The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-01-22
THE TWO INQUESTS
A Tramp's Strange Death
and ReappearanCe.
AN INCIDENT OF RANCH LIFE.
A Case Where Circumstantial Evidence
Might Have Hanged an Innocent
Mana Lonely Grave.
Written for THE MORNING CALL

''The tramp asked for a drink of water.
L pointed out the we'll in the back yard and
told him TO go and help himself. He said,
Thank you, ma'am, and having satisfied his
thirst at the well walked outside the gate,
laid down under the shade of a tall poplar
tree in the road, pulled a blanket over his
face and seemed to go to sleep there.
1T was early in the afternoon when the
tramp thus settled himself down. A lady
who lived in the nearest house visited me
later in the day, and when | described the
man to her she told me that he had called
at her house a short time before he came to
me and asked for something to eat. She
handed him some bread and meat and a
cup of coffee. and to her surprise he insisted
OH paying tor the meal. He told her be had
money and was not beggar.
when my husband returned from Sac
ramento City that evening l called his at
tenton to the man lying in the road and
told him about his strange conduct. We
were accustomed to calls from tramps two
or three times every day. but never before
had | heard of one offering to pay for food.
Nv husband said to leave him alone and
when he had rested he would 60 on his way.
Next morning | looked out Of my win
dow. The man was apparently still sleep
ing there, with the blau ket drawn over his
face and his feet exposed.
""rhat man has not moved once since he
laid down Yesterday | remarked to my
husband, and think he must be dead
"AIy husband and friend went out in
the road to investigate. The man was dead,
sure enough His throat was cut from ear
to ear. He had made pillow out of the
tin basin which we had used for watering
our chickens.
There was about three dollars in loose
change in his pockets. Nothing else was
found on his person. not even scrap OF
paper. Word was sent to the city and the
Coroner came. summoned jury and held
an inquest, at which a verdict OF sulclde
was returned There was no clew to the
strangers identity. The body was left
where it was found, and when the Coroner
went away he told the neighbors to bury
him az best they could.
THE money found on the body was paid
to carpenter, who made rough box in
which the corpse was placed. 4 grave was
dug in our field close TO small creek, and
in it the unknown dead was buried. We
were all very much shocked by the occur
renee ana | could hardly sleep the next two
or three nights thinking about it.
1T was the rainy season. and the Sacra-
mento River and all its tributaries rose sew
eral feet. The surrounding country vas
affected with one of its devastating foods.
''Ab0ut three days after the burial of the
poor tramp we read IN one Of the Sacra-
mentO papers an account OF the finding on
the shore Of a river town at least sixty
miles from our ranch of the body of a
strange man with his throat cut. The story
was told under hlOOd-curdllng headlines.
The paper called 1t murder mystery. The
constable of the township had arrested two
men on SUSPICION and accused them OF the
murder. The foundation of the accusation
was the finding of a jackknife on one OF
ha q tai
with bloodmarks.
''My husband and | thought it would be a
good idea to visit the lonely grave in the
corner Of our fed. AS we drew near we
saw that the recent food had washed all the
earth away and that the rough coffin had
disappeared.
1--WE concluded from the description given
by the papers that the supposed murdered
man and our dead tramp were the same
person. The more we thought about the
matter the stronger were our convictions
on this point. We talked it over and my
husband said he would take the train next
morning to the little town and see if our
theory was correct.
las soon as he laid eyes on the corpse he
entitled it as that Of the man who had cut
his throat in the road opposite our gate.
The Coroner Of the adjoining county had
just empaneled a jury as my husband
reached the place. a very strong murder
theory was in progress Of development and
the situation was rather ominous for the
accused prisoners with the bloody blade.
My husbands Identification of the corpse
and the story he told OF the suicide satisfied
the second coroner's jury and they returned
a verdict of suicide, after which the sus-
pected muTderers were released and the
body turned over to one of the village sur
geons for dissection"
The lady who tells this strange story new
resides in this city. The horror of the
q Ponl0 n nm q r
endure ranch life and at her earnest solicit
tation her husband exchanged his country
estate for city property
HENRY G.. SHAW,