The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-19
THE BRIDGEPORT MYSTERY
REHIINS OF VICTIM RECLAIMED
 BY THE 4 AUTHORITIES.

More Doubt as to the Marriage of Miss
 Perkins and Bourne-The Young Wo-
 man Declines Absolutely to Say Any
 thing About Her Recent Absence
 Relatives of the Couple Also Refuse to
 Give Any Explanation.
 Middleboro, Mass, Sept. 1S.-The community is still in throes of excite ment over the return of Marian Grace Perkins and her suitor or as her fami- ly claims, her husband, and the aston- ishing discovery, that the remains which her father identified at Bridge port and took the trouble to bring home with him were not those of his suppos- ed murdered daughter. To-day, after a great amount of telegraphing and telephoning, a. member of the Bridge port police succeeded in retaining the remains and tonight they were taken back to Bridgeport
 The town was scarcely awake this morning when Detective George Arnold of the Bridgeport police arrived by train from Providence and the first thing he did was to call on Undertaken Williams who brought the remains of this unknown woman over from Taun- ton last night, and requested that they be delivered to him. Then came the hitch. MT. Williams informed the de- tective that he intended to hold them until he received definite orders from the coroner at Bridgeport to give them up, supplemented by a sworn statement from Frank W. Perkins that the frag- ments of the body in the box were not those of his daughter. Nothing daunt- ed by this statement Arnold called up Bridgeport by the telephone, but it took time to reach the coroner and more time to explain to him the situation
 It was noon before a telegram was received from the coroner addressed to Undertaken Williams and containing an order to give up the body to Arnold Then came the interview with Frank w. Perkins and here Arnold had some difficulty for MT. Perkins was still un- der the care of a physician and some of the nelghboring friends had to be consulted before he finally expressed his willingness to sign the required statement He did so, however, along in the afternoon and with the two docu- meuts, the coroners order and Perkins sworn statement, Arnold again present. ed himself at the undertakers and once more asked for the body. MT. Williams at once agreed to give up the box and arrangements were made to take 1t to Bridgeport. By this time, however, a perceptible odor began to issue from the box, owing proba bly, to the fact that very little had been done to pre- serve the fragments by the use of ice and when at o'clock the box was talk en to the station and placed on the train for Providence the smell was al- most overpowering. Undertaken Will Hams, after doing up his part of the affair, seemed very much pleased that the remains were not on his hands, and said that they would have to be buried within an hour after they arrived at Bridgeport. The train left at o'clock with the box in the baggage car, and Detective Arnold in the smoking car.
 Notwithstanding the statement of Thomas Merrick, the uncle of Grace Perkins, made last evening that the young woman had been married to Charles Bourne, the Perkins family to- day are not so sure of this fact and are inclined to doubt 1t. This is prob ably due not only to the positive state ment of the Bournes that such mar riage has not taken place, but to the reticence of Miss Perkins on the sub- ject. She absolutely declines to have anything to say on the subject nor will she disclose anything connected with the trip or her whereabouts dur ing her two weeks absence from home. It is known that she went to Onset, but since leaving there her family was ignorant of her movements up to yes terday noon when she left Providence for Middleboro. Miss Perkins appears very much unconcerned regarding the whole affair and looks on it all as more of joke than anything else. She kept indoors all day and although the house was well nigh surrounded by curious persons, but few caught even a glimpse of her. The Bournes are even closer mouthed than the Perkins family, all though denying emphatically that the two are married. The family feel the situation and the publicity Of the affair keenly and have intimated that at the proper time, a statement will be made as to Charles Bourne and Miss Per- kinS.