The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-08-31
CRIME AND MYSTERY.
THE LAST HORRIBLE SENSATION IN
NEW YORK.
The Dead BODY of Young Woman
Found In q Trunk Checked for Chi
cago-Trying TO Solve the Mystery, &c.


New York is never without mystery or q
sensation. The last one is the case of the un-
known young woman, supposed to be the VIC
tim of an abortionist whose dead body was
found cramped in 8 packing trunk at the Hud-
son River Railroad, checked for Chicago, as
reported by telegraph yesterday. We gather
the following particulars of the mysterious
discovery from the New York papers:
The body was entirely nude, and had been
shockingly distorted In the effort to pack 1t In
so small space. In the top of the trunk and
| covering the body were comforter or heavy
| and TWO or three other articles of common
material. All these things, much soiled, emit
| ted very offensive odor. The scene at the
depot after the discovery was an exciting one.
Railway officials rushed up and down In search
| of the woman who had brought the trunk, and
policemen -o-e active In their efforts to find
some clue =. which the persons engaged In
| what now seemed clearly tragedy might be
discovered. The boy who assisted the carman
| to carry the trunk into the depot has clearer
| recollection of the woman who had the trunk
| checked containing the body than any other
person who saw her. His story Is as follows
THE STORY OF THE BOY.
My name is Alexander Potts; am twelve
years old, and live with my mother; l am
| around the Hudson River Railroad depot every
| day, where sell candy and papers, and carry
was standing In front of the depot, on Thir.
teenth street, about o'clock, when saw q
one-h0rse cab coming toward the depot, from
| the direction of Ninth avenue; the cab stopped
| In front Of the ladies' entrance to the depot,
and ran and opened the door of the cab,
Lob lol, ,ohn n nc IL
| leo dress, with thin alpaca shawl, and had
on small jockey hat, Without veil; she wore
no waterfall, but her hair was tied up In a
small knot behind, and enclosed In 8 net; she
| seemed to be about eighteen or nineteen
years old, and her hands looked like those OF
working girl; as she got out Of the cab sae
| handed the cabman one.dollar bill, and he
| drove off; she then turned to me and said,
| ''Sonny, can you tell me where the ticket otdce
Is ?" asked her how far she was going, and
| she said she was
GOING TO CHICAGO.
then told her that If she went inside and
got her ticket she could then get her baggage
checked. She then went with Iie 20 the ticket
Office, and after inqulring the price of ticket,
she handed the ticket clerk, two twenty dollar
bills, and he returned the change, slo, and
ticket. The change he gave her was three
five dollar bills, Two dollar bill, and a one
dollar bill. She then stood talking with the
ticket clerk about five minutes, but although
I was standing near did not hear what was
said, because I paid no attention. When she
got through talking with the clerk she turned
to me and said that she had not intended to go
to Chicago, but had
CHANGED HER MIND,
and guessed she would on account of her bag
gage. I told her that unless she went her bag
gage couldn't 60. She then asked me what
she should do about her baggage, and said 1t
would be there soon on Tripp's express We
gon. This wagon or truck was a very small
one, with three bars painted red on each side,
and also with the name "Trip" painted upon
one ofits panels. The truckman was old, OF
slight stature, and wore the blue overalls OF a
common carman. He was greeted by the wo-
man as an old acquaintance. We then went
outside, and while standing In front Of the
depot she saw wagon coming down the
street from the direction of Ninth avenue.
She then turned to me and said: "Here
comes my man," and then beckoned with her
finger to him as If to hurry him up. When
the man with the wagon saw her beckon he
seemed to drive faster. She then asked me If
would mind helping him In with the
trunk, and said she would pay me. When the
wagon stopped In front of the baggage-foom
stepped up to help the man place the trunk on
the sidewalk, but he wouldn't let me-, saying
he'd handle It himself. HI
LIFTED IT CAREFULLY,
ami set it fiat on the sidewalk. Ithen took one
handle and he the other, and re carried jtinto
the baggage-room. wanted to set the trunk
on Its end, as they always do, when the woman
and the man both stopped me, saying that the
trunk contained glass, and 1t mustn't be ham
died roughly. stepped up To the counter and
told Frank, the baggage checker, that the lady
wanted to get her baggage checked to Chlca-
go. The truckman and then took hold of the
trunk to place 1t on the counter, when the lady
placed her hands underneath the trunk and
assisted US. She said that she would like to
have an extra strap around the trunk, and I
told Frank what she said. Frank then told her
that the strap would cost her one dollar, and
she answered, ~ don't care for dollar If you
strap 1t gocd." Frank then put the strap
around the trunk and drove three nails Into it.
She then gave Frank her ticket and one dol
lar. He punched the ticket and handed 1t
back to the woman with q baggage check.
She then turned to the truckman and said,
I'm much obliged to you for your trouble"
They then
shook HANDS
and the truckman drove off, wishing her good
by. The woman and then went into the
street, and she banded me five cents. l told
her that was not enough, and she gave me five
cents more, and asked me to show her good
restaurant where she could get some dinner.
l went with her to Keenan's saloon, on Ninth
avenue, between Twenty-nlnth and Thirtleth
Streets When we got there she would not 60
In, but said she guessed she would 20 to her
friends, as she didn't have much time and very
little money. She then left me and walked
down Ninth avenue, and went back to the
depot.
IN THE MoRGUE.
The appearance of the body as it lay In the
trunk was frightful. The trunk was but two
feet eight inches In length, yet the young
woman was over five feet In height, and had
been literally crushed Into 1t. Her head was
forced over on her breast, and her limbs were
drawn up to the very fullest tension ofthe
ligatures in order to crowd the body into the
narrowest compass possible. The rags which
covered the body had evidently been selected
for the purpose, because OF their worthless
ness. The pillow.cases, which were among
the number, had pieces torn out OF the open
ends, evidently TO remove the name which
had probably been written on them. The
young woman was doubtless very beautiful.
She was about twenty years of age, and
tangled mass of the most beautiful golden hair
fell over her shoulders. The limbs were white
and shapely, and the feet tiny and delicate.
The arms and hands well-shaped, and every
feature showed refinement and grace. The
small exGu!:itely cut face was terribly dlscol-
ored, aEd the mouth distorted by suffering;
ho fna uh