Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1899-11-02
SKELETON AND ROPE
Tangled Up in a Rough Pine Box
on the Bca>h.
a COMPLICATED Mystery
Hox Probably Wa.h"d Oui IF Il Shaf'""
Grave by lhe Recent hIgh It'd. +. Alb.
suiuteIy No Clue to the Identity
Of the Dead Man.

A blaCkened, ulSJOlnleu skeleton,
tangled up in Il =three-quar-e. inch
rome, in a rude pine box on the lonely
beach about a quarter OF a mile this
eide of Point 'BreeZe-this is the ghast
" find made yesterday afternoon by
5teyedorc Gilmore. Whether he
vas the first to discover the Srlle;olEc
combination is not known pt!lnrS may
nave. seen the box Gilmore was the
first to report H.
What was that rough pine box with
,h4,l d'siointed skeleton, DOING on the
beach? Why WAS there rope in the
hox? Whose was the body tnat these
bones once formed part of? HOW did
the owner OF the bones get into the
hox and how did the box get on the
beach?
,rhese are questions which will PROF.
ably never be answered.
ut is another Of those ghaS;iy mys-
ltpries which are never solved.
A rcnolter of the Daily Press yester-
dav visited the scene and made SUI
ncrficial eXamination-th only sort
nossibe, as "a coroner had not been sum-
moned and the remains We're those OF
a man still unohicially dead-if the ex-
preston may be used.
| The box, which is made of the rough
est inch pine board and IS six feet Sht
| inches long by tWenty-One inches Wide.
lies iambed up against the tuftel bank
| lust above high water mark.
The most reasonable and logical as
sumption is that the box was placed
INST under the bank and covered WIN
sand, which was washed off ~ the
high tide Of Monday night. 1t lies
firmly imbcdded in the sand, still part
ly covered.
The theory that the box was washed
In by the sea is apparently llntenaDle.
Appearances are against such an=hy-
puthesis Not only that, bat sailors &c
not bury their dead in boxes, and If
they did they would not tie d rope
around the corpse.
II is evident that the box WAS buried
there by some one and the earth has
given up its dead.
About q third of the top OF the box
has been broken off, disclosing the
bones, the rope, and the fragments Of
cloth within. -
The summation revealed three facts
The skeleton Is that of II man.
| The man was white.
THE skull was not fractured.
Generally, it may be inferred that the
man was probably five feet eight OF
nine inches high and small featured.
Expert examination may reveal some
further facts, but il is To be doubted
The man has been dead probably
year or n,Dre-it is hard to tell. Ihert
Is no flesh upon the ,Driee.ss.. Us i
as clean as though r'essaaAred
lege class room.
The mystery is complicated ny INC
presence of the rope.
What on earth is the rope DONG H.
the box? That IS the puZzllug question.
The fact that it is there would :ice''l 10
confirm the theory naturally 'olN1eu
that the skeleton was mat 0. l'.fl!'
who came to his death by Flo'Ei. ice,
but what kind Of violence ana Wni't
Fart OF the drama did the rope play
Was the man hanged ana put III Wv
box with the rope still around Els neck,
or was he lied hand and FOOT and then
placed in the box? Ii The latter be true
he must have been alive when put INTO
the box, for it is out Of all reason,
to believe that any human being W"uld
consider it necessary under any clieu'ii, :,
stances to tie Il dead man ham! ana
foot. ~,
Probably a closer examination 81 the
remain, today may assist IN 'iiaI'' % :
ing some other facts III connec.l)H WIN
this mysterious and unaccouhtaple
rope which, OF cour.", Is Still lin ie
box, tangled up with the ZONES 49,.
Another noticeable thinG "a5 ina
apparently there had never been 4 col
| fin inside the box. If there eyer Was
! 1t has completely rotted AWAY, ~,
Inferences regarding the setlutt .'i'. =
color de the dead man were loliileo
| from a hasty examination. ~ NOR
thorough Investigation may inaKc me
dead man q negro woman, or 4 "Hi:e
woman, or a negro man; out there l9
reason to believe that the bones IRE
those Of a white man. In the ',is'
place, the skull has none or the us
tinctiye marks that an ordinary ne
gro's skull would have. The t2rehta,o
high and the frontal bone is seHinl'lsis
thinner than that of the average hesio
Not orly that, but the nose u e','
| dead man was high. not hat MAJ i
evident. The conjecture as TO tue So
of the former human being - Wno!l
the skeleton once belonged was .ol!ilss
on the fact that about the lower IN
tremities was found pieces OF S'!di :,
cloth. apparently cotton goods. apps',
ling to be Il portion OF a par " u '''Eo'
or overals. way i
II there was any HAIR III t'e 49,
could not be seen last nlslt. G,
"a coroner's jury will propao,' oh
upon the remains today. 1T IS not r.oD
able that they will be iple - u. ~
much light upon what IS s'e' lll.',7 ,,,.s
of the most curious OF tne SeN -, "a .
cries this section has hau III w
), Twelve months.