NULLUS FILIUS

Messenger House was located at corner of Port Watson St. and S. Main St., Cortland, N. Y.

The Democrat, Cortland, Friday, Nov. 10, 1882. Benton B. Jones, Editor and Proprietor.

NULLUS FILIUS.

A Live Child Found in the Vault of a Water-closet in this Village.

   Last Thursday evening Mr. J. H. True of Buffalo, a guest at the Messenger House in this village, heard queer sounds apparently coming from the water closet of the hotel and at once informed the clerk, Mr. H. C. Caney, of the fact. Some of the employees made an investigation and discovered an infant lying in the vault of the closet. A rope was procured and the child was removed from its uncomfortable quarters and taken into the hotel. Dr. C. E Bennett was summoned and took it in charge. It was a fully developed male child and had evidently been born only few minutes before it was found. There were marks upon its head and face which the physicians think were made by instruments used in its delivery. These injuries it is thought caused its death which occurred at about 8 P M. on Friday.

   Two young women, who had been seen about town on Thursday, were suspected but there seems to have been no ground for the suspicion. A woman closely veiled is said to have been seen loitering about the premises about the time the child was found. She was afterwards seen at the S & R. depot where she bought a ticket for Syracuse and took the 6:18 train going north. As yet the officers have failed to find this woman or to obtain the slightest clue to the guilty party.

   The vault in which the child was found can only be reached from the back yard which communicates with the street and it is thought that it must have been thrown where it was by parties outside of the hotel. Dr. Jewett testified that the wound found upon the mouth of the child was made by a surgical instrument called a trocar, which had undoubtedly been used upon it. It was full grown and weighed seven pounds.

Cortland House was located at corner of Main St. and Groton Ave., Cortland, N. Y.

BURGLARY AT CORTLAND HOUSE.

The Safe in the Cortland House in This Village Burglarized—Four Thousand Dollars belonging to the Proprietor of the Hotel Carried off—The Work of Professionals.

    Yesterday morning when Adiu Leach the clerk of the Cortland House came down stairs into the office he discovered one of the drawers belonging to the safe on the the office counter. It was about a quarter past five, and the [circumstance] roused his suspicions that all was not right. An examination of the safe showed that a hole had been neatly drilled through the iron door a little to the left of the dial plate and the inside of the combination lock was broken off by means of a punch inserted in the hole made by the drill. This of course allowed the bolts to be turned back easily by turning the knob of the door and the contents of the safe was opened up to them. A sledge and a bit stalk, the former stolen from the blacksmith shop of N. Anderson and the latter from the wagon shop of Mr. Dusenbury, both located on Port Watson street were found on the floor. The bar room towel had been taken from the towel rack and placed over the end of the punch so as to deaden the sound while driving the lock off from the inside of the door.

   Mr. Bauder is erecting an addition to his house on the west side and the door leading from this building to the bar-room and office is without fastenings of any kind. The burglars entered through this door and left through the south door of the office room. The house was closed at about 12 o'clock the night before and the work must have been accomplished later. Mr. Theodore Stevenson found the missing drawers in the rear of the Stone church yesterday morning and returned them to their owner, together with the papers which had been placed in them for safe keeping. The precise amount of cash which the safe contained is not known; but Mr. Bauder informs us that that it was fully $4,000. Three hundred dollars belonged to the cook and the balance to the proprietor of the hotel. A pair of diamond ear-rings belonging to a former guest of the house valued at $200 were also taken.

   A few years since, Mr. Bauder placed $1,800 in a savings bank in Syracuse for safe keeping, after making diligent inquiry as to the financial standing of the bank which was pronounced good. The next day the shutters of the bank were not taken down and when its affairs were straightened up, it was found that there was nothing left for depositors, and since that time Mr. Bauder has been in the habit of keeping his money in his own safe. This fact most have been known to the burglars.

   That the job was done by professionals there is scarcely a doubt. The hole in the door was drilled in the precise spot necessary to enable them to reach a certain bearing in the lock, by drilling against which and forcing it inward, the combination would be broken, thus enabling them to open the door with perfect ease. The safe is a Mesier & Bahman or Cincinnati safe and if all of these safes are constructed in the same way they afford very little protection against the professional cracksman.

   It was only necessary to drill through the outside plate of the door to reach the lock. If the lock on these safes was on the inside of the door as in some of the makes the burglars would have had to drill through six or even seven inches of solid iron before reaching the lock. In this safe they were enabled to it reach the lock after drilling through the outside plate which is probably not more than three fourths of an inch thick. Mr. H. C. Miner of DeRuyter and a gentleman from Elmira occupied rooms directly over the safe, but they were not disturbed by the cracksmen.

   Sheriff VanHoesen was notified a little after 10 o'clock yesterday morning that suspicious persons were in the woods of Benham’s hill north of the village and the fire bell was rung for the purpose of collecting a crowd to surround the woods. A large party went in search of the rascals but no arrests have yet been made.

LITTLE YORK.

   The friends and members of his church made a surprise last Friday evening, upon the Rev. W. D. Fox, of Preble, and would have captured him but for the old proverb, "The hounds never catch a fox asleep." They presented a beautiful easy chair to the Elder, and a sewing chair, castor, and stew kettle filled with two boxes of honey, to Mrs. Fox. J. D. F. Woolston, Geo. Baldwin, S. D Perkins and H. Doud, presented each one of the aforementioned articles in an appropriate speech. Woolston fairly outdone himself, and shows an apt training, in the near future, for the stump. A very noticeable thing was the presence of Elder Knapp, of the Presbyterian church, and the harmony existing between them. This surprise was a spontaneous outburst of good feeling at the third return of Elder Fox by the Conference, a genial regard for the comfort of himself and wife. Such events are the bright oasis in the life of the itinerant minister.

   H. W. Blashfield has in one heap about six thousand bushels of cider apples. He has already contracted to deliver five hundred barrels The lowness of the water will perhaps necessitate the use of a steam engine.

   Frank Lathrop, agent for Mr. Slayton, of Tully, has barreled and shipped two car loads of apples from this station.

   Cards are out for the wedding of Miss Ruth Wilbur to Mr. Charles Markham.

   A D. Perkins, of Cornell University, spent Sunday with his parents, and after depositing his first vote, on Tuesday, returned.

   D. W. Carr shipped through H. Wells, of Cortland, a car load—four thousand two hundred heads—of cabbage last Saturday. He and S. D. Perkins ship another this week.

   Our school commenced Monday, with a fair attendance. Miss Courtney, of Cortland, is the teacher.

   Within the past week the lake has been drawn down nearly two feet.

Benton Bushnell Jones:
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