The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-09-14
Citizens of the Town Say the
Body Is Cliffs.
LAUGH AT MURDER THEORY
Interviews with IA Number of Per-
sons, More or Less Familiar With
the Case, Dispose of Theories OF
Sensationalists and Hysterical
Newsgatherers.

ing that the solution OF the mystery, a.
worked out by The Times, is the only oeduc
tIon which can he logically drawn from
the facts that have been proved.
Up e. date the facts are these: On Sun
day, September 5, skeleton without
clothes WAS found. Later a pair OF trous
ers was picked up within ten feet ol
where the body lay. These contained
no ruark by which they could be identi
fled. sun later coat, shirt and tie wers
found in an old cemetery not more thar
"a quarter OF mile distant from the spo:
" here the body was found. In the pockets
of the coat were papers belonging to
Mark A g. Cliff, drug clerk, Norfolk, Va
The emrlcyerof Cliff at Norfolk telegraphec
that Cliff had disappeared ON August L.
Mrs. Cliff, the wife, who lives at Balti-
more, testified that Cliff left Norfolk on
August L. and that she had not heard frou,
hiIa since She identified the trousers
as those worn by HIM when he disappeared
She did this by means of a patch which
She lad sewed in the seat. She identified
the coat by piece of lining which she had
sewed in Mrs Gift, his mother, identified
the teeth in the skull positively as the teeth
/ of her missing son. She identified haii
found at the body as the hair of her son.
cliff was five feet three inches tall and
was fat. The skeleton is five feet one Oh
two inches, snd the ground around the
body was deeply soaked with OIL
Prof Enowlton testified that on Sun da y
August z, he saw a naked man seated on
the exact spot in the woods on which the
naked skeleton was found one month later,
ana identified the photograph of Gift as
that Of the man he had seen.
Two doctors at Laurel, Drs. Hunt and
Beyerly, when the skeleton was found,
gave il as their opinion that it was the
skeleton OF a wonal, sa wing that the hand
was too small fuI a man. These doctors
made a very casual examination and did
not Gu. the pelv.s out from the mass of
cried ana putrid tissues.
DR.. Lord. demonstration of anatomy at
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and
Drs- Taylor and Walk, OF Laurel, cut out
the pelvic bone and made careful measure
mcIits. Tuey declare the skeleton to be
that of male. Sunday last Charles Lynn,
of Laurel, found a bottle Labelled ''creo.
sote, Poison" within about $50 feet Of
where the body was found.
A reporter for The Times interviewed
number OF people at Laurel this morning.
He talked with people he met them
at and near Milstead's Hotel, and the rail
road station The results follow:
II. h. Tubbs, associate editor OF the Jour
nal-The facts brought out by The Tines
leave no doubt in the minds of nine people
out of ten in Laurel that the skeleton was
Gifts.
Walter NJ. Milstead- OF course, it is the
skeleton OF Gift. How can any other Con.
olusion be arrived at?
David NJ. Fisher, express agent There is
no question about it. IL is Gifts skele ton.
A. B. Bevins, telegraph operator Certain
ly tits the skeleton of man.
A. W. Green, merchant Haven't any
doubt now that Cliff died over there in the
woods.
W. g ShaffeT, merchant The murder
theory ard the woman theory are knocked
out.
Pref. Knowlton, botanist-I am sure it
is the skeleton OF Cliff.
George NJ. Gouldsby editor of the Laurel
Journal Some people insist on ha wing a
murder anyhow, even though every bit Of
evidence is against il. 1t is Gifts skeleton.
The Times has done earnest and oonscien
tious work.
Justice Of the Peace Jackson Why, OF
course it is Gifts body.
L. Q. ROby, foreman OF the coroner's
jury Gifts skeleton. beyond doubt.
DIR. Taylor Evidently the remains of a
man, and all evidence brought out indi-
Gates that il was Gifts.
Dr, Walk il the skeleton of a man
Dr. Crowthers The skull does not belong
TO that skeleton.
william Newman Looks like Gift died
over there.
Clinton Shsffer-A man, of course.
b. II. Norris. one of the ooroner's jury
believe the skeleton was Gifts.
w. II. HOffman-No longer any doubt
about II. 1t was poor Cliff
Dr. Snowden Il did not see the body,
but from all l have heard am positive
that IN is that of man. and that the man
was Gift.
Charlie Fair A mankined himselfdown
there.
ID. p. Cheney i don't see Low anybody
can doubt it.
g. VI. Kaiser Certainly 1t was Cliff.
statensent of sylvester Smith. Mr.. smith
looked at the cried, shrunken and black \
hand of the skeleton and said: That is
the hand OF the woman l met near Savage
last June" MFR. Smith looked at the grin
ming skull, without a trace of meat or hair
on it, and said: THAT is the head OF the
woman Imetnear Savage lastJune.' This
remarkable instance of Identification has
caused Some people TO doubt the value of
the statement.
Some of the murder theorists declare,
IF Drown didn't kill his wife why don't
he show up and relieve the public?''
Those opposed TO the murder theory say,
'If Gift isn't dead Why doesn't he show
up and relieve his wife and parents"
Drown is a tramp who is probably wan
1ering around tie country, and does not see
the papers, while Cliff is a city man and
did read the papers.
Part OF the murder theory lis based on the |
small hand of the skeleton. Drs. Lord, |
ak AMI Taylor say that the hand is very |
much shrunken Measurement of the one |
finger-nail shows it to be as |
arge as that on the finger of any ordinary |
man.
Some people daim to have found long |
hair neat the body. This is not So. The |
hair was matted badly and mixed with |
decomposine scalp, aud to some had the /
appearance Of being long and tangled. |
But when it was pulled apart, piece by 1
piece, ther" was no strand longer than /
three inches.
The remains were boxed up yesterday
Ior shipment to Johns Hopkins University.
here they Were TO have been submit ed TO
ex ans nation and measurement by the
ftrda Al 70 L