Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-12
CLOTH AND BUTTONS
From the Bomb Thrower's Re.
mains Identified bya
Boston Tailor As
THOSE OF A NOTE BROKER.
Henry L. Norcross Was His Name, and
He Wasn't Called q Crank.
he DISAPPEARED ON THURSDAY,
And Has Not Since Been Seen by Any of
His lcquaintances.
THOSE OF A NOTE BROKER.
he DISAPPEARED ON THURSDAY,
HIS PARENTS BOWED DOWN WITH GRIEF
1srEc1AL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH. I,

BOSTON, Dec 11.-lnterest IN the mys
terioUs bomb thrower of New York wa:
transferred to Boston to-day, and from the
evidence thus far obtained l. seems certain
that the identity of the unknown stranger
whose head alone remains, has been re-
vesled. Instead of the wild crank which
people have been pleased to fancy him, the
man who is without doubt the bomt
rhrower was a well-known Boston note
broker, Henry L. Norcross, who never be.
fore showed any violence or insanity in any
form. He was eccentric and energetic, but
was far from being crank in the popular
acceptance ofthe term.
The indentifcation rests solely on the
Hhreds of clothing found in the wrecked
room. The photograph of the dead man s
head has been shown to several of Broker
Norcross' friends, but while it bears a strong
resemblance TO the missing man, it is not q
positive clue to his Identification. But
there seems to be no doubt about the cloth
ing. That has been Unidentified beyond any
raasonable doubt as the clothing worn BY
Henry L. Norcross when he left his home
IN Somerville, Thursday morning Decem-
Der 5, the day proceeding the bomb throw
ing.
Identified by His Clothing.
The man who furnishes this important bit
OF eonfrmatory testimony is Charles O.
Hill. who is a cutter for Walter c. Brooks
y Co., the tailors who made Broker Nor
cross clothes. As has already been stated,
the buttons found on the fragments of CLOTH
ing which unquestionably was worn by the
bomb thrOwer bore the name of Brooks,
Taller, Boston, There is but one tailor
ing firm of that name in Boston, and with
the fictitious name given by the bomb
-Erower there was no way of identifying
the wearer. but the scraps of clothing
brought to Boston to-day bore a number,
and Nir. Hill saws that that number cor
responds with the number of MIR. Norcross'
aan1e on the firms books.
M. Eli stated to a DISPATCH man to-
night: mr.. Norcross was customer of our
house. and had been for long time. He
was very quiet, gentlemanly person, and
one whom no one would dream of connect
ln- with such a terrible crime as this
When the samples of cloth were brought to
ne I recognized the goods as similar to
o-oth which had been sold to Nh. Norcross
IN October last. The cloth was made up
into pantaiooEs, and was of striped twilled
black and blue stripe. 1t was peculiar
pattern, but without doubt the goods were
-y-G by other houses than ours.
The Buttons Marked Positively.
''The goods were entered upon the books
bv numbers, and the number upon the frag-
ments shown me corresponded with the num-
Ter entered against the name of Mr.. Nor
cross OF the books and the pattern of the
goods and the sample which was said to
have been found upon the BODY of the dead
6vnamiter are identical The buttons
marked with the name Brooks, Boston tail
ors were also put upon those pantaloons,
and one of these buttons so marked was
found on these shreds
1t was not impossible that Mr. Norcross,
after selecting the goods might have
changed his mind about the cloth and made
new selection, but there is no record on
our books of any such change and none of
our men remember his so doing. There can
be no doubt of the identity OF the goods as
exhibited with those sold by number to Mr..
Narcross. In August Mr. Norcross also
bought a coat and vest of black diagonal
material, of pattern common to many
tailors. These also corresponded ih pat
tern 20 the remnant + the coat found on the
body in New York. -
This statement from Mr.. Hill is the only
positive Identification which has yet been
made bur the evidence is SO strong that the
missing mans venerable father and mother
aaye accepted it as the truth, aud tonight
they are bowed down in sorrow over the
.errihle affliction which has come upon
.aem. They, too, recognized the fragments
ri clothing as being the only clew connect
ing their son with the terrible crime in
New York. They saw the photograph of
the lynamiter's head, but they could not
recognize the disigured member as the face
0i :hair son.
Norcros.' Parents Give In.
They readily produced photograph of
Henry taken a short time ago, and the
father saw the striking resemblance between
the two faces The mother had identified
The fragments of coat, pantaloons and
underwear as the property of her son, and
she was completely overcome by the ter-
Elble revelation.
AIr. Norcross, too, was shaken by the un-
expected blow, but he controlled himself
by a mighty effort, and discussed briefly his
sons recent actions. He said he had seen
nothing unusual in Henry's behavior He
had had no sickness and he had never acted
queerlv. He was utterly at a loss to account
for lis sons suddea development into a
tiend, except on the ground of insanity.
When he left home Thursday he was happy
and apparently contented with life He
said he was going to Providence
IN business and would be gone few
therefore until within day or two At
first there was little nervousness on ac-
count of the big railway wreck in Connecti-
cut, but as their son had given Providence
as his destination they did not give the
matter any serious thought. The revela-
t.ons to-day came upon them like a thunder
bolt out of a clear sky.
Henry /. Norcross disappeared from Bos-
ton Thursday, the day before tie bomb
throwing There is but one person who
toid different story, and that is the eleva-
TOR boy at No. y Pearl street, where Mr..
N0rcrosS had an Office.
An Elevator Boys Impression.
This boy was quite sure he had seen Mr..
Noreross on the afternoon of FRIDAY, De-
cember I, at or about o'clock in the after
noon He cannot establish that date in
connection with Mr. Norcross' last appear
auce bv anv other incident than that on
Saturday a man came to the place to see
Mr. Norcross, and he (the elevator bowl
had told him that Mr.. Norcrcss had not
been az his Office since the day before,
which must have been Friday People
have been inouiring for the missing broker
all the week, and that is the answer which
he has given TO all.
The boy thought Mr.. Norcross had
smooth face, with the exception of slight, |
dark mustache The elevator boy was evil |
IDENTIFY sincere in his belief that he had seen
Broker Norcross on the afternoon of the |
day on which the bomb was thrown. Of |
course, if the boy is right the bomb thrower
could not have been Mr. Norcross, for the |
the time when the suspected man was seen |
IFg DT,r hat- do