Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / May 24, 1909, edition 1 / Page 11
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T RUE D THE ETECTIVE STORIES L - v V . vnrv dtv. At r ward s Ia- .tr-ntloB L j ,ase cam" i flat 'n bcr rtment she wa At " matron. " ...fir tur " . and sne - CLEW She had be at ,-ears, Uj2 pl,u' fi, exCellent work. Cr '7 nl h,r annual vacation last r- 1 - a., mrtrnmr a Imp' I .'kir, T f mail, on top was a square e b3 CampWl- She opened Dnt . ...... i, 7a inifeed a f,mna m' .,rt of the Boston Candy batt Nar:L"."' 7.7 nf the box to King as tin Pifre .. . .nuth'll I f ' ? sr . r a n ld 13f bos. t, Can Marl" tlted .1! lf re; wrong with that stuff!" ,,(! it. The candy gum ,.icps too. were uiucu. St'E.e ' .n,!cr i- -ix-rate. .ii i.' in ir "Sn von want to me. a,M "- I. ,fc- ,,, v ttiat comes iurwuu iuo . k. me analyze uu u imi , miss Campbell laughed In earnest, ane nnauy ,-,t proceeded with hla he white powder was I'1 -.-.i cry ; lirrt' it r it Jt t Ci -and I ru' St.' fc,r. t.u: :. It ' lid lid !!( In jc p Mr ft, -t T'.. I'll Hll.. 'Uill .1." tinl fie friftn1 K ma't' fcwt. o;'-t n. !. ( taken 13 aftp;i" rt!fU !...t (tdTft, a litt) 'M' King became aud wnn a crlnie; he He returned the ,i .r,.f,,ri', ,ring only that the i ;1' .1 th.-it '-lie should certainly ! f,.r. atf any of It." She ,.f (.. i -hIi'ih physicians. He . v i.onnd he reported the . ititnident. Dr. Maybon, v mi-j Ipttcrs which had Hi,.! hr both Miss Campbell v , to the Platrlct Attor , t-.-.-n'.ir 1 1 v routine. It came to i; i f. m. and Lieutenant Carey, ; .i. ' lug cases, was assigned "'T'!' 'he first thing," said i a h"!e nftcrnoon with her. in, in In r thirties, nice ttpokon I :iM,.il In r who might be her ' i ne ho would wnnt . 'lid a 1 1 1 1 1 i r . after I bad .if'. ;i: ....n. tlmt Mrs. Jestly, the ii..r;. rmoiiirr nurse on the i.i ' ' frlenrliy to her. They - iiiiiii .sity. lie said, but Mra. :! .i;ikinc to her. Dr. May it the a nnii .nous letters. She in tlirre in typewriting and Km: ip lm.ln't thought much A l.:i.! d-.-troyed them. I asked ... -s... i.i'hs were. She named !iinc Manliattan. Three of "Ik- to keep your eye on Is :i .1 at No. 118 West Eighty '!!-" "enied a little frtght n tii.it she was trying to "! ui' my mind that we i' f "in h r. In fact, she ; i1r .i the rase, seeing that f ! S'-i IpUir . (., ' In ,?! f!tl) 'he I f M:t: v .! ,t, PM PV.Z il.r lt ha n rl "ft. -:i::i.i fdm of h f W what r TMS ThL. i.. lit ''""I'lx'il's statement, Carey thut Important piece of evl ! h t.. the brand of the Boston !iain; two branches, one In o'Mfr In Third avenue, near V tk city. The wrapper 'ISa paier. The address. lr:,!i - wim s. rntched on a sep- ' "l fastened on by the "In. h had carried the pack- malls. ".Mi this address. The "I From pvery one who dimples of handwriting. Any one of three different " that address. The hand 1 "tin in Important cases. es and speeds; the prac- UlN kind of Ptrurt to.tl. 5 min iiable. The most care hai,.l ritlng only limited the a;i; !.n- known In the trade aa is,'f had a bearing on I mi'lil'll's fnvnHta mrA. "T ktlon- .,., ,,, .. . .. J." fir,. , " rrpu inac tne royal 1, 'y 8! Twenty-third street Wrh t; ''np('r was of the k,n(l 1 I't kao bad been mailed fTti,.''T."':;""n "f "le Post De- - :iay. One part of the ffinie plain as day. Either Twr.-y third street and Rtfh in a great hurry. fa.,,.. 1 ' r calmed Carey's at. ! ar.i.nv ,...,. i-.- . ." . t 1 ,,, , 13 liters received by OF BY THE CROOKED WILL IRWIN "W" nt.iher 3. th the pnarnuivii when an oraeny Srd i. '"ft Tk. . . scurrilous was rype- t his on n''thods. it 1 August 4 from Station vidi)tiT unschooled In . '! ! tllrpe slips, in tha r1: a ,,- r. " an ordinary letter ala Na.h:, kV, ,Mlne- ere It waa. t, . '.'i" "Now V..V .. Of hart f . . k';llfn' t0. to tear off the n;,ir'';. Which rmA inri.i - - hu Tjcior. tectiTes a chase of appalling magnitude to see every one of those printers and to find who, using Victor paper for his letterhead orders, used also that pe culiar black type- Carey had half a dozen plain clothes men on this tedious search, when the devel opments In another line caused him suddenly to drop It. The anonymous letter, as I have said, was mailed from Station W, Manhattan. This Is at Eighty-fourth street and Columbus avenue. One evening, going over the notes he had taken from Miss Campbell. Carey suddenly stumbled on the address, "Mrs. Jessie Morrow, No. 118 West Eighty-fourth street," only a half block from Station W. He saw Miss Campbell again on some pretext or other and wedged In among a hundred Impertinent questions some inquiries about Mrs. Morrow. She was a bosom friend to Miss Camp bell, It appeared. On the nurse's day off the two women usually went to the theatre together. Carey went to No. 118 West Eighty-fourth street to see what he could see. But Mrs. Morrow, the Janltress said, had moved away from that house in August She had gone some where np the Hudson. Carey stopped to chat with this janltress, an Intelligent Irish woman. Mra. Mor- "BUT GIVE ME THAT PAPER," SAID HALL. row had lived In the house about a year. She bad some kind of work at bome writing and attending to accounts for an old gentleman who came to that house sometimes. "I suppose that she was at her typewriter most of the time," said Carey offhand. "Yes," said the Janltress, "she was always type writing." "A good Smith Premier typewriter Is a great help," said Carey. "I don't know nothing about typewriters," said tha Janltress. She could not remember Just when Mrs. Morrow moved. The real estate agents who rented that house could tell. And, having satisfied myself that Mrs. Morrow owned a typewriter although be bad failed to establUh that It waa a Remington Carey saw the agents. Mrs. Morrow bad' moved on August 8, four days after Station W, at the corner, had stamped that anonymous letter. The agents furnished another fact, a great deal more pertinent. Some of the correspondence regarding the rent had been conducted by William H. Hall, and William II. Hall wrote on a sheet of note paper water marked "Victor," and the date line on bin notehead was In the same Identical type aa tha date line on the anonymous letter to Dr. Maybon. Only the sUe of the paper differed. The anonymous letter waa on letter size paper. Evidently it was the larger brother of the notepaper which Mr. Hall had used in his c-.re-spondence with tha real estate agents. The next day the Central Office detectives started on two new scents. While half of the men looked up the antecedents of William H. Hall, Carey and two assistants went to Mamaroneck, to which town, he learned from the Post Office, Mrs. Morrow had moved. The Manhattan squad found that Hall waa a rich and retired fur dealer who had started life in the hat business. For future use they patched together a pretty accurate story of his life. Carey found that Mrs. Morrow was living in a cottage on the outskirts of Mamaroneck. After looking over the ground be sent one of his detectives to the real estate men who owned that cottage with a tentative offer to buy It. The agents were willing, and the detective was shown throagh the house. There, in the front room, stood an old, battered Remington typewriter. The detective tried to get rid of Mrs. Morrow for a few moments while he took samples of a capital "W"; but she stuck to him like the bark NOT SO BLOOD AND THUNDERY NOW Y J-'y -id typewriter, slightly j. peculiarities In iff ' 'r.-ar. i,- ",us or these waa tha iVa :;.. ,'r'' "me" In the Maybon i"?5-'" '"ft bana was) oalll Into consulta- of a very old. worn- - ls4 . ,r- wh ., th. He darted there one of '"(rations of tha tbotw fir,t he Jobbers who "'M-1 "Vlrtr- ir , T lobbei "ported Vtt Th,, Ut th" bundrtd i r,e "l-eneu before taa d- OU can't commit so many merry little murders nowadays as you could a few years back; the boys don't care so much for this form of violence," said the man in charge of the detective output of the blggeat New York publishing house given over to cheap weekly literature. "The tendency la toward the unravelling of crimes by scientific methods. In the days of Old Broadbrim, Old Sleuth and Old Cap Collier yon eouldB't get out a successful detective story unless you had an average of one kill to every three pages, but this is being gradually done away with. "Tha half dozen men who write detective stories for the weakly libraries and by tha way, these are nickel novels, not dime novels, though I suppose the older terra always will cling to them are appreciating the fact that the schoolboy of to-day Is an intellectual ad vancement over his daddy, and, consequently, you couldn't hold his Interest by introducing the gun, the knife and the poison bottle whenever you run short of a sensible plot "The boys want mystery stories, and the detective who can solTe these mysteries quickest and most ef fectively is the sleuta the youngsters will remember with their five cent pieces on publication day. Why, it has got so that In one of the recent detective stories, which centres around tha doings of the present day favorite, the boss ferreter worked out th entire prob lem without leaving Ids office, getting at the truth by .the question and answer process and applying his de ductions until they fitted the facts. This is a good deal healthier for toe boy reader and, incidentally, the change baa resulted in attracting to the detective story another class of readers made np of lawyers and professional men, who find plenty of mental relaxation In following the fortunes of the thief takers who bold the public attention to-day. '- "The nickel novel la now got op In more attractive form than was its predecessor. Vat one thing, there is a colored cover lo place of the old black and white wood cut that was for long such an artistic horror. The publishing bouses pay sgood deal of attention to externals, and It pays to give the boys something neat and tasty, for they are a very Important part of the reading public, and their support of a nickel library is not to be sneered at by the business office." "Who is writing the detective stories of to-day V "We have one man who does nothing else. His mind has been trained along these peculiar lines, and he baa acquired a style that the boys seem to delight in. We keep him about a dozen numbers ahead of ac tual publication, for we can't afford to slip up in our weekly output. Sometimes, when be is Indisposed, we assign the Job to another member of the staff, but aa a rule it is one man who does the work, "The detective story, however, is not the one that beads the list of popular productions for young fel lows. As a matter of fact, the library that sella best is one that exploits the dohiga of a boy. That Is what the boys like most to read about something another boy Just likt themselves has done. Of .course they are filled with admiration for the achievements of the great detectives of Action, but they always feel that they'll have te wait until they grow up before they can successfully emulate thce heroes. In the case of the boy bero It Is different Every young reader feels be '-nlicate the performances of this youthful paragon, and that la why the weekly sales of the li brary are enormous." "What does thla boy hero do 7" "Everything a healthy boy ought to do. He is the champion baseball player and the best football player and the most satisfactory all round athlete his coun try can product. Ha is the sort of a lad Jack Hark- , Popping the Question "To-night f speak to your father, dearest. What had I better sayr "Well, hadn't you better first call hla attention to the penalties for assault, manslaughter and murder?" away was. and there never was a more popular chap than that same Jack of glorious memory. He has all sorts of adventures at the school at Fardale, Conn. an Imaginary Institution and later when he goes to Vale." "How long has he been thrilling the boy public?" "For eleven years." "And can you successfully hold him at the boy age for an Indefinite period? Is he a aort of five cent Peter Pan?" "Oh, no; he grows up Just like other boys. He grows up naturally, and each week be Is a week older than he was in the previous number. You couldn't appeal to the boys In any other way." "But won't he reach an age limit In time, when be can no longer take part in purely Juvenile ex periences?" "Of course." "Then what will you do stop your library?" "Oh, no, we'll dig up a younger brother and take him along a route similar to the oue the present favor ite has travelled. If s the usual thing. Don't you re member bow Sir Conan Doyle gracefully brought on Mycroft, a brother of Sherlock Holmes, wbeu he had about exhausted the adventures of Sherlock? That gives the author an opening. You watch nut for some Mycroft Holmes stories some of these daya." "What kind of a man writes these stories that are ao well thought of by the boys?" "A boy's man. He lives in Maine and spends most of his time with the younger generation. He enters into all their sports and is as enthusiastic in boat building or baseball playing aa any youngster of fifteen. He understands his people, and so bis people understand him. Incidentally, ha baa made a very good thing out of his books. In a money way, and could afford to live for the rest of bis life without writing a single line or doing a stroke of work. Bat he isn't that kind. He wants to talk each week to hla great boy audience, and I think he'll continue be ing a boy himself till his hair turns white." to a tree. Neither could he get slfibt Of any WCUanj " ' H. Hall letterheads. He pretended to take measure ments and asked Mrs. Morrow for a sheet of paper to note down his figures. She produced plant plC ' of notepaper, and the policeman, was baffled agaln.- . Two days later, while Carey was still watching the ; bouse and meditating new plans, Mrs. Kort9W ud- deuly began making preparations to move. Carey -found from the transfer company that ahe waa going : to the neighboring town of Peek skill, a haul so short ' that she Intended to take her goods by wagon in- ' stead of by train. The detectives watched the ease; of that tyie writer go into tbe van at Mamaroneck; watched It taken out at tbe new house in PeekskUL -, . Two days afterward, when ahe was getting settled. " they saw Hall, with whose face they bad got ae- t quatnted, walk up the front path, ring tbe doorbell and enter tbe bouse. ' The psychological moment had come. Carey sprang t , ,' his mine. Accompanied by MacConeaghy. a detee- tive, who can use a typewriter, he called on lira, - 1 Morrow and stated the whole case plainly to her. -., "And the best thing you can do," aald Carey, "Is to t let me look at all your letter paper and give me sam , pies from that typewriter." Mrs. Morrow became a . volcano of wrath, then an Iceberg of angry reserve. The police might do as they pleased, sb said; she , knew nothing of any poisoned candy; they bad no rights outside of New York; she . ould thank him to leave the house at once. As Carey stood at the door, ' "Jollying her." be saya, Hall entered the room. Carey, who had been waiting for thla, stepped up and slapped Hall on the shoulder. , - "Why. Mr. Hall," he said, "don't you know ma? 1 used to know you when you were in the bat business on Beaver street. Remember T" And Carey rattled off a string of reminiscences of Hall'a early Ufa. Hall started like a man caught in the act Carey pressed bis advantage. Mrs. Morrow waa in a very , unfortunate position. It would be best foi ber to be ( frank, else the New York police would have to use other methods. Hall turned to Mrs. Morrow. "I think yon bad better let them see everything," be said. ' "Then show me all tbe paper you have In tba houss, said Carey. They went from room to room, Mrs. Morrow over looking all the places where paper might b kept nntfl Carey pointed them out to ber. In a bureau drawer at the top of tbe honse he fonnd a pad, letter tlse, with the letterhead of William H. Hall. Tearing off a sample, Carey bustled Mrs. Morrow into the parlor and asked ber to open tbe typewriter. "It la locked," said ahe, "That's easily remedied," said Carey, and he tore off the hasp. Before either she or tbe hesitating and troubled Hall could get breath MacCeneagby waa seated and waa running off capital W'a, By a ges ture Mrs. Morrow Invited Hall outside, Carey Im mediately drew out tbe Maybon letter and dictated its text to his assistant. Wben MacCoueaghy bad finished it Carey sat down to the typewriter and be gan to stab tbe keys, imitating with unpractised hand tbe aound of the machine at work. At tbe same moment he winked at MacConeaghy. The tatter, tag. lng the cne, stepped to the door and listened. And be beard Mrs. Morrow say: "Quick! Don't you know that it will be used In court?" A minute later Hall, evidently lashed to courage, burst In and ordered tbe detectives out "Oh, very well." aald Carey, carelessly. "But give me that paper!" said Hall, matching at the typewritten sample. Carey evaded him. thrust the paper in hla pocket, and hurried out to tbe near est telepboue. On the way he compared the sample with the Maybon letter. The resemblance in the broken W's snd the faulty alignment was perfect V. Any one conld sea that they came from one and tba same typewriter. And here I begin to spring tbe solution. Arrived , at the telephone, Carey called up tbe hospital on Ward's Island, got Dr. Maybon, and naked him not to let Miss Campbell leave the island nor get to a tele phone. For Miss Campbell, not Mrs. Morrow nor yet Mr. Hall, bad been hla suspect from tha very first Probably you are surprised at this. 1 bope that , you are, because I have been doing my beat to conceal It. Tbe writer of tbe Sherlock Holmes school always omits one strong psychological factor Intuition and one practical factor experience. Tbe lutultlon of Carey told him, as soon as be had talked half an hour with Miss Campbell, that her sttitude wasn't straight; that abe was conceal ing something. His experience bad taught him that in three-quarters of such cases tbe victim la also i the criminal. One who has never done police work ' as detective or reporter does not know bow many hysterical women and girls accuse others of des perate attempts at crime which they have "planted" themselves. Wben it is reported that this or that young girl baa been found lying unconscious la a shed, exhausted from her struggle with bandits who have held her captive, tbe experienced police captain never looks for the bandits until he has put tbe girl . through the third degree. Tbe anonymous letters; the crudely poisoned candy all, to an experienced policeman, pointed to Miss Campbell aa the sole per petrator of this attempt at crime. Betides, I have purposely omitted one fact which came out late la tba ' Investigation. On August 4. tbe day when tbe anonymous letter to Dr. Maybon was mailed, Miss Campbell was off tbe Island on leave. Carey proceeded at once to Ward's Island and called on Miss Campbell. She came down in a fresh evening dress, to alt through three hours of the third degree. Slowly Carey wormed It out of her. She ad mitted the letter first. She bad written it aurrepti tlously on Mrs. Morrow's typewriter. Stage by stage she admitted buying the candy. But rever would she say, "I did It." He got her over to the Detective Bureau the next afternoon. There they sat from four , to nine before she aald the word. Eveu then she gave few details. She bad got tbe arsenic from the - , hospital dispensary "to poison rats." She had taken the candy. Just after abe bought it. to the women's room of a department store, unwrapped It. sprinkled t with arsenic and wrapped It up again. There was a writing desk "for tbe convenience of patrons" near -' at band. She had written the address on a piece of . ' store paper, cnt it out and fastened It on with tbe ; -stamps. ; "But why did you do It?" asked Carey. "I don't know," said Mtss Campbell. "I just doa't know." 7 ' 7' And although Carey has his own explanation for It this is probably a better reasou than any that be ', gives. They never do know. '- ,.- 4
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 24, 1909, edition 1
11
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