Newspaper Page Text
.
P 4 2 " ‘
————— P . R
"4
R
; L
N g
‘ " ‘
3 -
e /. - ‘/
L . % " »5 ® &
4 d W
e :‘I
% 1;
»
- . r;"‘i"
& ;3
Why the French Detectives
Think a Vicious Ape
May Have Murdered the Unfortunate
Mlle. Marie Christophle Ak
Paris, Dec. 28.
N advanced psychologist has made
A the argument that fiction creates
fact and that the most fantastic
occurrences imagined by a writer
are sure to repeat themselves in real
life,
This argument receives support from
an extraordinary murder mystery excit
ing France just now, which Is said to
repeat the most remarkable anfl essential
features of Edgar Allan Poe's famous and
grewsome tale, “The Murders in the Rue
Morgue.”
The most plausible explanation of this
present French murder mystery is that
# was committed by a great ape. This
{s the theory upon which the police are
now working. Thus one of the most fan
tastic stories ever imagined seems to
have been re-enacted in real life nearly
o hundred years after it was written.
In the present case the victim was a
young woman, Mademoiselle Marie Chris
tophle, aged twenty-four, belonging to an
old and wealthy family, living at No. 43
Cours Sablon, at Clermont-Ferrand, an
fmportant French provincial city. Her
father, now deceased, was a prominent
lawyer in this city and her grandfather
was the Prefect under Napoleon 111 of
the Department of Puy-de-Deme, in
which the city is situated.
The family eonsisted of the daughter,
Marie; her mother, and a brother, Jean
Christophle, one year younger than her
self. They enjoyed a large income and
lived in a fine old house, The son was
called out as a soldier on the cutbreak
of war, but obtained a comfortable posi
tion on the staff, which enabled him to
{ive at home in Clermont-Ferrand.
Mademoiselle Christophle occupied a
bedroom on the fourth floor of the
house. At half-past two in the morning
egonized shrieks in different tones and
cries of “Fire!” coming from this house
were heard by the neighbors. The fire
men broke into the house and hurried
to Mademoiselle Christophle’'s room,
where the fire was burning.
They found that it was already nearly
extinguished, and soon put an end to
it. Jean Christophle and his mother had
apparently been busily engaged in trying
to put out the blaze. The big old-fash
joned wooden four-poster bedstead, with
canopy, had besn partially burnt up.
In the midst of the ruins, by the side
of the bed, lay the dead body of Marie
Christophle. The fireman and others at
first assumed that she had been suffo
cated by the fire.
In due course a judicial inquiry into
her death was begun, and at once the
interesting fact was established that her
death was not due directly to the fire
or 2 suffocation caused by it. She had
recdived severe blows on the head from
a blunt instrument probably capable of
causing death.
She had also received injuries in many
parts of the body which, it is thought,
might have been caused by the hands
of a powerful man, 3
Jean Christophle gave what appeared
to be a reasonable explanation of his
sister’'s death. He said that she was
subject to heart disease, and thought
that when she found that a fire had
broken out she had an attack of this
disease, which killed her.
It is well known that in a French trial
or judicial inquiry the witnesses are not
fmited by anything like American rules’
of evidence, but are encouraged to give
8
any expianation they belleve has any
bearing on the matter and are even brow
beaten by the Judge, If he thinks he can
make them give any more information.
“How do you explain that your sister's
body bears marks that gshow she was
beaten to death?” asked the Judge in the
case,
“I do not belleve she was beaten,” sald
young Christophle. “I belleve the in-
Juries to her head were caused by the
top of the bed falling upon her. You
see It was partly burnt and lying on the
bed.
“l 1 think the other injuries were due
to her falling on the table and chair by
the bedside In her terrified condition.
These injuries and her terrors would
naturally have induced an attack of her
heart trouble, which would have been
fatal.
“l 1 do not believe she was attacked by
any one. The first information I had of
trouble was when | heard her shrieks
and then the noise of her body falling
n the floor. Then I rushed to her room.
man who had attacked her could
h escaped without passine my room
and\ being seen by me.”
The case remained an utter mystery
for many weeks. Then the local news
papers began to hint at u shocking state
of affairs. They said that Madame
Christophle was devoted to her son and
was not fond* of her daughter. It was
suggested that she was displeased at the
idea that the family property would have
to be divided equally between son and
daughter.
At last these rumors culminated in the
arrest of Madame Christophle and her
son for causing the girl's death. If the
great war had not been raging this
would certainly have been regarded as
one of the most famous criminal cases
ever known in France. The leading Paris
newspapers, however, considered it
patriotic not to deal at great length with
a case that pointed to a shocking scandal
in a prominent French family.
The Magistrate who had begun the in
quiry was relieved from the duty on ac
count of old associations with the
Christophle family, and a very important
judge was appointed in his place. This
inquiry, it should be uuderstood, is not
a trial.
The Christophles—mother and son—
made a most effective defense. They
engaged the ablest lawyers in France to
represent them. Madame Christophle
said she was overcome by horror at the
charge, but her son fought vigorously
against the accusations.
He explained that the family had many
enemies in the department on account
of ancient quarrels, and that they had
inspired these attacks on them. He
pointed out how reasonable was the
original explanation of the tragedy and
how unreasonable it was to suspect him
of a horrible crime simply on the ground
of rumors of a family quarrel. Indeed. his
explanations persuaded moest people that
there was no basis for the charge.
Then it became known that the police
of Clermont-Ferrand were working on
the theory that an ape had committed
the mysterious crime. This fact first
leaked out, when it was learned that the
police had been examining all the mon
keys in the possession of persons in
Clermont-Ferrand,
This led enterprising reporters to the
discovery that the police had kept a re
markable record of fingerprints found
LEK& %@%’ FAMO
THE RUue MorGUE
L
- ~AN
&b
f’\&&‘ ///’"//// )
\\& 47 & :
N 7 >
”~
Pog T d :
[ 2> *
BN y
¥. i -
t 8 W
t ™ {‘t - “
vy = 5
3 4“ @
N
:e . ‘
‘\('? o ,‘f;
: \ T
3 o
g e
¥ s oy T #\A
S Q&
3 ;.."""‘ 5 'fi"'}’f ;afi .
| SE I )
3 “‘ e f*;'f, B
ke
Sy rng »~
. Z ? "7?"
b < "] .
7 ‘
‘ | '}”'.y C’MN
‘ AT
s ;,’,g///. e .
i > it
7
‘%";\:’ ’—"’v',!'i‘ !Y N\
el . M i S N NN
e oy ¢ WW\
V.. o ' BT
. " P \lw.
. & o LY P \\\_;“{::
e Sil PN ;I;{"‘\ "
A, e L SN i
vy SR B e
b SR S I
o's _'..l-",. 7 W 3 3 h. ,\.\
4 A v"‘,‘fli‘\:“ N 2 N 7 4 e
: O ASR N my,
I R e AN ['¢ "
R / b A R LY s
The Right
Hand of
an Orang
“Outang,
Showing
the Relative
Shortness
of the
Thumb as
Compared
with a
Man’s Hand
o and about the room where
the tragedy occurred and
upon the body of the dead
girl,
Some of the injuries on the
body of the girl were, it was
reported, apparently caused
by fingers and thumbs of
enormous strength. They
were not the fingers and
thumbs of young Christophle,
and they differed in type
from those of any other man
preserved in collections of
fingerprints. The same fin
gerprints were found on the
back of a chair in the bed
room and upon the window
pane. i = i
Five monkeys were found by the po
lice in Clermont-Ferrand, but they were
all small, and their fingerprints could
not possibly have been confused with
those of a man.
It was clear that if one of the simian
family was concerned in the tragedy it
must have been a great ape, such as an
Copyright, 1816, by the Star Company.
.3 ~ 4
= — ’ P i
- /= 4/ LU
e 774
- T e .\ U
s\\ ; , &‘-
>\ /( — < 4
L - . "\/\
s :
= o F IR /"
- \\
3 7 i
N\ = " ]
D
A
- v e NN
» - =
'/Q"/ ,("
A| — o
SgN B
& =
"
. 3~ ‘\
e #
o N
-—
v \‘-
"y B -
.g ‘ oGy
; y "
) 8
E
The i -
A e
§ X
> P
4
"‘*t’ 3
Y
§ .
! : =R~ X
& IE g
3 RS - <
"s ; S
ERh A 2 %
TUN B )
% ' 1 ARE
S e A
s '. L s }1
St RR S % A i 3 :
g W == == P
\‘;{' G /,/é/{{ Zi= —l‘,,-~ =
ety VN =4
RO 2
4’.“3.’5‘45’ N
. A NN " %
Y £ FEENORI UR WA U o '
‘ et AN s g
2 ¥ ) LY 3\ N E 2% s .
Vo R \h.,_\'.\v; "/_‘j':‘_ R
vKI9 AR \ ah v i
O ALY SR P SR
7 (TS . b L % R
e‘:f,{}/; /TS sy v i
KT e G S
/) RN < o o
e ¥ XS
¥4 V'l/'v;“ S N F =R
¥ 40 AT s ge s
oAS I Y B :%c LR
Mo A S 2 s
-',,~;.5q,hr i “"'_" \“"
P R AR Y
" \...'.'7“4‘-\:4:'-' ! A
"; A ,_,'.r‘ g §
- -._ s
Finger Prints of a
Human Thumb and
Index Finger.
orang-outang, a gorilla or a chimpanzee.
If that was so it must have belonged
to some wandering showman who had
passed through the town. The police
are now hunting for sugh a showman
who passed through the town at the time
of Mademoiselle Christophle’s death.
A theory has been put forward that
Great Britaln Rights Reserved.
‘ 4
i P > A : " “Bfl} ; !
i ‘ . .5‘ 1
3 ‘?»T A % .;
' b o ; g (1o
! : ,
!
/ -
! |
: ' , l"’ !
:! \ i
"
oo
$ . < 7
N ¢ g y ; !Z/
li‘_ g ,\.",i . i
(e TN e
P ’if—fi‘_;; -;.;'\;.“ “
R e
N\ -
By 5 .
i {5
N LRN i
¢ »:‘-?"! '\,;s‘ } !
;‘sf‘. f_‘)‘r‘;?v"":j-.. ‘
| -~ LA A I
w.fi | . ’
’ZR \/ (( A )
The Late Aubrey Beardsley's Conception of Poe’s Masterpiece, “The
Murders in the Rue Morgue.”
‘ of i
- :
st g
b = g
: 9 > S 3,
& - - 7.; s
o r 4 3 .K ;
b 4 : L
‘ | S ' - ¥
pi . 3 ? !* sl i
cd N -
e f}‘, B ’..v‘k e
* 438 oy
* g & ~ . 3
| By
T S ,
. i
7 ot 4
\’-.‘ y
i PLR / 4
LT
-‘*( LT §
ad oy
/' / P o, A
AW Yg™ ;-
' Lo «.’*) ? o Ny
P araal T e
s i e,
o > ‘& oo e, 'J" _4,-5 ' ;
R
g
N E. o ” i
PR T eI
!‘; .’.‘ ‘S_?e,; s ’-t“’ & Far ¥
% £ 3 L
e s ¥
.A*j' ¥ ’b’:.{%‘ % h_f»,v‘-..
&3 - R L e
B AR et
The Foot of an Orang-Outang.
the ape escaped from its house or cage
during the night, ran through the empty
streets of the town and was attracted
by the light in the fourth story window
of the Christophle house. Then the
ape ran up a rain-pipe, reached the win
dow, entered the room, attacked the girl,
beat and choked her to death and upset
@ lamp in the struggle. Finally it es
caped in the way it came.
Now a very important question nat
urally arises: “Is it possible to prove
that these finger marks are those of an
ape?’ Professor Paul Combes, a distin
guished naturalist, has pronounced his
opinion that the ape's fingerprints,
though like a man's are unmistakable
Finger Prints of an
Orang-Outang’s Thumb
and Index Finger.
are those of an ape. Of course, other
ape-like characteristics must be looked
for. There are many men whose hands
show ape-like tendencies, but in my
opinion there is always an unmistakable
dividing line between the human hand
and that of the highest ape, such as the
orang-o%ang.
by an expert.
“The most striking differ
ence between the two hands,”
he said, “lies in the thumbs.
The ape’s thumb is very
gshort, not reaching to the
fleshy base of the forefinger,
while the man’s thumb ordi
narily reaches to the second
joint of the forefinger or
reaches beyond it. A rela
tively long thumb is gener
ally regarded as an evidence
of mental and physical abil
ity.
“If the finger and thumb
prints in the Clermont-Fer
rand case show a thumb
which does not reach the
base of the forefinger it is
reasonably certain that they
TR S Nl mnnmivasn nthar
“The man’s hand is made so that it ca
grasp a sphere easily, while that of the
ape is more fitted to grasp a cylindrica
object, such as a tree branch. The man’
fingers move obliquely, so that they close
over the base of the thumb. The ape's
fingers close directly over the palm ol
the hand.
“The apes are right-handed like the
vast majority of men. The large lines
upon the palm of the hand run straight
across in the ape, while they are curved
in man, owing to the different action of
the fingers.
“The ape has an opposable thumb, a
feature that has been of enormous value
in man’'s development, but the lines show
that the former uses hig thumb more for
hanging on to trees th‘n for closing it
upon the palm. The fleshy, muscular
formation at the base of the human
thumb is represented by a relatively
small and flat formation in the ape.! The
whole palm of the simian hand is com
paratively flat and undeveloped. The
bones of the palm and fingers are propor
tionately larger than the man's.
“The ape has a complicatetd system of
lines upon its hand like those of a man,
although here again there is an unmis
takably difference between them. The
ape was born with these lines upon its
hand, and they have been transmitted
like ours for incalculable ages. No two
apes have hands that could be confused
with one another, and if a record of ape
finger prints were kept it would be easy
to identify the simian suspect of Cler
mont-Ferrand.
“When we examine the ape's foot we
realize clearly that it belongs to a dis
tinct family from man, whatever the re
lationship may be. The ape has a big
toe that is opposable to the sole of its
foot even more than its thumb is op
posable to its hand. In man there is a |
ligament connecting the big toe with
the second toe, which is lacking in the
ape. Man does not use his foot to grasp
things with, while the ape uses it even
more than his hand for this purpose.
The ape’'s small toes have an oblique
movement toward the base of the big
toe. In fact, the ape's foot is more like
a human hand than is its forehand.”
There are perhaps some facts in the
possession of the Clermont-Ferrand po
lice which prove more strongly than is
now known that an ape was in the room,
They have not made public the finger
print impressions they have obtained.
Did the ape leave any of its hair about
the room? What was the weapon that
it used? These are obviously points of
the utmost importance.
It is astonishing in how many re
spects the Poe story and the real French
case resemble one another. In the story
& girl, Mademoiselle L’Espanaye, and
her mother were the victims. They
were mysteriously murdered in their
bedroom at night. -
When the facts in “The Murders of
tw Rue Morgue” were so ingeniously
clared up by Poe's fictitious detective,
M. Dupin, it was found that the ape had
been surprised shaving itself with its
owner’s razor, that the owner pursued
the animal through the streets, and that
it ran up a lightning rod, carrying the
razor to the women’s room, where #t
slaughtered them.
In the Poe story the unintelligible
sounds heard coming from the room by
the neighbors formed an important clue
in unravelling the mystery. This fea
ture has not been dwelt on very strongly
in the Clermont-Ferrand case, but the
curious discoveries about fingerprints
add a modern scientific element to the
latest mystery,