The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-03-23
That Of Pearl Bryan. Believed to
Be in the Hands of o
MatriculatOr.
Suspicious Appearance of the
Head Caused DR.. Wing to
Investigate.
Aside From ClOtted Blood and
Leaves 1t Was Well
Preserved.

COLUMBUS, O.. March 23.-Chief Of
Police Dietsch Of Cincinnati has been
notified by G. V. Wing, matriculator
of human skeletons for medical stu
dents, 4S North Washington avenue, to
send full description of Pearl Bryan's
head. On Thursday morning early,
while Wing was still i'll bed, man
who gave his name as Cole, brought
woman's head in a tin bucket to
Wings place. The hair was braided,
the front hair combed back, and the
color of the hair, which is from l6 to 20
inches in length, is beautiful brown.
The hair on the left side was matted to
the head by blood
Aroused Suspicion at Once.
Wings suspicious were aroused that
something was wrong, for the reason
that students do not present work in
which blood is the feature of the SUBJ
ject.. In addition, dry leaves were in
the matted hair. The head looked as
though it had been buried or frozen. A
medical student who examined it said
the head, in his Judgment, had been
severed by a person who understood
something about surgery. The cleav-
age of the head from the body was
made on line with the chin, which
would leave most of the neck on the
body. On the back of the head, just
above where it was severed from the
body, there is a cut in the flesh of the
skull. Cole said he would call for the
head in day or two. He seemed to
be i'll a great hurry, and has not been
seen or heard from since. He said he
wanted the bones preserved in good
shape and not cut. Mr.. Wing, after
looking at the work in hand, decided
not to matriculate the skull, because
he believed there was something crook
ed about the case.
The Head Was Well Preserved.
The head in the pail was wrapped in
q small blanket. The student who ex.
am ned the head was G. S. Burnside.
The man who brought the head to the
house was about s. feet inches in
height, had small, light moustache.
and would weigh probably l55 pounds
MIR. Wing Gays if the head had come
from a medical college the hair would
not have been braided. Another sus-
piciOus circumstance surrounding the
head was that if it had come from a
medical college, the flesh would have
been taken from the skull AS it was
the head, was III a good state of preser-
| walton. The eyes were terribly sunken
and it was impossible to conceive an
expression Of the features. Mr. Wing
few y 10 al Al
from some grave there would have been
no blood clots about it, as the blood
would have been entirely eradicated by
death. The presence Of leaves in the
hair, and the fact that the back hair
was braided, led Mr.. Wings thoughts
| to at once revert to the Pearl Bryan
murder mystery at Fort Thomas, KY
He remembered having read about the
possibility of the head being buried,
and as indications pointed to the fact
that the head which he had In his pos.
session had been buried or preserved in
sone like manner he decided to ask
some advice as to what he should do
being advised by Frank Houghton and
Charles Ferrell to notify the police. Mr.
Wing hesitated in doing this, but finally
conclud ID that it would be best to at
least inform some official person of his
possession of the head. so he sent tele-
gram on Friday to the chief of police of
Cincinnati, and asked that full de-
scrlption of the missing head of Pearl
Bryan be sent him. 1t was almost i'm
possible to tell how the hair was
combed, but appearances indicate that
the wearer was in the habit of comb
ing the front hair back from the
| forehead.
Photographed the Head.
| A reporter requested that the head
be bundled up and taken to a photog-
rapher, where picture might be OBJ.
tanned. This was readily acquiesced to
by MIR. Wing.
1t would probably be hard matter
to identify the head in its present con.
dition, but Mr.. Wing suggested that an
expression might be obtained by putting
glass eyes in the holes where the eyes
have sunk. This will probably be done
/ L. -