Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-03-25
PEARL bRYAN'S HEAD.
Sequel to the Awful Tragedy En-
acted at Fort Thomas.
Kentucky.

Columbus, o.. March 21.-Pearl Bry-
ans head is believed to have been iden-
tilted in this city.
Chief of Police Dietsch Of Cincinnati
has been notified by G. V. Wing,
medical students, 81 North Washington
avenue. to send full description of Pearl
Bryan's head. On Thursday morning
early, while Wing was still in bed, Il
man who gave his name as Cole brought
a Womans head in Il tin bucket to
Wings place. The back hair was
braided, the front hair cOmbcd back and
the color of the hair. which is from
sixteen to twenty inches in length: is a
beautiful brown.
Wings suspicious were aroused that
something was wrong for the reason
that students do not present work in
which blood is n feature of the subject.
Dry but bloody leaves were i'll the matted
hair. The head looked as though it had
been buried o. frozen. G. S. Burnside,
q medical student, who examined it said
the head, in his Judgment had been sew
cred by person who understood some
thing about surgery. The cleavage 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 where it was sew
cred from the body, there is a cut in the
flesh Of the skull
The man who brought the head to the
house was about ) feet s inches in
height, had a small light mustache and
would weigh probably 155 pounds. Mr..
Wing says if the head came from a medi-
college the hair would have been braid
ed. Another suspicious circumstance
surrounding the head was that if it had
come from a medical college the flesh
would most likely have been taken from
IL Il, A h, Il
fairly good state of preservation, but the
eyes were terribly sunk and it was i'm
possible to conceive an expression Of
the features The presence of leaves III
in the hair and the fact that the back
hair was braided led I'M. 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
possession had been buried or preserved
in some like manner he decided to ask
some advice as to what he should do.
Being advised by Frank Houghton and
Charles Terrell to notify the police, Mr..
Wing hesitated in doing this, but finally
concluded that it would be best to at
least inform some official person Of his
possession of the head so he sent n teIe-
gram to the chief of police of Cincinnati
and asked that a full description Of the
missing head of Pearl Bryan be sent
him. 1t was almost impossible TO tell
how the hair was combed, but appear
ances indicated that the wearer was in
the habit of combing the front hair back
from the forehead.
\ Dispatch reporter requested that the
head be bundled up and taken to
photographer where a picture might be
obtained. This was readily acpesced to
by Mr.. Wing, who proceeded to bundle
up the greWSome object y remarkable
coincidence occurred about this which is
worthy of note In selecting paper to
wrap the head in. Mr.. Wing picked up
a copy of a Cincinnati paper containing
full account Of the Pearl Bryan
tragedy.
The head was photographed by Baker.
It would probably be a hard matter to
identify the head in its present condition,
but Mr. Wing suggested that an express
sion might be procured by placing glass
eyes in the holes where the eyes have
sunk. This will probably be done pro-
places any credence in the story. Mr..
Wing expects to hear from the Cincinnati
police soon and then Will know what to
do with the head. In any event he states
that unless he hears from the sO-called
Mr. Cole. who brought the head TO his
home, within q few days he will turn
the head over to the city authorities.
The Columbus Dispatch recently pub
lshed and extensive description Of Mr..
Wings place q neighbor having COM
plaiued to the health officers of the boil
statement was wired to Cincinnati and
elsewhere, which leads Mr.. Wing to be-
lieVe that his place was found by Cole
through these reports.