Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-05-22
A GRAVE-ROBBER's FATE.
A Young Physician, of syracuse.
New York. KILLED as He was About
TO Engage In BOdy.SnatchIng.
Syracuse, Nes0 York. Special to the Chicago


Syracuse, NeaO York. Special to the Chicago
Tribune, May Is.
About six O'Clock this morning q man wsg
found wounded and bleeding, In a semi
conscious state, In a meadow owned by
William Moore, just east Of the county
poor house and adjoining the cemetery
grounds ats ched TO the county institution,
situated about three miles south of the city.
By his side lay a sack containing q bottle Of
whisky, out OF which one drink had been
taken, cart-hook, long piece of rope,
a dark lantern, bit, stalk and screw
driver, and other implements used in
body y-snatchfng. He was discovered
hv an inmate of the County
House, and, as there were signs of life, as
slstance was procured, and he was conveyed
to the institution. DR.. Pease, of Syracuse,
was summoned, who. arriving shortly after,
recognized him as Dr. Henry w. Kendall,
Jr., prominent physician of this city. An
examination disclosed the fact that q bullet
had entered his head and penetrated to the
brain, there being a cerebral discharge.
Both eyes were swollen shut and blood was
oozing from his mouth. The physician cor
cluded that his condition was critical, and
made no effort to probe for the ball. IN his
clutches were discovered a dirk-knife and
two revolvers, one of which was fully loaded,
aud the other showed signs of being receDtly
discharged. Kendall was unconscious, and
was unable te explain the manner In which
he received his death-wound. DR.. Pease
instantly sent word to his wife, who resides
on Genessee street, 10 the most aristocratic
quarter OF the city, and she hastily respond
ed to the summons. His mother, sister and
a number of physicians also arrived at the
County House this morning. The deed is
shrouded in mystery thus far. The rest OF
the field where the man was found is q
freehly-sown oats lot To the west of it, on
rise OF ground, is the Poor-House Gene
terry. Between the meadow and the oattield
Is fence, over which Kendall had jumped,
and about forty feet from the fence is the
spot where he fell-one-third the distance
OF the cemetery There is a fresh
wagon track through the oat field. and with
it prints of mans feet as though he had
led the horse to the fence. One of Ken
dall's shoes was taken this morning and
laid into the tracks by Coroner Knapp, who
thinks they fitted exactly. The Coroner
also followed the wagon ruts across the field
to an opening in the fence. He found that
the horse had evidently been driven in from
Ondago hill. There is still another track
leading from the fence between the meadow
aud the oat field to the road, which passes
the Split Rock brewery, indicating that
Kendall was not alone last night. The
question now is, who was with him, and to
whom did the horse belong One OF John
CATus was lOuuU III the BaGcnel
which lay near the unfortunate, advertising
livery business at No. AZ West Fay
cite street, but this is a place which
Schunemann is not running now. On the
back OF this card were the words, "Be shure
at o'clock" 1t was thought that the card
might give some clew as to the owner of
the horse which Kendall evidently used last
night, but at AZ West FaYette street is no.
thing but boarding stable, and when the
proprietor was asked to-day If he had let a
horse out last night he replied that he had
no horses to let. There are several theo-
ries. Several days ago a man died at the
County House of a peculiar disease, the
certificate having been filed in the City
Clerks offices yesterday. It is supposed
that DIR. Kendall, In company with several
others, proceeded to the cemetery with the
intention of exhuming the remains; that,
upon arriving there, several students OF the
me dcal college, being upon the same
errand, mistook him for a watchman
and fired at him with the above result,
his companions fleeing through fear and
leaving him behind, supposing that he was
killed instantly. Another theory is that he
was killed by relatives of the man, who, be-
ing suspicious that the subject was liable to
be stolen by physicians, remained on guard
for several successive nights. The next
theory is that advanced by a relative of the
man, that he has been an opium eater for
some Clme, ana LnaG IN Ht OF mental aD-
erration, brought on by dependency and
the use of the vile drug, he committed sui
eide. The matter has created considerable
surprise among all classes Of people. The
young man is only twenty five years of age,
fine looking and well developed He has
been practicing several years, and enjoyed
an extensive practice. He had a mania
for body snatching, and has made
It a part of his business in supply
ing subjects to a number of students, of
whom there are many In Syracuse. The
fact that medical college exists in this city
is the cause that numerous graves are
robbed OF their inmates. 1t is no uncom-
mon occurrence to ascertain a grave In the
County Cemetery has been robbed, as de-
veloped from an investigation of the Board
of Supervisors about a year ago, when It
was ascertained that four bodies had been
dug up within two weeks. Notwithstanding
the vigilance of the authorities, no ciew
could ever be obtained of the authors of
these depredations, although suspicious
were numerous. This is ihe first case dis
covered, and the community are horrified at
the dreadful fate Of the promising Young
man. At a late hour tonight Kendall was
in precarious condition, and his death is
expected at any moment.