The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-02-20
Circumstances Point to his Having
Been Foully Dealt With.


the unfortunate young man came 20 his
death, but the circumstances surround
ing his disappearance and the condition
OF his body when found, point strongly
TO his having been foully dealt with.
DEATH NOT CAUSED BY DRowNINa-vER-
DICT OF THE CoRoNoR's JURY.
Thejury selected by the Coroner to in
quire into the death of Grant Zufall met
in Cumberland, Monday evening. DIR.
Duke was the first witness called. The
DIR. testified that he had performed
post mortem examination with the as
sistance of Drs. Fochtman and Carder
| The physicians examined the body care
! fully, and externally found it in good
condition from the shoulders down.
Small bruises were found over each ear
Continuing the DIR. testified: There was
no congestion of the brain which was
/ found in perfectly healthy condition.
/ The lungs We're inflated and contained no
water or fluid of any kind. The stomach
was in a healthy condition. and partially
| digested fragments of cheese and crackers
were all. il contained. All of the other
organs were in a healthy state. The reck
was partially dislocated. The pressure of
the vertebrsi, in dislocaiion of this kind,
| against the spinal chord could have caused
instant death. ] am positive that his death
was not caused by drowning
Dr. Fochtman corroborated the testi-
mony of Dr. Duke and added that 1.-The
| brain was in = perfectly sound and nor
maj state, and the skull was no; i'm the least
injured. \ man could fall thirty feet and
not injure his skull. In the fail, however,
he could have his neck dislocated, but it
would not necessarily follow that any
! abrasions of the skin should be noticeable.
! The dislocation could have cut off res
piration instantly and immediate death
/ would have been the result. He did not
/ come to his death by drowning as all of
/ the elements i'm such cases were missing"
The C0roner.-''In your opinion he was
I dead before he reached the water"
| Wiiness.-''Yes, sir; there is no doubt
I in my mind other than the partial dislo
cation Of the spinal vertebra was the i'm
( mediate cause Of death"
\ number Of Witnesses were called in
order to prove that the dead man had
j been seen in the locality where his body
was found or the afternoon and evening
of Dee. 23d. bat their testimony WAS too
indefinite and uncertain to have any
weight with the jury.
After celebrating fifteen minutes the
jury returned the following verdict:
The said Grant L li.iii came 10
! E!s death by some means unknown TO
the jury, hnt not by drowning"
MANY RUNoRs UNCoNFIRMED.
As is usually the ease in tragedies Of
this character all sorts OF stories have
| been set afloa;. The following account is
made up from the best information OBJ
tainable.
FINDING THE BODY.
\ little before the dinner hour, Satur-
day. Mr.. Henry Nose, OF Cumberland,
was walking along the B. & O. railroad
track between the cliffs and the waste
weir. when his attention was attracted by
dark object bobbing up and down in
the water in the canal. Three other gem
tlemen were with him and after watch
ing the unnatural looking object for a
vestigatioq. When they reached the
spot they found to their horror that il was
the head Of a man projruding through
hole in the ice. The body was lifted on!
Of the water and laid on the ice. when
one OF the party hurried to the city for
the purpose OF notifying the city author
tiles 4 crowd of fifty men collected !
around the body in short time. and
when the coroner arrived ne had 10
trouble in empanneling jury. After |
the jary had viewed the remains the !
body was placed on strctcher and re-
moved Ia an undcrtaker's rooms.
WAS EASILY IDENTIFIED.
Before the body was removed from the !
ice il Was identified 70 he that of Grant |
ZIfall by w. \. Insmal, former resi-
dent of Meyersdale. who was intimately |
acquainted with Grant. \ dispatch was
Immediately forwarded to Mr.. William
II. Zaiall, at MeyersdIle, notifying him
that the body Of his son had been found. |
The pockets of the dead man were |
searched in the presence of a number of |
witnesses ana were foan1 t. contain a
number of private papers, with the name |
of Grant Zafall upon them, a railroad |
pass and sl6.9} cents in money. There |
were three five dollar notes, one silver |
dollar and the rest in change. His watch |
and chain, finger ring and a bunch OF
Loys were also found ON his person. His !
IA e was dreIdfully swollen and present |
ed a hideJus appearance. Il was also |
covered with bloody substance, and |
his eyes were black and pulled out.
BURIED AT MEY ERsDALD.
Ex-Postmaster William ZufalI, accom- |
panied by several friends, went to Cum |
berlauI Saturday evening an1 took the |
remains Of his dead boy to his home in |
MeyersJIale that night. The funeral, |
which occurred Sunday afternoon. was |
one of the largest ever held in Meyers I,
dale. The dead m1n was extremely pop |
Glar with all classes, and all who followed l
his body 70 its uEtimely grave were
deeply affected.
DISAPPEARED TWO MONTHS AGO.
ON the 22i day Of Dece nber Grant Zu-
fail left h;s home in Meyers.iale for |
Cam oerlaud for the pgrpose, il is said, of |
calling upon yoIng lady residing in
that city. He was seen in Cumberland /
as late as eight o'clock that night, bat /
from that hour until his dead body was |
found in the canal Saturday afternoon, /
he dropped ont OF sight as completely as
if the earth had opened and swallowed 4
him. His father permitted only a day or
two to pass until he began to make in
quiries about his son, among Grants I
friends both at home and in Cumberland.
Grant was employed u a fireman on the
PittsblTg division of the b. a o., and
his father clupg to tl;o delusian that he
might have accepted employment on one
Of the other divisions OF that road for
week or more, bat when at the expira-
ton of that time he failed to learn any
trace of him he at once communicated
with the Cumberland police. An officer
was detailed To work on the case, bat af-
ter t,yo weeks of unsuccessful effort he
was forced to abandon his search.
Up to the last Mr. Zufall believed that
his son was alive, although a majority of
his friends held 20 the opinion that Grant
had been murdered.