Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-12-18
CHASTITY Find 1' in il . IL. House on
Court Street.
CORPSE Of OF THOMAS PIPER
5s Ina s securely Locked Eousc Where II.
.s3s5. Lived Aton-. Ills Dead Body Fully
D.. Clothed, Was Found
on His Bed.

a CHASTITY and shocking discovery was
made. made yesterday by Mr.. G.: w. Phillips
and small boy who had gone to the
i Inc use on Court street, which he rented
so Mr.. Thomas. Piper. well-known
23 ~ n1 'a,st. The occasion Of their visit
3t.1Io the house was solicitude for the
tenant. none OF his friends having seen
.S5hlfn for a week or more. Mr.. Piper
WHO WHO was in precarious health had lived
al ,s,,ai alone since the removal of his ne
4 !,heW and niece. Mr. and Mrs Henry
ssfie Ss, to Hamilton, O., some months
ago :, - I
Several friends and other parties had
& scilllea ON the lonely man recently, but
Il finding his house closed tightly. doors
.Sand windows being fastened Securely.
\ they concluded he was out of town.
(. 13hose who knew him best supposed he
mao yielded to his: niece's solicitation
and gone to visit or to Awe with her in
; ner Ohio home. Yesterday when Mr.
!. + t'il1ilips met a friend of Piper's who OK
Lresseds a pprehension lest the man were
4 iii,Sthe real estate man suggested that
+ Il was easy%enough to ascertain. and SO,
7ln company with a lad. started on his
mission OF inquiry. Arriving at the
! louise Louise they found great difficulty in eff
y iectlnE an entrance but finally did so
d liySIneans of a window which they le-
leased from it's interior fastenings
When the window had been raised the
5tcdor that assailed their olfactories at
once. confirmed their worst fears-thc
B lone occupant Of the house was dead
The lad was lifted through the WIN
4 dow and unfastened the front door
which was locked from within. Mr. Phil
lips. then proceeded to investigate, anG
upon ascending the stairs was guided
by the odor to the bed room, where up
on,the bed the body lay, entirely dressed
n Nhe dead man was lying diagonally
across the bed. his feet touching the
floor and his head thrown back, cold
and stiff in death. There was every in
Creation that death had come suddenly
and apparently the man had sunk down
uEnn his bed as the apoplectic stroke
eHtinguished his vital spark In his
rocket was his watch and on chair
law some clothing as if he had intended
changing on the morrow that never
came for him.
The sheriff and Justice Richardson
a.cting coroner were notified but upon
viewing the body deemed an investiga-
ton unnecessary. The body was
termed over to Undertaken ]. ". Brown
who will prepare it for burial. The
friends +of the. dead man here were
notified and dispatches were sent to
lis known relatives elsewhere and to
members of the Masonic fraternity in
Worcester. Mass, of which papers found
on the premises indicated that the de-
q ceased was an, enthusiastic member in
Reqd standing: In fact he was prom
s5jnent Mason, being q member Of
y Worcester County Com knights
Tcmplar. Prominent local members of
the order took charge of the body and
communicated with their fellow crafts
,11enaand his relatives as to the DISPOSE
ton they; desired to make of the body.
/. GD,to this writing no response had been
received to these inquiries, and if none