The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1880-03-18
THE BILLIARD MYSTERY.

|
The alarm OF fire which was sounded at
19 80 O'Clock night before last, was caused
| by the burning Of shanty at the corner Of
Twenty-eighth street and Ohio levee, which
was occupied by the old negro, Thornton
billiard, commonly called "Dr Dillon" The
shanty was burned to the ground and the
occupant, DR.. billiard, was burned to q
crisp. Early yesterday morning the rumor
was set afloat that the old man-who is a
rag picker had few days ago obtainedtwo
hundred dollars from the Illinois Central
railroad and that some person had knocked
him in the head; taken the money from
him and then set fire to the shanty-leav-
ing him, inside to burn to death. 1t was
subsequently found, however, that he had
! obtained no money from the railroad; but,
notwithstanding, since he had made fire.
quent brags that he was IN the possession
Of large amount of money there were
| NIIoSc w nv CuttltalHcu ncllOuS douDts lDH-
corning the cause of his death. In order
to get at the facts in the case Coroner Fitz-
gerald, in company of jury Of
six, yesterday forenoon visited the
spot where the shanty had stood,
1t had been but a poorly constructed affair,
about six by eight IN size and perhaps
five feet in height, and was found to be en-
tirely destroyed, and the only things which
remained of its contents was an old stove
and a cupboard. In front of the stove were
found some of the old mans bones burned
into small pieces, and also some of his
brains which had fallen out of his head
when he was removed A little farther on,
the jury found the remains Of the
man. which had been placed
upon saw frame of the adioin-
ing wood yard, in order to keep it ont Of
the reach Of dogs. The legs above the
knees and the arms above the elbows were
gone, as was also the lower jaw bone. The
back portion of the scull had, apparently,
been burned off, thds causing the brains 10
drop out of the headand the whole trunk
for nothing more than the trunk remained
was burned TO crisp,
The jury, after hearing the evidence Of
Mr.. Miller, the night watchman of the
elevator, adjourned until four o'clock in the
afternoon, when the fireman and engineer OF
switch engine Of the Illinois Central road
and Officer Lally were sworn and permitted
to make their statements. All that was
learned from these gentlemen was, that
billiard had been in habit of
keeping large fire in his
shanty at night--ouc that might
have been apt to set fire thereto; that the
place was visited by them shortly after the
breaking out of the fire; that although the
shanty was small the fire was very hot
and that Dillon, when first seen,
was in a crouching position
and afre from head to foot, and
apparently dead. No one was seen about
the shanty at the time the fire was discoy-
cred.
This was about the substance Of the evil
dcnce and the jury, believing that some
thing more positive could be ascertained,
adjourned until ten o'clock this morning,
There ARE those who believe that the old
man was killed by some tramp who has
heard him Drag about his money and that
the shanty was set on fire in order to
hide the deed. They claim that in
shanty so full OF cracks and holes he could
not have been smothercd by smoke. He
might have been drunk, they say, but the
shanty was such that man, even in
a drunken condition, might have
gained egress with ease. 1t was supposed
that he had at least some money, in coin
about his person, but none could be found
where he was burned. 1t was also believed
that he had a shot gun in his shanty at the
time it Nas burned, and if 50, the barrel of
the gun should have been found upon the
site, and the fact of its not being there is
looked upon MS evidence OF foul play.
These are only some Of the reasons why
it is thought that the old man was muir
dered, and those who can throw any light
upon the matter should be at the court
house at ten o'clock this morning, when the
jury will again meet.