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PRIEST CONFESSES OWNS UP TO THE BUTCHERY OF NEW YORK GIRL ?.? BODY IS FOUND IN RIVER +. Priest Had lloou Married to ller Secretly, Performing the Ceremony Himself?Pillow Case Clue Led to His Arrest?Slayer Attempts Suicide When Arrested. With tho arrest in New York early Sunday of tho Rev. llans Schmidt, assistant rector of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church, charged with tho murder of Anna Aumuller, a domestic, tho mystery surrounding the finding of parts of tho dismembered body of a girl in tho Hudson river was solvod. Schmidt, according to tho police reports, confessed, and at tho time of his arrest attempted to commit suicido by cutting his throat with a safety razor blade. Early Sunday, according to parishioners of tho church, Schmidt said to the ltev. Father Iluntmann, rector of St. Joseph's Church, that ho would bear no more confessions and when asked for his reason said: "I have something of importance to toll you." With his superior, Schmidt, then re~ it- - * * in uu iu mo sumv wnere tno latter told all that had transpired in the Bradhurst avenue flat, where, according to his alleged confession, ho murdered the girl. Father Huntmann conferred with his other assistants and it was agreed that the authorities should he notified. The police, however, were even then on Schmidt's trail, and his arrest followed shortly. Schmidt was taken to the Tomhs. The confession which the police say Schmidt signed follows: "I met Anna Aumullor two years ago at the parish house at St. Boniface church. Sho was employed as a servant there. I was attracted hy her beauty. I becaino infatuated with her. I loved her. I killed her because I loved her so much. Sho was so beautiful, so good, I could not let her live without me. "I had made up my mind that she and I could not live together. I was a. pi icst unu in 11 hl remain wun my church. I could not let her go away from me. So I opened tho door of the flat. I awakened her. I told her I had come to fulfill my threat. Then I drew the knife across her throat. "I cut the body into six pieces. I made trips to the Fort I-.ee ferry each time with a part of her precious body in a bundle. When tho ferry boat reached tho middle of tho stream I would throw a piece into the watei and when the boat reached tho other side of the river I would return and go back to the flat. "After I had disposed of the body I wanted to destroy all evidenco of the crime. I took the mattress on which I had slain her and carried it to a vacant lot and there T burned it. I am guilty. That is all T can say. I must pay the penalty. There is nothing else for me to do. Rut I loved Anna Aumuller. "She wanted mo to marry her and I procured a marriage license. She trusted me. T am a priest and ordained to perform the marriage ceremony, so when she insisted upon a ceremony I married myself to her. j nere was no noea or any oinor priest doing it. It was just as absolute as if I had called in another person with authority to perform the marriage ceremony. She was my wife." Tn Schmidt's apartment, among other things, the police found a marriage license issued in New York last February and bearing the names ol the priest and the murdered woman According to Schmidt's confession, he went through a marriage ceremon> with the girl. In this ceremonj Schmidt was both priest and bride groom; there were no witnesses. A gaily colored pillow slip of un usual pattern led to Schmidt's appre hension. This pillow, stained wltl blood and soiled with the filth of th< river, was wrapped around a portior of the torso. The dettctives tracce the pillow to its manufacturer; th< manufacturer traced it to the dealer the dealer traced it to Schmidt. Am the police, tracing Schmidt and tin girl, knew all about both of then hours before they arrested him Schmidt was arrested by Inspeeto Faurot in charge of the detective bu ronil T1|<1 nrlnaf woa drnoonrl li. Jul clerical garb when the detective en tered his rooms In the parish housi of his church In west One Tlundrei and Twenty-fifth street. The inspec tor produced a photograph of Mis Aumullor and asked Schmidt if h< knew the girl. The priest, after a moment of hesl tation, inquired whether his visitori were police officers. His actions indicated that he wai expecting arrest. He then asked per mission to change his clothes and 1 was when ho left his clothes and i was when he left the room, Inspecto Faurot declared, that he attempted t< cut his throat with a safety razo: blade. # Take the farmer and his cottoi out of our business calculations an< wo would not have much left. # ASHAMED OF MONSTER ] CATHOLIC CHURCH WANTS TO I DISOWN A FIEND. ? It Hopes to Show the Self-Coiifos8e<l , Murderer of Ail mi Aumtillcr a Bogus Driest. In the hope of branding as an impostor and bogus priest, Father Hans i Schmidt, the self-confessed slayer of Anna Aumuller, a young woman he , had betrayed and brutally murdered i in Now York, the Catholic Church ] authorities began Monday a sweeping i investigation of Schmidt's record and his pretensions to ordination. The i church can hardly bo blamed for wanting to rid itself of such a coldblooded murderer as Schmidt con- 1 fosses himself to bo. i "Wo hope, of course, to bo ablo to ( prove that this unspeakable monster ( was an impostor and that he had boon using forged papers," declared Monsignor Lavella, vicar-general of tlie arch dioceso of New York. "That is something which wo aro trying to clear up now. Ho came to this diocese with credentials which wore apparently in every way authentic and genuine, but wo know practically nothing of him. His crimo is too horrible to conceive. Wo can only hope that ho may prove to have been a pseudo priest." Schmidt has added little to his confession made on Sunday night in which lie told the police that he killed his victim as sho lay in bed, cut up her body in tho bath tub of the anartment. where ho had establish od her, wrapped it in fivo bundles and dropped tho bundles In the Hudson river. To Rev. H. J. Hvers, the chaplain of the Tombs, where Schmidt is confined, ho is said to have made tho following declaration: "I was directed to kill her by St. Elizabeth, who is my patron, as a sacrifice, to bo consummated as was tho sacrifice of Abraham, in blood." Schmidt told tho police ho killed tho young woman because ho loved her, but could not marry her because ho was a priest of tho Roman Catholic Church, which does not allow its priests to get married. Ilut ho had gono through with a marriage ceromony, performed by himself, with the young woman. Tho police believe that Schmidt killed tho young woman becauso she was soon to become a mother, and he feared exposure as ho was tho father of tho unborn babe. The police believe, also, that tho young woman accepted as genuino the marriage ceremony through which she went with her slayer last February, and in which he was both priest and bridegroom. By means of this bogus ceremony, Schmidt accomplished the ruin of the young woman. When she was about to become a mother, to bide bis duplicity, be brutally murdered her. The Catholic Church authorities in New York will do all they can to prove that Schmidt is a bogus priest. They say they know little of his antecedents. ITo was born in Germany in 1881, was educated there, ordained by Bishop Keslain, in St. Augustine's Seminary in Maine, and came to New York, in 1 000. In 1 000, he went to Trenton, N. J., and in December, 1010, was appointed assistant rector of St. Boniface's church in New York. There he met the Aumuller girl, who, he said, had come to this country from Germany a few months before. DID 11K MURDER HER TOO? * Father Schmidt Suspected of Murder! ing Alma Kellner. With view to elonrinir t tin tuvs tery surrounding the murder of eight-year-old Alma Kellner, whose mutilated body was found in quick lime in tho basement of St. John's Catholic ! church in Louisville, Ky., two and one-half years ago, the Now York police Monday sought to obtain from Father Schmidt, the Catholic priest who confessed to tho murder of a young woman in New York Sunday night, somo statement of what he 1 might know of this crime. From August, 1009, till March, 1 1010, Father Schmidt was a visitor 1 in Louisville, not oflicially connected ' with any church there, but a guest in the home of Father Henry R. Wester' mann, rector of the Church of the 3 Immaculate Conception. Alma Kell1 nor disappeared on Devember 3, 1 009. iior nody was ioutui nine monins after. Joseph Wendling, Janitor at ' St. John's church, is now serving a 11 fo term in prison at. Frankfort, Ky., 3 for the crime. Wendling stoutly de* nled his guilt and the jury did not consider the evidence sufficient to * lodge against, him a verdict of first 3 degree murder. ? 3 Woman Hat her Mobbed. A slit skirt bathing costume worn 3 by Mrs. Charles Banning, at Atlantic - City, created such a sensation that t the wearer was literally mobbed. Aft ter being roughly handled by a crowd r of several thousand persons, she 3 fainted and had to be carried unconr scions to the hospital tent. Mrs. B. A. McGough, an aged woi man, of Sea Bright, N. J., was scared 1 to death by a clap of thunder, during a severe electrical storm. FELONS WORK ON ROADS I IjIJONOIS pi ts forty-five on tiikir honor. ? Juliet Prisoners Appreciate Their New liberty and Pitch Into "Work With Putluisiasm. Forty-flvo picked prisoners from Lho state prison at Joliet, ill., are working on the state road noar Dixon and living in a camp on the bank of tho Hock river. For ilvo or six months they will enjoy all tlie liberlies afforded working road gangs of free men. There is not a happier company of working men, perhaps, to be found in tho wholo country. To protect themselves and to insure that the road building experiment shall be a success, the group has named one of their number as Judge to try all cases that may arise in tho gang and another as a detectivo to report in case any member of tho gang seeks to away. Tho road gang is composed of murderers, forgers, "Black Hand" operators, hold-up men, pug-uglics, plain thieves, extraordinary thieves and burglars?all long term men. They are eager to "make good" so that the men under sentence for short terms may also have the benefit of life and work in the sunshine. The group of convicts was taken from Joliet prison whllo it was still dark and, being under no special guard, some prisoners might easily have sneaked away. Hut every man has sworn that he will pursue and deal harshly with any convict who seeks to bring the prison into disrepute. Once at Camp TTopo the men set up tents, prepared a kitchen, graded a main road through the camp and constructed a barbed wiro fence. This precaution was taken more to keep bootleggers and gamblers out of the camp than to keep the men in. Hereafter admission to the camp will be by card only. This week the men began work on state roads, their first task being to cut through a high hill. They regard the work as a sort of summer vacation and appear to bo very enthusiastic in their efforts to make good as workmen. Durinir their snare time thev fish. swim and play ball. Many of the men in tho camp had not seen the light of tho sun in twenty years. Will Have to Kind New Jobs. (Many scions of royal families wero present at tho wedding of former King Manuel of Portugal and tho Princess Augustino Victoria of Hoenzollern. That was natural for though Manuel has no throne royalty, of course, sympathizes with him and doubtless would he delighted to see him regain his crown. Tho groom was hailed as a king and tho bride as a queen, hut it was a hollow mockery, as neither of them lias a kingdom over which to rule. There wero other princelets and princesslets present who have no prospective kingdoms over which they expect to rule. It is not likely that tho wedding and the presence at it of so many princes and grand dukes has disturbed tho Portugese government to any appreciable extent. The republic in Portugal may not be the most secure, but in spite of several attempts to overthrow it and a systematic courso of misrepresentation by the supporters of Manuel, it has managed to successfully defeat those attempts and retain power. Certainly wo on this sido of tho water with our successful experience as a republic can not but wish well for tho republic in Portugal. Since the establishment of the French republic on tho ruins of tho French Empire nftor tho FrancoPrussian war in tho seventies, the progress of Democracy in tho world lias been steady and sure. Brazil [followed France. Don Pedro had the good sense to step down and out without making any fuss. Later, tho mother country, Portugal, gave King Manuel an indefinite leave of absence and took over her own affairs. Even China proclaimed a republic, and so the march of Democracy goes on. In time all tho kings will bo out of jobs. ? APPOINT POSTMASTEHS. ? President Sends in Several South Carolina Appointments. Fourth-class postmasters wore Thursday appointed in South Carolina as follows: Jas. V. Stillwell, at Aria Island, Beaufort county, a new ofilce; Dallas A. Gardner, at Embree, Bamberg County, a new ofllco; Carrie Ti. Sam, at Sandy Run, Calhoun county, to succeed J. C. Mullcr, resigned; Robert V. Wilkes, at Douglass, Fairfield County, to succeed J. Y. Wilkes, resigned; T,ou Maree, at Rostic, Florence County, to succeed T,ena Relin, resigned, and Daniel E. Roof, at Rarr, Lexington County, vice G. H. Roof, deceased. TiOg Broken by Lightning. Knocked down by lightning, which entered her home, Mrs. John D. Rerger, of Rridgeport, Conn., suffered a broken leg without burn or other indication that she had been hit. A child in her arms was not hurt. FIGHT FOR BIG OFFICE ? THURMOND OR WESTON WILL LAND THE JOR SOON. ? Report of Feeling Over (ho District Attorneyship Ret ween the Senators is Exaggerated. Tho Columbia Record says the contest for the district attorneyship of South Carolina has narrowed down to two persons and either Francis II. Weston of Columbia or J. William Thurmond of Edgefield will land the plum as the following letter from Senator Tillman to a prominent citizen of Columbia would indicate: "Senator Smith and I have an understanding to this effect: He has endorsed Weston and I have endorsed Thurmond. Whichever of these two names tho president sends to the Senate we will confirm, but we will confirm nobody elso. Therefore, there Is no possibility of a dark horse. "13. R. Tillman." When shown a copy of the above letter Monday morning, Senator Weston said tho letter purporting to come from Senator Tillman was in accordance with tho situation as he understands it at Washington, having stopped in the capital on his return from a meeting of the American Bar association at Montreal, lie is of the opinion that there has been a great deal of exaggeration in regard to the tense feeling said to exist between Senators Smith and Tillman over the matter and each senator is merely trying to do a servlco for a friend. Mr. Weston said ho called on Senator Tillman while in Washington and was received most cordially, while Mr. Thurmond called on Senator Smith and likewise received a most cordial reception. Mr. Weston is sure that neither senator has any personal feeling against the candidates themselves and are pushing their respective candidates purely through ties of friendship. Senator Tillman is supporting his friend and neighbor and Senator Smith is trying to land this job for one of his personal friends. As the above letter would indicate there is no chance for a dark horse, and the matter will soon be settled by the president naming his choice. ? The City Must Help. In speaking of the opening of Wofford College President Snyder in an article to the people of Spartanburg made the following appeal to them on behalf of the young men who attend the college: "In a few days the trains will he bringing in a thronging, eager group of 'raw material', hundreds of them frmil Ml So ntwl ulnlAO TU/, , I will tuio flllil Ul IH I 0 tu ICOi 1 111' most of them will spend from four to six years in Spartanburg. They will bo a considerable commercial asset, bringing with them and spending annually nearly $100,OOP?no small dividend in the way of money. Rut what they are, they also bring with them their eager, unspoiled, unwanted, hopeful youth, and thus contribute a current of inspiring life, the future manhood of the State, in which any community might he interested and for which it ought to feel a high degree of responsibility. They will receive but a part of their education in the lecture rooms and on the campus of the college of the college. The people of Spartanburg, the streets, the hotels, the theatres, places of resort of one kind or another?these, too, will contribute at least a part of their training, or mistraining, while they are with us. It is a perfectly fair question for those of us who are directly responsible for the welfare of these hoys to ask that the community also and the civic authorities share i/i this responsibility. For the time being these students are our wards, and to expose them knowingly to the unrestricted poolroom, the lawless social club, ,the indecent show, the winked-at gambling den, and the debasing brothel, is to he inhumanly unworthy of our civic responsibility. The city authorities must simply joi^ friendly and intelligent hands with the college authorities to give these out-of-town hoys as well as our own hoys a fair chance to develop in a reasonably clean moral atmosphere. It can he done If we really want to do it, and if wo do not want to do it, wo are either ignorant or have a singularly blurred sense of responsibility." These wise words apply to every community in South Carolina which has boys and young men in it, whether they are students or not. We commend the mto our people and our city authority's. ? Caught in lhilloon. Thirteen-year-old George Bernier, who was holding a guv rone to a bnl loon while it was being inflated, preparatory to an ascension at a local fair at Woodstock, Conn., Tuesday, was suddenly carried 500 feet in the air and then dropped to instant death in front of the grand stand, where flvo thousand people wero assembled. Gets Good Job. Wm. F. Young, formerly assistant postmaster at Spartanburg, was Monday appointed by Postmnster General Tlurleson as a clerk in the postoffice department at Washington at a salary of $1,800 per annum. The position was obtained for Mr. Young by Representative Joseph T. Johnson. SOCIETY WOMAN HELD . CHARGED WITH RLACKMAILIXG RICH OHIO HEIRESS Decoy Letter Resulted in Arrest of Ohio Town's Social Leader?Attorney Hints at Plot. Mrs. Margaret A. Carter, wife of a retired tobacco manufacturer, of Elyrla, O., and a well known society woman at that town, is under arrest, charged with blackmail, District Attorney Alburn, of Cleveland, calls tho scheme tho "wickedest and largest blackmailing plot ever heard of". Not only is tho woman charged with seeking, by threatening letters, to obtain $3,000 from Miss Lillian Huntington, heiress, but Alburn says other epistles were sent to prominent and wealthy persons in Elyrla, Cleveland and towns in northern Ohio. These letters, it is charged, revealed intimacy with tho private affairs of tho persons threatened. Miss Huntington is not yet twenty and beautiful. She has inherited a largo fortune from her grandfather, John Huntington, one of the old-time Standard Oil magnates, and a second fortune came to her through the will of her uncle, William Marsh Dtn/. ...nr. i.: 11 ? .1 i? ... v?.i. ?... IWUCj V\ IHJ WdO l\ II lt'U 111 i>UVY I Ul tL uy his valet and Albert T. Patrick, a New York lawyer. When only sixteo nand a school girl at the fashionable BriatclifT school near Now York, she was taken by her mother on a trip to Asheville, N. C., and there met Dwight Dawley, son of a wealthy furniture manufacturer of Wheeling, W. Va. They eloped and were married. But, with the consent of the young people's parents, they separated and a divorce was secured after a year. Recently there have been rumors that Miss Huntington was to marrv a prominent young Cleveland clubman. It was on theso rumors that the blackmailing letter came, signed "Miss Rose". The writer stated that the clubman had promised to marry her, and that unless Miss Huntington sent the writer *3,000 a scandal would follow. The young woman consulted her lawyers and postal au thorities were set at work. A decoy letter resulted in the arrest of Mrs: Carter. ? ? Congratulations for Spartanburg. The voters of the city of Spartanburg Monday elected .lohn F. Floyd as their mayor for the next four y< ars. He was elected on a platform that calls for tho strictest enforcement of all of the laws. He repeatedly pledged himself during the campaign to better conditions in the city and made plea after plea to the voters that they give him the opportunity to wipe out the blind tigers, illegal houses, gambling dep., etc. The people have taken him at his word and he is to have the opportunity. The Greenville Piedmont says: "The result of the election augurs well for Spartanburg. While the man whom we thought ought to have been given the opportunity as mayor to clean out the town was eliminated in tho first primary, we believe Mr. Floyd to be a man of his word and expect under him to see conditions greatly improved in our neighboring city. Most certainly there is room for improvement if the charges that have been made during the campaign and the reports that have been in circulation among the people of the state for many months are correct. "It has been alleged that scarlet women may he found in the very heart of the city. Blind tigers are said to flourish. Gambling dens are said to abound. Thero is a lawless atmosphere in the city. It is surprising that the people of the city of Spartanburg, a city that has in must years been looked upon as one of the centers of culture of tlio state, should have stood for this sort of thing. It is a wonder that they have-not arisen in their might and demanded that the authorities clean out the city." The Piedmont rightly says "every good citizen of Spartanburg should now uphold the hands of Mayor Floyd in his efforts to wipe out lawlessness. It should not he expected that Mr. Floyd can accomplish everything alone. lie must have the support of an activo community sentiment. Hlind tigers know where things are healthy for them and where they are not." Tho Piedmont goes on to say that "Clreenvillo congratulates the peoplo of Spartanburg on their decision to wipe out lawlessness. We have tried living in a "closed" town over hero and have found it tho most desirable, town in WW ?? ? III ?T H1V.II to live." ? The Philadelphia Record says: "Governor Please, of South Carolina, has no higher regard for the supreme court of his own State than he has for the President of the United States, the house of Governors and other august bodies with which he has come in conflict." The Record must not take Governor Please seriously. Ho does not mean half he says. ? Breaks Rib by Sneeze. Pert Bardwell, forty years old, of Green Pay, Wis., sneezed harder than usual a few mornings ago and later felt a severe pain in his side. He consulted a physician, who found he had cracked a rib. THE CURRENCY BILL MEASURE PASSES THE HOUSE BY A LARGE MAJORITY ? OTHER PARTIES SPLIT ? Twenty-four Republicans and Fourteen Progressives Vote With Democrats for Passage.?Hill as Sent to Senate Practically Unchanged From Original Draft. The complete revision of American banking and currency methods proposed in the Democratic currency bill was started on its way to the statute books Thursday. By a vote of 2 8G to 84, the House of Representatives passed the bill In almost the same form as it originally was proposed. Twenty-four Republicans and fourteen Progressives voted for the bill. With this overwhelming House majority and the endorsement of President Wilson behind it, the measure was s(*nt over to the Senate. There it was referred to the hanking and currency committee, where hearings already are in progress. The committee may not be ready for several weeks. Tho measure would eliminate the present American bank note system, under which banks issue currency against government bonds, and establish a currency issued by twelve federal banks, based on sound commercial paper, which the government assumes the responsibility of redeeming. Tt. would place virtually every phase of hanking under the control of a federal reservo board of seven members, appointed by the President, and a council of bankers, which would havo only advisory powers. Tho system would he administered through revenue banks in twelve geographical divisions of the country, each capitalized at about $5,000,000, which capital must be subscribed by banks in the reserve district. Ten days of earnest consideration in the House failed to alter the bill in any material particular, and it passed virtually as drawn by Representative fllass, of Virginia, chairman of the House banking and currency committee, after conference with Senator Owen, chairman of tho Senate committee. Throughout tho debate Republicans and Progressives vigorously denounced the methods employed in framing the bill and in I perfecting its details in caucus. Tho | caucus lines held firm, though, and j no amendments were adopted. The Senate hearings may continue for several days. The committee itself is expected to take weeks in tho discussion of the measure, although tlie administration forces in the Senate hope to force an early report to the tloor, where further extended dehate is looked for. Not an Agnostic Now. How many of our readers remember that William Watson wrote a reply in verse to Itudyard Kipling's "Recessional", and published it? asks Tho Hartford Conrant. The Courant goes on to say that it was longer than the Kipling hymn, and of a bleak agnosticism. It made the "Lord God of Hosts" a wholly imaginary being; a "gloomy people"?tho Hebrews? thought they knew Him, hut they were self-deceived. As for the believers of the present day, they were told by William Watson that "History laughs and weeps them down." August 2, this year, was William Watson's fifty-fifth birthday. John Milton was not half that age when ho wrote a birthday sonnet that will last as long as the English language lasts. William Watson has written a birthday sonnet, and The Independent has published it. "For three things give I thanks this August morn," he says. The first is his wife, the second Is his daughter, the third is his recovery from agnosticism. Here's the cnd?of tho birthday sonnet: "Deep thanks, that I have now at last regained That faith in God which I did lose so long; The God who oft-times with bewildering gloom Muffled His beams; who darksomely sustained And guided when I knew not and from whom I had at birth the heavenly dower of song." The Courtant says one would liko to know whether any letters have passed between Watson and the author of the "Recessional" sinco this conversion occurred. It would also he interesting to know just how and when Watson was brought to "light". What made him change his views, and what made him soe tho truth lato in life? lie ought to tell us, as it would not only ho very interesting, but might lead many others from tho ' darkness of death to the light of lifo eternal. Wo congratulate Spartanburg on ' declaring against the "wide open" crowd in her municipal eloction. May or Floyd and his hoard will see to it i that one of tho coming big cities of i tho State will bo run decently and In order.