The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-08
SLAIN AT NIGHT IN HIS STORE
POSTMASTER AT GOODWIN's STA
TION ASSASSIN ATED.

=
Crime Supposed to Have Been Com
mitted saturday Night and Corpse
Not Discovered Until Yesterday
Cash Drawer Robbed of About
$40. But More Than $500 in the
Dead Mans Pocket Overlooked by
His NHurderer-No Clue to His
slayer Yet Found.
Atlanta. Ga. Feb. THE little settle
ment OF Goodwin's station. in Dekalo
county. twelve miles from this city, was
Mortified this morning by the discovery Of
the dead body of J. H. Polk, the postmas-
ter He had been murdered by an I'M
known assassin.
The cash drawer of his office was De
molished with an AK, but, strange 20 say,
The murderer left over $500 in his within
pocket.
If robbery was the motive of the ghast>
ly crime. the perpetrator was scared Off
after breaking into the cash drawer, which
probably contained $40
Indications point to Saturday night as
the time the murder was committed,
mystery envelops the bloody deed
Mr.. Polk, besides being postmaster ran
a general merchandise store owned by
DIR. c. c. Hart.
When the door of the store was opened
this morning the body of the old man was
found stretched out in front of the fire
place in a pool of blood
An examination showed that he had
been shot, the bullet entering the left
side of the head, and coming out through
the right ear.
The money drawer was on the floor
rified of its contents, but upon the person
of the murdered man was $5O5 and the sill
yer watch which he had worn for many
years.
The crime was discovered shortly before
s O'clock this morning by ]. r. BULGE, a
man living near by, who went to the post
office, and finding the door closed, report
ed the matter to DR.. Hart.
The latter went Immediately to the
house, and finding the front door unlock
ed, pushed his way in. AS the light pene-
trated the room the horrible spectacle
was revealed.
DR.. Hart gave an alarm and a crowd
was gathered about the house.
Two days before DR.. Hart the proprie-
tor of the store, had counted the money
which then amounted to $50. With the
sales of the next two days it is estimat-
ed that the drawer contained at the time
of the murder about $40. The postoffice
receipts were not touched.
Among the first TO arrive at the scene of
the tragedy was Justnian Evans, a broth
er-in-law of the murdered man. Polk had
been expected to spend Sunday with his
family, who live a mile away from Good
wins station. The murdered man was a
bachelor and had been accus toned for
years to spend every Sunday with his sis
ter Evans wife. On yesterday said Mr.
Evans, when his brother-in-law failed to
put in his appearance, he supposed he had
been kept away by the bad weather, and
he thought no more of the matter until
this morning, when he learned of the muir
der. Mr.. Evans searched the pockets of the
dead man. In the left pocket of his trous-
ers was found a purse containing $l50sin
gold. In the inside vest pocket was roll
of greenbacks, amounting to 1856. A sack
containing So cents in small change and
pennies was between the mattresses of the
bed in a room which adjoined the store, in
which the body was found.
The collar of the old mans shirt was
open, as if he had engaged in a hand-to-
hand struggle with the unknown assassin
His hat was on box which lay just be-
Kind his head. In the crown was a blood
clot, mixed with which could be seen the
brains of the murdered man. In the brim
of the hat was a hole which had been
burned through by fire and a charred coal
was sticking to the other side. Yet the
fireplace contained no embers.
From the nature of the wound death
must have been instantaneous and the
hat, falling off instantly, would not have
caught any of the blood which afterward
exuded from the gaping wound in the old
mans head. From this fact il seems most
likely that the body was handled by the
murderer after the shot was fired.
When DR.. Hart reached the store he
found the front door open This fact
leads to the belief that the murder va
committed early Saturday night. The
postoffice was regularly closed each night
after the arrival of the Belle train of the
Southern Railway, and the store door was
shut shortly afterwards. By O'Clock each
night the old man bad returned 10 his
room adjoining the postoffice
The body when found was fully dressed
but the pistol which he was known to have
In the store was nowhere to be found
The crime so far is a mystery which de-
fies solution.
Mr.. Evans. the brother-in-law, saws The
murdered man was without an enemy IN
the world. so far as is known He was a
easy going temper quiet and pleasant ir
his manner and well thought of by al
who came in contact with him. He wa,
60 years of old, industrious and saving il
disposition. The $500 which was found or
his person represented his wealth
Mr.. Polk was born in Madison county
but had been a resident of DeKalb sine,
1865. He was appointed postmaster al
Goodwin's station by President Cleve-
land.
CHARLESTON'S CHANNEL.