The Portland daily press., 1899-01-09
WRAPPED IN FlAmss.
Mrs. Milan wsnAsrsA frsn one nsen
to Another.


to Another.
Quincy, Masa, Jsnusry 7.-with the
finding Of the blackened but still smok-
ing remains Of Mrs. Cecily Milan. In the
front hallway OF her horne on Gilmore
street, this afternoon, and the arrest on
the charge of murder Immediately. after
Of her husband, Michael Milan, then con-
siderably Intoxicated but raving about
the premises like q Wild man, the local
police have q mystery to solve Of a far
more ghastly nature than that connected
with the death OF the burglar at the shaw
residence two weeks ago. For some I'M
known reason the body Of the unfortu-
nate woman WAS removed within short
time to the norgue, so that the medical
chance to view the remaiEs "a they Lay
when first discovered, and be shsrefors
refused to perform an autopsy until ne
had obtained further particulars regard
ing the case. Until the autopsy is psr'
formed the real cause OF the death OF the
man and his wife were In the house when
the affair first became known TO the
nsighbors, the Authorities are much In
the dark as yet regarding the circumstan-
0 n Of her death. The sh 3okina affair &C.
CURED In small houss near the railroad
track about half way between the Quincy
station and Wollaston.
ire first that was known Of the case
was when Milan ran out Of bis house,
ABOUT four O'Clock this afternoon, shouting
for water. Two young men who lived
nearby heard the cry and hastily getting
q bucket full ran to tho Milan house,
where Milan was still shouting frsnescal-
~. They had no sooner entered the front
door of the house than they came imms-
nate woman and the sight was horrible
one. The body was roasted almost TO
a crisp, every particle Of clothing. except
Ing the stockings having been burned on.
The young men threw water on the
smoking remains and then rushed from
the house In search Of the police. On1oer
Lyons was the first to arrive % the house
but instead Of entering the front door be
went around to the rear Of the house and
came into the back Kitchen. There he
met Milan, still under the influence Of
liquor. The latter cautioned the oflicer
not to go into the front part OF the bous
and was SO persistent In his command
that Lyons Was Obliged 90 force Milan
into chair while he went into the front
entry way where the body lay. Other
officers arrived and q careful examius-
ton was made of the house. An axAmi-
nation o. the back kitchen showed that
Mrs. Milan's clothes caught fire. In that
room. Situated between the stove and .
table aud about four feet from the stove,
was hard wood chair, the back Of which
was badly burned. On the top Of the
back of the chair were pieces of burned
clothing whioh had stuck to the wood,
showing that the woman had been sit ing
when she caught fire. or that abe had
sat down there, perhaps from weakness
shortly after the flames began to burn
her clothing. The top of the chair was
badly burned. Scattered about the floor
around the chair, was n circle OF ashes
and pieces of the woman's clothing, and
yet with all this evidence that the greater
portion of her clothing was burned on
while sitting In the chair the body of the
woman was found twenty feet away
From their hAsty examination. the
police are Of the opinion that the woman
was forced to sit In the chair while she
burned to death. but how she was held
there they are not prepared 10 say. An
other mystery Is the manner In which abe
caught Dire The police have a thsoty that
the woman might have been struck In
the head with some blunt instrument and
rendered unconscious for . short time
while she was burning, and then, coming
TO her senses, staggered into the hallway
where she died. In support Of this theory
Inspector Ferguson stated tonight that
an axe, on the handle of which was found
blood marks, was found in the cellar.
Milan was seen at the polioe station
tonight. He said that he came home Fri.
day night quite drunk and went to bed
with his clothes on. He was awakened
by smoke coming into his bedroom this
afternoon and jumping mp, rushed into
the hallway, where he found the body Of
his wife. He he I'D no cries and said he
would not have known anything about 1t
had he not smelled smoke. He has been
arrested several times for drunkenness.
He has no children.
EVIDENCE AGAINST MILAN.
Quincy, Mass, January s.-The police
hive been hard at work today on the
tragedy at the Milan houss and claim to
have found some new fscts ten ding to
strengthen their belief that Milan Was 1 n
some manner connected with the burning
of his wife. A cotton handkerchief was
found on him today which appeared to
have been recently soor,hed, while the
spots on the handle of the axe, which
was found In the cellar yesterday, have
also been more closely inspected and the
officers ara almost sure that they are
human blood. number of spot were
still moist today. Medical Examiner
Gilbert will perform an autopsy either
tomorrow or Tues ny but Milan will be
arraigned tomorrow on charge Of
n,Iirdpr