I MURDER MYSTERY PROVING BAD TANGLE FOR
> POLICE OF MASSACHUSETTS TO UNRAVEL
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THE PAGE HOUSE—DOTTED LINE SHOWS THE ROUTE THE MURDERER TOOK, ENTERING THE
FRONT DOOR, GOING THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM AND UFSTAIRS TO MISS PAGE’S ROOM
WHERE SHE WAS KILLED,
FACTS OF THE CRIME.
The murderer knew the home and
the family thoroughly.
There was no robbery, no assault
and no apparent object in the mur
der.
The story of injury to the brother
chows careful premeditation.
The mutilating slashes made after
ieath snows that it was not the
work cf a hardened crim na!.
No tracks, stains or clues of any
sort have been found in the house.
Stabbed in the back with a great
hvo-euged knife that pierced h^r
'rigs, and slashed in the throat until
her jugular vein was severed, to
live the deed an appearance cf sui
cide, and with eleven other * rriule
stabs and clashes, Miss Mabel Page,
daughter < f Edward Pag..'. f.> a.r mil
lionaire of EostOB. was in-wf foully
murdered in her father s h me in
Weetou. Mass., March 21.
When her father return J t •. the
home at 2.30 in the afternoon, after
a trip to Eoston, he found the lejuse
unlocked and this note on a table
in the sitting room on the first door:
“ Brother Harold has been injured
and I have gone to the Massachusetts
General Hospital to see him.
* Mabel.”
The aged father made a hurried
search of the house, realizing his
daughter would not hav « I 'ft the
house unlocked. In her room he
found her, lying full length upon the
floor beside her bed, with arms out
stretched, fully dressed for the .street,
even to hat and jacket, and he saw
a terrible gash across her throac from
ear to ear. Mr. Page thought his
daughter had killed herself or at
tempted to do go. and he ran to the
nearest house, half a mtle away, to
telephone for medical assistance.
There is not on record in the Com
monwealth an instance of such a
cruel. brutal, unprovoked anil terribly ,
mysterious crime as this ami the !
keenest wits < f the State police and
others are at work in vain for some
clue, some slight thing upon which
they may build a theory that will
stand, but all to no purpose.
Tlre.se arc the wounds the under
taker found: A stab in the back that
penetrated the left lung. This would
have proved fatal, and it shows the
murderer first struck the woman from
behind. Thru there was a stab in
the centre ot her breast, just below
her neck, that would have proved
fatal, and shows the man struck a
second blow as the woman fell. There
are four wounds upen her right hand,
showing where she put her hand to
ward off the weapon.
In the throat were three slashes,
or.? of which severed the jugular vein
and half severed the head. The others
were vicious deep slashes, apparently
made to give an appearance of suicide,
which only one in a murderous frenzy
would be unwise enough to make.
In the left side was a deep stab
ana in the right side of the abdomen
were three stab wounds, all deep
and all of which would have singly
proved fatai.
In all. the brutal fiend who killed
the defenseless woma«. left alone
in her father's home, delivered thir
teen telling blows, and at least seven
of them were wild, maniacal slashes
of mutilation delivered after the
woman was dead.
And yet. with ail these wounds, the
dead woman lay with her clothes on.
in such a fashion that the father and
two physicians failed to realize she
had been murdered, as the throat
slashes were all they could see. Re
markable in the extreme is the fact
that there was not a cupful of blood
upon the floor where the dead woman
Ifcy.
She bled internally, the physicians
declared, which explains the extra
ordinary absence of blood stains. The |
murderer so slashed and mutilated
the body that internal bleeding was
made possible and the blood flowed
internally easier than it came from
the thirteen wounds.
The t woman apparently had been
informed that her brother, who worked
in Boston, had been injured in an ;
accident, and taken to a hospital, i
She was preparing to leave at once i
for Boston when she met her death.
A note written by her explaining that
she was going to her brother's aid
was found on a table. The brother,
however, was found to be in good I
health.
_
STOOD ON HIS DIGNITY.
Patent Commissioner Has Exalted
Opinion of Himself.
Patent Commissioner Allen is im
pressed with the dignity of his posi
tion. A few days ago a young man
came into his office, took off his hat
and said: “Mr. Allen, may I speak
with you a moment?” Allen eyed the
visitor coldly. “Sit down.’ he said.
‘ and I will attend to you in a few min
utes.” Then he went out and talked
with a representative or two and
some other visitors. Finally he turn
ed to the young man and said: “Come
into my private office.” Once there.
Mr. Allen looked severely at the young
man and said: “I observed when you
came in that you called me ‘Mr. Al
len.’ Do you know. sir. that I am
the commissioner of patents for the
United States?”
Enjoys Dancing at Ninety-six.
Mrs. Ann Randall of Langhorne,
Pa., celebrated ner ninety-sixth birth
day by giving a party at which she
danced several times in as lively a
manner as anyone present. Among
those sft the hall were a dughter. five
sons, twenty grandchildren and twenty
eight great-grandchildren.
THE VIRGINIA AND HER SPONSOR
The battleship Virginia was i
launched in Newport News, Virginia, j
April G. Miss Matilda Gay Montague,
daughter of the Governor of Virginia. ;
officiated as sponsor at the launching, j
The Virginia is the most recently
designed battleship of the United
States navy, and embodies the highest
ingenuity and maturest experience of
naval experts. She is the first of five
battleships that are being built on1
the one model. In the group is shown
a picture of the ship, as she will ap
pear when completed, and one of Miss
i Montague.
Prof. Haeckel Is Modest.
To escape onerous congratulations
on the occasion of his seventieth
birthday, Prof. Ernest Haeckel has
been spending the winter ai Rapallo, I
in the French Riviera. Ke is as ac
tive as a man of 40. In a recent letter
Haeckel protests against being called
a savant. Germany, he says, “is fall
of professors who are more learned,
who have read more books thaa I !
have. My lifelong aim has been par
ticularly to study one big book—
nature.’*
Laboratory of Applied Physiology.
The municipal council of Paris has
adopted a proposal of M. Bussat for
the foundation of a laboratory of ap
plied physiology. M. Bussat has him
self sketched out a scheme of the
work which should be undertaken in
such a laboratory, relating to the ali
mentary value of foodstuffs, muscu
lar work, intoxication, etc., and he
suggests that the director should give
publicity to the work of the labora
tory by means of a course of lectures
to the pupils of the professional and
normal schools of Paris.
% ' v' It'.'.'
Making Carpets in India.
The finest carpets in India are pro
duced at Amritsar, and between 4,000
and 5,000 people are engaged in their
manufacture. These operators are not
collected in factories as with us, but
work in their own homes. The looms
are usually set up in the doorways,
through which the only light can en
ter the houses, and as you pass up
and down the streets you see women
and men, even children, at work at
the looms, for every member of the
family takes a turn.
A Brotherly Opinion.
The crown prince of Germany and
his younger brother, Prince Eitel
Fritz, are much dissimilar in charac
ter and disposition, the latter being
exteremely retiring and greatly im
pressed with the necessity for com
plying with parental authority. The
crown prince, on the contrary, on sev
eral occasions has suffered through
disobeying his august father. The
headstrong heir apparent once told a
friend that Prince Eitel was "a very
good boy, bat not the stuff that kings
i are made of."
Two Eyes Not Needed.
It is said that "Si” Basch of Savan
nah, Ga., a typical sportsman of the
old-time south, may visit some of the
Chicago race tracks this summer.
Basch lost an eye years ago, but he
says he does not feel his loss much.
"\ou see,” he explains whimsically,
“it is so easy to pick winners nowa
days that I don’t need two eyes.” He
is said to have left his mark among
the bookmakers at Bennings track,
Washington, having been remarkably
successful.
Threatened Revival of Chignon.
Mme. Marie Paille, the autocrat of
Parisian hairdressers, has decided
that the hideous chignon is to come
in again. All of feminine France
doubtless will bow in submission to
this decree, Englishwomen will fall
into line and it is not to be thought
that Uncle Sam’s daughters will lag
behind. The chignon has been des
cribed as “about on a par, as a bar
baric ornamentation, with the nose
ring and the jingling bracelet. It is
unsanitary and provocative of scalp
diseases.”
IGNORANCE IN BRITISH GUIANA.
Indian Woman Falls a Victim to
Heathen Superstition.
A ghastly tale of heathen supersti
tion was recently unfolded at the
criminal session of the supreme court
of Georgetown, British Guiana, when
the chief priest and “medicine man”
of the Wapishana tribe of Carib Indi
ans was charged with instigating the
murder of an Indian woman named
Kaliwa, who was in ill-health. The
priest, who was consulted, recom
mended that she should be stung with
ants and marabuntas. This was duly
carried out. But Kaliwa continued
to pine away, and the priest was again
consulted, with the result that he said
she had been possessed of an evil
spirit in the shape of a camodic
snake, and that the only means ol
dispossessing her was by burning hei
alive. The woman was thereupon
slung in a hammock and placed over a
pyre, which the husband of the woman
lit. When examined in court .Taruma
said he loved Kaliwa. but unless he
had done what the priest told him he
would have been afflicted with the
same malady, and so would all the
village. The jury returned a verdict
of guilty, with a strong recommenda
tion to mercy, and the priest was sen
teneed to death. Immediately after
ward. however, the governor granted a
reprieve.
IT IMPRESSED THE JURY.
Fall of Stovepipe Gained Verdict for
Eloquent Lawyer.
It was a characteristic of a certain
Tennessee colonel that when once his
oratory had begun to flow before the
jury nothing could stop it till the
fount was exhausted. On one oeca
sion he had just finished tearing his
opponent’s argument to tatters when
the court room stovepipe fell with a
crash.
"There,” cried the colonel, as the
clouds of soot arose, “there is a sim
iiie furnished by nature herself! Just
as that stovepipe has come unjointed
and fallen useless to the ground, so
my adversary's argument has fallen
with as loud a crash. One is not
more hollow than the other, or more
in need of polish.
"And, gentlemen of the jury, what
do these clouds of soot and smoke
resemble—those black masses smut
ting all they light upon—what do they
resemble more than the malicious li
bels and black scandals which my
adversary has poured into your ears,
and with which he has endeavored to
blacken the character of my client?”
His case had seemed hopeless, but
when he had finished the stovepipe
comparison the jury was converted,
and returned what became famous in
Western Tennessee as the “stove
pipe verdict,” in favor of the colonel’s
client.—Montreal Herald.
Better Avoid This.
To get all sorts of health fads on
the brain is a disease in itself. It is
a very prevalent disease, too. With •
few foolish rules to observe, a whole
lot of hygienic quirks to adjust to and
a schedule of superstitious sanitary
notions diligently followed by day and
dreamed of by night, is a malady
w’hich begins as a mental derange
ment and ends in a complete physical
fizzle. No room left for a spontane
ous life, no place for free, joyous lib
erty. Not a minute's space for rol
licking disregard. Everything fixed
every minute disposed of, introspec
tions without number. Forebodings,
misgivings, hovering vaguely about
the mind, like flocks of carrion crows.
Such a life is not worth living. One
might a thousand times better go sack
to the reckless regime of a rough
rider.—Chicago News.
Pearls as Birthday Presents.
The fashion of presenting a pearl to
mark the occasion of each birthday
anniversary is a pretty idea in addi
tion to being a sensible investment.
From childhood the three daughters
of the king and queen have each birth
day received a single beautiful pearl
from their parents. This idea has
been followed by numbers of society
mothers well endowed with this
world’s goods. There are many peo
pie from royalty downward who pos
sess magnificent strings of pearls.
Queen Alexandra, for instance, who
inherited from the late Queen Anne
some of the most beautiful pear
shaped pearls in existence. The new
Duchess of Norfolk has also by her
marriage become the possessor of
\rery lovely strings of pearls.
English City’s Tramway System.
The tramway system of Hull. Eng
land, is owned and operated by the
city. The cars are double-deckers and
the fare is Id. (two cents) on all lines
and for all distances. The financial
results of this low-fare system are
equally interesting. During the latest
cwelve months reported on there were
ten miles of double track, or twenty
miles of single track, in operation, j
The gross income is about $445,000; |
the cost of operation was about $233,
000. This left a gross profit of $212.
000, and, deducting interest on the in
vestment and the sinking sum, a net
profit of $122,000. or an average of
aver $12,000 a mile of double track,
which went into the city treasury.
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Crepe Worn at Many Funerals.
A day or two before the funeral of
Senator Hanna Postmaster Emerson
of Cleveland received by mail from C. j
J. Johnson of Greenville, Texas, a
small piece of crepe which had been
worn on several notable occasions. It
is part of the first that came out in
the army of the Potomac, and was
worn at the funerals of Lincoln,
Grant, Garfield, Logan, and several
minor celebrities. The knot in the
crepe has never been untied. Post
master Emerson wore it at the Hanna
funeral and then sent it back to its
owner in Texas.
“Mr. Barnes” Drawn From Life.
Archibald Clavering Gunter says the
leading character in his “Mr. Barnes
of New York,” a story of considerable
popularity a few years ago, was drawn
from life, the original being a rich
New Yorker named Banks. One day
Ounter and Banks were chatting about
books when the latter said jokingly:
"I wish yon would put me in a book
and make me interesting.” Gunter
promised to try, and the result was
the novel named.
i ■■ iMf—«niimmimi ninsiimi • sn nr ■ .v.issfflaief
PAPER MADE INTO
BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES
« MURAL DECORATIONS
The Gown of a Princess, as Gorgeous as
a Silken Robe of State—Whole
Houses Lined with Wonderful
Designs of Paper, j* jt ^ i
A nine hundred dollor paper gown
was the sensation of a recent cotton
and paper costume ball given by the
aristocracy of Brussels, says the New
York Times. This unique and costly
creation was worn by a princess of
the blood royal. The trappings of
the lay figures in paper pattern stores
are fashioned largely of tissue, while
this of their rival in the flesh was of
crepe paper, so skillfully, so deftly
made that it might easily be mistaken
for crepe de chine or any of the crink
! Iy fabrics now so fashionable.
"Is it possible to put $900 into the
making of a pape** dress?” was asked
o- the largest crepe and tissue paper
manufacturer in the world, whose
shop is in down town New York.
“Not impossible in Brussels, per
haps, but hardly possible in the United
States, was the reply. "The price of
such a costume would depend largely
upon the art with which it was fash
ioned and decorated rather than the
intrinsic value of the paper used.
There is no end, however, to the
money that may be put into a fancy
paper costume. The main cost is in
the decoration, which is largely floral.
As much art and skill and hand labor
are expended these days in the mak
ing of paper flowers as in the finest
outputs of muslin, silk or velvet used
in French millinery. The results ar
tistically are rapidly becoming no* a
whit less beautiful and equally as dur
able. The cost ol finest paper flow
ers is scarcely less than that of hot
house American Beauties or any
choice natural flower out of season,
it horticulture may he said now to
j iiave any season that is not its own.
i The value of the paper flower for
| most purposes lies in its lasting qual
i tty. The Brussels dress was doubt
purely decora.ive, but are being util
ized for every day wear in the shape
of kimonos, hats or boas. The paper
hat, once restricted to the stage or
found in bonbons or at children’s par
ties, is now seen on the head of fash
ion, not only at social functions, but
in the street.
The extent to which paper flowers
are used by florists in church and
house wedding decorations is a secret
of the trade. In window and ceiling
decorat ions they are most effective
and defy detection. The makers have
the satisfaction of beholding the
“queens of the garden” and the petted
offsprings of hothouse culture wilt
and perish on every side, while the
products of their art reign supreme.
The decorative possibilities of paper
| in table and house decoration extend
from lamp and electric bulb shades to
lambrequins and curtains.
The decorations in one of the most
«■ ■ 1 -ii _
. ..
quickly and is as strong and durable
as machine sewing. The deep flount e
or valance hanging from the frame of
the bed meets the spread, giving the
finishing touch to the whole. The
flounce is made of plain pink paper.
The plain paper also comes in ten
foot rolls, but is only twenty inch* -
wide. The canopy is draped in thtj
plain pink with the brocade forming
the lambrequin effect over the top.
The bolster roll is covered with one
width of the brocade and tied with
bunches of wide pink satin ribbon.
To make the curtains for ordinary
bedroom windows cut a strip of the
brocade the length of the window,
then split it into three parts. Like
wise cut the plain pink into three
strips. By deftly pulling the edg> -
through the fingers a ruffle effect is
secured. Hang the plain pink over
white scrim or lace curtains. Then
over the plain pink, leaving the ruf
m
In the C<
less richly trimmed in fine flowers,
withs myriads of electric lights hidden
in the petals, which would greatly en
hance the cost, since batteries range
in price from $100 to $300."
How much of the world's wealth is
ON paper is pretty generally under
stood, but how much is literally IN
paper is yet to be reckoned. Sine'’
the introduction in this country o''
crepe paper, some fourteen years ago.
it has made rapid strides in popular
favor, largely displacing in household,
theater and personal decoration man>
silk and cotton stuffs formerly deemed
indispensable.
Crepe paper is an American enter
prise. To such perfection has it beer,
brought by the chemist and machine
power that the beautiful hand-printed
paper stuffs imported from Japan may
be had here now with a beauty of de
sign and delicacy of coloring that baf
fle the connoisseur familiar with the
art of the Orient, while the cost is
within reach of modest purses. Of
such sturdy fibre and exquisite tex
ture are many of these crepe papers,
to be bought by the roll in every dry
goods store or stationary shop, that
they are no longer confined to the
>zy Corner. *'■
effective acts in ‘ the Marriage of Kit
ty” are made almost entirely of crepe
paper—curtains, draperies, table and
couch pillow covers, lamp shades and
cut flowers. What a wealth of sug
gestion in crepe paper this act offers
to the woman in quest of artistic, cool,
and inexpensive decoration for sum
mer country houses. Unhappily, pho
tography is yet unable to reveal the
beauty of coloring in the bedroom
shown in the illustration. The color
scheme is white and pink. The entire
bed coverings, spread, canopy and
drapery are of crepe paper. The de
sign is pink and pale yellow chrysan
themums brocaded on white back
ground having all the bas-relief rich
ness of the costliest satin brocade.
The brocade comes in ten-foot rolls,
forty-two inches wide. Three strips
the length of the bed are ample to
make a cover for a double bed.
By cutting one strip in two and
crinkling the edges by puiling it
through the hands, a narrow ruffle
effect is secured. In the illustration
a strip of this description is adjusted
down the center of the cover. The
strips are put together with paste spe
cially made for the purpose. It dries
A Bedroom of Paper.
fle effect exposed, hang the brocade.
In the same way. as taste may dictate.1
drape the plain pink and brocade over
the top of the window to form the
lambrequin in keeping with the
draped curtains. The three windows
ot the room shown in the photograph
are done in thts way with charming
effect. The table lamp and gas jets
are likewise decorated.
The entire decoration of this room,
the apartment of an original Brooklyn
girl whose skilled hands work mir
acles in paper and paste, was mad**
out of six rolls of the decorative and
eight rolls of the plain crepe paper.
Aside from the bed and curtains for
three windows there were two pil
lows, two table covers, and odd bits.
The whole cost of the material was
$2.50. With reasonable care it will
stand six months' wear without be
coming soiled or shabby looking, in
climates where coal is not used it will
remain clean much longer. Aside
from the saving of laundry bills the
whole is easily folded up and laid
away, and in travel takes up very
little space in a trunk. Therein lies
Its great utility to college girls or
women on the move who cannot live
without a touch of the decorative and
homelike in their surroundings. A
college girl could fit up her room in
her favorite color or flower and have
flag decorations of any color or frater
nity she might choose, for the p» n
nants of all college clubs are to l>
had in crepe paper.
Fireproof Passenger Coaches.
Taking warning by the terrible ac
cident in the Paris underground road,
the interborough company of New
York is building for use in the new
subway a large number of steel cars
intended to be absolutely fireproof,
constructed entirely of metal, transit
board and asbestos.
Incentive to Work.
The British admiralty is about to
try the experiment of giving a pr >
mium to the workmen in its service
who finish a job in the quickest time
Those who do work in the ordinary
time will receive the ordinary wages.
A Logical Question.
Bobby was born in the country. It
was not until his fourth year that he
paid his first visit to the city. His
mother, who did much of her shop
ping in town, brought him to see the
sights.
On the way Bobby kept his eyes
glued to the car windo'w pane, and
was deeply engrossed in the fleeting
scenic panorama which unrolled until
the train plunged into the Park ave
nue tunnel. Then he couldn’t under
stand how night had come on so sud
denly. When the train had been pro
ceeding through the tunnel for a few
minutes, and the atmosphere in the
car had become heavy with smoke and
sulphur fumes, he began choking.
Turning his face from the window,
he asked in a grave, hushed voice:
, “Mamma, are we going to die now?”
—New York Times.
Only Too True.
Some years ago an American under
taker, who belonged to one of the
“first families,” was spending some
time in England, and fell in with a
titled Engllshmanwith whom he wax- ]
etl chummy, not to say confidential. It
soon became evident that his friend
was eager to know the undertaker’s
business, and he was quite as anxious
that he should not be enlightened
lest he be dropped with a dull thud.
But a day or two before his con
templated return to America, his Brit
ish friend cast all hinting aside, and
plainly asked him what his profession
might be.
“Why, I follow the medical profes
sion,” was his reply.
Solar Engine for Fair.
The generation of power from the
heat of the sun by reflection of the
rays on 40,000 mirrors, each four feet
square, will be a striking exhibit at
the world’s fair. This solar engine, it
is claimed, will generate an intense
heat.
Eighty Mile Auto.
The most powerful automobile* in
the world is owned by M. Bellamy of
Paris. The engine is 16S-horse power,
with eight cylinders and three for
ward speeds, the second speed being
geared for eighty miles an hour. |
Women Bootblacks.
Women in recent years have in
vaded so many of the professions
which in the past have been consid
ered sacred to men that it does not
come as a great surprise to find a fe
male bootblack in the streets of Lon
don. The woman in question is the
wife of a well-known bootblack, and
at present she only acts as her hus
band’s understudy; but it is her am
bition to run an independent business.
The spectacle of women having their
boots or shoes cleaned in the streets
Is quite a common one in London,
and, not unnaturally, the female shoe
black believes that there is a distinct
opening for her labors in thi3 direc
tion.
England’s Heavy Man Is Dead.
The heaviest man in England was
buried at Dover the other day. His
body weighed 630 pounds. It lay In
a coffin that was seven feet long,
three feet wide and two feet three
inches deep. Twelve men lifted it,
and it was rolled out through a win
dow into a hearse backed up on the
sidewalk.