Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-05-23
A STRANGE TRUE STORY.
A Wounded Pauper Dies in Hospital
and Proves to Be q Millionaire.

and Proves to Be Millionaire.
The keeper of the lodging room for Migrants
in the Fourth Precinct station house reported
at the hospital late one bleak night in winter
that one of their dodgers, new conner, was
very i'll. The man was brought to the hospital
In an ambulance, and the following history
of his case was placed upon our records:
'sThomas HUM, aged AZ, residence Yonkers.
Widower. Born in Ireland. Had lived in
the United States thirty-nine years Painter
No friends Complains Of pain in left hypo-
chondria and in umbilical regions. Says he
was kicked in the abdomen at 10 a. m. the
day before by an unknown man on Cherry
street. He is of medium height and weight
and dark complexion. Dressed in dark blue
sack coat ard trousers, with blue flannel
shirt, heavy shoes and wooden socks. Clothing
evidently new and of quality worn by labor
ing men for holiday dress No external sign
of injury. Pulse and temperature normal"
I had the man put to bed and ordered an
opiate for him, under which his pain disap-
peared and he fell asleep.
The following morning his general condition
was good, and, our beds were i'll demand,
decided to have him transferred to another
hospital. He wished to dress himself for the
ride, and, as he sat up in bed to don some of
his clothing, he suddenly expired.
I rushed to his side, but before could
reach him the spark of life had gone out. He
died without groan.
The autopsy held by the coroner revealed
an injury to the internal organs sufficient to
cause death. He had doubtless been kicked
some days previous to his death, and had not
realized the serious nature of the blow.
As we had no addresses by which we could
find his relatives or acquaintance, we were
of
the newspapers. Nonews resulting from this
advertisement, his body was sent to the
morgue.
A few days later man called at the hos
pital and asked to see the house surgeon. |
was busy at the time, and he amused himself
meanwhile in looking over our "Reporters
Book volume kept for the benefit of news
paper men, When came to him he had the
book open at the entry relating to Thomas
HUM l at once recognized him as private
detective.
'What do you know about Thomas Hunn?"
he asked.
every little. What you read there is the
extent of my information regarding him."
81 am looking for gentleman who disap-
peared recently from an uptown hotel. His
case is mysterious. When I read in the news
papers about Hum became curious regard.
ing him"
''But Hum was workingman. He had
nothing of the gentleman about him."
'Come with me to the morgue," said the
detective; ''you may be right, but want to
satisfy myself"
AS soon as he had looked at the body of the
man had known as Thomas Hum, he took
some photographs from his pocket. They
were pictures of the dead painter"
Sending for the brother and son of the
missing man, the detective related to me
strange story.
'sThe vagrant who died under the name OF
Thomas Hum was, up to ten days ago, hos
pitable, genial man, living in luxury at no.
tel on Fifth avenue He was worth millions
which he had made in the west. His dinners
and suppers were considered triumphs of cpl
curean skill by the bon vivants of the city
Suddenly he disappeared. Nothing has been
heard of him until this moment"
The dead mans relatives had arrived and
had established the Identification made by
the detective.
It was not until some months later that
learned the details of the case. met the de-
tective one evening, and he said:
ssThe Thomas Hum affair will never be
wholly cleared up. 1t seems that the million
aire left his hotel one day in company with a
workingman. When the westerner's money
gave out he pawned his clothes and iewelry
and continued until he was again broke
But there is no doubt that he was murdered.
Some day a clue may be found to the mys-
terry. At present all is dark concerning it'
elbow about the workingman who accom-
panied him on his debauchs'
HE left the millionaire at least two days
before the death blow was struck"
"And who is Thomas Hunn?' 1 asked.
'That is curious feature of the affair
Thomas Hum was a poor house painter in
the west who had been wronged financially
by the millionaire who died bearing the name
of his victim. Human nature is queer
thing. Cor. Philadelphia Press.