Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-03-28
FOUND I'm A BAG.
AMAss nrApLrss TKUsK IN A CknE
| snastIy Dncoyery Made by = Boy Gu the
| HANKS q, tho " wissshickon-sus-
pttiun OF murder,

ptCion OF Murder.
when young Arches II Jbertson waded,
early Thursday morning, into the shailOw
water OF the Wissahickou, just above
dam, at the foot of the old
Thomas mill road, back of Chestnut hill,
10 catch log which had drifted down the
stream, he saw what appeared TO bo a sack
oi hay lodged upon ledge of rock jutting
out iuto the breast Of the dam. Across
ono part CT the ledge the muddy water
WAS rushing with force sufficient to cause
the sack to rock to aud fro.
The scenery along this part OF the Wis
sahickon is romantic in the extreme. The
creek, narrow aud in some places deep,
spins its scrpeutine course like baud OF
yellow ribbon Upon either side are high
hills covered with pine trees and thick
underbrush. The silence is as deep, the
loneliness as impressive as ii civilization
were removed thousand miles, instead OF
being scarcely stones throw away.
Almost above the dam an ancient wooden
bridge spans the stream, and across the
road from the bridge are the ruins Of Me
gargee's paper mill, when the city acquired
possession Of that portion of tho upper
East Park. The Wissahickon drive skirts
tho western bank of the creek. Young
Robertson, his father and his grandfather
live in a small shanty perched at the foot
of the hill above the ruins of the mill.
When tho boy saw the sack upon the
ledge of rock he did not examine ITS con-
tents, but ran over to the shauty and told
his father what he had seen. David Rob.
ertson wadcd out above the dam and
climbed over the rocks TO where the mys-
teriuus bundle was rocking backwards
aud forwards in the current. The seam
= .,.l - h.y had .rfl q
open and through the opening was pro-
ttudinr a human hand, discolored and
bruised aud slightly decomposed. Horrihed
at his discovery, Robertson dispatched
his son to the sub police station in
Chestnut Hill while he kept watch over
the sack. L. WAS half past 7 O'Clock
when the boy reached the police sta
ton Officer Bolton went back with
him 10 the dam, and in the meantime
the house sergeant telegraphed to the Park
guard house and to the corOners office.
In about au hour guardsman and the
coroner's messenger with q wagon reached
the dam. In the presence of the officers
the coroner's deputy cut open the bag. In
1t was found the headless, legless trunk of
a man. The arms had not been severed.
The right arm was folded, and the clench
ed hand was folded across the breast. The
left arm had apparently been forced into
q constrained position by the left sldP,
but the hand was opened to its widos. eE
tent, and the fingers were bent as Il clutch.
ing at the throat Of an enemy. Both legs had
been cut otf so close TO the body and IN such
manner as to etfectually remove any suspi-
cion that the operation had been per-
formed with the aid of surgeons knife
OF saw. Although the skin was cieanly
and sharply inciscd, there were evidences
OF several cuts AZ different angles, as when
| a butcher Cleaves joint. The thigh bones
! had been fractured aud not sawed, and the
| blood was clotted around the bone,
| showing that the blows had been sudder
and severe.
The head had been cut off about al
inch below the ears, and apparently il
the same way as the legs-with an axe o
like instrument. The spinal column haC
been broken of by main strength.
There was abundant proof that th,
corpse had been for some days, if no
weeks, in the water. 1t had been put int
the bag-au ordinary "gunuy sack
foremost. The skin IN places was dis
cOlOred upon the breast and hands by tn
action OF tho water. From the appear
ance and proportions of the trunk 1t VA
evident that ii Lad belonged 10 large
heavy set man, not less than feet II
inches high, aud whose weight probabl
Appropriated 10 pounds. The hand
aud arms are those of q labOrer. So Ions
had the body been in the water that mos
of the cutiCle was rotted and had peeled
| of, exposing the white under the skin
aud giving the first impression that tht
corpse was not that of laboring mao
The bag aud the contents were removed
10 the morgue, and this morning DR.
Huidekoper the coroners physician, mad
a post morton eXlminaJ alton. Attorwardi
the coroner held au inquest.
Who thu man was, or by what means b
came to his death, is a complete mystery
and, as yet, the police have been unable ,
obtain the slightest clue which will al
them in unraveling it. There is but on
opinion, however, entertained in th
absence OF positive knowledge. II is th
general belief that the man was murdered
and, from many circumstances evidence
by the appearance of the corpse, it is col
, je3tured that the murderer killed b
victim with an axe or hatchet. There
! nothing to indicate how long the sack ha
been in the water, it may have been
} week or a month. If so long as montl
: the fact that tho body had been frozen al
|
for the excellent state of preservation
9 which IL was when found.
= There is some clue-though IL is ca
( tremely vague-as to the manner in whic
, the body was disposed Of. Above Hal
: wells dam aud within a distance Of tw
miles, there are five dams. The first dal
t above is ThOrp's dam, the next Eaby'
Q and the third Piper's. At PIper's da
there is grst mill. The wall of this da
is not broken, while those below are, al
a so are those above, 80 that if the body hs
been placed in the stream above, it cou
not, even during the freshet, have be,
y swept over it and carried below. 1t mus
" therefore, have been cast in the water at
Is point below Piper's dam and within a di
o tance of a mile aud half of the dam upC
II which it was found.
d Frozen Bsneath the Ice.
The police are of the opinion that d
II body had been frozen beneath the
somewhere not far above Hanwelrs dan
=, and tho coroner's officers say that it h
u been in the water probably six week
There IL no theory among them as to /
identity OF the corpse, nor is II conjectur
what may have become of the absent he
a and legs. Some think they were al
bagged and are somewhere in the streal
" while others believe that they were burr
d in order to avoid any possibility of iden
:. fication.
Y IL is, however, regarded as likely I'll
n the victim was laborer employed up
/, the new line of the Pennsylvania railroa
now being built through Chestnut II
u aud which runs within half mile of I
I place where the body was found Quar-,
ii among these laborers have been frequel