The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-09-19
HAVE THEY MARRIED?
Interest Now Centers About Middle.
bOro Couple,
RATHER THAN DISMEMBEREG
RODY FOUND In YELLOW POND.

| Young People Disposed te Keep Quiet an d
| Public Curiosity Remains Unsatisfied-
A Statement May Be Made Soon-Re-
mains Returned to Bridgeport.
Middleobro, Mass, September 1s.-The
community is still greatly excited over
the return of Marion Grace Perkins and
her suitor or as her family claims, her
husband. and the astonishing discovery
that the remains which her father identi-
fed at Bridgeport and took the trouble to
bring home with him, were not those of
his supposed murdered daughter.
Today after great amount. of tele-
graphing and telephoning. a member of
he Bridgeport police succeeded in reclaim.
| ing the remains, and tonight they were
taken back to Bridgeport, for some other
grief-stricken parent to identify Eand
claim.
| The town was scarcely awake I this
| morning when Detective George Arnold
of 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 Taunton last night and
| requested that they be delivered to him.
Then came the hitch. Mr.. Williams in
formed the detective that he intended to
hold them until he received definite
orders from the coroner at Bridgeport to
give them up, supplemented by sworn
statement from Frank W. Perkins that
the fragments of the body in the box
were not those of his daughter
| Detective Arnold al once called Bridge
rort on the telephone, but it took time
to reach the coroner, and more time to
explain to him the situation 1t was noon
before 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 also had
some difficulty, for Mr.. Perkins was still
under the care of a physician and some
of the nearby 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 documents, Arnold again
presented himself at the undertaken and
once moro asked for the body. Mr.. Will
| liam 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 probably to the fact that very
little had be,n done to preserve the frag-
ments by the use of ice, and when the
box was taken to the station and placed
| on the train for Providence the smell was
almost overpowering.
The train left at six 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 Fer
kins, made last evening. that the young
lady had been married to Charles Bourne,
the Perkins family today are not SO sure
of this fact and are inclined to doubt 1t.
This probably is due not only to the
positive statement of the Bournes, THAT
such marriage has not taken place,
but to the reticence of Grace herself on
the subject. She absolutely declines to
have anything to say on the subject nor
will she disclose anything connected with
her trip or her whereabouts during her
two weeks absence from home. 1t is
known that she went to Onset, but since
leaving there even her family are ignor-
ant of her movements up to yesterday
| noon, when she left Providence for Mid
dleboro. 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 oil
day and although the house was well
nigh surrounded by curious persons, but
few caught even glimpse of her.
The Bournes are even closer mouthed
than the Perkins family, although deny
ing emphatically that the two are mar
ried. The family feel the situation and
the publicity of the affair keenly, and
have intimated that at the proper time
statement will be made as to Charles
Bourne and Miss Perkins.