The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-20
THEY WANT THE CASE FR0BED.
TEUTONIA sOCIETY'S RESOLUTIONS
ON THE HEILEGENBERG AFFAIR.


Opinion Divided as to Whether
the Mans Death Was an Accident
ar Nurder-Chief MeDermDtt's Rea-
sons for believing 1t an Accident.
There is a determine ton on the part Of
a large number of German citizens TO have
the death Of August II. Heilegeniberg thor
oughlv investigated, and while nothing
has been said by them for the last day
or two. they have been maturing plans,
and have formally urged the Authorities
TO take hold of the case.
It has been some time since any hap
pening so thoroughly stirred the people
of Savannah as the death of HeiiSgenberg.
Various opinions are expressed as to how
he met his death, whether by intention
or accident but up TO the present time
there has been no explanation which sat
isfed the friends of the dead man. or
quieted the suspicious of those who be-
lieve he was the victim of foul play.
At meeting of the Teutonia Singing
Society last night The following resolu-
lions were unanimously adopted;
"Whereas, the members of this society
note with regret the death of our late sec
rotary, August II. HeiIegenberg, who was
found in a dying condition at the north
west corner Of OgIethorpe avenue and Alb
ercorn street in our city, on or about $3.50
a. M, on Tuesday, Aug Is, 1898, and whose
body was horribly bruised and mutilated;
"And Whereas, the immediate cause Of
his death has never been satisfactorily
explained and is wrapped in deep mystery
fact
that number of persons appear to have
been in the vicinity about the time of the
death of said Heilegenberg;
"And Whereas, We believe that more
light can be thrown upon the subject In
question If the matter would be properly
investigated and all the resources of the |
law brought to bear on this case in order
to unravel the mystery;
Therefore, Be ii resolved. that the Off
GERS of the law, to wit: The city police
city detectives and the special officer to
the solicitor general, with the assistance
of the coroner, be earnestly requested TO |
make a searching Investigation as to the !
cause of the death of Heilegenberg, to the |
end, that public sentiment may be fully |
satisfied in regard to this case.
Resolved Further. That a copy of these |
fESOlutiOuS IL pAGSSAlANQ 10 the AOAibW sllS /
officers: The honorable the police COM |
missioners, chief Of police, solicitor gem |
eral and coroner"
II seems to be the desire not only of |
Germans, but of people generally, that the |
matter be Investigated. Mr.. e. d. Lud- |
wig, DR.. Rollins, Fireman w. w. Hughes |
and others, claim they heard a dog yelp- |
ing about the time Heilegenberg is sup |
posed to have fallen, and also heard re- |
treating foot steps. If this unknown was !
on the spot, and ran when the unfortunate
man fell, there is a general desire that
an effort be made to find the man, and if
he is not guilty of any improper conduct,
they believe he should explain the fact. 1t
may be there was no one there at the
time, but three reputable parties have /
stated there was, and the suspicion of
foul play will not likely be removed from
the minds of a large number of people I'M
I'll this feature of the case is satsfacto- |
rily explained
Mr.. Frederick Opper, who IS taking an
active interest in the matter, well as
the other members of the singing So
ciety, said he is convinced there was foul
play and he viii continue to believe it
until the officers throw some light on
the matter, and more Information Is obtain
ed. Mr.. Moellering. also a member OF the
Teutonia, said the same thing. He be-
lieves the circumstances are such as TO
merit a thorough sitting Of all available
information.
There are some of the county officers,
however VINO feel that Heilegenberk came
TO his death by an accident, and that it
would be dangerous to offer reward for
a murderer, when there is not enough to
warrant the belief there is one. "Such
a thing is not safe, because some innO-
cent man is apt to suffer. To offer a re-
ward for a murderer, might entice some
body to put up a job, that might result
in the ultimate execution of an innocent
man. 1t seems 10 me out of place 10
agitate this matter further, when there
is such evidence that the man fell. Why.
/ used TO walk along the avenue with
Heilegenberg, and know he made prac-
tice of cutting between the palmetto and
the tree on the corner where ne fell. The
fact is l have walked between those trees
with him myself"
Dr. William Duncan cannot understand
how Hellegenberg could have received so
many bruises in one fall To him the mat
ter is a mystery, which, apparently, wlh
not be solved without the closest attention.
aud the employment of the best detective
Service He thinks the matter might he
ferreted out, but IL would require tedious
work in case some one who knows some
thing of the affair does not come forward
with the Information
THE fact that the man breathed heavily
when first discovered" DR.. Duncan said
''impresses me that his brain should have
been examined. 1t seems 1t would not have
been a bad idea for his friends TO have had
this examination made before the inter-
ment Il possible, as a result of which
light might be thrown on the matter, OF
course, it cannot be said under the present
facts the man was murdered but It APP
pears there is reason to look into the mat
Ter, and come to some positive conclusion
as to the cause of his DEATH
Probably no one has looked into the
case more thoroughly from medical
inf X inc NNVllN
of the Plant System. Ii was his duty
to examine Hcilegenberg, since he was
connected with the Plant System. and this
lie did on the day the body was found.
1T is not for me to say whether the
man was murdered or not" said Dr. Wyl-
~. whether killed by accident. assas-
sinated and having died from natural
causes, he receives his insurance. The
only distinction is that an employee re-
ceives twice the amount when killed in