New-York tribune., 1899-06-12
CUT UP BY A PROPELLER.
THE CORONER'S THEORY OF THE BAY
RIDGE MYSTERY.
HE AGREES WITH CHIEF REYNOLDS THAT
THERE WAS no MURDER-IMPosSIBLE
TO IDENTIFY THE DIsMEMBERED.
trEaDrESS TR1TNK

HEADLESS TRUNK.
No light was shed on the Bay Ridge mystery
Yesterday and in spite of the efforts or the
police and others. at the end OF the day no
one was able to say whether the trunk or the
mans body which found In the Bay near
the grounds OF the Crescent Athletic club on
Saturday morning the grewsome evidence
Of an atrOciou5 crime or whether 1t was the pody
y, q man who had died from natural causes
and whose head and upper chest and both legs
had been cut off by the propeller blade Of
steamer. Neither was there any light thrown
on the question as to the identity Of the man.
II seems hard to believe that the portion OF the
body which has been found can ever be identi-
fed.
Dr. Emil F. Hartung. the Coroner's physi-
cian made an official examination Of the trunk
Yesterday morning at 10 o'clock at the Morgue.
He was most careful in his work and In spite
OF the contrary opinions which had been formed
by many who had previously viewed the body
he expressed the opinion after he had COM
pleted the work that the mutilatlon had peeh
done by the paddle wheels Of a steamer. or, more
probably by the swiftly moving propeller or
large ocean steamer The most ca.eful scrutiny
failed 10 reveal mark or popularity OF any
description which would serve To identify the
body
There were present at the examination MI
Mcguire. the Morzue keeper; Detectives Muir
ply and Delehanty. from Captain Reynoldss
staT. and an officer from the Fort Hamilton
Police Precinct where the body was found. The
trunk was taken from its resting place in the
cracked Ice and placed on a marble slab.
Or Hartung first made an examination Of the
bones Of the legs and OF the upper chest. which
had been chopped or broken of. He said that
he found the bones OF one leg. which protruded
a little way from the pelvis were splintered. as
II they had been broken in two. In front the
flesh looked though 1t might have been cut
by knife, but on the back there was tri-
angular piece gone. as II II had been pulled
away The tendons had also been torn from
their places The doctor said that to him, this
Indicated that the legs could not have been
sawed or chopped off by human agency but
that they had received quick. hard blow in
the water and had been broken Off. and that
the flesh and tendons had been torn as the leg
was drawn away from the body.
After an examination of the top Of the chest
and the remaining ribs. the doctor reached the
same decision-that the mutil1tion had not been
done by human hands. There was portion OF
one Of the lungs still cngng to the ribs and
the doctor says that this would hardly be the
case If a murder had been committed. The lung
was water soaked. but that was only natural.
The heart is missing. The liver and the stom-
aCh were In the DO0y. Inc liver, dltnOuBH
usually large was perfectly healthy. Or. Har-
tung took portion Of the stomach and VIII
make careful test.
Chief Reynolds OF the Brooklyn Detective
Bureau was pleased to find that DR.. Hartung
| agreed with him in thinking that no murder had
| been committed. He thinks that the body Will
| never be identified There was absolutely moth
| ing new for the police TO report There was no
| trace OF the missing head, shoulders and legs
! and il may be that they Will never be found.
In the course OF the day number or people
| visited the Morgue for the purpose OF identiry-
| ing the body but each one went away satisfied
| that the body was not that Of any one whom
| he knew. Not one OF them had story 10 tell
| which gave the sligstest clew TO possible un-
| ravelling OF the mystery. II Is prooape that
| the body will be kept for several days al.
though there seems little Likelihood that IL VIII
| result in any Identification.
| Three police launches patrolled the staten
| Island shores yesterday watching for portions
OF the body. The police OF the Eightieth Pre-
cinct also watched the shores all dav bu: with
out result.
Mrs. Sutter sister OF the young man VINO Is
missing from Tompkinsvie. said last night that
none OF her folks had gone to see the trunk or
| the body. as the descriptions In the papers
| satisfied them II not portion OF her broth
ers body. Her brother had a decided chicken
| breast and all the descriptions said the man
| whose body was found was broad-chested
The body Is not that OF Joseph Trimborn. the
| Great Falls (Mont.) brewer. for whom the po-
| lice Of Hoboken have been looking. Mr. Trim
born came here over a month ago 10 meet his
wife on her return from Germany. He arrived
a few days before the steamer. and went TO the
Grand Hotel in Manhattan. When his wife ar
rived he not In Hoboken to meet her. and
he has not been heard from since. He left the
Grand couple OF days before. and did not re-
turn. The body in Brooklyn cannot be his as
he was fair and he'd light hair
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