The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-16
THE CASE WITH The STATE.
All the Available Evidence in the
Harden Case Now Collected.

Harden Case Now Collected.
Harden's Body Buried Yesterday
No Necessity for Holding an In
quest.-The Murder Committed
Either With Ratchet or an Axe
James Harden Identifies the Clothes
Found as Those Belonging to His
Brother.-Mary Used to Sing Home
Sweet Home over Harden's Dead
Body.
1t seems now that all the available evil
dence in the Harden murder case has
been collected by the officers who have
been working on it for the last week,
and it remains for the state to take up
the work and prosecute the guilty par
ties. Solicitor General Fraser will take
up the case tomorrow and determine
upon what course is to be pursued.
While about all the evidence available
seems to have been collected, the case is
still partly shrouded in mystery. The
question to be solved if capable of solu-
tion is who aided the woman Mary Wash
ington in the bloody work. There seems
to be little or 10 doubt . about
the fact that she is the one
who did the killing. Whether
she was aided in the work by Edwards or
by her husband may ever remain a pro
found mystery, so far as the law has
jurisdiction of the case, as Mary Wash
inton cannot testify against her husband
and her uncorroborated testimony would
never convict Edwards
HARDEN's BODY BURIED.
Harden's body was taken from the
place where it was found, on Margaret
street, and buried yesterday morning.
Almost the entire body was found to-
gether.
A report came into the city that bag
which appeared to contain portions of a
human body was seen at the four mile
hill on the Louisville road. The matter
was investigated, and found to contain
human stomach, part of hip and some
intestines. As these were missing in the
portion of the negro found the night be-
fore, it was concluded that they belonged
to his body, ana they We're accordingly
brought into the city. and buried with
the rest of him. This made the negro
complete. All the parts of him were
y
evidence of the crime.
NO INQUEST HELD.
1t was deemed unnecessary to hold any
inquest over the body of the dead man.
The new law with regard to inquests dis
poses of them in great many cases es-
pecially where the evidence and details
of the crime are known and the evidence
has been obtained.
Mary Washington had confessed that
she killed Harden, and told where the
| body could be found The body was
| found as she stated, which fully corrobo-
rated her statement. In view of these
facts it was not deemed necessary to
hold an inquest, and the body of the ne
gro was taken from the place, or places
where it was found and buried.
PROBABLY KILLED WITH A RATCHET.
Hardens skull was found to have long
| cut across it on the right side and in
front. The wound, as made, was such a
| severe one that 1t split the skull from ear
to ear. BY placing sharp instrument in
the opening, the two parts of the skull as
made by the crack could be pried some
| distance apart
| The wound which caused Harden's
| death and which split the skull was prob
| ably made with Ratchet or ak. In her
| confession of the killing Mary Washing
! ton has several times stated that she hit
| Harden with a Ratchet, and at Other
! times she said with an AK. The
wound was undoubtedly made with one Of
! these Instruments On second examina
| ton it seems that the body was not SC
| badly cut as was at first supposed. The
| flesh has rotted from the bones, and as
usual in the course of decomposition, the
bones have separated at the joints.
IDENTIFIES THE CLOTHING.
| On Harden's body, as it was found, wa.
one leg of a pair of pataloous which was
fairly well preserved: His shirt wa'
also found with his body These
James Harden, the brother o
the murdered man, says he can posi-
| lively identify as the garments which
| his brothers wore. The flesh was Il
badly rotted from the skull for him t,
identify the face as that of his brother
Some other small articles of clothing
were also found with the body but the!
were too badly rOtted and covered witt
dirt for Identification.
James Harden furthermore says he can
positively identify the blanket in which
part of his brothers. body was wrapped
before it was hidden as one which
was used in Mary Washington
room. The officers who had charg
of the case think the negro
skull should be cleaned and mounted as
il will play an important part in the evi
dence before the jury. The shape of tn
skull and the projection of the from
teeth makes the face of the dead mai
look, even now, very much like that o
his brother in shape.
1t is said that the organ in Mary Wash
ington's room stood all the time jus
above the boards in the floor under whicl
Harden's body lay. The neigh bors sa,
that Mary would sit at this organ at al
i,
Home, Sweet Home" and I'VE Shal
Meet Over There" The case will go be
fore the grand jury at its next meeting
Wednesday, March 81.
TO DISCUSS INSURANCE.