Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1871-09-07
A Woman Packed i'm n Trunk
and Checked 10 Chicago.
From the Tribune of Monday.l

ped before the principal door of the Thir-
teenth street Hudson River Railroad De-
pot on last Sunday, about 2:3O Z. NJ
Its occupant. a young woman of small stat
ure, plainly dressed, alighted upon the
sidewalk and nervously handed some NC
ney to the driver, who thereupn drove a.
way as If in a great hurry. A number of
boys were standing near waiting for op-
~portunities to carry baggage for passen-
gers, aud one of them attracted her atten-
ton. She called him and said that a wa
gon would soon come with a trunk, which
She wanted him to help carry into the
baggage-room. The boy, who was known
to his companions as paddy" readily
assented to the engagement, and told the
m that it would be necessary for her
to purchase a ticket before she could get
a check for the trunk from the baggage
master. He then led his employer to the
ticket Office, where she purchased a ticket
for Chicago. -7d r1 ea
rs TIL MYSTERIOUS TRUNK
Returning to the sidewalk the woman
led the boy to a trunk which had been
driven up before the window of the bag
gage office during their absence. A cheap
packing trunk of small size was on the
truck. The woman remarked to the boy
that this trunk contained a good deal of
glassware, and would better be carefully
lifted. On attempting to raise il the lid
nearly came off, and the woman anxiousiy
asked the boy if he could not purchase a
rope. paddy" brought a strap of the
baggage master for one dollar and brought
it to her. The trunk was then securely
fastened, carried into the baggage room
and placed upon the counter. The bag
gage master was hurried, and upon being
shown the ticket quickly handed the wo-
man a check, and attaching another to the
trunk, flung it upon a pile of others. The
boy received his compensation and walk
ed earnestly with the woman toward
Ninth avenue, meanwhile thinking it very
curious that a passenger should come to
the depot so early in the afternoon when
the Chicago train started at 8 o'clock in
the evening. The woman left the boy
upon reaching Ninth Avenue, after engag-
ing him to meet her IN the corner Of
Thirtieth street at go and show her
what car to take. She went down Ninth
avenue and was last seen ny paddy"
walking with great haste.
TIE DISCOVERY.
[ Meanwhile the trunk was moved about
7 here, and there in the reckless manner of
baggage men, until finally it was thrown
out of the baggage room upon the plat
form, from which the trunks are placed
in the luggage car. Doubtless from this
rough handling the lid was in some man,
ner looscned, for q porter leaning over to
lift the trunk, noticed a nauseous stencil
proceeding fromit. Robert Fandeward,
the.baggage master, was told of this by
the porter, and resolved to open it. The
lock was very fragile, and upon the first
pressure gave way. The lid was lifted,
and upon the top an ordinary quilt was
seen, under whicha thick blanket was
found. Upon removing these, a horrible
sight met the eycssof the baggagesmas-
ter.
In the bottom of the trunk, with the
head resting upon the knees, was the body
of a young woman. The trunk was only
two feet six inches long, and eighteen
inches deep, and yeta body over five feet
in length had been forced into it. To do
this the fends had placed the corpse upon
its right side, doubled up the legs and
bent the head forward. The girl could
not have been over eighteen years of age.
and was an unusually beautiful blonde"
with fine features and a complexion of ex-
traordinary clearness. Her long auburn
hair, of a shining color, hung in heavy
tresses over her shoulders and hid her
breast. Her hands, though small and
slender, showed that she had labored.-
No cuts or marks of assault were found
upon her body, although there were slight
signs of decomposition. .
The body of the young woman was re-
moved to the Bellevue Hospital Dead.
House about ten o'clock on Saturday night
Hero it was taken from the trunk and
placed in a common pine coffin. No eff
fort was made to preserve it upon Ice for
Identification or for the photographers
The body when found in the railroad de-
pot showed few signs of decay, but six
hours in the dead house converted it into a
loathsome object. The face and neck
swelled into horrible proportions, and the
upper portion of the body turned almost
black from rapid decomposition. When
the photographers at last arrived, about
three yesterday afternoon, the face was so
changed that they deemed it useless to
take a picture, as she could not have been
recognized by her dearest friends.
Deputy Coroner Cushman arrived at
the Morgue at IL A. NJ. yesterday and
made a careful post mortem examination
of the body. He believes thewoman had
been dead three or four days. On open
ing the abdominal cavity he found it filed
with liquid, and showing signs of perito-
nitis. The womb was large and contain
ed evidences that a fetus had been expell-
ed. DIR. Cushman was of the decided
opinion that death was caused by acute
~peritonitis, resulting from an abortion.
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