The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-06-25
THE SWAMP MYSTERY.
There Is Much That Is Probable in Alex
ander Wade's Story-The Mysterious
Teeth Have Bitten Off Much At
tention = Clinton Dentists
Are Quite Curious.

Clinton, June 24-There is nothing yet
to disprove the theory which the officers
first entertained, that the body found
In the Lancaster swamp was that Of
Elizabeth Shedden.
This Is the first day of the second
week since the discovery Of the skele-
ton in Sterling swamp, and the officers
of the law have made very little prog
ress on the case.
Deputy Sheriff Charles A. Bartlett
spent today and yesterday in fruitless
search for a clue. This afternoon he
said that the task seemed nearly hope
less there is so little to work upon.
| The officials state that there Is but
one thing to be investigated. That Is the
wagon that was seen standing among
| the brush and trees on the road above
| the crossing.
| If the body was brought to the swamp
| in a team, and the most reasonable
theory is that it was, the team that
1 <AlCAdlluGl w edG 5elW III bAAS tAtN-A
brush is the most probable one. Deputy
lsSheriff Bartlett says that this is a very
probable view of the matter.
He is impressed with the idea that
| it should be followed to the end He
said to a representative Of The Spy this
afternoon:
| IT have made arrangements with the
station agent at Pratt's junction to
have Wade sent to me. I expected him
last night, but I was detained beyond
the date of our engagement and will
fix new he ur."
The sheriff said he had heard that
Wade posed as cowboy, and he
| thought his story should be scrutinized
with care as to its details.
yet, there Is no doubt but that a
team stood in just the spot that Wade
indicated" said Sheriff Bartlett. THE
signs that a horse has been hitched
there are distinctly visible. do not
| think it anything against the theory
that the vehicle was used to transport
the body to the spot, that the horse was
embarrassed and tied to the tree.
think that is just what a shrewd man
would do. If the horse was in the shafts,
anybody who passed would be sure to
wonder why the team had been driven
in there, instead of being hitched some
where along the road. But If the horse
was out of the shafts, a spectator would
probably assume that somebody was
camping out and pass on without his
curiosity being much excited"
Sheriff Bartlett is sure that Wade's
story about the carriage will stand in
spection, because Gate Tender Charles
T. Osgood saw it too. But he thinks
there is a possibility that Wade pulled
the long bow when he told about seeing
a person in the carriage covered with a
robe. The sheriff thinks he may have
been deceived by a coat lying upon the
seat, or by the way m which the robe
lay But he says it is of course possible
that 4 person may have been in the
wagon.
But if 70 person was in the wagon,
Where was the man who owned it?"
This question was asked by a gentle
man, after he had read the story in The
Spy, this morning. Where was he, ex-
cept in the swamp. making a DISPOSE
ton Of the remains in the way that he
thought best?
A point especially referred to by
Sheriff Bartlett, which brings out tire
haDdipees of the pIare in which the car
riage was located, is this. Sheriff Bart
lett. when he was last in the swamp,
found a cart path. at a little distance
from the place where this body lay. The
path was overgrown, and its course was
somewhat obscure, hut he traced 1t to
the gate tenders shanty where it ends
at a barway. Assuming that the team
containing the body was driven 10 the
crossing. it would take the driver no
more than a few seconds to lift the
body over the fence and drop it into a
spot where it might lie undiscovered for
days, or until decomposition Of the flesh
issued a warning.
This done the team could not be left
standing at the crossing. 1t would be in
plain view OF everybody who should
pass either way on the road. II it's
driver had turned into a field. and he
might have done so, the marks of the
wheels would have been likely to at
tract and fix the attention Of the owner
OF the land.
But the triangle Of public land. be-