A MYSTERY SOLVED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 154, 24 March 1908, Page 4

A MYSTERY SOLVED.

' . - Tho mystery which for so long • clouded , the identity of thdvAvell-dresscd,-' haiidsoma . woman . .who : was ,'fouiid in Wroxall Woods,; ~ liear' Goriiig-bn-Thani'es, on October 1 .10 last'. yoar, has, boon sqlved..,, Inquiries; show. ' / that tho lady was a native of Sydnoy, New , South Walos,-. and- that, her naiposwas ! drs!' v . (Dolly).Scott-Harden; tho-wife of a solicitor;' , who used .to practise-in that city. •; : : It will.ibq romembercd that when a party, of; gun's /were shooting .tho ivoods, one or . tho beaters ca'mo across' the' body, whicii; 'was . lying beneath a tree. -, At. tho inquest!;; ; medical, evidence was'given to the {-that death occurred about? a/yflstf'. before,' ;but ,this appears';.-, to:?, have •:-bcoii''. ai'' mistake. No letter was found in the' p'ce-,. kcts, but'in a chatelaino purse, which cop- ' • tained:3s.f4d., was;a counterfoil of a }Qs. postal; order; and'; a handkerchief .which jbtJra a liiundry'.iiiark' which.' was .qitlier: "S, 'or "51." : ./ ' ' V' : Tho police,' on further - searching,. found aiy empty glass flask, a small mcasuro glass, a phial containing a.quantity of,(irandv and ■ water,' a sn\all .hypodermic : syringe,- a'fw'cd- - : ding ' : riug, and' a. niby ring, oil the;-inner sido of whicli wcro the letters K. 'I?.' It." On-the body was found a tortoiscshell hair- . • comb, inlaid-ivith, gold, and; a i silver''belt ; hucklo of peculiar design.; ' -shK ; long time-all•attempts, .'the- ! -identity.--of _tho body- entirely, failed. Various people' in' different.' part's;.,!>f tho cpuntry, ..thought thoy reepgnised the de- ! Iscription as that; answering .to " lostfriends or relatives;'' but. cluo alter clue- proved , worthless. v /'• . -' Then a certain fact camo to -light, furthor inquiries wore,. set on; foot, and now tlio identity,- of th 6" li.dy has -been established to the satisfaction 'of bor friends and of tho police. The: comb aiid hiiekle wore by a 1 gentleman whb had prosqiited them/ to , Mrs.' Scott-Hiirdeiiij; A- landlady//with whom the dbceaseil had lodged .■ identififetl j tlio: coriso petticoat which she was wearing at the timo of\ her death, and another friend was able i to identify the shoes which the lady had . purohased at u ,shop in Street, A A- friend.'. who ■ kncw.vSlrsi'-'Scott-liardon very -woll itold: the Scp'tt-Hardcn ta a solicitor in ' Sydney '; about., : years agp,, whenshe was nineteen years of ago. " Sho came to this country in April, 190C>. In Sydnoi', .whero sho wiis,, l<iio\vn as a wealthy - woman,- she was popular and-noted for' her beauty. She was very much worried over money matters; and tried to niako a living'by bor 'p00..; "Then, as sho was a;strikingly handsomo woman, thirty-fiTo- years "of ago,, sho tried . to get an engagement oil the stage, but ;, hero again she failed. , ?ho suffered acutely ■from' neuralgia, and: feoli morphia to re- . liovo her pain. . " , v : '- ' I.' . "On May 9 last, after breakfast; she left tho hotel whero sho ■ wsis.r then, staying and' hired a cab. That: samo day 1 received s letter from hor stating that elio' intended to , ; i do away ,>vith herself,- as,;,sho was teiribly 1 pressed' for money'-and ; did riot care to go on Jiving on the charity of her friends." .. ."■