The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-06-11
STILL A MYSTERY.
The Alki Point Floater q Vic
tim of Murder.
so SAYS THE coKossR.s JURY.
Evfdencs That Leads TO the Belief-No
Identification Yet Mads-Ths
Inquest
SO SAYS THE coKoNER's JuR'

The IDENTITY Of the man whose holy vas
sas,rss a. Az point last Monday. held
Down by a rock. remains a mystery
eraI hundred people have looked AZ las
dead man. and while several are posa1sss
they hate seen the dead e life, yet no fssai
pointer" has been given that would se@la
TO a positive Identification
Coroner Askam gave orders yssser1AF
afternoon TO Butt@rxorth & sons TO hold
tha body three eays at least In hopes that
something will develop TO assist in the url-
travelling OF the case The jury which us
tened 10 testimony yesterday afternoon 1f-
c4de6 that the unknown was Esgrderec. ana
that death was really caused by drowning
Coroner Askarn gave the fury the infor-
NATION that made il possible 10 arrive az
a decision as 70 the cause OF death He had
made an autopsy and discovered that the
lungs and stomach we're filled with water
ard that the right side OF the heart was
Fun Of dark blood. This discovery showed
that the man was alive when ne entered
the water II was evident from the eon-
aition OF the contents OF his stomach tina.
he had not eaten for some time The
process Of digestion had been carried out
70 that point that there was not particle
of solid matter that could be found The
inner lining OF the stomach was in highly
congssted condition, which Indicated. IN
the ordinary understanding OF the express
sion, that the unknown had been drink
Ing man. or course. IL Is not whisky alone
that would have put the stomach in that
condition. but as q rule old John Barley
corn gets the blame Just the same
The examination OF the brain showed
congestion. otherwise II was IN good COP
dItlon. Every organ of the body was sub
iected 20 q searching Investigation They
passed muster. 1t was decided that the
small wound at the outer edge Of the right
eye was OF minor Importance. The only
conclusion that could be reached in a
logical manner WAS that death came BY
drowning.
How the body reached AIki point the in
quest failed 10 show. but an incident was
brought 10 light that may have a direct
bearing on the case A young man named
Bert Hawkins stated that week or SO ago
a siocp. painted blue. was tied up at West
Seattle. ard that there were two men on
her. One he described "a having a dark
complexion and very black hair. The
other was OF light compiexionJ These two
men camped on the shore one night The
sioop has disappeared and the men have
gone or course there Is nothing at pres
ent 10 show connection between the sioop
and its men and the dead man. vet there
night be II the matter was traced dowr.
II Us certain that ths rock with which
the bo9y was held down did rot come from
zAlEA pHfIf. All the WITNESSES were certain
of that The belief Is that this important
piece Of evidence came from some ship.
and II Il probable that the vessels az Port
BlakeIey viii be subjected TO close In
yesttEation.
The witnesses at the inquest were Leon
ard Smith. who found the body; his father,
A. A. Smith. Martin Kyle. Knute Olsen.
Isaac Newell and Bert Hawkins. The YER
Diet was as follows:
we. the undersigned Jurors, duly sum
nonef 10 appear before o. r. Askaua. cor
oaer in and for the county OF King. state
OF Washington. TO inquire into the 6eath
OF one. name unknown. do hereby return
the following verdict. That the deceased
WAS native OF --. about the age OF ~
and that the said unknown ca me 10 his
death By drowning. tine ard place IN
known. We recommend that a vigorous
investigation be held Of this case, as this
Jury ts OF the firm opinion that the de-
ceased came TO his death at the hands Of
persons unknown.
w. III. Middleton. J. L. Manning. A.
Zotnden. J. c. Snyder. Miles Biakney, Fred
"a