The Conshohocken Recorder, January 5, 1894

              THE WEEKLY RECORDER.
VOL xxiv, iso. 44. CONSHOHOCKEN, JANUARY 5, 1894. $1.00 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE.
A DRESSMAKER'S DILEMMA—A FACT.
I'm bmt a simple dressmaker In qnlte a humble
way.
Who trial to do licr duty and would novcr dis-obey
A plain commandment given In the Scriptures
unto me ii.
For I road my Iliblu every night from half past
nine lo ten.
Now, Uncle Jim, who preaches In tho chapel
over there
And know* his Bible backwards (though I've
also henrd hiTii swear).
Came In lo mo tho other night and solemnly
sat down
And said. "Maria, let mo see your last unfin-ished
gown."
I know lie hilled fashions, but I humbly
brought the dress.
He took the sleeves, examined them, and cried
in triumph: "Yes,
I feared asmucli. Your style in gowns has gone
from bad to worse.
Until at last you've brought yourself beneath
the prophet's curso!"
I looked in blank amazement at my uncle.
Was lie mad?
What could he find so awful In a simple shoul-der
pad?
This year, since fashion willed that ladies'
shoulders slmii'..' be high.
We hail to pad the drenscs—Paris to blame
not I.
He took my Bible from the shelf before my
wondering eyes
And found tho thirteenth chapter of Esekiel's
prtiplier
And "Bead," said he, "the eighteenth verse-
Thus sailh the Lord God, Woe
To th' women that sew pillows to all arm-holesr
Is It so?"
The words were there as clear as day. "And
now," said Uncle Jim,
"Just choose between the prophet's curso and
fashion's latest whim.
Til you Ezekiul had In mind, to you the Lord
saith 'Woe!'
If In your d resao* from this time another pad
you sew."
Thus saying ho departed, and I turned the
matter o'er.
And after half an hour felt no wiser than bo-fore.
At last I thought I'd venture forth to ease my
troubled mind
And ask our learned rector, who is always
very kind.
I found him in his study, and in listening to
my case
I thought he laughed a little, though I could
not see his face.
And then ho opened certain books and certain
foot notes rend—
"The nutlmrized translation is not quite cor-rect*"
he said.
—London Spectator.
THE DANCING GIRL.
L
Old John Hartlopool was dead.
That much was certain. It was evi-dent
that he had died from a pistol
shot, for there was a bullet wound in
his temple, and the doctors found the
bullet in his brain. A revolver with
one empty chamber, which the bullet
■would have fitted before its shape had
been flattened bycontact with the old
man's skull, was picked up in the court
directly under a window of the room
where tho chambermaid had found the
old gentleman lying dead, when she en-tered
the room with a passkey at 8:30
in the morning. She also found that
the window was closed and fastened, and
this effectually disposed of the sugges-tion
that the old man had shot himself
and thrown the pistol out of the win-dow.
for while there was an inrinitesiin.il
chance that he might have thrown the
pistol out after tiring the shot into his
brain it was al Bolately impojsiblo that
he could then have closed the window
and l'.isii i.- lit, Mnn-ovc-r, the position
of tli i 1 tli" pool of blood 1" si do
it showed that he bad fallen when shot
and i ■ rea again. The must care-ful
.- the room disclosed no
wea] m of i ■ kind. Suicide was there-fore
11. nrlj n a of tho question. It was
a case pi murder. So at least tho police
argued, and it must bo admitted with a
good d< al of ri aaon.
Who wan the murderer? To aid in a
Bolution of tin* question tho police rea-soned
in this way: As tho dead man
was found in his apartmentl in the fifth
story of the apartment house, where he
bad lived alone for 15 years, it was evi-dent
that tho murderer must have had
some powerful motive to induce him to
tako the risk attending such an act, or
else he must have been temporarily ex-cited
into a frenzy by something which
had passed between him and the de-ceased.
What could the motive have
been? It was not robbery, for a roll
of notes and a quantity of loose gold lay
on the table, just $1,600,which amount
it was quickly learned had been paid
the deceased by one of his tenants at
4:80 o'clock theafternoon before his dead
body was discovered by the chamber-maid.
No ono could suggest that the old
man had any enemies. His habit of
life was exceedingly simple. Tho worst
that could be said of him was that,
though very rich, he was very penuri-ous.
He was not a hard creditor, but
on tho contrary, was inclined to be leni-ent
in his collections. He was some-what
proud of the fact that his mother
was the danght&i 'of nn earl's daughter,
but tho only ono who used to consider
himself aggrieved by this was his hand-some
and high spirited nephew and
namesake. So a murder for revengo
seemed out of theqtiestioii.
Had any ono an interest in his death?
On this print there was no doubt, for
John Hartlepool, Jr., was known to all
the community as his sole heir-at-law.
It was also soon li allied that on the very
morning before his death the old man
had instructed his solicitor to make a
•rill cutting off his nephew with a pit-ianoe,
which will was to be executed the
next da}', if that young gentleman would
not in tho meantime renounce his inten-tion
of marrying a young lady who was
s member of a popular opera" troop and
took a role which was more conspicuous
because of the elegance of her figure
than of the quality of her vocal powers
or the degree of her histrionic ability.
"Not a cent of my money shall go to
a brat of a girl who makes a living by
dancing." said the old man to more
than a score of people, for his nephew's
Infatuation for the pretty chorus girl
was the one sore spot in his life.
Not that Nellie Kltham (she had not
risen to tho dignity of a stage name) was
a brat. She was simply an honest little
girl, who, having to earn her living,
was doing it in a way that nature had
eminently fitted her for. When Master
Jack, iu a moment of unintentional
frankness, had blurted out his uncle's
pet objection to their marriage, she first
grew red, and then as pale as snow,and
ended by bursting into tears, the out-break
being so long that it was a good
hour before Jack felt safe in taking his
departure.
It was known that uncle and nephew
had had an interview between 5 and 6
o'clock, during which time a terrific
thunder storm was raging. The ele-vator
boy remembered that when the
young man left the house he took tho
elevator at the third story, that he was
greatly excited and said something
about forgetting to ring for him to come
up to the fifth story. He also remem-bered
that it was raining furiously at
the time, and that the thunder was so
loud and constant that a pistol shot
might have been fired almost at any
moment during the storm unnoticed by
persons in an adjoining room. It also
appeared that thero was an open window
on the stairs on the fourth story, which
window looked out into the court whore
the pistol was found.
One other fact remained to be learn-ed
and that was at what time the old
man was killed. The nephew had left
the house a few minutes before 6
o'clock. The elevator Ixry knew it be-cause
ho had only been gono a very lit-tle
whilo when tbe janitor came to re-lieve
him for supper hour. Deceased
was accustomed to take his dinner at a
restaurant in the lower story of the
building where he resided>at 6:1.r) and
was tho soul of punctuality. "If ho had
been alive at 6:15, he would havo been
down to dinner," was the verdict of
every attache and regular customer of
the restaurant. No ono had entered the
building between tho time his nephew
went out and 6:15, and though several
people had como down stairs and gone
into the restaurant they were all ladies
and regular inmates of the house.
All these facts were brought to light
during the morning after the body was
found, with the additional fact that John
Hartlepool, Jr., had disappeared. The
popular verdict was willful murder
against John Hartlepool, Jr., and all
the papers commenting on tho case said
that it was perfectly warranted and ex-pressed
a hope that the wretched youth
would speedily be brought to justice.
At this stage of the case Nellie El-tham
came to me.
I had just opened an offlco as a detect-ive,
and the seven $10 bills and tho one
$5 bill, which she laid upon my desk
and said wero her whole savings, were
my first professional fee. She soon told
me her story, which was hardly neces-sary,
for I had already read it in the
papers. When we had gone over the
story, I asked her what she knew about
the case beyond what tho newspapers
had told.
"I know that Jack didn't do it," was
tho answer. "Why, ho would not do
such a thing. Why, only yesterday he
said"— and she stopped suddenly in
her rapid speech.
I suspected that she was keeping
something back that I ought to know,
so I impressed her with the importance
of tolling me everything, whereupon
she repeated the pitiful story about the
dancing and said very reluctantly that
Jack had sworn that if the old man re-peated
the remark to him he would re-gret
it. She confirmed the report that
the uncle and nephew were to meet and
discuss the will and the marriage.
When I told her that she would be a
most damaging witness if called upon
at tho young man's trial, as she was
likely to be, she reeled as if she was go-ing
to faint, but recovered herself and
.•aid that no matter what might happen
she would never repeat what she had
just told me. '' I will die in prison
first," she said in a low, steady voice.
When I asked her where Jack was, she
replied that she had not the least idea.
I told her that there did not seem to
be anything I could do for her and that
I would only retain $25 of her money to
pay mo for attending the inquest. It
seemed like robbery to tako that, for I
was snro that her lover was guilty.
Sho said sho would go to her work as
usual as sho must save every dollar to
prove Jack's innocence. That night I
went to the opera and saw her as she
stood before the footlights in all her radi-ant
beauty and grace. It happened that
at tho climax of the opera the prinia
donna proclaimed the innocence of tho
stage hero, and as the words, "He is in-nocent,"
rang out, tho look of triumph
in Nollie's face spoke so much of faith,
courage and hope, that I found myself,
much against my will, beginning to be-lieve
that Jack was innocent aider all.
But I could do nothing to help her.
Tho inquest was short, and nothing new
was developed, and the verdict was ono
of willful murder against John Hartle-pool,
tho younger.
Three days had passed since the in-quest
and nothing had_beon_ heard of
tbe accused, although the officers were
scouring the country for him, when
Nellio came to me and in her quick,
curt way said:
"It was not suicide. Jack did not
kill him. No one else could. It must
have been an accident."
"Accident." I exclaimed.
"Yes, accident," was the positive an-swer.
"There is no other explanation,
and I am going to rent tho room where
the old man died to try and think out
how it happened."
I tried to convince her that tho idea
was absurd, but sho was firm in her
determination. So I agreed to follow
her directions, which were that I was
to engage the old man's apartments for
my cousin, a lady who had come to the
city to study elocution, and Nellio was
to occupy them forthwith. This ar-rangement
was carried out that same
afternoon.
The second night after she had taken
possession tho people of tho same flat
were startled by a pistol shot and a
scream. Running to the room whence
the sounds came they fonnd Nellie ly-ing
upon the floor in her night dress and
a small pool of blood by her head.
They lifted her upon tho bed which
she had widently just vacated and
summoned a physician. He soon re-stored
her to consciousness. Sho looked
at him with a gleam of triumph and
whispered, " Ho is innocent," and these
were the last words that she spoke cohe-rently
for three weeks.
When her disordered brain rocovered
its normal condition, I was summoned,
and she told me her story, which was
in substance as follows:
Sho had been lying awake trying to
think what the solution of tho mysteri-ous
killing could be, when sudd>"ily her
eye discovered several raised buttonlike
knobs which ornamented the high
carved wooden mantel. The light of
the electric lamps in tho street below
shone brightly through the window and
fell upon these knobs. They stood out
above tho woodwork of the mantel, and
presently her idle thought was speculat-ing
as to this curious freak of tho arch-itects.
Certainly their purpose could
not have been artistic, she reasoned. A
close observer could not help remarking
that they were not quite in harmony
with the general design of the mantel.
Sudderiy she sprang out of bed and
touched one of tho knobs. It yielded.
She pressed a little harder, and that
was all she knew until she came to her-self
in the hospital.
To make a long story short, I went to
the mysterious room accompanied by
the janitor and found tho knobs as she
had described them. It was the third
from the center which she had pressed,
so I began by pressing the first from
the center. It did not move. Then I
tried the second. It did not move. Then
telling tho janitor to get out of harm's
way I stood against the wall and press-ed
tho third knob with tho handle of
my cane. Tho instant I did so tho knob
slipped in and the sharp report of a pis-tol
rang out. I held the knob back
whilo tho janitor inserted the end of a
poker and pushed the pistol from its
fastening. Wo heard it when it struck
the bottom of the compartment into
which it fell. Safe from the pistol, we
began i. -sing tho knobs one after the
other and then two at a time and found
that when the first and second were
pressed simultaneously they opened a
cabinet in which were some money and
numerous papers. Clearly here was
the solution of the old man's death. He
had made a mistake in trying to open
tho cabinet and had fallen a victim to
his own ingenuity in devising a useless
protection for his valuables.
I carried the news quickly to Nellie,
and sho sent mo post haste to tho news-papers
with the story, for sho wanted
every one to know that Jack was not
guilty. Her judgment was rightlafor
the nowspapers told of the discovery
with abundant praise for the young girl.
Jack was declared innocent and a much
abused young man and was urged to
return, marry tho graceful, beautiful
and rising operatic star and inherit his
uncle's wealth, but the hope was ex-pressed
that ho would not feel obliged
to deprive the stago of a lady who prom-ised
to be one of its greatest ornaments.
Two weeks later, or more than six
weeks after old John Hartlepool had
met his fate, a cablegram came to his
late address, also one to Miss Nellie.
The cablegrams were dated at Liverpool
and the contents wero identical, being
as follows:
I am all riulit. Will be homo on flrst steamer.
Was kidnaped and brought to Liverpool on a
sailing vessel. JACK.
It turned out that Jack had been mis-taken
for an important witness in n big
lawsuit and had been decoyed on board
a schooner lying at a Brooklyn dock
and taken forcibly to sea.
Jack returned in a few days, and of
course I was present at the wedding.—
O. H. Lugrin in Philadelphia Press.
Would nave Known Better.
He—What is the reason you won't let ine
kKs you when I ask you? Is it because you
think I have kissed so many other girlsf
8he—No, I acquit you of that.
Ho-Indeedl Why?
She—Because if you had you wouldn't
have asked.—Xcw Sork Herald.
KIT.T Worship.
There appears to be more than one
ease of river worship, and there arosup-
' posed to be numerous cases of the kind
, in Africa. In the Ashanteo country
thero is the Chaniaselan river, or Rio
San Juan, called by the negroes Bossum-pra,
which they worship as a god, as
' tho word Bossum signifies. In tho west
I of our own country the Dakotas are said
I to worship a god of the waters under
the name of Unktahe. There is the
well known worship of the holy Grange!
in India in the form of Ganga, a god-dess.
Of tho great rivers of India none
can compare in sanctity with the
Granges or Mother Gangs,as she is affec-tionately
called by devout Hindoos.
From her source in the Himalayas to
her mouth in the bay of Bengal, every
foot of her course is holy ground, and
many of tho other sacred rivers of India
borrow their sanctity from a supposed
underground connection with her wa-ters.
Ganga herself is described as the
daughter of tho Himalayas, who is per-suaded
after infinite solicitation to shed
her purifying stream upon tho earth.
At tho present day, tho six years'
pilgrimage from the source to tho
month and back again is performed by
many. To bathe in the Ganges, espe-cially
at great stated festivals, will wash
away the stain of sin, and those who
have thus purified themselves carry
back bottles of the sacred water to their
less favored relatives. To exclaim
" Ganga 1 Ganga I" at the distance of
100 leagues will atono for sins com-mitted
during three previous lives. In
British courts of justice in India, the
water of the Ganges is used for admin-istering
oaths to Hindoos. The tribes
of Neilgherry hills worship- rivers un-der
the name of Ganganuna. In fact,
the divinity of water is recognized by
all the peoples of India.—Brooklyn
Eagle.
Bncklen s Arcle* Salve.
The Beat Halve in tbe world for Cnts, Bruise.
Bores, Ulcers, Halt Rheum,Fever 8ore», TVtters
Chapped, Hands, Chilblains. Corns, and all
8kin Eruptions, and positively cores Piles, or
no pay required. It 1« guaranteed lo give
perfeot satisfaction, or money n-fnndod. Prioe
45 cents per box. For sale by Thorns ¥
MoOoy. 7101v
INDUCEMENTS
Hood's Cures
Sophie McRelilln
When 7 years old began to bn troubled with ee-nmaon
ths bead, oaualng intense Itching and
burninj, and affecting her eyes. Her mother
testifies: " We gnvo her six bottles of
Hood's SarsaparHIa
and she In entirely well. I have taken it mysell
for that tired feeling and it does me "at
good." Mas. WILLIAM MCKF.I.IMN, -l')4 stock-holm
Bt, Baltimore, Mil. let Hood's.
Hood's Pills cure all liver Ills, bll outness,
Jaundice, Indigestion, sick Leu la- he. 15 couU.
THE OMUSG MAN.
WHO IS HE?
and what are his anticcdents T are questions
heard mi the Street. In the car and hotel dally.
It Is reported that he comes FROM THE
CREEN TREE KINCOOM. He has
risen from along line of misfortunes and ad-versities,
superinduced and directly traceable
to what is known in the medical world as
DYSPKrsiA, of which SF.GUIN an eminent
French Physician once said. "Find me a
Dyspeptic, and I will show you a life barren
of all good works—a Dead Sea within a Uni-reratv1
THE GREEN TREE REMEDY
li GKTARANTEKD TO CURE YOU, as it ha*
the subject of iliis sketch,
TESTIMONIALS
of the wonderfully curative effects of jthif
Remedy como in unsolicited from all who
h .vi- used It.
WILLIAM II.oFI.IN of the Freight Dcp't
Penn'a K. 11., writes: -'I have been cured
from the .itllh lions of Dyspepsia by a few
bottle*. I: Old the work''
I ll.\s. s. KTUBBS, letter Carrier, Port
Ofltee Phila. writes: The OreenTreo ltcmedy
best medloine ever made. I had Dys- 1 i Ol the WOrW kind. Your Heineily
Oureil mo after all other medicine* failed.
»OEO. CRONCHA, Ksq., Haiti re, Md.,
writos : "I suffered with Dyspepsia for vears.
trie I Hi,, i ireen Tree Remody. It cured'me.'1
it is not a CCRK-AI.L but a Sure Cure'or
this one disease. The best testimony of it*
Positive virtuois the joy of those restored to
Perfect Health by the use of it.
A Delicate Glue For Mounting Fern*.
For mounting ferns and other trophies For Sale by T- F.
of summer rambles a glue is made of live
(arts gnm Arabic, three parts white sugar,
wo parts starch ami a very little water
Boll until thick and white.
McOOY,
Fayette street above Elm,
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA,
UNHEARD OP
Never before in the history of the Furniture trade
has there ever been offered such tempting induce-ments
to purchase,
FURNITURE
CARPETS
OP WALL PAPER
as are now being offered at our Mammouth Warerooms
we could quote prices but whats the use, call and see
us, and be convinced. This sale will continue for but
three weeks. Our loss your gain.
ROBERTS & MEREDITH,
FAYETTE STREET, CONSHOHOCKEN, PA.,
Don't Hesitate ™**™™«**
Soihing would be MToreaAccep..b,e these Times QfrgfafayM PrCSeilt
HAT, CAP »■UMBRELLA
As any of them will be appreciated by the receiver.
Make your selections early and we will keep them un*
called for.
TRACEY, Leading Hatter
38 EAST MAIN STREET NORRISTOWN
P. QTJIGLEY
WHOLESALE DEALER iN
PORTER, ALE, BEER, Domestic
WINES and LIQUORS,
YUENLING :-: & :-: SON'S :-: BOTTLED :-: PORTER.
Elm street, below Harry, Conshohocken.
REDUCTIOIN
-OF-Ladies'au?
Children's COATS
Ladies' Heavy Diagonal Cheviot Coat, Extra Large Sleeves and Umbrella Back
"*"*«* Reduced to $3.98.
Fine Beaver Coat, in Blue and Black, made in the very Latest Tlght-Flttine Shana
Extra Full Umbrella Skirt, very Wide Flaring capo Trimmed with It raidland
Edged with French Seal, Waist Trimmed with Rows ot Braid
*"*&Reduced to 6.08.
Fine Beaver Coat, one-piece Cape and Collar, Edge with Fine China Seal,
*"•** Reduced to $6.98.
Children's Grclch*n Coats of Fine Fancy Cloth W.-ll Made und Newest Shapes
Were,:!iw Reduced to §2.50.
MILLINERY.
AH 01 our Fine Fell HaU.'in all the Latest Shapes end Colors,
All Reduced to ^QC
One Kt I'fTiimmcd Sailor Silk Beaver Ton, T3rJ. j. Keduced to •JQC.
All of our Fine Trimmed Hut*, „ Jy
Reduced to HALF ol Their Original Prices.
M- H. BASH & SON*, *
02 E. Main Street, Nc-rristown, -•- Opposite Post-office,
JOB PRINTING %-
-:- Promptly Attended to