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Show HISTORIC CRIMES MMftlES fjp THE BRASS RING. Anna Holzman, fifty years old nnd with the face und manners of a Gypsy, lived In a rented house In the outskirts out-skirts of Augsbcrg. Anna moved In n mysterious way and her neighbors didn't know what to make of her. She was always asking charity, for one thing, yet it was generally believed that she had saved a largo sum of money and bad It hidden away somewhere. some-where. The house she occupied was larger than sho needed, so she furnished n largo room nnd took two lodgers, young men named George Rauschmaler and Joseph Stelncr. It was In April, 1821, that the neighbors neigh-bors began to wonder where Annn was. It occurred to them suddenly that they hndn't seen her for two weeks. Inquiry revealed the fuct that George and Joseph had changed their lodgings, nnd they wcro hunted up and questioned. They had no Idea where the woman was, they said. She had disappeared suddenly and they supposed sup-posed sho would be back In n day or two; but time went on and she didn't return, bo they left the house, nf ter reporting re-porting her absence to tho landlord. They were not much surprised by her disappearance, they said, as she was 'forever doing strange nnd unaccountable unaccount-able things. Tho neighbors knew that thts wns true, so no suspicion was aroused. Anna's brother appeared on tho scene, nnd, -nft" going through the house with tho officers, declared that many small articles had been stolen. Here proceedings halted. It seemed Impossible to shed a ray of light upon tho mystery. Rauschmaler nnd Stein-er Stein-er were questioned over und over, but nil that they could tell wus unimportant. unimpor-tant. ' Time passes nt Augsberg, as elsewhere else-where and n new year wus ushered In before a solution of the problem appeared. ap-peared. The house occupied by Anna had Btood vacant since her disappearance disappear-ance and one dny In January, 1822, a laundres of the neighborhood wnnted to dry some linen, und It occurred to her thnt tho garret of the vacunt Jioune would bo a good place. She went Into tho house slyly but cnlmly, with .h.ec banket, and ten minutes min-utes later she emerged from It as though shot from n gun She screumed "murder I" at tho top of her voice, nnd the neighborhood was aroused. She had made a htdcons discovery In tho old gntlet, and when she had told her story the officers were sent for untl n procession climbed thu stairs of tho Holzmr.n home, and proceeded Into tho' attic. There the body of the missing woman wns found, but In such it condition con-dition Unit even tho officers, who were old soldiers, were shocked. ' The unfortunate woman had been dismembered. Portions of her body were found in nn old heap of rags In one corner; another part In the chlm-. ney; another under it loose board In the Jlorf For some reason 'Occam! position had not occurred, and It wus ensy to Identify the scattered "body" us that of Anna Holzman, ulth'ough'thc hend had disappeared.- A medical olllcer found under n heap' of rubbish (he left arm ot the w'bhiuu. It wns doubled together nt tho elbow Joint, nnd when he tried to straighten It, a brass ring fell to, tho floor. It was tho first and only valuable clew to the murderer. Tho doctor reasoned that It had fallen from his linger while ho worked, nnd had heen(licid In pluce.on the ami by muscular contraction. The ring wpfl turned over to tho mnglstrato who took charge of Uio case. Stelnr bad disappeared, bat t 'Bm"!) "1. rBBHBllBBSBflf" Rauschmaler still lived in town and h was nrrested nt once, although there was no other reason for connecting him with Uie crime than thu fact that ho was living In tho house when tho woman disappeared. Ho was not at ull disturbed by his arrest. In fuct, be Ing possessed tof it sense ot humor, he seemed much amused, und remarked that the stupidity of the police wus ridiculous. He wns taken to the morgue nnd shown the remains of the woman, nnd muttered some words of sorrow nnd Bymputhy. Not by tho quiver of tin oyelash did he show any symptom of guilt or uneasiness. Tho olllccrs who accompanied him on this grisly errand were convinced that ko wns Innocent. Ho was examined over and over by the magistrate, and he never varied from his original story, except that he admitted having stolen several small articles before leaving the woman's house. He wns desperately hard tip at the time, was his excuse. At last the magistrate seemed discouraged. dis-couraged. He had laid nil kinds ol traps for George, und they had fulled. The man couldn't be confused or rattled rat-tled by any manner of questioning. So the magistrate suld: "I believe you are guilty, but It seems Impossible to prove it, so I suppose you must bo turned loose, but for tho present tho court will retain Uieso nrlclcs of yours." Tho articles wcro certain cheap pieces of Jewelry which had been found In Knuschmaler's room after his arrest. Among them Uio magistrate had placed tho brass ring. Georgo protested at once against this 'Injustice. The articles wcro his own, nud the court hud no right to keep them. Ho mado a great fuss, nnd the maglstrato looked embarrassed and dubious. "You nro posltlvo these things are your own?" he Inquired, Indifferently. "Absolutely," replied George. "Thnt brasB ring, for instance?" "It Ib mine. I woro It for years." George slipped It on his finger, which it fitted loosely. "You hnvo confessed I" said the magistrate, mag-istrate, sternly. The facts woro explained to him, and the dilemma he found himself In did what all tho questioning and She Screamed "Murder" at the Top of Her Voice. badgering had failed to accomplish. He broke down and mado a full confession. con-fession. Ho had faith In tho stories that Anna Holzman was rich, nnd had a largo sum of money concealed In her house, Ho watched her for a long time, and finally concluded that sho kept her money In n strong chest which was always carefully locked. His original orig-inal idea was merely to steal the money, but he concluded after n time thnt this couldn't ho done without removing re-moving the womnn. So he waited for an opportunity. One dny Stelner went out to be gone u considerable time, and Ruusch-malcr Ruusch-malcr felt that his chance had como. He stepped up behind the poor wouiun and placed his big muscular hands about her neck. She was small and weak, nnd died In his hnnds with but little struggle. Then he carried the body to the garret nnd drsmembered It and concenled tho fragments, where they hail been found. The head ho threw into the canal. That head hud been found by a farmer Bhortly nfter tho crime, but ho threw It buck into the canal, fearing It would get' him Into trouble. Having committed one of tho moM cold-blooded murders ever recorded in criminal history, Rauschmuler went to the chest to get his reward. The only valuables In thu chest were eight kreutzcrs. So he had done his hideous work for n few coppers. Stelner wns found nnd testified for tho prosecution nnd Riluschmuler wns convicted. Ho wus sentenced to stand. Ip Uiq uUlpry for several hourB, and then to havo his head cut. off with a sword, Appeals of clemency were mado so "tho court generously remitted remit-ted tho pillory sentence, nnd nothlnft more serious- than decapitation hnp-pOned hnp-pOned to him. 'The prdlmblllty. Ib that thp crlmo would never hifvo been brought homo to. htm but for.thut worthless brass ring. - . |