Some Macabre Stories of the Silver Trade

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Re: Some Macabre Stories of the Silver Trade

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RICHARD OBERLAEUTER

Savannah, Georgia


AGED JEWELER FOUND SLAIN

Four Youths Arrested After Blood-Stained Ax Is Found Near Body of Richard Oberlaeuter.


SAVANNAH, Ga. Nov. 6—At an early hour Sunday morning, Oct. 31, Richard Oberlaeuter, an aged jeweler, residing at Brunswick, Ga., was found dead in his place of business with an ugly gash in the back of his head. A blood-stained ax with which the murder was committed, was found near the dead man, who was lying in a pool of blood which had trickled from the wound. Four young men have been arrested and lodged in jail charged with complicity in the crime. The police say that they have strong evidence against the prisoners and believe that at least one of their number is the one guilty of having actually committed the crime.

A police officer while walking his beat at 2 o’clock in the morning passed the jewelry shop and noticed that the door was open and that the curtain which covered the window on the inside was torn away. This seemed very unusual and he decided to investigate. He found the dead man lying under the workbench and the little shop completely ransacked. The body was not yet cold and the blood still trickled from the wound in the jeweler’s head. The officer immediately notified other authorities.

It has long been the supposition of many that Oberlaeuter had a large sum of money in his possession, and it is believed that it was for this that the murder was committed. If the treasure was a reality, the murderer certainly secured it, as he broke open two money boxes that were in a large box and secured a number of watches and other articles of jewelry. Whether the dead man possessed this money or not 1s not known.

The four men under arrest were seen together all day Sunday and on Saturday night were known to be around the scene of the murder, and later developments showed that one of them was seen going towards Monk St. Saturday night with an ax on his shoulder.

The strongest evidence against the men is the fact that two of them had blood stains on their coats. On searching them an envelope was found which was addressed to R. Oberlaeuter, Brunswick, Ga. On the reverse side was writing by the aged jeweler. Another of the men taken into custody possessed a large knife, which had recently been hacked to a considerable extent, and it is thought by the police that the knife was used in opening the money boxes of the murdered jeweler. It is now thought by the police and many of the dead jeweler’s friends that the jeweler had at least $1,000 in jewelry and other valuables in his establishment when murdered. His pockets were rifled and a solitaire diamond ring that he had always worn is missing, as is also a large watch and chain that he possessed. A number of other diamonds that were known to be in his possession that formerly belonged to his wife are also missing. He is known to have sold some property recently, and as he made no bank deposits he may have secreted the money n one of the boxes which were robbed. Richard Oberlaeuter was between 70 and 80 years of age, and had been in Brunswick in the jewelry business for over 40 years. At one time he owned the largest jewelry store in the city. For many years, however, he had lived the life of a recluse, living and working in his little shop and seldom leaving it for any purpose. It was this life that gave many people the impression that he was hoarding up an immense amount of wealth. He had no known relatives here or elsewhere, and no one in Brunswick knows much about him, although he is known to have said to have formerly lived in Brooklyn, N. Y.

The funeral was held Nov. 1 and body interred in Palmetto Cemetery.


Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 10th November 1915

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Re: Some Macabre Stories of the Silver Trade

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J.A. SCHMIDT

Leavenworth, Kansas


J. A. Schmidt, Leavenworth, Kans., Takes His Own Life

LEAVENWORTH, Kans., July 31—J. A. Schmidt, a pioneer jeweler of this city, committed suicide here on July 25 by shooting himself with a 32-caliber revolver. He had been ill for several months and left a hospital that morning. It is believed that he lost hope of recovery, and this made him despondent.

Deceased was 66 years, was a watchmaker and commenced business on his own account in this city in 1870, moving to his present address in 1882.


Source: The Jewelers' Circular- 7th August 1912

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Re: Some Macabre Stories of the Silver Trade

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BALTIMORE

A man with a bullet hole in his head was found on the morning of April 2 near Ferry Bar. In a pocket was found a pair of gold eyeglasses, the case bearing the name of Isaac J. Braun, 428 E. Baltimore St. Mr. Braun went to the morgue and tried to identify the man, but could do nothing further than to state that the man had been in his store several times for small purchases. The police are equally divided as to whether the case is one of murder or suicide.


Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 10th April 1912

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HERBERT C. MAY

Meriden, Connecticut


Herbert C. May has brought suit for $5,000 damages against Manning, Bowman & Co., Meriden, for the loss of three fingers caused, he asserts, by a defective drop press in the concern’s factory. The complaint has been filed in the Superior Court of New Haven.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 1st November 1911

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WALTER D. O'BRIANT

Durham, North Carolina


A Double Tragedy

Durham, N. C., Jeweler Shoots Mrs. Sallie Smith Williams and Turns Revolver on Himself


Durham, N. C., July 27.—Walter D. O’Briant, local jeweler, head of the C. & O. Jewelry Co., and Mrs. Sallie Smith Williams are in a local hospital where physicians are fighting a desperate battle for their lives. Murder and suicide, with more than even chances for success in both, were attempted by O’Briant this week when he entered the automobile of the woman, pressed a pistol to her breast and sent a bullet crashing through her body, and a few minutes later getting into the car beside her and firing a shot through his stomach,

The shooting occured in the heart of the city. O’Briant, according to the results of an investigation by the police, had been waiting for a few minutes when the car drove into sight. As it approached him, the man, who is married and has four children, jumped upon the running board, shot the woman and then ran for the distance of a block when he abruptly turned, retraced his steps, entered the car where he sent a bullet into his own body. Surgeons expressed the belief that he attempted to fire the ball through the heart in both instances but fired both too low. The ball passed through the walls of his stomach and came out at the back. The one fired into Mrs. Williams entered the ribs and ranged downwards, perforating the intestines in several places.

During the past two or three weeks O’Briant had been having business troubles and has not appeared normal, his wife stated following the affair. The night before the shooting he went to bed without supper and slept for a short time, only to get up for a smoke. He left home about 5:45 o’clock and, in telling his wife goodbye, told her that he would never see her again and that she would not see him again alive.

The real cause for the attempt at murder and suicide has not been ascertained, due to the seriousness of the condition of both the man and woman. Surgeons have not allowed newspaper men or any other people to see or talk with them since they were taken to the hospital following the tragedy.


Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 3rd August 1927

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JOSEPH FLYER

New York


JEWELER ROBBED AND SHOT

New York Manufacturer Held Up by Bandits Who Wound Him and Escape with Loot Valued at About $7,000


In a daring hold-up last Friday morning on the crowded East Side of New York, Joseph Flyer of J. & H. Flyer, manufacturing jewelers, 254 Grand St., was shot and robbed of jewelry worth about $7,000. At the present time, Mr. Flyer is convalescing in Israel Zion Hospital, Brooklyn, after having a bullet removed from his hip. He is also suffering from several scalp wounds. Newspaper reports claim that the thieves had taken about $18,000 worth of diamonds and jewelry from Mr. Flyer’s pocket. A Jewelers' Circular reporter was told by one of the members of the firm that Mr. Flyer never carries that amount of merchandise in his pockets and that the loot taken by the thieves included several repair jobs which were being returned to their owners, worth not more than $7,000. This loss is not insured.

Mr. Flyer left his office, which is located on the second floor of the building at the corner of Grand and Chrystie Sts. About the middle of the block, he was approached by several men and without any warning was shot and relieved of the bag. The bandits ran back to Grand St., jumped in an automobile and disappeared. It developed that the bandits had been waiting for the jeweler and had expected him to walk toward Grand St. When he came out of the building and walked in the opposite direction, the thieves were compelled to follow him and they did not catch up with him until he had gone several hundred feet.

The shooting caused a near riot on the East Side and the excitement was so great that extra policemen were called to quell the mob. As soon as the police reached the scene, an ambulance was summoned and Mr. Flyer was rushed to the hospital where it was found he had been shot in the hip and also received a scalp wound. The bullet was later removed from his hip and he is now recovering, his progress being as rapid as can be expected.


Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 21st April 1926

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WILLIAM SLATER

Islington, London


SENSATIONAL POISONING CASE

At Clerkenwell police-court on Tuesday, William Slater, 45, jeweller, of Caledonian-road, Islington, was charged on remand with attempting to administer poison to Annie Bowden with intent to murder her, on the 26th ultimo. Prosecutrix, in her evidence last week, stated that she and a companion were drinking together in a public-house when Slater took a flask from his pocket, which he said was poison, and invited them to have some. She refused, whereupon prisoner put the flask to his mouth and pretended to drink. He afterwards left the house, and she communicated with the police-Inspector Edbrooke applied for another remand in order that the prosecution might be under-taken by the Treasury. Slater, since his remand last week, had been identified by a female who declares she saw him in the company of a woman who, it is alleged, died an hour afterwards from the effects of poison. The prisoner and the woman were seen together near the obelisk in Waterloo Bridge-road, and she died from nux vomica poisoning. When prisoner was apprehended, some bottles, containing nux vomica, morphia, and cyanide of potassium, were found by the police at his house. The poison which he was charged with attempting to administer to Annie Bowden was cyanide of potassium, a bottle of which was found in his pocket when taken into custody. Prisoner was remanded for a week, bail being refused.


Source: South Wales Echo - 4th November 1891

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ARTHUR WILLIAM COULTER

London


BRUTAL ATTEMPTED MURDER

A Girl Shot Four Times

Attempted Suicide of the Assailant


Arthur William Coulter (26), a watchmaker and jeweller, of Holloway, was charged at the Clerkenwell police-court yesterday with feloniously wounding Jane Hendy with a revolver, with intent to murder her. James Wood, a compositor, said the prosecutrix was a young woman living with prisoner, but who was not his wife. Early in the morning witness heard Jane Hendy run up to the top of the stairs, screaming out "Murder." He got out of bed, opened the window, and called for the police, while his brother, who slept in his room, opened the door, and they saw the injured woman standing in her nightdress, with blood running down it. She said, "I am shot I have seven bullets in me." The prisoner, who was downstairs, then ran out of the house, but he was brought back almost immediately afterwards by the police. Dr. Evans, surgeon, said he found that the poor girl had four bullet wounds; one bullet had gone right through the thick part of her right arm, breaking the bone. The other wounds were on her right shoulder, left wrist, and left thigh. Last Saturday prosecutrix was delivered of a child, which only lived a few hours. She was believed to have been a barmaid, and she had lived with the prisoner for two years.— Mr Barstow remanded the prisoner for a week.— On being driven through Islington in the police van, it was discovered that Coulter had cut his throat with a penknife borrowed from another prisoner. His windpipe is severed, and he lies in St. Bartholomew's Hospital in a precarious condition.


Source: South Wales Echo - 18th June 1887

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CLARENCE MOORE

Attleboro, Massachusetts


Clarence Moore had the first finger of his right hand badly crushed yesterday at the factory of C. O. Sweet & Son Co.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 21st August 1912

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JOHN SOUSA

Attleboro, Massachusetts


John Sousa had two of his fingers badly crushed at the factory of the Frank Mossberg Co., last week while working on a press.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 21st August 1912

Perhaps the same John Sousa: https://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopi ... sa#p193277

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IDA PISCO

Boston, Massachusetts


Believing her love affair blighted by the mother of the young man she planned to marry, Ida Pisco, of Dorchester Ave., Dorchester, last week took a revolver from behind a showcase in the Pisco Jewelry Co., 285 Hanover St., where she is employed, and shot herself through the shoulder in an attempt at suicide. Salvatore Di Stefano, a boy employed by the firm, ran to the street at the sound of the shot and called a traffic officer. The girl was taken to the relief station. According to the police, the young woman was engaged to Alfred Andrews, who is employed in a Boston bank. Andrews is under age and his parents objected to the wedding.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 30th June 1926

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CHARLES R. VANCE

Louisville, Kentucky


The body of a man, who was finally identified as Charles R. Vance, alias Pete Miller, a Louisville watchmaker, who disappeared about six months ago, was found floating in the water at Port Fulton, Ind., last week. He had received about $400 worth of watches to repair, and when he disappeared the police were notified. No trace of him was discovered until his body was found in the river, and the exact cause of his death is not known.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 6th July 1910

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HUGO PUFAHL

Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin


News has been received here that Hugo Pufahl, a jeweler at Arbor Vite, Wis., recently committed suicide by shooting himself.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 6th July 1910

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ROBERT L. WADSWORTH

Newark, New Jersey


Robert L. Wadsworth, an assayer employed at the plant of the New Jersey Smelting & Refining Co., 125 Clifford St., committed suicide on Wednesday morning, June 29, soon after the day’s work began, by taking potassium cyanide. Clarence Curren, the owner of the works, found the body in a coal bin connected with the factory. As Wadsworth had been acting strangely of late, it is thought that his mind was unsettled. He had just returned to work after an absence of about two months. The bottle which contained the fatal dose was found near Wadsworth’s body. It was thought at first that the man had been overcome by illness and a physician was called. As soon as it was found that he had committed suicide his son, Frank Wadsworth, an assayer employed in the Irvington Smelting & Refining Works, Irvington, was notified. Mr. Wadsworth was about 50 years old. He is survived by a widow, a son and four daughters.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 6th July 1910

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M. GILBERT LINDSEY

Chicago


The body of M. Gilbert Lindsey, a salesman employed by Hyman, Berg & Co., the well-known retail house, at State and Washington Streets, was found in Lake Michigan, at the foot of Ninety-ninth Street, on the morning of November 2Ist. How it came there was a mystery at first, but it is now generally conceded that it was a case of suicide.

Source: The Keystone - December 1894

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IRMA G. LANE

Buffalo, New York


A shadow was cast over the jewelry trade last week, through the tragic death of Miss Irma G. Lane, 21 years old, clerk in the Bush-Burnham jewelry store, 136 exchange St. Miss Lane was drowned in the treacherous Green Lake in Orchard, a suburban town on, July 9, despite the heroic efforts of an 11-year-old boy to rescue her.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 15th July 1925

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HARRY M. DORMAR - D. STUART

Los Angeles


Harry M. Dormar, known generally as “English Harry’ and proprietor of the Mesh Bag Co., took his own life recently as a result of despondency. He was located in the jewelry store of A. K. Curtiss, 711 W. 6th St. D. Stuart, 6238 Santa Monica Blvd., also took his own life recently. He, it is reported, shot himself.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 15th July 1925

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JAMES CONNERS

North Attleboro


James Connors, a stamper employed at the factory of Mandalien & Hawkins, met with an accident Thursday evening that caused the loss of two fingers. While working at a stamp his hand was caught under a 500-pound drop.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 5th October 1910

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MOSES SACHS

New York


Carl C. Sachs, son of Moses Sachs, whose body was found in a trunk in the hallway of a tenement in Goerck St., last June, arrived Thursday on the Pennsylvania, from Munich, where he has been studying the violin. He is intent on discovering the murderer of his father, and will confer with the police and his brothers to that end. The finding of Moses Sachs’ body created a sensation, but the police thus far have been unable to unravel the mystery as to who killed the man. The Jewelers Board of Trade has offered a reward of $1,000 for the capture and conviction of the murderers.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 5th October 1910

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M.C. CONLEY

Saginaw, Michigan


Jeweler M. C. Conley Falls Into the Saginaw River

Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 13.—M. C. Conley, a well known jeweler, either fell or jumped from the Johnston St. bridge into the river at 6.30 this morning. He was rescued in an unconscious condition, but soon recovered and was taken home.

He has been acting strangely of late, and remarks he is credited with would indicate suicide. He, however, states that his fall was entirely accidental. To-night his condition is serious. Mr. Conley has been in business here for several years and has a wife and one son who lives at Toledo.


Source: The Jewelers' Circular and Horological Review - 19th September 1894

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