, 1890-04-24
BEREsFoRD BRoTHKRs,
RACINE, wiscosaIr,
VIA Ngw YORK.


THE TAG ON TIE BAhhEL.
Chief Wilbur promptly posted of ts
the stores, and he and Deputy Collector
Burr made a search for the parcel. II
was found In the cellar. IL was an orii-
nary iron.bound kerosene oil barrel, ana
its destination was painted on the barre
head. as described in the cable: "Bcres
ford Brothers, Racine, Wis, via New
York" A pasteboard tag tackled to the
head Of tho barrel indicated that its con
tents had baen officially examined Marrk
by DIR. George w. Jewott. He dcsig
mated Il as package consisting of ons
cask OF chemical compounds' and iixee
the duty at 25 per cent. There was
Smell of coaloil about tho barrel, but
nothing to indicate that II contained
corpse Deputy Burr ordered IL rc-
moved To u small room ON the uppe;
door aud sent big John" Keviin. one o
the laborers, TO take out the head OF ths
barrel. Big John laughed at the idea o
thcre being q hur.an body In the barrel
"ips been here, over two months" h.
said, "and we'd have been driven out O
here long ago II therc'd been corpse IT,
IL. The cellar would have had NOR
ghosts than rats"
An iron hoop had been knocked OF
the barrel and Big John stuck the cdg,
OF his hatchet between the barrel heas
and the slaves and began TO pry IL open
The head stuck for a moment and ihof
came OIL with jerk. Big John jumped
backward with an oath and his hntchei
fell from his hand. The sight revealed
to those who stood about was horrible Va
the extreme and will not DO forgotten by
them for many q day to come. Sticking
up from the lime which filled the barre
was human head md u mans banc
and forearm. a dark beard and mus
tache were matted to tho face, tho
features of which were dark aud DIS
tortcd and on the second finger of th,
hand was plain gold ring. Tbs
hand was held in an upright position
and the head sagged over toward T..
rHf DEAD MANS EyEs
were open and bulglng, and his chin had
dropped, exposing the teeth and giving
the face grinning and CHASTITY appear.
ance. There were dark marks on tn,
neck, as ii the victim had been stranglec
to DEATH To all Appearances the entir
body was intact, the portion not exposed
being imbedded In the lime. The shirs
and collar had been torn from the throat,
and the only clothing visible was ths
edge Of the coat collar This was OF
dark material, but II had been so covered
with the lime that 1: was impossible to
make out whether it was plain OF fig-
ured, Nor could anyone guess tho age
of the murdered man, the features vert
so distorted.
The odor emanating from the barrel
after 1t had been opened was almost un-
endurable, and the lid was quickly re-
placed aud fastened tightly. Chief VII
bur hurried back To the custom house ia
report his dreadful find to his superiors,
and the news was straightway flashed
under the ocean to the authorities In
Denmark. In and about tho appraiser's
stores the dead man in the barrel wus
the one topic OF conversation. Big John
was besieged all tho afternoon by those
who were curious TO know the details OF
the mans appearance.
'ltsthe hrst time, j believe" said.
Deputy Collector Burr, ''thnt We have
ever had a murdered man shipped to us,
and hope to goodness Ii will he thu,
last We shall probably keep the body
hero till VIZ hear from Denmark I pre-.
sumo it will be wanted there as evidence
against the murder"
shat the body was not discovered wher,
the contents were examined by tho APP
praiserfi
why" replied Mr.. Burr, ''when ths
appraisal was made the examiner simply
removed the bung from the barrel and
got hold Of some of the lime In that way.
There was therefore nothing to indicate
to him that the contents were not a solid
mass of lime"
''rhe entire trunk was completely en-.
cased in the lime" said DIR. Jewett to 8
World reporter aiterward, $50 when the
bunghole was opened for,a a sample lima
is what was Obtained
Don't you think that tho examina.
tion OF the lime by the appraiser showed
inccmpetenceP Could not smueeliny
be carried on very easily If such exam
nations are usual3'
"No, not at all. ID could hardly bs
expected that the entire contents OF al,
barrels OF boxes could be inspected. Al.
far as smuggling goes, any body who 4
well-dressed or Is very smart can easily
smuggle almost anything. | romombc,
receiving the sample OF lime taken iron,
the bungnole. Ii was common ltic. onl,
It did not smell very sweet. But Ina,
was none OF my business"
Tpc Danish consul. Mr.. Braem. re..
ceived a cablegrari from his goyernune.,
yesterday in reference TO the dead man
lie went up TO the stores and lcarnc,
what had been discovered, aud ,o,,,
munieated with the authorities in 90
penhagen. He expects to receive IN
stfuctions with reference TO tho ,lisnosl.
tion of the body.
General Agent Parsons, Of Well,
Fargo 4 CO., through whose cxprc,,
company the barrel was consigned ts
the imaginary iirm IN Racine. statst
THAT they had twice addressed letters "a
"besefofd Bros..' but that both letters
had been returned To them, -7-7