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Kxiall gave tb« oJfeear.not answering tho summons, wus rung several time* withviolence, but in climbing io tho tried the windows,After further delay ed him to break*fasten the wiuuei .fruitless, for, as i was to be cxpeeted*Jthe iron shatters ima-te' the blind were closed, At this juncture, a policeman appeared on the street, and inquired what vbi the matter. Mr. Goodail a brief cxplanationrand-ton aaid: .. . . * '“ Was there nobody-but to* lady-in the hooso all the evening!” . »h: ?*/: r.zu;r“ No,” was the reply,. *•?apt ainoe .7 o'clock, when myself and sister'and all ' the domestics tmit lo a merry-making next door.” : *-••• ‘s^-r r :• 41 That's - odd,” ,the officer came on duty at 10 o'clock, and soon afr ter ward, as I pnssed her©; I wkw tliedoor open ■ and a gcntlcmab step orit/ • -He stood for a moment as though glancingat tlio weather/mid then went back into the house.”- \ •'This announcement greatly astonished Mr. GoodaU, and. he exprereed to the officer liis worst fearathatso dreadful had happened, The compaciod by two of: the servantoiand, Mr. Mathewa,; who . by this toe had been attracted by tho voiowbufoide,rhicliwho were his confederates, heoWh*and had joined tlie group bri'Mr/'Gobd-all’s entrance, went -fato nearest'earest police:er. By .thisSStfktfg■t» .li^wAwnff 4Ko miTii nf ffnmnmNation by the jmnip, he planned the New Irer'vpiy-fc;iU to OoodaUa and.toiriomestioi^of, to,W, sack to house without to fear of oe-taction. 'AHer faeboct made; aUihia pfe-P*»Uon»,at home with a sprained ankle to upaot til* toptena.Hflhad got tetsy. i1A SEW YEAR’S MYSTERY,Between the years lW and 1850, the crimo of burglary prevailed to an alarming extent all over' England. In the suburbs of large towns precautions of an almost iueredible nature had to be taken to provide against the determined and skillful attacks of midnight depredators. Iron shutters protected the windows, and lo these tore attached bellsonspriugsto announce to the household any attempt on the part of burglars. The doors were lined with metal, and strong bolts andbars afforded a further safeguard. It was no uncommon fchxng for houses to bo entered and robbed in the twilight, and every door was provided with a fatch-. chain, which permitted it to be open only a few inches, thus allowing on unknown visitor to be scanned and spoken to without the possibility of his forcing liis way into the dwelling. These dif-Ocultics, however, did not thwart the thief, but merely aroused bis enterprise and ingenuity.As already stated, the vicinity of the large towns afforded to the burglar liis favorite Hold of- operations, and tho very remnrkablo case now to be narrated occurred in Edgbaston, a fashionable suburb of Birmingham.In 1813, there resided in Edgbaston a wealthy retired merchant, named Good-all. He was a childless widower, and his two maiden sisters lived with him. His dwelling was one-hall of what is there known as a double or serai-dctaclftd villa. It was large ;md sumptuously furnished, and Mr. Goodail was famous for the Kpleudid entertainments he gave. His plate whs superb mid his sisters' jewelry imsnrptesciLIn November of the year named, the residence adjoining Mr. Gocdnlt's was rented by a gentleman named Mathew?, He, also, was a widower, but twenty years younger than Mr, Gwduil, and ho iuwl a daughter aged about twenty-two, and a son eight or ten years old. Hq furnished his house elegantly, and kept a very stylish turnout. The neighbors were soon on intimate terms, and tho gentlemen frequently drove out together. Mr. Mathews and his family spent Chrrafiuas Eve nfc tho houae uf Mr. Goodail, and tho latter and his sister* agreed to cat their Now. Yeor’s dinner and .spend the evening at Mr. Mathewa’.Mr. Goodall’s servant* wero inviled lo cdjoy the occasion with Mr. Mathews’ domestics, and he caused the laundry and tho loft above thoBtablcs to be fitted iip tastefully for‘their use.On the morning of Now Year's day, Alisa Mary Goodail, Mr. GobdaU’fi elder . sister, slipped on the ice and so seriously sprained her ankle as to render it needful for her to remain at home. She insisted, however, that no one should ste.y with her, and after tho departure of ail the household for Mr. Mathews’, she was able to lock the front door, and so .secure herself from intrusion, tho understanding being that her brother and the domestics were to return not later than midnight.At about 12:30 Mr. Goodail and sinter bade their entertainers good night, having heci) detained longer than they anticipated by tho absence of Mr. Mathews, who iiutl been obliged to take ono oI his visiton? home in his carriage, as she was Niiddoiiiy taken ill.On reaching tlio front entrance of his residence, Mr. Goodail rang the .bell. Several minute* passed, aud there was no response. By this time the doiaesticG tad gathered at the dcorwav, sad much surprise was expressed at Miss Goodail*station and procured a ladder r _ _. means an “entrance was bad-K^'phe pi the • tipper ’ window* by'-' tbtf-footman, who descended -and ianlocked;.-the front door.. . ■j ..On entering the.parfaiy. tho gas. was found tunica dovfa to a spark: Mr. Goodail' tumed it oh,-and; as he did so, a shriek arose from the domes tics,-who bad crowded • to tlio door. Misti-Mary Goodail lay across the couch, with her head beaten in, and the blobd ahdbriiiia ; bespattering the nch furniture; the carpet and tlio wall. Two valuable diamond rings had been tom from her fingers, and a splendid emerald brooch was mire-ing from her, boeom/; Mr. Mathpws, the officer, and the footman, began a search of die preroiscB. In the libwjv adjoin-ing the parlor, all was confuflion; ’'Mr. Goodail a secretaiy. had been'rifled:of a-large sum of money, and two; elegantly chased silver gobfete were. gone. The butler’s pantry had been ransacked, and a strong plate cheat had been:wrenched* open aud the contents removed* • From the chambers up stairs jewelry of gr£at;. value had been taken; and, the contents of the .bureaus, lay scattered around. * Over tho grief of tlie brother and sister so avrfullV belted^ a’Vail, must be drawn. '; *• *’ . .• \ lt;•. r.h:i-: lt;Information. was convoyed at onqo to CoL Bnclj, .Chief of Police, and the premises were subjected to a rigid scrutiny, Not a door or window-was found unfastened except the windo# forced by the footman, and the main, .ontroPcc, likewise opened by him frpm tho inside. Horo was a startling mystery: How had the burglars got in? How bad they quitted tho hou?e with tbeir booty? Tbero wero no: footmarks, no 'fingermarks, no clew of tho slightest deecrip-lion os to who the burglars were, their number, or their method of entering or quitting tho premises.- Tho house, ju»fc as it was found, was left in charge.of .the police, and tbo moat expert. .detective*, after examining tlie^dwelling from cellar to roof, admitted that they wero benten.But tho officer*bad *etn a man:about 10. o’clock, or wxm after, open the front door and then close it, so that there had been one man there, nt all events. The rame officer aloo remembered that as he approached the house from the Edgbaa ton Bond he met a carriage which' was being' ilrivcn rapidly away.' Thia was aliont two minute3 before be eaw the man at the door. Much importaiico was not attached to tbo circumstance, however, os the carriage wm in all probability the one in which Mr; Mathew* ‘accompanied his sick visitor to. her homo. . . j -All Birmingham was thrown into con-. 8tonuition at this dreadful aiid mysterious occurrence. !Lambert/:- tho *. great Luzidon detcelive, took tlio matter in lisuid, but was npnarsutly as iinsucccre-ful as the local police iu discovering any clow. Tlio • clay after the murder, Mr. Mathews closed tlio house' and: removed, temporanly to a hotel.. The inquest was bold, an open verdict returned, and the body of the. murdered .woman interred. ’.On the day of the funeral, Detective Lambert and an associate paid .another visit to the.Goodail residence; andwent over the premises for the -.hundredth fcimo. Then I^iraberf first, heard' that Mr. Mathews and his family hod quitted the adjoining .house. • He .*prounfed an. entrance, and scai'chcd it as thoroughly as he had Mr. Goodail’a reBideiice. All the fumitiirc and maiiy articJca of value” had been' left behind, but '*'everything that was ecwily portable had evidently been removed. .-Thedetectives searched the closets/the a'ttica, the roof, tho cel-lar, iu hope of finding some bomcmnica-tiou between the two houses;;, but there way none. In .the kitchen grpte wero the remains of Bume papers- which liad l^een burned. Lambert looked around for. the poker to stir them with but no such article was near. He used hi* hands, and_ then sought for water to wash them. On the opposite side of the kitchen was a party pump—that is, a pump that had tsvo handles, one ia GoodalTs house and one in Mathews.1 .. You coaid see from one kitchen .into the other,: and when the tep of tho cylinder twa« .unscrewed and removed, there wa3 a bolc ' leading from one kitchen into.tho other eight br ten inches in - diameter onciwayiand rix ihc.other. r . . ' ... \i, -»Lambert aiid liri associate gazed • at* the hole for fully half a minute without saying a word. Then- '-Ihe'- two officers looked at each other, and simultaneously exclaimed:'.- ml-* “That’sit!’:1? /i.oi;.;-.', •“No man could get tiirough..there;”. Lambert’s asaociato• said. *-• .; j“ True,” was.:-tho* reply;, but - ft.^y-could, aud he had a'„boy. -i»et’* go upstairs aud look at jomething.” .In a w»rdrobo inaii npr.Bteira. room.was quantity of woarii)g.appircLyIt had already been exzimihed,: but Lambert went over, it again. Amobg tho clothes was R boy's bhie-cloth blotisc.'i ‘.’The back, of it w«;s covered with lime-wash, and’ four of the buttons were half ripped off.*4 That settles it,” aaid Lambert, as he held it up. “ The boy went through that hole, aud opened the dopr. to admit the man and. bis pals, for there were,tiro or Lhreeof them.” * ,. :In ten .minutes the two. .detectives wore nt Hcn-nhd-Chickens Iiin, but'Mr/ Matlicw? nod his Liuily bad gone. They were traced, br^ means of tlie boy, to Liverpool,- and cuptnrcd on- boaid an. outward bound veewcl, which wa*already’ under weigh/ Mathew* bad?in his pos-seaaion some .ficvou thquOKl pounds, the result of .tho .robbery, and three splendid di^imohda, indchtlflicd 'as Mr. GoodaH's. v Mathews ‘ was identifledf ut one Brica, who had formerly, been a man-, ter at 3armondsey, bnt had defrauded' hie creditors and decamped. .1The woman wlio’pa-a-:d us his daughter his wife,:juid the boy was their child. ’ '•:«When Mathews found that everythingofthe ploi.tb« Bupp^Wrtaiiwiii.^ihhim. The carnage stood below m to roid without;exciting'; anqpeeib^.^with the female accomplice wated .inside, while Mathew* refamed totoYeiteox :i^h9QN, ua 'Ftf^kk aob -thrdwgh tbe puftjo botei ilte WjijMinjf /ffi hi§ father b directionjL easiljNopeped to back door and admitted Mathews and his supposed grdoBL Tbe - door Lira* again cloned sod _fastened, and: to boy handed through to hole again to aooq-tederate. An Mathews wiik ' afcerat^to ascend the staire, Mias GobdaB, hearing a noiec, cried ontmaa aknned toaoe.4-. Who's there?”, Mathews darted, back to to Jdtchea and*selz^ thericker.':L' ' l'*' */* ‘' i}% n “Come ;on,0 said held - his confederate, 44or ws ahaU.be bagged.”The two pweed' humedly toward to parlor.., Mathew*'entered; and,,before Miss Goodail could utter, a scream, brained her with a poker* Then they turned down to gas and ransacked .the library, prpoeedmg next up stair*. The ) grbbm moved all the bbbW fa ffie1 car-riage; whiedi was' driven Off. Fawdng for a moment, lest to Jaamagw wheels riiould attract to attention of. any in hia own house, Mathew* at length opened to Treat dobr^ wik'Vfaihtlight in to haU, which was shod on to uniform of: A pelioeinaii.on.to sidewalk . below.. Mathews, with greatJprfacace Iff mind/ fobked up t to sky as thfaigh scamiing to weatbsr, andton re-entered the house and cloeed to door. •He locked.it as he found. it, apd retum-iiig.tb the kitehen, directed hi* son to be pawed thrbnghl the pump:hole is before. - This was donelt; and.after quitting to house , by* the. back;door, ike.bpj bolted it and.was safely drawn back into the adjoihing lritcheii.^ The poker with which the' fatal blow was • struck was dropped into kthe welL Mathews then followed the carriage into tho Edgbesten roatL.whoro it awaited him, and drove off to'shp^rintehlt;T tb e *‘dbworer t to stolen property. This took him longer than he expected; and/pubi* return home,, after midnight, he ewn^d himRelf fabi* visitors by skying that hhi bompahibh waa bo ill that lie had to.remain with.her uu-tili to arrival of a meditwl man.Mathews :waa * banged- at Warwick iu the spring pi 184L , Hi* confederate were not capturedi'and it is supposed to thisthey fledeb on trya: 1 1 i 1 li.1iI1• •'3.ivi
Newspaper Details
Palo Alto Reporter
Emmetsburg, Iowa, US
Sat, Mar 18, 1876
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Mary B.
USA 22 May 2018
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