The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-08-21
LAVINIA ROACHS REMAINS.

LAVINIA ROACHS REMAINS.
| soUND-THE EARS CUT FROM THE CORPSE
| WAS SHE A MARRIED WOMAN?
The body of the Inflated young lady, Miss Lavinia
Roach. who threw herself from the deck of the
steamboat Bristol. its trip Newport satur-
day evening, recovered yesterday morning from
the waters of the Sound about hundred
yards out from milestone Point. The
suicide committed opposite Hunts Point,
place about mile to the westward of where tho
remains were found floating At whitestone Point
the tide from Hell Gate and the tide from the east
ern part OF the Sound meet and create an eddy, in
which floating objects are held for days. But for
this the body might have been carried away beyond
Fort Schuyler "Dutch" Henry, u clammer
! and oyster dredger Of Whitestone who passes
most of his time In boat in the
neighborhood of the Point. and has there ished
out Of the water half dozen dead bodies
within half as many years. the first to observe
an object heaving gently up and down in the wash
of passing steamer. Three months ago he noticed
at about the hour in the morning eight
o'cock) an object very similar. which proved to be
the body OF q young German woman. who was lost
of a steam launch on her way to picnic.
In this latest discovery he guessed it another
woman. and, approaching more closely, his antci-
pations realized by seeing Of jet black
hair floating the surface He passed rope around
the body and towed it in upon the beach. Then he
notified the people at Sands Hotel. and Denny
Carroll instantly hitched up a horse and
buggy and flew like the wind over
tho road to Flushing to inform Coroner Burne.
When tho Coroner arrived jury empanelled
consisting of W. S. Ove-ton. chairman; Edward
Keating Edward Cashin, John Neil Richard Can't
WELL Edward Doran, William Gilman. Arthur
| ]. Donnelly and John Murphy. The jury then pro-
ceeded to view the body as it lay on the sands.
APPEARANCE SUICIDE.
The form was that Of o woman OF about FIVE feet
| two inches and perhaps twenty-five years Of age.
She had the outside long, gray linen buster and
! Immediately underneath heavy black gros grain
| silk, deliberately trimmed with fine knife pleat-
ing of the material. while the cor
sage was trimmed with lace. She wore Eng
| lish CATER shoes OF leather. lacing on
| the inside Of the foot, and her stockings of
white cotton. Her face was greatly swollen and
almost black, while the blood she lay on the
beach oozed out through her mouth and eyes and
through hole in the forehead large enough to in
sert finger in. At one side of the mouth deep
| scar extended to the chin and appeared
| grea tly inhamed. The mouth wide open
aud wore an expression Of intense agony.
The eyes protruded completely from their sockets,
and through the s of blood that disguised
could be detected being OF light steel blue.
The OF Grecian mould, and the only feature
of the face that escaped disagreement Both body
and face were evidently much bioated through the
usual generation of gases within which distended
the remains ana caused them to float up to the sur
face from the bottom OF the Sound. where they had
probably been lying for the previous four days.
A SIGNIFICANT PIECE OF JEwELRY.
On the third finger of the lett hand she wore a
| heavy plain gold ring. the same ordinary we'd
! ding ring. When this was taken OF the following
was found inscribed on the inside, "From A. A. to
l.. r.. the only other inscription being the English
Hall mark, "ls k" Along with this she wore
a diamond inserted in the frame OF the buckle. The
wedding ring, supplemented by a guard ring. set
some OF the jurors to thinking that she must have
been a married woman. and one made the assertion
that, according to English custom, none but mar
ried woman wears guard to plan gold or
hand was fancy gold ring holding
diamond in claw setting. The Coroner
made only "a cursory examination of the remains.
finding. so far he went that the skull not
frsctured. but that there severe scalp wound.
The hole in the forehead and the cut on tho lower
part OF the race he could easily imagine were
9eived by the lady when she flung herself over tho
guard rail and struck against the projections on the
were perfectly satisfied from what they had
that the body before them was that of Miss
Lavna Roach. but in order TO mako the fullest in
vestigation and to satisfy the Coroners mind
cortain points the inquest was postponed till
Wednesday next when several officers OF the steam
boat Bristol will be summoned to attend. In the
meantime undertaken, who removed the body to
his III Fiush1n{ after the jury viewed IL,
will keep it on thore for throe days. and If
person should to claim 1t he will have buried
in the Flushing Cemetery.
In tho undertaker's shed the HERALD reporter
made closer examination OF the body and clothing.
On the inside the gaiter for the right foot which
appeared to bea No. ga, was written In ink "Miss
Reach, 4246." Her under linen was o. the finest
quality and her chemise edged at the top
with rich style of lace. Her hands
had evidently been unused to hard work,
and though the fingers were not of tho
tapcring kind, they soft and delicate. Her hair
was raven black and making due allowance for the
appalling sight her face presented from beng
cody, bloated and discolored she must have been
decidedly handsome in life.
A CURIOUS DIsCovEnY.
Tho most curious circumstance OF all was the
state of her ears. These appeared to have been
! either eaten of cut of, with strong
prob bty that the latter the
Neither the jury the Coroner paid any
attention to the peculiar appearance of the remains
of the wheI the body first viewed. but sub
| sequently the Coroner gave the matter more atten
ton, and he became greatly impressed with the con-
viction that the ears cut OIL with jack knife to
secure the diamond earrings they supported. His
reason for thinking that the lobe OF each ear
was cut around evenly to the edge whereas II they
had been eaten by fish more or less ragged border
would certainly have been presented, and II In UNI
likely the remains of both would have exhibited
n precisely similar aspect. On it's being suggested
to the Doctor that 1t would have been easier
TO cut off Just the lower tips of the to
the jewels he remarked that such proceeding would
excite suspicion far more quickly than cutting the
| ears clear off.
'But why not take the diamond rings off the fin.
| gersa" was a question proposed to the Doctor
THAT" said he. would have taken time. In the
| condition of the body"
"Then why not cut the fingers Off"
"Ah that would have been the most suspicious
| proceeding of any"
The reporter left the Coroner cogitating this