The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-28
PAT OCONNoR NOT DEAD.
nut A POLICEMAN FOUND a CORPSE
thai LOOKED LIKE HIS.

THAT LOOKED LIKE HIS.
uuo.t OF His Friends H'ado Up Their R',nds
T,.t the CinmdigEer Had shot Himself.
"a They wasted n Good Deal or Time
wondering whJ-Mrs. Pat wasn't Pooled.
Patsy o'Connor was dead for two hours yes
,.rosy. At least everybody thought he Was.
md his friends gathered around tho corpse and
,o,d one another what q shame II was that tho
h..,.pntured man in Bath Beach had come to
.nch An untimely end. But while the lamonting
~. going on Patsy was peacefully fishing from
. royboat of Fort Hamilton. He was very
much alive, and when he proved 1t by walking
,n,o A group OF his sorrow-stricken friends
great was the rejoicing among thom.
Patsy O'Conuor 10 ono Of the Oldest residents
Of the Bath Beach district. 10 lived there be-
fore tho advantages Of the place were thought OF
as n summer resort and when tho sites OF many
ono cottages we're occupied by shantios. lie is
nclAmdigger and fisherman, and makes q good
living at his business. Everybody knows him
around the beach. which makes it oil the moro
surprising that n strange corpse shoulu nave
been mistaken for his.
PATSY kissed his wife good-by early yesterday
morning. lie said he was going to do some fish
ing In the lower bay. He went down to the dock
where his boat was moored and was about to
start out when he discovered n leak in the boat
So he borrowed another boat and rowed away.
About the time that Patsy was pulling toward
Fort Hamilton Policeman Williams OF the Bath
Reach station discovered n corpse lying in tho
long grass in the West Meadows. Tho body was
nat o. q man about 80 years old. with sandy
hair and a smooth face. 1t was dressed in u
blue suit, balbriggan underwear, q derby hat
and laced shoes. There was a bullet wound in
the right temple. and q 1ve-chambcred revolver
- -tl a. T,rn nj TIM ,nrt RID m had hnan
exploded. but there was only one wound in the
body. As there were no signs OF a struggle tho
policeman concluded that 1t was a case OF sui.
eide. and that the first bullet had been fred
some time before. The man had been dead sew
oral hours.
the case the policeman met two men he knew.
He told them OF the suicide. and soon about half
case and was trampiuR across the meadows TO
look at the body. There were men and women
SodST and commented on the troubles in a mans
life that lead ny to such doaths.
No one pretended to know who the dead man
was. No one seemed 10 care. AT last a man
Why, it's Patsy o'Connor. he said.
"Sure enough. II is said half a dozen others.
Pretty soon every body in the crowd who
knew Patsy o'Connor agreed that the corpse
What a shame - said ono woman. and he
with a good wife and home"
o poor Mrs. O'Connor," walled another
WOMAN. Wudt GNCE NIL buO uot NJ . "
Poor Patsy =. exclaimed the men.
SpSoT Mrs; oConnor., said the !, women; .c,,
por's death travelled fast. Soon almost every
body in Bath Beach was talking OF the clam.
that maybe It wasn't Patsy was. promptly
souelched. One or two skeptics declared that
they had seen the fisherman in tho morning on
his way 10 the beach and he was In his bare
feet. There were shoes on the dead man and
habit OF wearing at work.
A II Of these arguments failed to convince
him dead and 1t was useless TO argue against it.
Frank Potter, Patsy's father-inlaw. took one
look at the body and declared that Ii was Patsy's
Then the hsherman's friends made fresh demon.
who would not believe that Patsy was dead
At the body. She declared that it was moi
boat was at its regular mooring place and tina,
he couldn't be out fishing. This seemed &c
20 ia.n 1hs 9rs sSs eo1n saa VAR Mss' s oISnnef S ia Se,
fstsy. having hsd fair luck. had pulled up hi.
the borrowed boat upon tne beach and turned
who had been declaring that the corpse in the
meadow was OConnors-
.ps,.y o'connOr. amt yer dead yelled his
&C. way. foolish said Patsy: "of course
otnt dead Look at me an see."
They think yer dead up beyond, :" said the
friend, and he told Patsy the story Of the morn
ing. Patsy laughed. He thought 1t a rather
gruesome joke. but funny nevertheless. He
made for home as fast as h, could, however
and soon convinced Mrs. Patsy that he Was alive
and well. There was universal rejoicing wher
Patsy appeared among his friends. and the news
that he was alive spread around Bath Beach al
rapidly as the news Of his death had.
The dead man has not been identified. Thu
body was taken to the Kings County Morgue. A
nvecent piece, q bridge ticket, a woman's gold
Earring and a card marked M. J. H., House o.
Relief, Outdoor Department, 81 Hudson street,
were found In the pockets. On the right fore
arm was tattooed a heart. q cross and an anchor
and the letters in monogram, II. {. F."
AT the Hudson Street Hospital. this city. Il
was said that hundreds OF cards like tho on,
found on the body were given out weekly, anC
mat It would be impossible to trace the maj
through the card.