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About The Plattsmouth daily herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1883-19?? | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1891)
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A STUANGK PASSKXUKIL When my p.uket nliip, the Ilermione, was preparing to sail from I,i verrxx.l for Neyv Yoik I was w:trn-l to take pre cautions aaint receiving as p.-isseiier a certain .Mary Youngson, who, while nursing her Mck hushand a man con siderably ln-r senior had poisoned him to death, laid hold of all the money and valuables k1m cotiM get and then had made off. It wjis thought that Khe would try to leave England on Home out ward liound ship most likely for Amer ica, where she had friends and there fore I sharply wrutinizod the passen gers, eight in number, who were brought off to my vessel in a tender. Ah they Htepped aboard 1 was relieved to perceive that none of them tallied with the description I had obtained of Misa Youngson, who, I was told, was a beautiful woman, over thirty-five years of age, about 5 feet 6 inches in height and very slender, with brown hair, dark eyes and a clear complexion. She had been born ami educated abroad, but her fattier had been an Englishman and an amateur actor, from whom she had in herited a remarkable capacity for de ceiving jieople as to her character. Two of the female p.issengers who now came aboard were married ladies, and of dark complexion. There were also two young women of about twenty-one; one a Miss Lorton, plain and stout; the other, Miss Merwin, slender and tall, apparently not less than 5 feet 9 inches, with tho most childish, innocent looking face, for one of her age, that I ever saw. She had brown hair and eyes, small, babylike features, and smooth, glowing cheeks, which were constantly dimpled with smiles. As she slightly lifted her long skirt we saw that instead of shoes or loots sho wore ornamented buskins of some kind of soft leather, which made no noise when she walked. Afterward we heard that she wore them because she had lately sprained her feet 1 and could not yet Ijear harder leather. From the first I could see that my son Tom, a young man of twenty-five, and chief officer, was greatly impressed by this girl. lie had always liked tall women, and anything babyish" in their looks or manners particularly pleased him. Still, . I was surprised at the end of one short week after wo sailed to learn that he toad actually projosed to her and been accepted. "She is so artless, so ingennons, so free from guile of any kind," said he, "that yon cau real her heart at once! We are to lie married on coming back to Liverpool at the house of her aunt, who is exiK'oting her. With her usual childish frankness she informed me that, although having a small fortune in three per cents, left to her by her father, who was a merchant, she is at present short of cash which would hinder her from purchasing, on landing, certain little articles she desired toward a wedding outfit. I was so touched by her shy, in fantile way, blended witli timid distress at having to tell me this, that I at once went to my room and procured the ,000 United States bond, which you know I lately bought with ii;y savings, and gave it to her, telling her where she could get it cashed, and bade her then take out of it whatever she needed." "Why, Tom, you don't say so?" I cried, rather startled. "Of course," he answered. "Why not? We are engaged, and it ought to be the same about money matters as if we were married." lie went below, and I sat long in the clear moonlight, thinking it over in as a hast', foolish piece of business, when suddenly I was startled by the cry of the lookout forward. "Sail, ho! right ahead!" The stranger a large ship put her helm a-port, so I had no louft she would pass us safely enough; but as she was going by, her helmsman raising his wheel too soon, her bow swung oH, and her jibboom caught under my spanker sheet, lifting the spar and snappiugit off with a crash. There was noiso and confusion as we worked brikly to keep the two vessels apart and prevent further damage, in the midst of which several of the passen gers came running up, somewhat fright ened, to find out what the matter was. "It is nothing; we are all right now!" I cried, to reassure them, as the other hip swung clear of us. Miss Merwin ha a emergea irom tne tnpanionw.iy after the others, and as I looked toward her form, distinctly re vealt d by the moonlight and one of the lanterns I stood stoc:c still in the utmost astonishment, for, as true as I am a liv ing man, her stature now seemed at least three inches shorter than I had hitherto seen it. I was the only one who noticed her at that time, and on meeting my gaze she drew back as quick as a flash and van ished in the cabin. The strange phenomenon I had wit nessed for a moment almost took away my breath. My whole mind was fixed upon this ono thing, and when my son came up a few hours later to take the deck I described the singular change I had noticed in Miss Merwin's stature. lie stared at me at first as if he thought me mad, then broke out into an incredu lons laugh, saying that my eyes or the ..... t..r itini l-fd i.t r i ; 1 J . . .. V.il ... at brea f.;..i J ' might see f i.'.o.'-.. Two hours later the second mate came up to relieve Tom, who then went be low. The officer, seeing mo seated in a reverie on the quarter .deck, walked amidships, where hu stood looking care lessly forward. All at once, judge of my surprise when, on raising my head, I beheld, leaning against tho rail near me, a per son I had never seen before a slender, middle aged man, of rather low stature, with hair covering nearly every part of the face excepting the eyes, which glit tered like li j-i-l 1.1 1 Is in the moonlight! "Why, halloa! Who are you? Where did you come from?" I cried. "Pray don't excite yourself," he cooly answered. "I am a detective, and trot aboard in the harbor through the con nivance of one of your crew I am not going to tell you whic h one who also supplies me with food. I have been all along in the stateroom next to Miss Mer win's, with my carpetbag. Had you looketl in the room yon would have seen me, but you probably missed the key, or thought it was lost." "That is true; but" "Here is my warrant," he interrupted, handing me a paper, which, on reading it by the lantern's light, I jierceived was a signed document, apparently from tho proper authorities, instructing John Clews, the bearer, a detective, to con ceal himself aboard the Hermione and act as he might see fit in his endeavor to detect the murderess. Miss Youngson, who it was suspected was a passenger in disguise aboard the vessel. "She is here," was his confident reply when I remarked that there must bo 3ome mistake. "I have not watched through the hole I bored in the partition for nothing." " Why, man!" I cried, aghast, " she ;annot be the guilty one. She is inno cence itself as artless as a child. Be sides, she is very tall and young, whereas I have leen told that the murderess was much shorter and nearly twice as old." He laughed in a way which to me was indescribably disagreeable. " It is not Miss Merwin I allude to," he said. " You will remember that the stateroom of Miss Lorton is also next to mine." " What!" I exclaimed, almost as much surprised as before, you suspect that stout young lady who ?" " I don't suspect," he interrupted ; " I know her to e the criminal." "But she is young, plain and stout; the accused woman was slender" "Bah!" he again interrupted. "Dis guise! That will explain all. It is easy for a woman of that kind to make her self look younger and stouter than she really is. Should we fall in with a good Liverpool bound ship I shall arrest this woman and take her on board of it with me. I will go back to my room now. You maj or may not see me again be fore we sight a home bound craft." With that he glided like a shadow into the cabin. "Now, then, I had something to keep me awake, to drive all thoughts of turn ing in from my mind. So, after all, that woman, that terrible murderess, was aboard my ship! I commenced to walk the deck in no pleasant frame of mind, and the morn ing light stole around me before I was aware that the hour was so late. When breakfast was ready in the cabin Miss Merwin was .absent from her ac customed place at the table. During the progress of the meal I looked more than once at Miss Lorton the stout young lady who, the detective had positively as serted, was Mary Youngson, the jioisoner. Tho quiet dignity and composure of her manner, the frank, honest expression of her face, and its undeniable plainness, seemed to mo so natural, so real, that I marveled how the detective contrived to penetrate through so perfect a disguise. Feeling tired out after breakfast I slept until near noon. When 1 went on deck Tom was super intending the repairing of the spanker boom. "It is very strange," he said to me uneasily-, "Miss Merwin ha3 not yet shown herself." The day wore on without our seeing her. Even at supper time she did not make her appearance. Tom looked pale and concerned. Final ly he went and knocked at her door, calling her name. There was no re sponse. "I do not know what to make of it," he said to me on deck. "Oh, father!" he added wildly, "is it possible she can have suddenly died?" "I don't think so," I answered; "she seemed to be in good health" and then thought to myself, "Were it not that we are where we are, and she a different sort of person. I might suspect that she had absconded with your money." As night approached her non-appearance excited general comment, and I was advised to break open the door, which was locked. I did so, and we found her room empt. Her trunk was still there, but she was gone. My son looked at me as pale as death. "My God! what can have become of her?" he groaned. In fact, it certainly was a very pecu liar case, and coupled with my previous observation of the strange shortening of the woman's stature it seeing to me to partake almost of the supernatural. 'May she not have gone on deck last night and fallen overboard?" inquired one of the passengers. "Impossible!" I answered. "It was clear moonlight. I was on deck all night, and besides, I had good lookouts posted about the ship. The thing could not have happened unknown to us." We looked to see if we might not find a note or something explanatory, but in vain. Then I ordered a thorough search to be made throughout the ship. This was done; but no, she was not to be found, though every nook and corner was looked into. Then it occurred to me to speak to the detective about it, and as soon as I could do so unobserved I knocked at his door. He cautiously opened it, but on seeing who was there he invited me in. :t:j v.-!::t !'! hapfiened. net C-v, cliae I Ii.vd previously noticed i:i iu : ; young lady's height. As I proceeded I observed that his keen eyes seemed to grow larger, while the thick beard that covered the face of this singular ninn ke;t twitching, as if every hair was i 11- sliuet with life, i "(Jive me ti.ui"," h; said solemnly, ; when 1 had finili ;d, "an 1 1 will solve j this mystery. In a lew days I may be able to do it ierlia.s not for a week." I left hitu and yvent on deck. Tom was th'T , looking s downcast an 1 for lorn that 1 resolve 1 to acquaint him with the presence of the delecti ve, and t -i 1 him what he said, and so, perhaps, brighten him up a little. I did so, but my words had an effect I had not expected. ReJlecting a moment, he cried out: "Father, I believe that man is a humbug! But whether he be a de tective or not, I noyv suspect that he is a thief and a murderer; that he knew of Miss Merwin's having that &1.000 bond. and that in order to possess himself of it he has killed her and thrown her body overboard! I stared at him in amazement, am told him I feared that his grief had dis turbed his reason. How was it io.ssible, I asked him, that the man could have got the body overboard without our knowing it? "He could have choked her to death, carried her to one of the open cabin win doyvs, and dropped her through that,' he replied. "Impossible," I answered, "without the splash being overheard by the man at tho wheel, or by some one on deck, Besides, I doubt if he could have squeezed the body through either of out cabin windows, which, you know, are very small." Tom, however, seemed to think it could have been done, owing to Miss Merwin being so slender, and in spite of all my efforts, I could not entirely rid his mind of that horrible idea. Days passed, for we had headwinds. which kept us off our course; but as j'et the detective had nothing to tell me though he said he soon might bo able to explain the whole affair. A strange affair enough. Never before had I such an experience, or anything approaching to it, in any craft I com manded. The passengers were equally puzzled; it was the talk of all aboard the ship. As for Tom, ho grew paler, thinner, wilder every day. At last, one afternoon, when we had entered St. George's channel, he came up to me and said, in a husky voice: "ItisasI thought! Quick! I have something to show you! Make no noise!" I followed him. We both wore light slippers, and without noise entered the room Miss Merwin had occupied. He pointed to a crevice, which he had evi dently made in the partition, and look ing through it I saw the detective in the next apartment, Kneeling by ms open carpet bag, from which noyv protruded the identical buskins I could not mis take them which Miss Merwin had worn. Spread out before him he held a $"),00t) bond evidently the one which my son had given to the young lady! "You see," he whispered. "Was I not right? lie has murdered and robbed her!" Loyv as tho whisper was the man evi dently heard it, for he pushed the bus kins, and after them the bond, hastily down into the bag, which he then closed. Before I could hinder him Tom rushed out and threw himself against the de tective's dour with a force which broke the lock and admitted him into the room. He flew at the man, clutched him and shook him, when the felloyv drew a dirk, but in his futile struggles to use it for I held his wrist and soon disarmed him his beard fell oil, showing it was a false one, and at the same time his shirt bosom was torn away about the throat. Then both Tom and I uttered a simulta neous cry of surprise on perceiving that this pretended detective was a woman over thirty-five years of age or, in other words, it was Miss Merwin herself de prived of the cosmetics and other appli ances which had, while in the natural attire of her sex, made her look so much younger than she was. The whole truth broke upon me at once. This woman I suspected was in reality Mary Youngson, the murderess, for her face and height noyv answered to the description I had of her, and we found, while looking for my son's bond in her carpet bag, some articles bearing her name, and others marked with that of her victim. In fact, afterward, while ill, she confessed to being Mary Young son. Her motive in disguising herself was apparent. She had feared, after I dis covered the strange shortening of her stature, that I might suspect who slie really was; and besides, the ruse would, she thought, enable her the better to escape from Tom and get off with his $o,000. The mystery of her having as Miss Merwin looked so much taller than she really was we found explained by her buskins, which proved, like those sometimes worn by actors on the stage, to be provided with very thick cork soles, to give an appearance of elevation to the stature. On the night she so astonished me by the difference in her height she had, in her hurry and alarm, come up in her slippers, having forgotten to put on her buskins. It is hardly necessary to say that the detective's warrant she had shown me was forged, written by herself; nor scarcely need it be mentioned that Tom was now disgusted with this woman and entirely cured of his infatuation. Subsequently she died of a malignant fever while being conveyed a prisoner back to England thus escaping the pun ishment she so richly merited for her odions crime, although there were not wanting those- who stoutly maintained that the charge had by no means been conclusively brought home to her. How ever, after occupying the public mind for more than the proverbial nine days, the "Youngson Case," as it was called, gave place to a fresher sensation. Ed ward Ut-ins in New Y'ork Press. A Clianse. "Are the surface cars still running?" "Oh. no. They stopped running ages TI "" 1 ...v." 2Ir.iif"ev'? If How a Gtr-ut Rteelyardu Suit Knrfed. Two Penobscot county farmers haci bought an old fashioned pair of stet-I-yards, each paying part of the cost, s-.nd both used them for weighing their produce for market. After a time a dis pute arose and both claimed to own them. The matter was carried into court. A trial was held before a jury, and the jury disagreed. Then the cast;, on some technicality, was sent to the law court, and was again sent back for trial. The costs up to this point had reached about oO(J, about a hundred times the original cost of the steelyards. W hen it came up again Judge Peters was the presiding justice. He told the counsel that, if continued, the costs would be increased to such an extent that one or the other of the parties would lose his farm in order to pay, and advised them to enter it "neither party," and divide the cost as it was. After a consultation the parties said that they were willing to do that, and it looked as though the case would be settled. All at once one of the contestants went over to nis counsel in the court room and asked: "But who is going to set the iteelyards? I'll be hanged if he shall have them." The other contestant made the same declaration. Then the counsel rose and said the case was just where it was before any talk of settlement had been made. They were willing to stop litigation and divide the cost, but "what could be done with the steelyards?" "I'll fix that," said Judge Peters. "Let the sheriff of the county take the steel yards at night and go doyvn and throw them into the middle of the river, let ting nobody know the exact spot, so they never can be recovered by any one." The contestants agreed to that proposi tion, each paid his proportionate part of the cost, and the case was dropped. Lewiston Journal. The Knell of a Broken Heart. In the shops of the C. H. and D. R. R. at Hamilton. O., is a cracked locomotive bell that has a history. It was attached to a locomotive presided over by a strong, manly, handsome engineer, whose great objects of pride and adoration were first his sweetheart and then his faithful en gine. He loved them both devotedl-, though of course in quite different ways. One day at Hamilton he stood in the cab of the engine, bell rope in hand, ready to move the lever and start the train, when he saw a bridal party approaching. He glanced at the bride; it was the girl he loved. His heart stopped beat ing, he gave a groan, and dropped dead. As he fell with the bell rope in his hand he gave the bell a loud ring that cracked it from top to bottom, and it was found afterward that he had died i literally of a broken heart. The bell i:i the shops at Hamilton is still called "the bell of the broken heart." St. Louis lie public. Wealth for Future Gpiierati.ns. In southern Oregon there is a forest 10,000 miles in extent. wu; . u e-ti:i:..t-d amount of merchant.;.::.- t..:iix-r of !.. 000.000.0u0 feet. At ten dollars per thou sand feet the proceeds would pay our dbt twice over. Boston Globe. SP MM CL VUltXlSHINC GOODS, II ATS, ARRIVING EVERY --A.T JOE'S THE LEADING ONE PKICE CLOTHIER. -o - Do not buy until you have seen and inspected JOE'S MAMMOTH STOCK AND PRICES. IT WILL SAVE YOU MONEY. The iinest Htock of Spring- Clothing-, Furnishing Goods and Hats you ever seen in l'lattsmouth. o- OIFIEIR HOUSE OOIRItTIEIR, County Court. Miss Olive Horning appointed administratrix estate Christian:! Hornitiijf, deceased. Miss Olive Horiiiii- appointed guardian for Ulanclie Horning, mi nor child of Cornelius and Christi ana Horning, deceased. Final settlement estate Charles M. Holmes, deceased. Accounts of administrator allowed and decree accordingly. .Last will ana testament 01 lesse IJ. K3'an filed for protest. The Viinaranam replevin suit win come up 111 judge .fYrciicrs court to-morrow morning at 9, 10 and 11 before a jury. A fine entertainment is booked for the 31. E. church Friday evening May 1. All the latest styles 111 spring and summer liats, also llowers and rib bons just received at Tucker Sis ters in Slieryvood's store. tf The Odd Fellows of Western Ioyva arc linving a great time over at CrcRton. We understand some of our Plattsmouth Odd Fellows will be in attendance. Mr. Gorder mfoinis us that the canning lactory win not turn a r a . wheel this year, as a result of the appeal which was filed a few days ago from the decission of the dis trict court. This is indeed an 1111 fortunate affair for this city- as the canning lactory mrnisneu em ployment to more people that need ed the money than any other in- dustrj in the citj-. PURE i;:APLE SUGAR aud Syrup. Low or ices quoti d pu inri,c or small lots Strictly Pure. Adironiic: Maple Sugar Co 1230 Monroe et., Chicago. 111. i'ULLEii A: Wjrcrr A -nti. "H tvy A pamphlet of Information and ab- lfmm' 1 BtracVof tbe laws, showing liow to .v0.b.,u,,n Pa'ent. Caveat , Trade ' V-Marks, Ooprriehta, tent free. 7 yWAMnm munn a. co.yf 5361 BroRdwar. Jp.C v .... FA. Till 1 tp ETC D AY 19. ETERSE1T & LAHS01T. THE LEADING GROCERS HAVE THE MOST COMPLETE STOCK IN THE CITY. EVERYTHING - FRESH - AND - IN - SEASON ATTENTION FARMERS We want your Poultry, Eggs, Hut ter and your farm produce of all kinds, we will pay you the highest cash price as we are buying for a iirn in Eincoln. Petersen & Larson THE LEADING GROCERS Plattsmouth - - Nebraska. The Citizens BANK PLATTSMOUTH . NEBRASKA Oayital stock paid in 50 0 0 Authorized Capital, SIOO.OOO. oFFicKKs KKANK CAUttUTU. JOS. A. CONNOK President. Vice-President W. U. CUSHINQ. Cashier. DIRECTORS frank Carruth J. a. Connor. F. K. Gutbnianr I. W. Johnson, Henry Boeck, John O'Keefe W. D. Mcrriarn, Wm. Wetencamp, W. H. Cushtng. EiKSACTSIA GENERAL BANKING EUSiNES ues cejtiflcates of Buys and tell, exiti. ntv 5 ""Wet l1pnn.it. V. . 1 city sureties, JJAWSON & PEARHK Carry e Fuji Iine or FIXE 111LLESERY AND CIJIZ. DRENS CLOTHING. ALSO FKESH CLT FLGWEKS ROOM 2. R LEV BLOCK. Plattmocth Shiloh's couirh and rnnc '7. V V 1 .V ' m - . 'J ' ' f - T '1 , iii 'I irtl v v h r 1 if;;' 1 A ?J '; J 1 li cure is .old by us on a It cures consumption. For f F. G. Fricke & Co', and 0. 11 Sny l! 1 v.-