The sun., 1898-03-14
PYLE TRAGEDY
WON'T Down
\" One Can Imagine Why He
Should Kill Himself.
Sl'ICIDE THEORY NOT CREDITED
The Secrecy of the Inquest Il
Subject Of Comment in
All Quarters.
The Location of the Wound Causes
Suspicion That the Injury Was
Not ScIf.infiicted- -. Public
Curiosity ArOusti-..Str.
wants Conversation
Overheard on the
Street.

The mystery surrounding the Frank
Pyle tragedy remains unsolved, and j.
the one particular subject Of conversation
in all portions Of this city.
No one has been found who was will
ing to give an opinion regarding the
affair and back it up by any sort Of argll-
ment, while many intimate that they
have doubts about the deed having been
done by his own hand.
The more the subject is discussed and
the facts looked into the more dense be
comes the mystery and the harder it ar-
pears to solve. TO many who had be-
iitve,i that the bullet had been sent
crashing through his temple the thought
OF Il sudden attack of insanity made The
act seem in Il measure plausible, but now
that it is known that the wound was in
tiicttd on The top Of his head. It seems to
them to be al utter impo>sibility that
his own hand fired the fatal shot.
To those who are familiar with Mr.
Pye'S build and the >holtneSs OF his
arms, the theory OF suicide is di>bc-
lievr,t for they cannot imagine how i,
would I've possible for him t" hold II re-
volver in such position that the bullet
would strike his head in the place it
did and take direct downward course
through the skull and into the interior
OF the skull, especially while seated III
an arm chair, ~ he is supposed to have
been when the deed was committed
Much dissatisfaction is expressed 1T
the secrecy with which the inquest
wa> held. us many arg'" that this very
IN, t.,r n n
when taken in conjunction with the
many rumors which have been cirru-
lated regarding Il" location Of the
wound. the efforts nf the family I" hush
the matter up, the Scclusion into which
it has sought refuge. the failure of the
deputy coroner to- have the course Of
th" bullet asccrtainrd, and it, extraction
from the skull accomplished even
though an autopsy was necessary. there
seems to bc some foundation for the
question Ibid Mr.. Pyle kill himself"
This question may r answered later;
it may remain AS much OF Il mystery Us
is the rlchton tragedy, which occurred
over II year ago in the city OF Whining
ton.
All day Yesterday there were little
groups OF people in the neighbor!:Wd "f
the Pyle mansion. drawn there by dr-
sire to have Il look ut the house in which
a tragedy that had caused such specula-
ton ~ tn the ca,,s,. which led to it, had
been committed. But their curiosity was
not gratitird to any extent, for all they
could st~ was the exterior Of the build.
ing. The curtains and shades on the
,r;,,J.,w. rorx. ..i,,s..lv t},,,v.n in pvt.rv
D ,rtion Of the house, except the servants
quarters.
Could these groules have seen through
the brick walls and into the spacious
room on the third timr of the building
they would there have seen all that was
mortal nf Frank Pyle, for it is in this
apart n"nt that the corpse had been
placed. laid upon hard sttptcler and
cIntied in the garments in which il will
bc interrtd.
According I" conversation which
took place bet Wepn one Of the dolneItlcs
and Il colonel friend. and overheard by Il
Sr< representative, Il" wound infected
in the head cannot hn seen. as the hair
has been carefully c,nbed over it. and
there is no mark uf Disagreement any
where observable; aside from II slight
pallur of the face. the remains have II"
change from, what they we're in life; he
lips have retained their color, and, the
domestic stated, she looks as il he was
only a~lrrp.'
The funeral will bc strictly private.
Only short services will M held over the
remains ut the house.