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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1909)
I Professional Directory of Wallowa County ystery of c ti f j THUS. M. DIUL, J R. I. LONd H. E. MERRY. MAN SURVEYOR AND ENGINEER t V. S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor, Mining and Metallurgical Kugl- T necr KutriirlM (lrni.i,. T ATTORNEY-AT-LAf Jit rfilMV sibvfyob The Yellow. Office first doDr south of New Fraternal Bldg, Euterprlss, Ore. iivu. ii.Turau.ic a:ui irrigation i-.nM.ie i in. KiiUTurlse. Ore. The M .Room By GASTON LEROUX rV Stand asiae, messrs. zneriocn 1 Holmes, Martin Hewitt, Dupin, Lecoq, Vidocq, and all the crew of famous detectives of fiction y . . . , . r t r and history I Enter Joseph Rou-. letabille, reporter-detective, sz- perior to yon ell in ths faculties ; I of observing everything, remcm- bering everything, deducing ell the facts that throw light on his cases. Beforo RoulctabiUc pro nounced Ralc-ta-bee solved the Mystery of the Yellow Room ke was known to the Paris police as a marvel of reasoning pover, although he was only a boy in years. With the solution of the famous Stangerson en igma he be- came a national figure in the lit erature of France. As such we introduce him to our readers. CHAPTER I. In WKich W Begin Not to Understand. t yellow room!" Who now I J remembers this affair which III caused so much Ink to flow? I I On the 25th of October. 1SVX the iuuowing note appeared in the lat est edition of the Temps: "A frightful crime has been commit ted at the Chateau du Glandier, on the border of the forest of Salute Gene vieve, above Epinay-sur-Orge, at the house of Professor Stangerson. In the night, while the master was working In his laboratory, an attempt was made to assassinate Mile. Stantersn, who was sleeping in 'the yellow room,' a chamber adjoining this laboratory. The doctors do not answer for the life of MUe. Stangerson." The Impression made on Paris by this news may be easily imagined. Al ready at that time the learnej world was deeply Interested in the labors of Professor Stangerson and his daugh ter. These labors the first that were attempted In radiography served to open the way for M. and Mm. Curie to the discovery of radium. It was expected the professor would shortly read to the Academy of Sciences a sen sational paper on his new theory, the dissociation of matter, a theory des tined to overthrow from Its base the whole of official science, which based itself on the principle of the conserva tion of energy. On the following day the newspapers mere full of the tragedy. The Matin published the following article, entitled "A Supernatural Crime," 'These are the only details," wrote the anonymon writer in the Matin, "we have been able to obtain concern ing the crime of the Chateau du dan dier. The state of despair in which Professor Stangerson is plunged and tte Impossibility of getting any l&for- j TO0Tn locked on the inside and the tnatjon from the lips of the victim blinds on the only window also fast bare rendered our investigations and j enej on the Inside, and mademoiselle those of Justice so difficult that at , etjn calling for help! No. she had present we cannot form the least Idea j ceased to call! She was dead per of what has passed In the yellow room j japS. jjut j stju heanj her father. In In which Mile. Stangerson, In her night j tQe pavilion, trying to break down the dress, was found lying ou the floor In the Agonies of death. We hare at Jeast been able to Interview Daddy Jacques, fis h Is called In the country, an old servant to the Stangerson family, paddy Jacques entered 'the yellow room' at the aame time as the profes sor. This chamber Adjoins the labo ratory. Laboratory and yellow room ore ia a pavilion at the end of the park, about a thousand feet from the chateau. " 'It was baJf past 12 at night' this honest old man told us, 'and I was In the laboratory, where M. Stangerson was still working, when the thing hap pened, I had been cleaning and put ting instruments In order all the even ing and was waiting for M. Stangerson to go to bed. Mile. Stangerson bad worked with her father up to midnight When the twelve strokes of midnight bad been sounded by the cuckoo clock to the laboratory she rose, kissed M Stangerson and bade him good night To me she said "Good night Daddy Jacques," as she passed Into the yel low room. We heard ber lock the door and shoot the bolt, so that I could cot help laughing and said to monsieur; There's mademoiselle dou ble locking herself In. . She must be afraid of "the Bets du Bon Dieu." " 'Monsieur eld not even hear me, be was so deeply absorbed In what be was doing. Just then we beard the distant inlawing of a cat "Is that going to keep us awake all night?" I aid to myself, for I must tell you, monsieur, that, to the end of October. I live In an attic of the pavilion over the yellow room, so that mademoiselle should not be left alone through the night in the lonely perk. It was the fancy of mademoiselle to spend the In weather In the pavilion. No doubt she found It more cheerful than the chateau and, for the four years It had been built, she had never failed to take up her lodging there In the spring., With the return of winter mademoi selle returns to the chateau, for there Is no fireplace in the yellow room. 'We were stay lair In the pavil- COPYRICHT. 1C03. BY BRENTANO'S n then M. Stangerson and L VTe raade uo noise. He was seated at his tfesk. As for me, I was sitting on a rbair blg finished my work and. !inf mt hlra a81': hat a man! What Intelligence! What knowIedger , attach ,mpop. tanoe to the fact that we made no isoise: for, because of that, the assassin raa 'eruumy mougoi mat we naa left the place.. And, suddenly, while the cuckoo was sounding the half after midnight, a desperate clamor broke out in the yellow room. It was the voice of nitidoruotselle, crying "Murder mur-der-he!pr Immediately afterward revolver shots rang out, and there was a great noise of tables and furniture being thrown to the ground, as If In the course of a struggle, and again the voice of mademoiselle calling, "Mnr- der help papa papa!" 'You may be sure that we quickly sprang up and that M. Stangerson and I threw ourselves upon the door. Cut, alas. It was locked, fast locked, on the inside by the care of mademoi selle, as I have told you, with key and bolt We tried to force It open, but It remained firm. M. Stangerson was like a madman, and. truly. It was enough to make him one, for we heard made moiselle still calling "Help, help!" M. Stangerson showered terrible blows on the door and wept with rage and sob bed with despair and helplessness. . " It was then that I had an Inspira tion. "The assassin must have en tered by the window !" I cried. "I will go to the window !" and I rushed from the pavilion and ran like one out of bU mind. " "The Icsplration was that the win dow of ths yellow room looks out In such a way that the park wall, which abuts on the pavilion, prevented my at once reaching the window. To Bet up to It cue has first to go out of the park. I ran toward the gate and on my way met Bernler and his wife, the gate keepers, who had been attracted by the ristol reports and by our cries. In a few words I told them what had happened and directed the copejerge to join M. Stangerson with all speed, while his wife came with me to open the park pate. Five minutes later she and I were before the window of the yellow room. " The moon wa3 shining brightly, and I saw clearly that no one had touched the window. Not only were the bars that protect It fntact, but the blinds inside of them were drawn, as I hf.d myself drawn them early In the evening, as I did every day, though mademoiselle, knowing that I was tired from the heavy work I had been doing, had begged me not to trouble E'.ysejf, but leave her to do It, and they ' were, just as I had left them, fastened with an Iron catch on the Inside. The assassin, therefore, could Pt have passed either in or out that way.' but neither could I get In. 'It was unfortunate enough to turn one's brain! The door of the docr. " 'With the concierge I hurried back to the pavilion. The door, in spite of the furious attempt of M. Stangersou and Beruicr to burst It open, was still holding Erm. but at length. It gave way before our united efforts; and then what a siht met our eyes! I shouid tell ycu that behind us, the concierge held the laboratory lamp a powerful lamp that lit the whole chamber. "I must also tell you, monsieur. that the yellow room Is a, very small room. Mademoiselle bad furnished It with a fairly large Iron bedstead, a email table, a dressing table and two Chairs. By the light of the big lamp we saw all at a glance. Mademoiselle. In her nightdress, was lying on the floor In the midst of the greatest dis order. Tables and chairs had been overthrown, showing that ' there had been a violent struggle. Mademoiselle had certainly been dragged from her bed. She was covered with blood and bad terrible marks of finger nails on her throat, the flesh of ber neck hav ing been almost torn by the nails. From a wound on the right temple a etreara of blood had run down and made a little pool on the floor. When M. Stangerson saw his daughter to that state be threw himself on his knees beside ber, uttering a cry of despair. lie ascertained that she still breathed. "'But bow to explain that be was not there, that be bad already escaped? It passes all Imagination. Nobody un der the bed, nobody behind the furni ture! AH that we discovered were traces, blood stained marks of a man's large hand on the walls and on the door, a big handkerchief red with blood without any Initials, an old cap and many fresh footmarks of a man on the floor footmarks of a man with large feet whose boot soles bad left a sort of sooty Impression. How bad this msn got away? now had he van Ished? Don't forget, monsieur, that there Is no chimney In the yellow room. lie could not have escaped by the door, which Is narrow anj on thr threshold of which the concierge stood with the lamp while her husband and I searched for him In every corner ot the little room, where It Is Impossible foi any one to hUe himself. Thedoor. which bad been forced open against the wall, could not conceal anything behind It. as we assured ourselves. By the win dow, still In every way secured, no flight had been possible. What then? 'But we discovered my revolver on the floor yes, my revolver! Oh, that brought me back to the reality! The devil would not have needed to steal my revolver to kill mademoiselle. The man who bad been there had first gone up to my attic and taken my re volver from the drawer where I kept It We then ascertained, by counting the cartridges, that the assassin had fired two shots. Ah. It was fortunate for me that M. Stangerson was In the laboratory when the affair took place and had seen with his own eyes that I was there with him, for otherwise, with this business of my revolver, I don't know where we should have been I should now be under lock and bar.'" The editor of the Matin added to this Interview the following lines: "We have, without interrupting him. allowed Daddy' Jacques to recount to us roughly all he knows about the crime o the yellow room. We have reproduced It In his own words, only sparing the reader the continual lamen tations with which he garnished his narrative. We should have liked to put some further questions to Daddy Jacques, but the inquiry of the exam ining magistrate, which Is being car ried on at the chateau, makes It Im possible for us to gain admission at the Glandier, and, as to the oak wood. It Is guarded by a wide circle of police men who are Jealously watching all traces that can lead to the pavilion and that may perhaps lead to the dis covery of the assassin, V We have also wished to question the concierges, but they are Invisible. Finally, we have waited (n a roadside inn, not far from the gate of the cha teau, for the departure of Monsieur de Marquet, the magistrate of Corbell. At half past 5 we saw him and bis clerk and, before he was able to enter bis carriage, bad an opportunity to ask him the following question: " 'Can you. Monsieur de Marquet give us any Information as to this af fair, without Inconvenience to the course of your Inquiry? 'It Is Impossible for us to do It' replied Monsieur de Marquet- 'I can only say that It is the strangest affair I have ever known. The more we think we know something, the further we are from knowing anything!' "We asked Monsieur de Marquet to be good enough to explain his last words, and this is what be said, the Importance of which no one will fall to recognize: " 'If nothing is added to the material facts so far established. I fear that the mystery which surrounds the abomina ble crime of which Mile. Stanger son has been the victim will never be brought to light but It Is to bo hoped, for the sake of our human rea son, that the examination of the walls, and of the ceiling of the yellow room an examination which I shall tomor row Intrust to the builder who con structed the pavilion four years ago will afford us the proof that may not discourage us. For the problem la this; We know by what way the as sassin gained admission he entered by the door and bid himself under the bed, awaiting Mile. Stangerson. But bow did be leave? How did he escape? If no trap, no secret door, no hiding place, no opening of any sort Is found; if the examination of the walls even tq (be demolition of the parillon-does not reveal any passage . practicable not only for a human be ing, but for any being whatsoever If the celling shows no cracks, if the floor bides no underground passage, pne must really believe In the devil!' "We wanted to know what Daddy Jacques meant by the cry of 'the Bete du Boq Pleu.' The landlord of the Donjon inn explained to us that it is the particularly sinister cry which Is uttered sometimes at night by the cat of an old womim -Motber Angenoux, as she Is called In the country. Moth, cr Angenoux is a sort of saint, who lives In a hut In the heart of the forest not far'from the grotto of 8uuteGene vleve." In conclusion and at a lute hour the same journal announced that the chief of the Paris police had telegraphed to the famous detective Frederic I.arsan, who bad been sent to London for an affair of stolen' securities, to return , Immediately to Paris, CHAPTER II. In Which Joseph RoulelabilU Ap pears For lb First Time. in FIRST knew Joseph Rouleta- bille pronounced Itule-ta-beeJ when he was a young . re porter. At that time I was a beginner at. the bar and often met blm In the corridors of examining magistrates when I bad gone to get a S BURLEIGH & BOYD ATTORNEYS-ARAW Practice in all State Courts and J interior Department. Careful at- J t teiulon to all business. D. W LAWYER SHEAHAN INTERPX SE T Practice in State and Federal X Cojrts ana interior Department, I C. T. HOCKETT. M. D. V t PHYSICIAN AND SIRGtON Office upstairs in Bank Build- ing. Ind. Home phone in office ? ajiu residenco. 5 "permit to communicate" for the pris on of Mazas or for Salnt-Lnzare. He had." as they say. "a good nut." He seemed to have taken his head, round as a bullet out of a box of marbles, and It is from that 1 think, that his comrades of the press, ail determined billiard players, had given him that nickname, which was to stick to him and be made Illustrious by him. He was always as red as a tomato, now gay as a lark, now grave as a judge. How while still so young he was only j sixteen and a half years old when I saw him for the first time had he al ready won his way on the press? That was what everybody who came 1 Into contact with blm might have ask- ' ed If they had not known his history. ! At the time of the affair of the woman cut in pieces in the Rue Oberskampf, another forgotten story, he had taken to one of the editors of the Epoque, a paper then rivaling the Matin for In formation, the left foot which was missing from the basket In which the grewsome remains were discovered. For this left foot the police had been vainly searching for a week, and young , Rouletabllle had found It in a drain where nobody had thought of looking : for It. To do that be had dressed him self as an extra sewer man, one of a ' number engaged by the administration of the city of Taris owing to an over-1 flow of the Seine. When the editor in chief was In pos- session of the precious foot and In-1 formed as to the train of Intelligent deductions the boy had been led to make he was divided between the ad miration he felt for such detective cunning In a brain of a lad of sixteen years and delight at being able to ex hibit In the "morgue window" of bis paper the left foot of the Rue Obers kampf. The boy faced reporter speedily made many friends, for be was serv iceable and gifted with a good humor that enchanted the most severe tem pered and disarmed the most zealous of bis companions. He began to win a reputation as an unravelvr of intri cate and obscure affairs which found its way to the office of the chief of police. When a case was worth the trouble and Rouletabllle he bad al ready been given his nickname bad been started on the scent by his editor In chief he often got the better of the most famous detectives. It was at the Bar cafe that I became Intimately acquainted with him. Crim inal lawyers and Journalists are not enemies; the former ueed advertise ment, the latter information. We chat ted together, and 1 soon warmed to ward him his Intelligence was so keen and so original, and he bad a quality of thought such as I have never found In any other person. Nearly two years pussed lu this way, and the better I kutw him the more I (earned to love him, for In spite of bis careless extravagance I had discovered In blm what was, considering his age, au extraordinary seriousness of mlud. Accustomed as I was ta seeing hliu gay, and, indeed, ofteq too gay. I would many times find blm plunged In the deepest lueluucholy. 1 tried then to question blm as to the cause of tbU change of humor, but each time be 'uugUJ aud wade me no answer. One day,' having questioned blui about bis parents, -of whom he never spoko. he left me, pretending not to have beard what I said. While things were lu this state be tween us the famous rase of "the yel low room" took place. It was this case which was to rank blm as the leading newspaper reporter and to ob tuln for hliri the reputation of being the fcTcutest detective It) tbo world. Ilouiutubille entered my room on tliu morning of the 2dth of October, 1802. ' He was looking redder than usual, aud his eyes were bulging out of his head, as the phrase Is, and altogether he ap peared to be In a state of extreme cx- I citement. lie waved the Matin with ' a trembling hand and cried: j "Well, my dear Salnclalr, have you i read It?" I "The Glandier crime?" I "Yes; 'the yellow room!' What do you think of It?" "I think (hat It must have been the devil or the Bete du Bon Dieu' that committed the crime." . "Bo serious!" "Well, I don't much, believe In mur derers who make their escape through ELK CREEK JOTS. The New Years dance at Sam Ba ker's was a great success from start to finish. The houso as crowded. Dancing commented at 6 in the ev ening and closed at 6 Iu the morn ing, with an Interval of about half an hour, during which all hands par took ot the s jpply of good things to eat. Will Reed, accompanied by his sis ter and brother, spent Sunday at the home of Pat Lofus. Sara Baker and family were also callers at Mr. Lof lus' home the Bame day, and were accompanied home by the Messrs. Red and sister. ?Ht-l' CHAS. A. AULT t PHYSICIAN AND SLRGEON f Residence 1 block east of Pres- J u) terian Church Office in Ber- 2 land Building. Euterpries. ? walls of solid brick. I think Daddy Jacques did wrong to leave behind hliu the weapon with which the crime was committed, and. as he occupied the at tic Immediately above Mile. Stanger son's room, the builder's Job ordered by the examining magistrate will give us the key of the eulgmn. and It will not be long before we learn by what natu ral trap or by what secret door the old fellow was able to slip In and out nnd return Immediately to the laboratory to M. Stangersou without his absence being noticed. That, of course, Is only an hypothesis." Rouletabllle sat down In on armchair, lit his pipe, which he was never with out, smoked for a few minutes lu si lence no doubt to calm the excitement which visibly dominated him and then replied: . "No trap will be found, and the mys tery of the yellow room will become more and more mysterious. That's why It Interests mo. The examtnlng magistrate Is right Nothing stranger than this crime has ever boeu known." "Have you any Idea of the way by which the murderer escaped?" I asked. "None." replied Rouletabllle. "none, for the present. But I have nn Idea as to the revolver. The murderer did not use it." "Good heavens! By whom, then, was it used?" "Why, by Mile, Stangerson." 'I don't understand, or. rather, I have never understood," I snld. Rouletabllle shrugged his shoulders. "Is there nothing In this article in the Matin by which you were particu larly struck?' "Nothing. I have found the whole oi the story it tells equally strange." "Well, but the locked door with the key on the Inside?" "That's the only perfectly natural thing In the whole article." "Really! And the bolt?" "The bolt?" "Yes, the bolt, also Inside the room, a still furthor protection against entry. Mile. Stangerson took quite extraor dinary precautions. It Is dear to me that she feared some one. That was why site took such precautions even Daddy Jacques' revolver without tell ing htm of It No doubt she didn't wish to alurm anybody and, least of all, her father. Whut she dreaded took place, and she defended herself. There was a struggle, and she used the revolver skillfully euough to wound the assassin lu the band, which ex plains the Impression on the wull and on the door of the large, blood stained hand of the inuu who was searching for A means of exit from the chamber. But she didn't fire soon enough to avoid the terrible blow on the right temple." "Then the wound on the temple was not done with the revolver?" "The paper doesu't say It was. and I don't think it was. because logically It appears to me thnt the revolver was used by Mile. Stangerson against the assassin. Now, what weapon did the murderer use? The blow on the tem ple seems to show that the murderer wished t stun Mile. Stnugersou after he had unsuccessfully tried to strangle her. He must have known that the ai'tlc was Inhabited by Duddy Jacques and that wus one of the reasons, I think, why he must lmve used a quiet weapon a life preserver or a ham mer." "All that doesn't explain bow the murderer got out of the yellow room," I ebservtd. "Evidently," replied Itauletabllle. ris ing, "and that is wUat has to be ex plained. I am going to the Chateau du Glandier and have come to see whether you will go with me." ' "X?" "Yes, my boy, I waut you. The Cpoquo has definitely intrusted this case to me, and 1 must clear it up as quickly as possible." "But lu what way can 1 be of any use to you?" "M. Robert Darzac la at the Chateau du Glandier." "That's true. Ills despair must be bound less." "1 must have a talk with hliu." I knew M. Robert Darzuc from hav ing been of great service to blm in a civil actum while 1 wus acting as sec retary to Multre Darbet Delutour, M. Robert Darzac, who was at that time about forty ycurs of age, was a pro W. C. KETCHL'M I DEMIST - ENTERPRISE . Mte L-eriend Building. Independent 1'bjne. Home x i vui.u.n it. KUKltllAKD T ATTOCNFY in mrvcrinD I t Practices in all Courts and In- ? torior Dept. Notary Public. T 2 hid. Home plio.io. Joseph. X 2 E. T. ANDERSON, M. D. I PHYSICIAN AND Sl'RGEON I Calls attended to day or night T j iiome phone. t.nUMprlso, Ore. X fessor of physics at the Sorboune. n was Intimately acquainted with the Stangcrsons and after an assiduous scveu years' courtship of the daugh ter hud been on the point of marrying her. In spite of the fact that she bad become, ns tho phrase goes, "a person of a certain age," sho was still re markably (rood looking. While I was dressing I called out to Rouletnbllle, who wns impatiently moving about my sitting room: "Have you any idea as to the mur derer's station In life?" "YoV he replbMl. "I think if he Isn't a mm In society, tie Is at least a man bclugln to 'the upper class But thnt. again. I' only nn Impression " "What has led you t form It?" , "Well, the grensy cap. the common handkerchief and the marks of the rough boots on the fleer" he re; " "I understand," I K.ild. "MuiV ivrs don't leave traces behind them whl-h tell the truth." - "We shall make sonn-thlnfT vt you yet, my dear Sulmialr." concluded nouletubtlle. (Continued next was Senator Thomas 11. Carter u. . tuua Is a good subject for the cartoon ist been use of the long wblskers he sports, a possession tho like of which Is not often found nowadays In legis lative halls at Washington. The seuu- m m t J ; Hi, TBOVAS H. CAIITLB AND A CAHIOATUBB 0 tor resembles a New Englund deacon of the type now famous In song and story. He has been a big gun la bis party In duys gone by and wus chair man of Its national committee when Benjamin Hurrlson run for re-election as president. How He Found Out. "I never bet ou a horse race." "But this Is a sure thing." "It was betting ou a sure thing that cured me." Tain bo Say, MIstao Bones, what tin do three most uncertalnest things In de world? Bones Ah dunno. Mlstnb Tarn bo. What am de three most uucertulnest things In du world? Bonos A woman an' two other wo men. Chicago News. "I doubt ye are growing remiss. John," suld a Scotch parish minister. "I have not seen you in the kirk these three Sttblmths." Johu was not duly abashed. "Na," said he. "It's uo that Pin growing remiss. I'm Just tinkerln' awa wi ma soul masel."-London News. "Wtiat are you going out before the curtalu agalu for?" demanded the stage inauager. clutching the arm of the new vaudeville artist, who had Just made a dismul failure. j. "Somebody's clapped." blurted the actor, "and t want to find out who It , was."