Wichita eagle., 1889-09-26
STILL a MYSTERY.
It Was Not a Virginia Wagner Who
Starved to Death in a Church.

New YORN, Sept. 25-It was thought
| for time yesterday that the starved and
| eTacated creature who died in the Ro-
man Catholic church of the Sacred Heart,
at Mount Vernon, on Saturday night I'M
der such peculiar circumstances was Vir-
glnia Wagner, the missing Brooklyn
school teacher, but investigation shows
this to be mistake. There is
some similarity in facial appear
ance between the two, but there their re-
semblance ends. Miss Wagner was fully
D feet inches in height, while the dead
woman Is not more than 5 feet 2 inches.
Besides that the Brooklyn girl was rigid
Presbyterian while the dead stranger was
undou btedly Catholic, because the Ag-
nus Del and scapular were found sus-
pended from her poor, scrawny neck. The
most remarkable thing about the Mount
Vernon mystery is that the dead woman
should have been able to live in the cellar
of the church for at least two months.
That she did this admits of no doubt
and that she partook of scarcely any
food during all of that long period is borne
out bv the autopsy and by the poorly
nourished boody itself. OF the 300 people
who looked at the corpse yesterday 25O
were residents OF the town. Not one OF
them had ever seen the dead woman IN
life; not one had ever been asked by her
for crust. Every circumstance goes to
prove that the poor creature starved to
death, and voluntarily at that for she was
In hyspitable community where succor
III such an extremity could be had for
the asking. But the queerest part OF
the story is the two months hiding
in the cellar. where rats abound
and the worms crawl in countless
numbers A woman was first seen there
a. riN in ltrlE- nnI Strora rrQl I'M
mediately after Miss Wa@ner's disappear
ance from Brooklyn, by Janitor Edward
Rowland, of Grammer school No l, locat-
Ell opposite the church. The girl did not
look thin then. He saw her first about
twilight, coming from the area way which
leads from the church cellar in the rear of
the edifice. She had a bright tin pail in
her hand and filed it with water at the
well, which is in the church yard, about
fifteen feet from the back wall of the
building. Then she disappeared as sud-
denly as she appeared. The lanitor did
not pay any particular attention to the incl
den at the time, but when he saw the same
mysterious figure a week later he was puz-
lied. Still he said nothing to any of the
church people. 1t was not until the mid
die of August that the janitor saw the
woman again. He says that he had con-
cluded by that time that Sexron Kirby
knew of the coming and going of this
mysterious figure, and he did not tax his
mind with the circumstance. All
this time-from early July up to
the latter part OF August - the
strange creature must have lived
under the church floor. There is every
reason to believe that she remained in that
dark and dismal shelter for days. perhaps
weeks, at time. Her bed. made on a
bunch of boughs entirely denuded of foil
age, was near the western part of the eel
lar and not more than SIX feet from the |
wooden steps leading from the church |
above. The depression made by her body |
is plainly perceptible. and could not have |
been caused except by constant and con- |
tinuous occupation.
In the cellar were found leather reti-
cule, pocket book, a pair of button shoes |
and cheap chemise. The woman had on |
a plain black skirt and the feet were bare. |
The pocket hook and the reticule We're |
covered with thick green mold, and over
the surface of each could be seen the Shiny |
trail where snaiis had crawled. In one of |
the compartments of the purse was found |
a - bill, folded double. 1t was damp and |
almost ready to fail to pieces. In another |
were a silver quarter and a
nickel. On the ground near the palm |
boughs lay another So bill. 1t, too, was
green with mold, and its edges had been
nibbled by rats. The chemiSe WAS mil
dewed and the fabric rotten. All the gar
ments We're of cheap quality and had evil
IDENTIFY been bought ready made, for they
looked large for the frame that had worn
them. The shoes were the most expensive
of all the dead woman's effects.
An envelope bearing the print of
Louis +. Tengis, and the address of J.
Tengis, 80 Barclay street, was found near
the pocket book, and has caused theory
TO be formed that the stranger was of |
French extraction. Her facial character
istics, however, are Irish. The hair is
Deep rich auburn and curly from forehead
to crown. The body is wasted to a skeleton
and will not weigh eighty pounds.