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F.mcrfd At tho prwtotnce At Wtantngton, Delaware, a* M*ond-clw* ipAtterWILMINGTON. DELAWARE, THURSDAY. MA S. lf»WAS THE MURDERERumstantial Evidence That ends to Corroborate the Confession of the Negro, William Pratt.HING AGAINST HUSBAND THAT CAN BE CALLED PROOFclothe* basket. And then* it wnafound. I o! opinion. Pratt was in jail charged If Collins had killed his wlfo it dons | with aggravated assault unon .lamca not e«*nm at ull probable that ho would ( Anderson, a farmer of near Del mar, for have placed his bloody clothing in the I whom Ire had worked, and it was owing family clothes basket. The story that to tho rumor that ho had horn soon the body of Mrs. Collins was cold and around Laurel tho evening Imforn tho stiff when tho neighbors reached the murder tbal_ suspicion pointed in hia house, hns been clearly disprovon.Somepeojln claim that the murdered woman carried a liberal life insuranceNumerous Indications Polr.t to the Negro's Guilt.I'oaMhlft ThAt noil, Men Mu* li« And That the Crime May Hava minified liy Hume One AgnOiotrlt;pon«lence of GONttt and Journal, urel, May a—Mrs. llda Collins of sville. near this town, was brutally dored two weeks ago this morning, s far two arretta have been made -nnection with the crime- thoae of husband and tho negro William tt, be of the numerous aliases. And sentiment of this community is cally divided as to which of the if either, is the guilty man.r it may bo that both are innocent, that the murderer was one against i the breath of suspicion has yet been directed, ut as to Collins and Pratt, the situ is a peculiar one. With respect i» former, a large number of people simply assumed that he is the Their suspicions restedpolicy, but thin Is untrue, so the bus band would not have profited in a financial way as the rcHiiit of her death. The rumor that the two did not live happily together is positively doniad by the father of Collins as well as the father of the dead woman. There have been a score or more of such stories as these going the rounds, and it is a poor day indeed that does not develop10 or two new ones.If those who are trying to fasten the crime of murder upon Elmer Collins any more evidence yet to offer against him they should do so without further delay. No man was ever eon vicied of tho erimo of murder upon such flimsy evidence as liaB been brought out here against this one.Much stress has been laid upon the evidence of tho 5-years old child of Collins. Tho first. week the Pinkerton detectives wore engaged on tho cose Detective DeMayo was closeted with this child for an hour or more, and from his report it would appear that if there is any one thing that would tend to free tho father from the charge which many place against him it is the simple and straightforward story whichIt:y man. Their suspicions rested on from tho first, ana apparently they to them simply because they will Jidmit that they were mistaken.is absolutely not a scintilla of -noe against him; not the sugges a motive. Nothing but a sus which thus far has been sup only by the miserable gossip scandal that invariably attends a ation like this, and that invariably ib to havo no foundation in faot run to the ground by a close and rtial investigation. How the court •d upon hiB arrest was clearly in-ed when they granted the motion release on bail, and fixed tho ration of the bond at the noml-n of $500. Had the testimony net him been of the slightest ht the hail would have been of substantial figures, or tho motion d have been denied, to the negro, the situation is dif-it He is n man of bail reputation dangerous disposition. He has » a confession which, no matter t. may lie suid about tho conditions iding it, was his own admission, statement*of tkmu confession coin-with the circumstances and aur-dings of tho crime in such a man is to indicate that the man was3 the truth, and was not merely Into damaging admissions. A closely resembling hitn was seen ng the Collins place about the of the murder. Pratt's shoes were d to fit the footsteps made by this . There was blood on his clothing, blood was observed upon the* fence ie place where the colored man was leaving the farm, much for the situation as it ap to the two men who have been hv the law on suspicion of being y of this horrid murder. Tho one •t of mere suspicion and base accusation ; the other tho self con-murderer, whoso confession with all tho material ciroura-. of the crime, and whore record hat of a man who would not hesl-an instant to commit murder, for purpose of either robbery or re-» was committed by one the other of these two men, it uld not be difficult, for the unpreju-ed mind to select the one against i rests the greater presumption ofIt,ndTHE CASE AGAINST COLLINS.this Innocent little girl tells. There are all sorts of stories fold in Laurel a to things the child is reported to hav said, many of them almost impossible of having been conceived in the mind of one so snuill, yet many persons appear only too glad to believe thorn. The child told Detective DeMayo how her father dressed her and her little 2 years-old sister that Saturday morning, while her mother was getting breakfast for them in the kitchen. Collins and his wife had eaten their breakfast l»efore tho children were called. Tho mother gave the children their breakfast and as soon as they hud finished they prepared to start to tho field with tho father. When they rode away from the house the mother was preparing to feed the chickens, and this was tho last time either the husband or the two children oversaw her alive. The little gtrl repeated tho story that Collins told the morning of the murder, as to how bis wife intended to follow them to tho field later with the tomato seed and the $30 in money, and how, when she did not oorne, her father took them and started to thu house to look for hor. They went to the house first and called several times, but hearing no reply they all throe went out to the buildings. And there in tho stohln they found the mother covered with blood, and the child told how her father fell upon tho hotly and oriod and called hor name, and then how he had picked the mother up and carrying hor into tho house plneod hor upon thn couch. Then he carried the younger child if his arms and leading the 5-years-old girl by the hand ho went to the home of a’neighhor close by and told them of what had happened.lierc is the evidence of this littln girl, who doubtless docs not even know whnt an untruth is, told with all tho innocent frankness of one of her age. Surely It is not possible that she could have so understood the suspicion directed against the father as to be able to plan and conceive such a story as this. And yet there are pimple in Laurel who pretend to believe that tho child was coachod by relatives and was told what to say to anyone who talked to her.There does not np|ear to have been nything in the last life of Klmer Collins that would havo given him any reason for killing his wife. To he sure there have been stories told about him upon the street, hut so far as one can learn not a single one of them has ever yet been verified. No one has ever showed what he had to gain by the death of his wife, and it would surely appear that he had nvorything in the world to lose. There ih one thing hi* encrpies cannot say against him. and il is a very good thing too. No one linn yet pretended to say that Collins was drinking man. He was never seen bunt tho hotels of the town and it is said that, he was never inside a hotel in bis life, even to lake a meal.impilnn ol ID- tlullt Almn.l u Iteflcc on Common San**.* Collins murder is as intcrestin ijMt to the people of Laurel an unding country today as it wu that fatal Saturday morning two i ago, when the body of the dead n was found in the stable on the is' farm, and tho people of tho uro far more divided upon the ion of the guilt of tho unfortunate f and husband than they have : known to be upon a question of i or church. There does not to be any of tho conservative nt who are di*|osed to withhold ent in tho matter until Inter on o hesitate tu express an opinion has their mind made up. can be no denying tho fact p* number of peoplo lielievc r Collins is guilty. And ir all the circumstances surround story of the crime and a careful * all tho evidence that has been to light, to the unbiased mind it almost seems a reflection common sense and better of many of the people that King should be. has been entirely too much paid to tho talk of idle in the Collins murder. Many newspaper stories publishedthe minds of those who the hotel porches and street d there hns been too much e to make them sensational getting at the real facts of All of this has tended to ' minds of many, and is ponsiblo for the condition ofdirection. Tho Pinkerton man talked with Pratt for Home time on this Hrst visit, and the colored man's answers to many of his questions were guarded and evasive, though he was not questioned directly in connection with the murder. The detective found Pratt'e coat under his cot in the cell, and there was blood upon the end of the right sleeve. Two boys from Laurel who had told of seeing a colored man cross the branch on the Collins farm the afternoon of the murder saw Pratt in the jail this same day and indentitled him as bearing a very close resemblance to the uinn they bud seen crossing the branch. Afterward, when Pratt was taken to the Collins iarm, Sunday afternoon, by Sheriff Hart and the detectives, tho boy* again stated that stranger they had seen.THE NBGHO't COSFENow. as to Pratt's alleged confession in Georgetown jail, Sunday, April 27th, concerning which there is sue! wide difference of opinion. The Pink ton detective, Mr. De Mayo, was nh with the colored man for an hour or more, and after putting him through a severe questioning the prisoner broke down and wept bitterly. Sheriff Hart, Detective Butler and George E. Smith of Laurel were at. the hotel nearby, and they were sent for a* noon a* l’rntt showed signs of weakness, and in the presence of these two gentlemen and Detective Butler, the negro made the confession.There are some important points in connection with this confession which havo not heretofore been made known, and which those who believe in the negro's innocence will find it very difficult to explain away. There are those who say that Pratt is demented and that he was iTightened into making tho alleged confession. Under some circuin-stances this might be true. But it does not stH-m within the bounds of reason, and surely is not, that if William Pratt did not secrete himself In the Collins corriagehouse, us ho said Ire did, and murder Mrs. Ildn Collins that fatal Saturday morning, he would not have been able to give nmnv of tin* details he did in making his confession. There was not the least evidence of an unbalanced mind whim i'rult fac.lt;d the trio in his coll that Sunday morning and told what he know of the murder, lie talk-d freely, and, his hearers stilted, with a certain satisfaction in being able to clear hi- mind and his conscience. Ho stated that ho rodu to the Collins farm on his wheel the evening before the murder, and went to tho cnrriagchouao to spend tho night. He-climbed into tho carriage and there slept until about 6 o’clock Haturday morning Ho saw someone (evidently Mr. Collins, for the negro did not know him by sight i hitch a gray horse to a dearborn, put a plow* into the dearborn, and oalling his two children, start for tho field, after tolling Mrs. Collins to bring the money and the tomato seed to him a. soon os she finished the housework. Then, Pratt stated, devil put- it Into his head to secure that money, la a very short tin woman en'iun into the enrringohouse with sonic eggs to sot a hen. Sho a it mod startled at seeing him i carriage and asked him what In doing there. Pratt told her that ho hud simply bren sleeping there over night, and meant no harm, and Mrs. Collins answered that- her husband did not like anyone sleeping uhnut the buildings, as there was always danger of setting something on fire by matches. Then, Prult continued,she ordered him away, and as he alighted from the car Huge he picked up an iron bar lying xneurby and struck tho woman withand up to that time, he had shown, no milted the awful deed, the sheriff and those with him state, I friends who secured the service* of t...-not the least evidence of being the • Pinkerton detectives. The enemies of demented being which some claim that the accused man say that the detectives he is. But now, when the crowd of | were brought here by Collins relatives sight-aoors began to gather about, tho j in order to shield him and place the manner of the prisoner changedpletely, ami ho asked what he had be«n brought there for, and feigned the most astonishing ignorance of tho crime in any way. The detectives and sheriff were of course nonplussed, andcrime at some other door, hut it Is not true. Home of those instrumental in employing the Pinkerton men were relatives of Collins, but all of them were not, and the detectives were not engaged to shield any one man, but to find the murderer.The agencies which endeavored from the very first to fasten the crime upon the husband, could see no clue tnnt would lend them from tho Collins farm. * ...... this time on, during his hearing t Other people saw dues, and there werebefore tho magistrate at Laurel, and ull sort* of rumors, but the State do until he was in his cell at Georgetown teotiyoa confine ! their suspicions to jail again. Pratt assumed the role of , Elmar Collins from the hour they set the craxy man which ho is said to ha' in the crowd who believedguilt of Klmer Collins shook their heads, nnd were more firmly convinced than ever that they were right in tbeir Buepioplayed ut various times before.PI*ATT*B HAD III COUD.When a man gets into trouble with tho law. one of the very Iwst things he can have to come to his aid is a clean record in the years gone by. It is veryTHISunfortunate for William Pratt today be ho guilty or innocent of this crime, that his past- record is ngainst him. lie acknowledge* having been In juil on at least four previous occasions, and that ho had lieen at liberty but a few weeks When he was again arrested for the assault upon Anderson tho Monday afternoon after the Collins murder. Mr. Anderson had employed Pratt at various times. Charged with the theft of a bicycle recently, Pratt blamed Mr. Anderson for having givon information against him nnd threatened to tat even. On this Monday afternoon Antflr-snn win- burning brush when T’roit along. The negro had leftfoot on tho farm t he day of the murder.They have ls*on criticised, and criticised severely, by muny. anil wllili they may have been pursuing what i they thought to be tho proper course. I C'otii in view of nil the circumstances sur I to ti rounding the case, it would appear to w|n. the unbiased mind that they have ls«on j Add guilty of official neglect or colossal ( lorrr ignorance of the real duties of their i Poll ollice. wqOn Friday last Detective Butter gink offered to confer with Detective Rat s. IV ledge, and furnish him with the evi Thor denee he had collected in the case, hut nj'lli the State detective refused absolutely j to follow out any clue that tho Pinker- rJJ ton men had discovered. ! yjHnDetectives Butler and Di Muyn are j-hni positive that Elmer Collins is innocentbicycle which he was riding, in the mail nearby, und came over to Ander son, carrying in his hands a long stick or rake handle. After calling the at tcntion of the farmer to some object In the tield, Pratt struck him twice with the stick, one** on the hand, and again on tho head, the last blow knocking Anderson down and dazing him. V\ neighbor in a nearby field heard Andor non cry out. as the assailant struck at him the second time, nnd hurried to iln* spot. but. not Iwfore Pratt hud made an effort to use a pitchfork lying clnao by on tho farmer. Those who believe that Fruit's confession is true point to this as proof of tho vioioue temperament of tno man.is also learned that from the time us 12 years of ago until ho was IU, Pratt mudu his homo with Mrs. Alice Winder, a colored woman, living neat Delmar, and her opinion of him Is not good. Hho says some colored poop*THE CASE AGAINST PRATT.‘Hhe tell to tire ground ut the fourth blow, and then Pratt stated that he de liborutely cut her throat with a pocket knifo which he carried. Ho said thal he found the money in the stocking of the murdered woman, which be appropriated before leaving the scono of thordor.of the crime of killing his wife and publ equally positive that the clored man ; PJOh in Georgetown jail is the guiltyACCIDENT TO OR. BISHOP.DrlavraProf. \V. II. Bishop of Delaware College is suffering rrnm a broken leg. While he was driving in Bristol, Pa., Friday, the enrriage axle broko, which caused the horse to run away The doctor was thrown out. and sus tnined the injury mentioned. He was taken to his residence in Newark lust evening, where he is under the care of Dr. Walter Bteelo.VERDICT EXCITES FEELING..Spoi'lsi COrreiptmdem*** ol GtuolUJ ami Journal.Milford, May fi. —Tho finding of tho Kent jury in the oaso against John Kblack” and some are ” niggora, and she doesn’t hositato to class Pra among the last, named. These thin) of course, merely incidents in tl ’a past, but those who think him guilty of this murder hold thorn up an evidence that, ho is naturally a bad character, und capable of most any thing.iilood on nts OLormxfl,On Friday of last week Gonrge E. Smith of Laurel and the Pinkerton men went, to Georgotowu and saw Pratt in his cell. Thoy took with them a suit of clothes, underclothing, socks and slippers nnd took from him all tho clothing he was wearing at the time ho was arrowed and taken to jail There was blood on tho coat, on the trousers, on the shirt and on the shoes, and tho latter were till damp as thougn the wearer had walked through water. To those who Ixdiovo in Pratt’s guilt these damp shoes bear out the story of the two boya who testify to huving seen the negro cross the branch on the Collins farm the afternoon of tho murder. The clothing taken from Pnitt by Mr. Smith and the detectives was sealed nnd Inteded. ami taken by Mr. Smith to the State chemist ut Newurk for examinulion as to the stains upon them. Whatever evidence this clothing may offer la now at the diBjtosal of tho attorney-general.Tho Pinkerten detectives have the evidence of reliable persons that William Pratt «n.i m » n in the neighbor hood of the Collins farm the day before tho murder. On the other hand, thoseMills. John Bennett, Wilbur E. Mills und Jacob C. Willson of this community, (brought for assault and battery by Bethuol W. Hall), has created considerable feeling hereabout*. There wotiiH to Ik* no division of sentiment, but that the evidence given justifies the sentence; yet it is held by many thut tfir parties wore not all equally guilty. The whole of Milford Nock lias taken aides in expression of sympathies/at any'rota John ltenaett. one of the convicted men, is the brother of Joseph T. Ben nett of this town, a man of considerable wealth. His father is a retired farmer and a man of mom*. Every effort was made to keep the men out of jail, theJMills boys being in the family by marriage.The faot that the Pinkerton detectives employed in this now famous case engnged by some of the relativesand close friends of Elmer Collins, taken by sorne |**oi|e to moan that tbeao relatives and friends have adopted this means to fusion the crime upon mimeono other than the dead woman’s bushund, and many of those who are inclined to believe in the guilt of the husband have allowed this thought to run away with their common sense.It is, of course, but natural that thn frlendB of Collins should Lcliovo in his innocenco, und do what they enn to prove it; but it is surely not reasona bin to suppose that an agency such as the (Pinkerton's is known to lie, could be used as a criminal protecting agency rather than a criminal detecting agency. When thn Pinkerton men were Urst'cnlled into the raso they Informed those who engaged them as much, and It seems evident from tho manner in which they went to work on the mystery that they were as ready to fasten tho crime on the husband of tho dead woman as on anyone else; and thorn is no reasonable ground for tbo belief in tho minds of some that they attempted to shield Collins in any way.The fact of tho matter is the Pinker 'ton men appear to have tried every reasonable means to connect the him band In aomn way with the crime. Thoy spent much of their time on the Collins farm the first few days they were here. and finally Detective ButlerThis is the substance of Pratt, foesion. If the nogro did not tell the truth, nnd was simply frightened into telling tho story, us mnny believe, it is one of tho most remarkable confessions in the criminal annals of this Ktnte.for in bis story of tho crime Pratt nvn-tionedJJ details which no person not acquainted with the scene nnd circuni-Btonoos surrounding the case could possibly have known. lie told the officers that the carriage in which hn slept was on the left hand side of the door upon entering the cnrriagi bou.se and that the horse which Mr. Collins put to his dcarhorn that morning was a gray one. lie was not coached into this, but expressed these particular points of his own free will, lie told of finding the money in the woman’s stocking ami told of what, denomination the bills were. No one has yet ventured to explain how this man qpuld havotrving to nmke it appear that tho negro is Innocent cla..... gpiontered into these details il s|s*uking falsely and without a knowledge of the facts; and locked in a cell in the old Georgetown jail there is no known way by which Pratt could havo learned thcMo little details nf the crime which fit so exactly Into the circumstances that actually surrounded theAfter tho negro had told the story of his Hight. and how ho bud thrown the bloody knife in the tuill race and buried the money and the sleeve of his bloody shirt in the woods, the next atop wns to verify tho story by taking him to tho Collins farm. Tho two Pinkerton men,Sheriff Hart nnd George E. Smith drove with the prisoner that afternoon to the scono of the murder, taking a circuitous route in order to escarm the crowd ut Laurel, and with the hope of having as fow people as possible to attract (ho attention of tho prisoner. But long before the officers reached tho Collins place tho |.eoplo at Laurel had word of the confession,to lie able. . . that Pratt was in Smyrna the qvening before the murder. And much is being tuado of this fact, which would, if it can bn proven, clear tho negro of any conneolion with the crime. But can it lie proven? The evidence on the urn* hand is as good as on the other. And in the fuee of it nil is tho man's conIfiMion. Those who believo in the negro's guilt say that the at tempted alibi is a weak effort to get the colored men out of the case in the hope of fastening the crime on Collins, .fumes Anderson, whom Pratt as ulted, is authority for the statementthat. I'ratt told him while hr work on his farm that he did notrung to jail, for he bad been allowed is liberty on two Uiffi rent occasions by •• playing crazy.'* Tlt;» show howevidence against Pratt is met by the other *ide, thoy say thut Anderson has a grudge against thn colored man and Id like to spe him hanged. AndTWO DEATHS IN DOVER.Social Cnrn'xponUciiCe of iia**tte un i Journal.Dover, May ,'L Mrs. P. L. Cooper, widow of fi.riner .Sheriff und Magistrate Peter 1* t.’oopor and mother of tho late Peter I* Cooper, Jr., of Wilmington, died here this morning at the resi donee nf her daughter, Mrs. Thomas .1. Htevenson. She had returned only two weeks ago from a visit to her son in Nebraska.P. B. Norman, father of State Auditor Norman, died here this morning at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. C. It. Koilum. aged 80 years,FOUND DEAD IN BED.Spprlul Cnm»i«iin1rin'p .-f iia«mr i»nlt;1 Journal Dover. May 6.—William W. Collloon. brother **f Henry «1 doml In UmI ni hi* h* rtngton. ttil» morning.. m .liar-Moon* been ill for rer bod yesterday.„ ______ wbn badtime, was found d^iid in inborn of hi* family nine tea before h- die regardedeADIi tho father «»f A. It. Moi. till him boon truthfully *dd thatdis-d ®t»yof the even bidance of nofilth ■I.UH trouble. Nobody enn be loo * keep this balance up. Win n «Ivgin in him- iipnotile, or to get tiredp»*oplo Ivgln to I..M- uplietile, or to * easily, tin* l.iisi Imprudence bring* now, WrtUnesn «.r debility. Thesick -syste.. it iA DIVISION OF 8KNTIMICNT.As stated before. Lnurel, and in fact the entire county, is divided upon tho questionto who committed the murder, and there does not seem to be any lessoning of this interest n* the days go by. Those who look upon Elmer Collins, the husband, as the guilty man are just n* positive In their belief, to all outward appearances at least, as are those who regard the confession of tho negro Wuito us being bonaflde. and who look upon Mr. Collins us being a much persecuted man.And it is surprising, to say the lease,tosider hoishown Elmer Collins bv many of those who have known him all his life, and who never heretofore had aught to say against him. If there was any renl evidence connecting him with the murder a lack of this spirit of charity might bo expected, but there does notwisdom ,.f thestrength ami •N*v *TMa•At igreguti't the Port De-PrcMbyterian Church held Thurs day night the following building commit tue was appointed: J. 11. Rowland, S. C. Rowland, George II. Buck, William P. Cummings and H. R. Cameron. The present, building, which is located nt the extreme north end of town, will bo dispos'd of and u new building willbe erected on the Bitzlcr lot, which adjoins the residence of 11. C. Nesbitt. J. H. Rowland, chairman of the building committee, has contributed $1U,0(»0 toward tho fund for a new church.» Hell mi IDS. Denton,C-Md., May ,'i The Town Commissioners of Denton have sold the issue of 810.0U0 of water bonds to Robert Taylor A Co. of, Baltimore ut 102. The hniula are to run ;»i yt with the right of paying them after 10 joors. The bonds are dated May 1st and bear 4*-. per cent, interest. The
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Wilmington Delaware Gazette and State Journal
Wilmington, Delaware, US
Thu, May 08, 1902
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Barbei W.
USA 13 Jun 2024
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