The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1871-04-13

leaf of the account book, stating that ht
had concluded to leave this world and i
would be of no use to look for him, anC
directing his wife to present the checks 4
the Biddeford depot for two trunks, ont
of which belonged to him and the other tt
Mary McCarty. The latter he directed tC
be sent to John McCarty, care of Hal
Brothers, Chelsea, Massachusetts.
The two trunks were found at the depot
and We're both brought to Mrs. joys
house. Mary McCarty's was 4 large
Saratoga trunk, unlocked, and filled with
fine clothing 1t remained in Mrs. Joys
for eight days. Then her brother, Cap
tain Fletcher, took it to the depot and
asked to have it sent to the Boston and
Main depot in Boston without any adj
dress, but finding this course inadmlssa-
Bile, shipped it according to joys direc-
tons. The story of joys disappearance
was repeated by his wife and brother-in-
law, without mentioning Mary McCarty
| however, and on Thursday, March 30. the
Biddeford Journal mentioned the rumor,
| suppressing joys name, and declining to
vouch for its correctness.
| On the following Wednesday, April 5,
the body of an unknown woman was
found on the Saco beach, at high water,
nearly opposite to joys house in Bidde-
ford. An inquest was held on Thursday,
and continued on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday. the body was identified as that
of the woman who left the Saco House
with Joy Just two weeks before she was
found with her face buried in the sand Of
Ferry beach. and her body wrapped in
seaweed Her clothing was all new and
costly. She had on q black velvet jacket,
frogged, black alpaca dress trimmed
with green velvet ribbon and green oval
buttons. gray stamped underskirt, con-
gress boots, and white ribbed cotton
stockings A waterproof cloak, such as
she wore on leaving the Saco House, was
found on a clam bed, before the body
was discovered; her chignon, which was
noticed at the hotel, has also been found;
and on Saturday her black velvet hat was
found in the water. There were no
marks OF violence upon her person. The
medical examination showed that she had
never been a mother, and was not preg-
nant at the time of her death. The opin
ion of the physicians was that the body
had been in the water about ten days,
more OF less, and that the woman came
to her death by drowning, though there
is possibility, to be determined by analy
sis of the stomach, that she may have
been drugged and then thrown into the
water.
There is little doubt that this wait cast
up by the sea, is all that is left of Mary
McCarty. The prevailing opinion is also
that she did not commit suicide. The
room at the hotel was found, after she
left. in great disorder. She had been sick
and vomiting. A bottle containing some
dregs of whiskey (whether drugged or
not does not yet appear has been found
in the field between Henry joys house
and steep bluff over which q vigorous
push would have sent her at flood tide
straight into deep water, past all help and
out of mortal hearing. The tide was at
flood on the night of March %. at mid
night. Thomas Fletcher testified at the
inquest that he had known of joys in
timacy for three years with woman call
ed Mary McCarty. He visited Boston
Friday and returned Saturday, having
learned that for few weeks before the
the same person. had lived with JOY at
left the house on the same day when he
did, though not with him. She could not
have brought her trunk to Biddefortl with
the intention of committing suicide, but q
letter from Joy was found in his trunk,
which must have been written before he
left Boston, in which he confessed to his
wife criminal intimacy with another
woman, declared his intention of cxpiat-
ing his sin by leaving world in which |
he was not fit to live. His body has not |
been found, though the river has been
dragged. His felt hat has been discover
ed on an island near the mouth Of the |
river, but it is remembered that he had |
also a Scotch cap at the hotel and it is
that q heavy gold or gilt chain
worn by Mary McCarty was not found |
with the body, there were no rings on her
fingers, and there was nothing whatever,
not even q thimble, in her pockets. |
Yesterday morning Coroner Burbank of |
Saco went to Boston to make further in
vestigations there If he should learn |
that this woman was possessed of property |
which cannot now be accounted for, the |
inference would be plain.
Before leaving Boston, JOY, who for |
the last year has been doing good bus
mess as partner in the firm of Kelly & |
JOY, masons and builders, drew from the |
bank about 5000 BY what artiice he |
persuaded his mistress to come to Saco,
and to the very door Of the house where |
his wife lived, it is impossible to coniect- |
ure. The most reasonable opinion, where |
everything seems irrational, is that on |
leaving Boston she did not expect TO Wis
1t Biddeford Though his letter shows that |
he did) but was hocussed on the road, |
and for the last thirty-six hours of her |
life did not completely realize where she
was or what she was doing There is
even conjecture that she was not drown
ed at all, but was buried in the sand where
she was found and uncovered by the high |
tides fortnight afterward. The mouth |
of the Saco was formerly some distance |
to the eastward of its present position. |
The Biddeford bank is bold and rocky |
and maintains its ancient outline The |
Saco bank is loose sand, which has grad |
ually worn away and formed bar across
the mouth of the river. To prevent the
formation of this bar the United States
government is building q long brcakwa-
ter on the Saco side, restoring the old
cutting off the sands to the north
ward and leaving the river free to scour
its bed. The Ferry beach from which
this brcakwater is built out, and takes
its name from ferry, long since discon-
tinued, between Biddeford and Saco at
this point. 1t is maintained that if body
had been thrown INTO the river south of
the breakwatcr, it could not have been
found, as Mary McCarty's was on the
beach few rods north Of it. This OBJ
lection however is unsound. A body
thrown into the river at flood tide would
have tloated out to sea with the ebb, and
no human foresight could predict where
it would reappear. 1t is to be remen-
bered too that at high water some por-
lions of the breakwater are three feet be-
low the surface. Another objection is,
that her clothing would have been de-
stroyed by the action of the waves, but
the weight of the evidence goes to show
that she was thrown into the river about
midnight on the 22d of March, and that
she, at any rate, did not come to Bidde-
ford with Il Saratoga trunk to commit q
double suicide which might as easily
have been accomplished anywhere elscsin
the world.