St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-27
LOOKS LIKE MURDER,
The Body OF Hermann Davids
Found in a West Side
Lake,
And His Friends Declare He
Was Robbed and MUIR i,
dePed. ~
*
~
So Far as Known, No Reason
Existed for Self-De- y. "
Stpuction.
The Coroner Will To-Day In
vestigate the Very Pecu-
liar Case. =,



evening on the West side. Shortly after
5 O'clock lad named Herbert Stein,
rushed into Ducas street station and re-
ported to the officers on duty that the
body of man was floating on the surf
ace of the West side lake, near the base
ball grounds. Capt. Walsh sent the
patrol wagon cut to the spot indicated,
and the body was drawn to the shore,
placed in the patrol wagon and
conveyed to the undertaking es-
Enlistment of E. l.. Volk, 1Sl
South Nabasha street. DR.. John b.
Darling, the deputy coroner, was noti-
fed. and in his presence the body was
searched. Nothing was found in the
packets except key, and the only clue
llkelyaIo lead to the discovery of the
mans Identity was the name X. DavidS
written on the shirt collar. Tile man.
was about forty-five years of age. tall
and of German appearance, with heavy
brown muStache. He was well-dressed,
and brown Derby hat was
Oh his head. A GLOBE repre-
sentative was enabled by following
up the clue of the name on the collar, to
discover who the drowned man was.
A week ago a report was made to the
Davids, employed at the saloon of Will
lam Schneider, 2S9, Robert street. was
missing. The GLOBE representative
visited the saloon, but Schneider was
not IN. he could not be found at his
house, Z South Robert street. but it was
learned at the saloon that the missing
bartender was member of the German
American Lodge No. So, |. o. q. f. The
grand master of the lodge, Michael
Rosenfield, and Henry Guthunz, were
found and asked to proceed to the
undertaker's to see if the body of the
drowned man Was that of DavIds, the
bartender. the member of their lodge.
The party proceeded to the mOrgue,
and one glance at the body lying on
the slab. with face distorted and hands
clenched, assured the gentlemen that
the body was that of Daytls. Mr..
RoSenheld was terribly shocked at the
discovery, and in conversation with the
reporter said:
II can never believe that Davids
committed suicide. | saw him week
ago to-day in the saloon, and he was
as happy and pleasant as he could pos
Sibiy be. lie was III )St steady man,
and did not drink even glass of beer.
As far as L know he had no trouble On
his mind. He was unmarried and lived
at Mr.. Schneider's house. Srhere is a
terrible mystery here. and the lodge,
will do all ii can to unravel it. DavidS
LETT the saloon the Same evening of the
day OH which i saw MIN, anU since that
time he has never been seen by single
person, though he was we'll known,
aud the police were also looking.
for him. Now, if his body has only
been in the water thirty-six houis, as
the deputy coroner says, where was he
from the time he disappeared until he
met his death, which must have taken
place some time Friday morning? / be-,
lieye that DavidS has been murdered
as | knew him very intimately. ana will
nOtand cannot believe he took his own
life" {!
MIR. GuthunZ, who heard the state
ment of his friend, fnll y corroborated it
and added: i..t..
Il believe that Dayids was followed
by thieves, who thought he had charge
of the money in the saloon, and that he
was assaulted and robbed and his body
thrown in the water. WHAT | cannot
understand is the fact of his being miss
ing week, and that no one has seen
HIM in that time, yet the doctor says
he has been in the water only thirty-SiX
hours, which would make the time
when he met his death last Friday
morning.
Fred Frank, bartender for Schneider,
has been acquainted with Davids for
seven years. He stated last night to a
GLOBE representative that he had never
seen DavidS under the influence of
liquor, and that he was not drinking
man i'll any sense of the term. Davids
had been in the employ of Schneider
for over eight years, and resided with
the family at No. Z South Robert street.
The most diIigent inquiry fails to
elicit any reason for the commission
OF the crime of self-murder by
Davids. He had SO far as known no
female connection, was not i'll debt. and
had never been heard 10 complain of
dependency. Davids was last seen
alive at 12:l5 Tuesday evening, Oct. 19.
This was at Becker's summer garden on
the West side. Davids missed the last
car. and laughingly told Becker, the
proprietor, that he would have to walk.
As he went out of the place he turned
half round and requested Becker to call
when he was passing the saloon in
which he worked. This Becker pro-
missed to do and Dayids went out He
was never afterwards seen alive. Fred
Frank stated last night there was not a
doubt in his mind that DayidS had been
held up and robbed. and then thrown
into the water. The same opinion is
expressed by all who knew the steady
habits and quiet disposition Of the
deceased An inquest will be held on
the body this morning. and a careful
investigation made as to the manner in
which DayidS met his death.
w r b. INF m