Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-08-21

Certain Tar Tties-A Resoard for The
Detection Of Hisl Aurdsr~s By ths sr-
prfntendenfcf Polics.-In the LEDGER
Of the evening Of June 10Th appeared an
account in detail Of the Coroner's
inquest, held upon the body Of
DR.. J. J. Hooks, who, Il will be
remembered. was found dead in bis sleep
ing room 10 The SiiIImsn block on the
morning Of that day. The verdict, as
returned BY the Coroner's jury, was to the
effect that the deceased had come to his
death either from heart disease or apo
plexy, in which conclusion they were
supported BY number of medical gen.
tlemen who had made a post norton ex-
animation Of the body. This exsmins
.tion, however, did not extend beyond
number Of bruises upon the person Of
the deceased, the most noticeable ofwhich
was upon the forehead, just above
the right eye No internal examination
whatever was made, and the body was
placed in the hands of the friends Of the
deceased and by them inferred. Thus
the matter rested until some three or four
week, since when certain developments
came to the knowledge Of the au-
thorities, leading them to believe that
DR.. Hooks had died other than natural
death, and the probability was strong
| that he had been assassinated. Among
other things it transpired that there
might have been motive to
induce bis assassination, and this,
taken into connection with the
mysterious circumstances attending his
death, seemed to fix very strongly in the
minds of those cognizant Of all the facts,
the suspicion Of foul play. So strongly
was this suspicion entertained by Col.
Beaumont, superintendent of police, that
be lost no time in placing the matter 10
the hands of the detectives, with the de-
termination, if possible, of ferreting out
the affair, and discovering the guilty
parties, in the event his suspicious we're
confirmed. It being his belief that the
deceased had been poisoned, ii was his
intention to have the body exhumed,
and the post norton examination
continued. This was abandoned, how.
ever, upon its transporting that the
remains had been inferred SO great a
length Of time as to render it utterly
impossible to analyze the contents Of
the stomach with any hope of detecting
the existence Of poison therein. Other
means of discovering the manner by
which the deceased had come to his
death were resorted to, but thus far have
proved unavailing The suspicion of
foul play seems still to fix itself, how
ever, upon bis mind, as will be
seen from the notice which appears in
this evenings issue, in which a liberal
reward is offered for the detection and
conviction of the guilty party or parties.
The facts elected with regard to the
death Of the Doctor, by the Coroner's iu-
quest, were given at length in our issue
of June 10Th, and doubtless are still
fresh in the mind of the reader. The
discovery of the body lying composedly
| upon the bed, with the hands folded
across the breast, the eyes closed, and
| only the scar on the forehead to lead
the beholder to any other conclusion
than that the deceased, instead of
dead was only sleeping; the door of
the apartment standing open, candle
still burning in the socket, the pipe of
the deceased lying upon the floor, his
desk open and the papers therein scat
tered about in confusion, and, finally, the
observation of an unusual edor per-
vading the apartment, resembling that
of some poisonous acid, which it was
not the custom of the deceased to
keep either about his premises or his per-
son. This will be remembered as the
testimony in substance of DR.. Adams,
the witness by whom the discovery
of the body was first made. Then the
further evidence Of the parties occupy
ing apartments in the story below, will
also be remembered, to the effect that
what seemed to be scuffle, accompa-
MED with the repeated ejaculation OF
Don't was heard by them in the Doc
tors room the night before. These facts,
together with others, seem to have led
to the opinion entertained by the author
tiles that, the deceased could not have
died from either Of the diseases asoribed
as the cause of his death by the
corouer's jury, but that he probably
was assaulted while sitting in his office,
and knocked senseless to the floor, per-
haps the acid administered to him, which
effected his death, and the body, to con-
ceal the crime, laid out upon the bed,
where il was found the following morn
ing. The suspected motive which might
have actuated his murderers to the per-
petuation Of the crime, is based upon the
| fact that the deceased was the owner OF
much valuable property, purchased du-
ring the war under United States direct
tax sales, at the time Of his death
/ II