Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-12-13
A .BONY MYSTERY.
FE, Ell, FO, FUN, I SMELL THE BONES
OF An ENGLISHMAN.

The Discovery of a Human Skeleton in
Lake Como-A Supposed Bloody Murder
Unearthed-The Coroner and the "G1obe"
Investigate-A Bullet Hole Determines
the Sex of the Bones-Ihe Horror Rudely
Dispelled by DIR. Murphy, Who Dis
covers DR.. Mattocks scraping the Bones
of Charley Pitts. One of the Dead North
field Robbers.
At about 8 o'clock yesterday morning
word came in to police headquarters that a
dead body had been found somewhere out by
Lake Como. Without waiting to inquire
into particulars, a GLOBE envoy was dis
patched to look the matter up. Prompt as
he was he found the coroner already on the
road, also Undertaken Gross. The coroner's
information was that the body had been found
on the farm of Joseph Robertson, and to this
gentleman's residence, the party inquired
their way. They found it to be quite
large and handsome farm house, with extern
sive barns and farm buildings, all new, stu
ate about three-quarters Of mile from
Como house. Behind the house and about
fifty yards from it is a lagoon which, when
the water is high, is connected with Lake
Como on the western side. Inquiring at the
house, the party were told the tody
was down by the lake shore, and a
son and so1l-in- law of Mr.. Robertson showed
the party down. The GLOBE man got into
conversation with the former and asked how
the body was first discovered. From him
the man of news learned the following facts:
Last Sunday he, young Robertson, went
down along the lake looking for muskrat
runs and houses. Coming upon a small
house, he saw by the side of it, a box about
three feet long and standing about foot out
of the water. Curiosity led him to examine
the box, which he found to be pretty solidly
nailed together; he, however, forced a piece
of board off and looked init was full of
bones. Going back to the house, he men,
toned the circumstance to the family,
when it was recollected that they had
lost dog in the summer, and they conclud-
ed some one had killed it, and putting it in
the box threw it into the lake. On Wednes
day, as he was watering the cattle, he
thought he would cut the box out of the ice.
He cut the ice from around it and found the
box did not extend more than four inches
below the water. The muskrats had built
their house close against it on the land side
After getting the box upon the ice, Robert
son cut it open with his ak, and then he dis
covered that the bones were not those of
q dog, but the CHASTITY remains
of a human being. At once he FASTENED to
the house and told his father, who, with the
other members of the family, went down to
view the horrible spectacle. Mr.. Robertson,
ST., broke the box in pieces and turned out
the contents. AS the skull rolled at his
feet he struck it with his axe dividing it into
three pieces. lie also cut the feniur or
thigh bone in two, for the purpose he said
of seeing if it had laid there long.
INVESTIGATING THE MYSTERY.
BY this time the party had got down to a
point where the lake widened out con-
siderably, and about eight feet
from projecting point of the shore was a
muskrat house. Here was the spot which
was about to disclose a fearful mystery. Be
side the rat house lay box two feet six
inches long, eighteen inches wide and sixteen
inches deep. In it were the bones of a hu-
man being; they were partly covered with
muscular tissues and adipose matter: the
latter appearing in its frozen state like lime.
The body had evidently been dissected in a
bungling, unskillful manner, some of the
bones being hacked and chopped badly.
Examining the remains, the GLOBE man
found the skull we'll formed and intact, the
1ultllOl lud&llldIy OI lower Jaw Will
it's full set of small, regular teeth looked as
though they might be those of a woman.
The teeth in the superior or upper jaw we're
also regular and complete. They were
slightly worn on the crown of the molars
and the edges of the incisors, and would in
dictate person of about 20 or 26 years old.
The bones of the foot also indicated from
their smallness a female, but the remains as
an entirety showed that they were those of q
man. The Psychologist of the GLOBE staff
found bullet hole through the upper part
of the hip bone. The shot had been dis
charged from the front, evidently through
the abdomen backward and downward. The
ball was very large one, probably Henry
or Minnie rifle ball. The man had evidently
been shot-murdered. And now for some
clue. The GLOBE man searched among the
fostering remains and stumbled upon a but
ton. 1t was as large in diameter as cent,
with a white porcelain center and heavy
iron rim thicAly plated. Here was clue
which might lead to something.
Murders had been discovered upon as
slight a one. But there was
still another. On the lid of the box were
the words Shelter q Co., wholesale drug
gists, William street, New York. Here, at
least, was something which would explain
y
man was shot and rudely carved up and
crowded into the box; by q druggist, prob
ably, who had placed some corrosive with it
to eat away the flesh. 1t had been taken to
the lake and loaded down with stones ; left in
all security. The water falling considerably,
exposed it to view and it was discovered by
young Robertson.
SOLVING THE MYSTERY.
The coroner had the remains carefully re-
moved to the city and depo sited in the
morgue. He then called in Drs. Mattocks,
Stamm and Stone, who at once pronounced
the remains to be those of man. In the
evening Coroner Stein and DR.. Mattocks
carefully cleaned the bones and examined
them, the doctor intending to set them up,
so as to come to a better conclusion as to
the description.
The GLOBE man, meantime, had an idea and
started to follow up. Finding DR.. Murphy,
few sentences sutfced to show that the
great mysterious and bloody tragedy was
about to be revealed, with all it's blood curd-
ling horrors. The doctor hurried, without
delay, to the jail, descending to the base
ment and cropping his way along dark pas
sage till he came to the heating furnace, he
found busily at work with the skeleton DR..
Mattocks and the coroner.
DR.. Murphy am much obliged to you,
gentlemen, for cleaning my ''stiF'' for me.l
DR.. Mattocks-What doy you mean, doctor?
DR.. Murphy-Why, that is my old friend
Charley Pitts, one of the Mortified rob-
bers.
DR.. Mattocks-You are joking.
Dr. Murphy-Indeed I am not More
than two years ago pupil of mine, Fred