Connecticut western news., 1872-06-28
A Mistaken Identity.

A few days ago two men entered a store at West Overton near Pittsburg, Pa., and purchased pint of whisky, the younger of the two, who was all dressed, paying for the same. On the same even ing, he was found in a state of insensi- bility-apparently dead drunk, under ed of his coat, and heavily breathing like a drunken man he looked exactly like person in the stupor of intoxica- tlon, and he was accordingly left as such to sober up at leisure during the night.
 In the morning. however, he was found in the same condition, and shortly after, the man died. On examining the body no marks of violence were discovered, nor anything to excite suspicion of foul play, but his coat was missing; his pockets were turned inside out and not a thing was left about his person. It was recollected that the young man had paid for the liquor purchased, and sus- picion was at once raised that he had been drudged by his companion, then robbed. The symptoms led to an infer ence of poisoning by opium in some form, or by some other drug, such as laudanum, or sulphate of morphia. The excitement concerning it has been in- tense. One man in the crowd gathered around, identified the dead man as Hiram Christ, and imm ediately several saw the features of MT. Christ in the stranger, while others, however, saw no resem- blance, and as positively asserted to the contrary. And here began one of the most extraordinary series of contradic- tory identifcations that has. ever been recorded. The father of Hiram Christ was sent for, and as soon as he saw the corpse, he declared that it was his son. Upon examining the body closely, how ever, the father said he was not certain his son had scar on the chin and tee split, and the dead body had neither. Mrs. Christ was sent for, and she, too, identified the corpse as the body of her son. About this time the father recol- lected that his son had purchased a pair of boots, and that when he came from the store he complained of one being too tight, and that on examining the boots one was found to be number seven and the other number eight. In an instant the boots of the dead man were examined, when, wonder of wonders, one was found to be number seven and the other number eight. The sisters were now sent for, who said 1t was their brother, and while the perplexing dis pute was going on, the body was putre- flying, and 1t was deemed proper to bury it. The father and mother refused to attend the funeral, but the sisters fol- lowed mourning to the grave. With the grave, however, the mysterious affair was not closed; on the contrary, it stirred up everybody to greater work in definite directions Persons were sent out in search of Hiram Christ following him up to his employer, who had recently trans ferred him to McKeesport. At McKees- port, however, Hiram was not to be found. The father and mother now fam cied that the buried man was their son. In great grief and contrition they made preparation to dig up the corpse from its quiet resting place at Menanite church, and remove it to the yard where their ancestors and friends were at rest.
 But to remove all grief and sorrow from the hearts of his parents and sls- ters, but not to solve the mystery of the dead man, MT. Hiram Christ, dn prop4iG persona, put in an appearance. He had been temporarily absent from McKees- port when sent for, but learning soon after what had happened at West Over ton, he hastened home. In the excite ment caused by the contradictory identi- fcation the companion of. the dead man was forgotten and allowed to escape from the country. At Iron Bridge, and at Broadford, man of his description wanted to sell 8 coat !; but beyond this nothing more has been ascertai ued.