Alexandria Gazette

THE SPRING VALLEY MYSTERY.—Some time ago we published an account of the mysterious death of a wealthy lady on a steamer bound from New York to Savannah, and the burial of her body at sea. So far nobody interested in the case has attempted to establish the identity of the Dr. Hammond, who died of an overdose of chloral administered by himself at Monsey, Rockland co., N. Y., with the "Dr. Hamilton" who went to sea in the steamer Cuba with Mrs. Jane Jersey, of the same place and who is suspected of having poisoned and robbed her of about $9,000. A Rockland county man recently presented for comparison with Mrs. Jersey's death certificate, written by "Dr. Hammond," a bill written by Dr. Hammond to Herman Gelpeke, the shipping agent of the Cuba, who has the certificate, and who declared the writing identical. On Thursday several photographs, including one of Dr. Hammond, were placed before Capt. Palmer, of the Port Royal steamer Cuba. Without hesitation he pointed out Hammond's likeness, saying: "That is the man who called himself Dr. Hamilton, and administered medicine to Mrs. Jersey, and gave me a certificate of her death while on my steamer; he's the man I met in Broadway about a month ago, and recognized as the 'Dr. Hamilton of the Cuba.'" The friends of Dr. Hammond are sanguine that they can make out a full and complete alibi.