St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-03-14
DAN-S NJ


two cuts and on the crown of the skull was
another wound. all of which had fractured
the bone. and each in itself was sufficient
to endangeT life.
The man did not recover consciousness,
and SpaSmOdically raved from the time
that he was laid on the cot until he died.
The only word that was ineligible in his
muteringS was Minneapolis" An effort
was made by the physicians to get his name
from him without avail, and he died,
closing with his last breath the mantle
of mystery that surrounded him
from the hour of his appearance
at the transfer until the engineer
Woods peertd into his bloody face and
glaring eyes through the gate of pen 40
Friday night He gave his name in a care
less manner at the Transfer house as Daniel
Splith. but that this is his correct name is
doubted by many of those who are inter-
ested in the case. That he came from some
point in Iowa is generally conceded, but
what point no one knows. He
was first seen at the Transfer
about l o'clock Friday afternoon
and told Mr.. Ryan, the foreman of the
yards, that he expected a carload of horses
in that night that he was shipping west and
made arrangements to have them fed. Pen
40, block 6, was assigned to him, and dur
ing the afternoon he loitered around the
yards watching the loading and unloading
of stock. He was very reserved in his man.
nerS and cOntented himself with watching
the operations OF the laborers in
silence. He told Mr.. Ryan that
the man who had charge of his stock
was fellow that he didn't like to trust and
he had come on to attend to the transfer
himself. He ate supper at the Transfer
house, paid his bill and left. About z
o'clock he was seen at the depot, and from
that hour nothing is known of his where
abouts, as he was next seen in the alley
clinging to the gate bathed in his own blood.
SCENE OF THE MURDER.
The scene of the murder is one that re-
pels man even in the glare of the sun
light. Pen 40 is long building filed with
stalls capable of holding 150 head of cattle.
1t is rooted and boarded on all sides, with
the exception of two entrances one i'm the
southwest corner the other in the northeast.
A long lane or alley leads to the entrance
in the southern exposure and between the
lane and the transfer depot are freight cars
and loading platforms. Even at midday,
the interior of the pen Is gloomy and fore
boding, and at night, at the hour when it is
supposed Smith entered the pen to place
hay in the manger, the darkness must have
been Cimmerian in its intensity, and
as he went without lantern.
it can well be understood how easily the
murderer could Stealthily steal upon his vic
tim without detection or recognition. 1t
was here, apparently, when Smith was
coming from the further side of the pen.
with bundle of hay in his arms to place in
the manger, that he was stricken down and
his assassin, not satisfied with crushing his
skull, must have fallen by his side on his
knees and deliberately haggled and gagged
his throat until the wind pipe was half
severed and the base of the iawbone cut
off. A pool of blood was visible yesterday
where the man first fell and from there a
red trail led to the manger on the opposite
side of the pen, where the man had
made his way after rising, and
along the side of the building
and the gate and fence were traces of blood
left by his hands as he felt his way to the
gate, where he stood when his means at
tracted the attention of Engineer Woods
and the fireman who found him. When
the men approached Smith he was cling
ing to the high gate leading into the alley,
looking through the bars, moaning pit
eOnSly. He drew away and clutched his
pockets, as though he suspected that they
were about to rob him. His hair was matted
with blood and his face was covered
with gore. 1t was frightful sight. The
men told Smith that they were friends and
this assurance seemed to quiet him and he
muttered, Take me to the Transfer"
which was the only Ineligible sentence
that he uttered after his discovery. D. NJ.
Sullivan, in searching the pen. found near
the spot where the man first fell. coup
ling pin and pen knife. The latter was
shut and heavily clotted with blood. 1t
had pearl handle and blade about three
inches long. In the hat that was found
was dent, into which the ragged edge
oil the coupling pin exactly fitted. The
diagram of the scene of the murder below
will give a comprehensive idea of the posi-
ton of the man when he was struck and
his subsequent wanderings.