
Ins »i. • ughts were with the case. .
rail oil m this manner:
"lueit- are tLr». tL1!:- to 1,- d>
. c .\* r« 1 -l i; u tL t . .. ;!
it was
And t:.i: I. wl>i. j jt >:.ee* I _•«
hold of the first the other two won't
be very hard to find out, for one can
tell pretty well from a man's life
whether it's to any one's interest
that he should be got off the books.
The man that murdered that chap
must have had some strong motive,
and I must find out what that mo
tive was. Love! No: it wasn't that
—men in love dont go to such
lengths in real life—they do in novels
o -
and plays, but I've never seen it oc
curring in my experience. Robbery-
No, there was plenty of money in his
pocket. Revenge? Now, really, it
might be that: it's a kind of thing'
that carries most people on further
than they want to go. There was no
violence used, for his clothes weren't
torn ; so he must have been taken
sudden and before he kuew what
the other chap was up to. By
the way. I don't think I examined
his clothes sufficiently. There might
be something about them to give a
clew : at any rate, it's worth looking
after, so I'll start with his clothes.
Si i Mi ( Voi by. after lie had tin
' ir-hed dressing and had his breakfast,
walked quickly to the police station,
when- he asked for the clothes of the
deceased. N\ ii-n In received them
he went into a corner by himself and
started to examine them. There was
nothing remarkable about the coat,
as it was merely a well cut alid well
made dress coat, so with a grunt of
dissatisfaction Mr. Gorby threw it
on one side and picked up the waist
coat.
Here he found something that in
terested him very much, and that
l was a pocket made on the left side
of the waistcoat and on the inside.-
"Now, hat the d*. uce is this foi
said .Mr. Gorbv, scratching his head,
i . - D
•*it ain't usual for a dress waistcoat
to have a pocket on its inside, as I'm
a vale of ; and. continued the detec
tive, reatly excited, "this ain't tai
loi s work: he did it himself, and
jolly badly he d d it too. Now lie
must have taken the trouble to make
this pocket himself, so that no one
else would know anything about it,
and it was made to carry something
valuable—so valuable that he had to
carry it with him even when he wore
evening clothes. Ah ! here's a tear
on the side nearest the outside of the
waistcoat: something has been pulled
out rough 1 )*. I begin to see now.
The dead man possessed something
which the other man wanted, and
which he knew the dead one carried
about with him. He sees him drunk,
! ?ets into the cab with him and tries
°
I to tret what he wants. The dead
, man resists, upon which the other
kills him by means of the chloroform
which lie had with him. and being
j afraid that the cab will stop, and he
| i will be found out. snatches what he
wants out of the pocket so quickly
that he tears the waistcoat and then
makes off. That's cleaa enough, but
the question is: What was it he
wanted' A case with jewels? No!
. It could not have been anything sc
bulky, or the dead man would nevei
i. "
have carried it about inside his
i waistcoat. It was something flat
which could easily lie in the pockel
—a paper—some valuable papei
which the assassin wanted, and foi
I
- which he killed the other.
"This is all very well, said Mr
p 1 Gorby. throwing down the waist
coat and risinr. *T have found num
r?
ber two before number one. TLx
s first question is: Who is the mur
!i dered man.' He's a stranger in Mel
bourne, that's pretty clear, or els
v some one would be sure to have rec
n ognized him before now by the de
t scription given in the reward. Now
e I wonder if he has any relation
Lire* Private lodgings more .'ike
- and a landladv who doesn t read th
s capers and doesn't gossip, or sb«'
,i hav» known all about it by thi- time
r Now. if he did live, as I think, in pr:
i \ ite 1" Igi' an 1 suddenly di-aj
p» are.} his ;nHa ly wouldn't ket ]
« ;ie t. It -a w hole week -inee th
i.;; d» . t. list i.e lodg r 1. is i. .
b. t n -et n : ;.t ar ;• '. th- lamiiad'
t will :.at i! a:v n inquir :• - 1'
however, as I surmise. the lodger is
a stranger, she will not know where
to inquire: therefore, under these
circumstances, the most natural
thing for her to do would be to ad
vertise for hiiu ; so 1 11 have a look at
the newspaper.-.
Mr. Gorby got a tile of the differ
ent newspapers, and looked careijilly
m the columns where missing friends
and people who will hear something
to their advantage are generally ad
vertised for.
"He was murdered." said Mr. Gor
by to himself, "on a Friday morning,
between 1 and 2 o'clock, so he might
stay away till Monday without sus
picion. On Monday, however, the
landlady would begin to feel uneasy
and ou Tuesday she would advertise
for him. Therefore, said Mr. Gor
bv. iimnin r his fat tinker down the
. o o
column. "Wednesday it is."
It did not appear in Wednesday's
paper, neither did it in Thursday's,
but in Fiiday s issue. exactly one
week alter the murder. Mr. Gorby
suddenly came on the following ad
\ erti-enient :
"If Mr. Oliver Wh\ t e doe> not re
turn to Possum Villa. Grey street.
St. Kilda. before the end of the week,
his rooms will be let again. Kubina
Hableton.
"Oliver Whyte." repeated -Mr. Gor
by. slowly, "and the initials 011 the
pocket handkercheif which were
proved to have belonged to the de
ceased were. •(). W. So his name is
Oliver Whyte. is it? Now. I wonder
it' Kubina Hableton knows anything
about this matter. At any rate."
said Mr. Gorby. putting on his hat.
"as I'm fond of sea breezes, I think
I'll go down and call at Possum Vil
la. Grey street. St. K Ida."
CHAPTEK V.
MIIS. 1! MiLKTON I'MiosuMS HI KSFI.I .
Possum Villa was an unpreten
tious looking place with one bow
window and a narrow veranda in
front. It was surrounded with a
i small garden and a few sparse Mow
ers in it which were Mrs. Hableton's
delight. When not otherwise en
©
r a r ed she tied an old handkerchief
O O
round her head and went out into
the garden, where she dug ami wa
tered her flowers until they all
up attempting to grow from sheer
desparation at not being left alone.
She was engaged in her favorite oc
cupation about a week after her
lodger had disappeared when a shad
ow full across the garden, and on
looking up she saw a man leaning
over the fence, looking at her.
He was a burly looking man. with
! a jovial red face, clean shaved, and
sharp, shrewd looking gray eyes
which kept twinkling like two stars.
He was dressed in a suit of light
clothes, and wore a stillly starched
white waistcoat, with a massive gold
.
• clu in stretched across it. Altogeth
er he gave Mrs. Hableton the itn
> pression of being a well to do trades
man, and she mentally wondered
> what he wanted.
"What d'v want ."' she asked ab
ruptly.
"Does Mr. )liver White live here
' asked the stranger.
"He do. ai." he don't." an-wered
Mrs.Hableton.epigrammatic-ally. "I
• ain't seem im for over a week. so I
- s'pose 'e's gone on the drink, like the
i rest of em. but I've put sumthin' in
- the paper as 11 pull him up j rettv
- sure, and let im know I ain't a car
i pet to be trod on. an if you're a
- friend of im. you can tell "im fiom
me 'e's a brute, an it - no more but
. what I expecte 1 of 'im. e bein a
» male."
The -trai ger waite 1 pitiei i \ 1 i
• ring the outbur>t. ai.d Mr-. If»]♦
1 ton. h ivu stopped f.»r of
breath, he interp- ■- ! ;;» 11 \
•• (.'a!. I-: e:tk to y i f i i f. ,s
- iij' ments *
» "An 1 wii r » a st ppin "t \ i
-ii 1 Mr- H tbiet- n.
t •• A v... i♦ a..y. said the other, 1
r ing up at the clou iless 1 lue sky. nr. 1
w.ping Li- f w.th i jialv
bandana. "it is rather hot. you know,
ami—"
Mrs. Hableton diil not give him
time to finish, but walking to the
gate. opened it with a jerk.
"Use your legs and walk in. she
said. and. the stian«er haviug done
so. she led the way into the house,
which seemed to overflow with anti
macassars. wool mats and wax flow
ers. There was also a row of emu
eggs on the mantel-piece, a cutlass
on the wall, and a grimy line of hard
looking little books, set in a stiff*
row on a shelf, presumably for oma
nament. as they looked too unpleas
ant to tempt any one to read them
The furniture was cf horse-hair, and
everything was hard and shiny, so
when the stranger sat down in the
slippery looking armchair that Mrs.
Hableton pushed toward him. he
could not help thinking it had been
shifted with stones, ii felt mi cold
and 1 aid. The lady herself sat op
polite to him in another hard chair,
and. having taken the handkerchief
(..ft'her head, folded it carefully, laid
it 011 her lap. and then looked
straight at her unexpected visitor
••Now then." she said letting her
mouth fly open so rapidly that it
gave one the impression that it was
moved by strings like a niai ionette.
••who are you what are } Oll * what
do you want
TO 1 K « OVITM'KK )
YVliat Malt Ih » «»r.
Salt dissolved in alcohol will re
move grease spots from cloth.
Salt in the whitewash will make
it stick better.
Brass work can be kept beauti
fully bright by occasionally rubbing
with salt and vinegar.
To clean willow furniture, use salt
and water. Appl\ it with a nail
brush, sci ub well and dry thorough
ly.
When \ou give )our cellar its
spring cleaning add m ittle copper
as water and salt to she whitewash.
Sprinkling salt, oft the too- and at
the bottoms of garden walls is *aul
to keep snails from climbing up and
down.
For relief from heartburn 01 dys
pepsia drink u little cold water n
which has been dissolved a teaspool
ful of salt.
Ink stains on linen can be taken
out if the stain is first washed in
strong salt and water and then spon
ged with lemon juice.
For stains on the hands nothing
is better than a little salt, with
enough lemon juice to moisten it,
rubbed c.n the spots and then w ashed
oft' in clear water.
It. a basin of water, salt of course,
falls to the bottom; so never soak
salt fish with the skin down, as the
salt will fall to the skin and remain
there.
For weeds in pavements or gravel
walks, make a strong brine of coarse
salt and bailing water; put th»* brine
in a sprinkling can and water the
weeds thorough-, being careful not to
let any of the brine get on the grass,
or it will kill it too.
Strong brine rnav be used to ad
vantage in washing bedsteads Hot
alum water is also good for thi- pur
pose.
Wonderful C
W. I>. Hoyt & Co . Wholesale and
Retail Druggists of liom*. 'ii. say
We have been selling Dr. King'-* New
Discovery. Klectric Bitter* and Buck
len's An jica Salve for
Have never handled remedies that
sell as well, c-r give such univer-al
satisfaction There have been sorne
wonderful cures effecte 1 bv the-e
medicines in this city Several ca-f -
'>f \ v i.r, :r.cf 1 Cr.ri-urnj'tioT: have
been entirely cured l>y u-r- r.f H f. v.-
bott!»-s of I>l King-New Dise verv.
taken ii. nti »:i with F*.!e«-tric
Bitter-. W». guaranty e ?h« ?.. a! .■ ii-. -
-oie bv >. M 11' v- 1» :
Di.-rael; - n:a\i::. : Igr.€/ianc» nevej
!tie- t 'it-ticn