The evening times., 1900-09-17
He FOUND A SKELETON.
ThG pincOVerH- of Purchaser at au
Auction Sale.
d'rom the Philadelphia Times


Tho nincoverH of "a Purcbaser at
Auction Sale.
(t'rom the Philadelphia Timcr.l
That Jhilss are not always what they
seem was couclusiveIy demonstrated to
the purchaser Of a portion of cabinet in
the kindergarten room of the building al
Twentieth and Race Streets, formerly oc-
cupied by the Pennsylvania Institution
for the Instruction of the Blind. An auc-
ton of the contents of the big four-story
structure was held last Monday morning,
the effects being described in an elaborate.
catalogue as consisting OF walnut and
iron bsdsteads, mahogany, walnut. and
oak bureaus, large and small bookcases,
chairs sctteeS, school desks, mattresses
iron bath tubs laundry fixtures, stoves,
tables, engine boiler etc. These effects
had ceased to have any usefulness for the
blind asylum, which removed from its
former quarters at Twentieth and Race
Streets IN January of last year TO lhe
commQdious and handsome establishment
az Overbrock and the old building has
since been closed TO the public, though a
portion OF il has been occupied by JanitoT
Patrick J. O'Donnell who has kept rigi-
len watch on the premises. and who. by
MS own admission, was as much aston
ished as anyone else on Wednesday, tNo
days after the auction, when he learned
the nature Of q portion OF the material
over " Ll--I lie EGI ttSH Tue LdltHbGt SNGi-
dim
y paragraph in the four-page circular
announcing the public yendue informed in
tending buyer that they were at liberty
to sxanine Tie articles about to be put
under the hammer any day prior 10 the
sale. IT, ian Who bought the cabinet or
closet IL the kindergarten room. where
little blind gupis had been wont TO pass
their hours OF recreation, omitted the for
mality All he wanted was the glass in
the doors of the case. and he bid ii in AT
q bargain and chuckIed a his good luck.
lie literally bought sight unseen" after
the manner OF schoOlboys trading jack
knives.
So Wedne sday bright and early brace
of brawny draymen arrived at the former
blind asylum, commissioned to bear away
the case and the glass doors, sedately cur
tanned thereto appertainng. The men
were given a ghastly surprise when they
started to remove their employers bar
! gain, for when they pulled down the blind
cuTtatDing the doors there lay exposed TO
view an array OF discofored bones in an
! advanced stage of disintegration. A hasty
and Mortified examination assured them
! that there was literally a skeleton in the
| closet, the unlocked for contents of the
! receptacle comprising the remains of two
human legs the same number Of arms and
/ a small quantity OF ieathery looking sub
: stance IHdL Was undoubtedly q IOriiDH OF
! the anatomy of a man or a woman. To
complete the grewsome ensemble were the
h0Cfs and shin bones of cloven- footed
/ animal. presumably a COW. All these SOM
| bTe relics were brown with age portions of
! them had GTumbled into dust and as cor
To5Oratiye evidence that they had been in
! their snug hiding place for years was the
/ fact that they We're covered with news
paper bearing date of April C. 1895.
! The frightened iTaED1qD a som
/ recovered their wits, informed Janitor
! o Donnell Of their sinister discovery The
! latter's amaZement was so great that for
! a whole day he neglected 10 give notice
! Of the find 10 anyone but yesterday he
cOnfdtd the facts in the case to his friend
| Policeman BTinkcr. who patrols the beat
! in which the building is located, and the
( bluecoat, after viewing the spectacle Of a
quantity of human bones strewing the floor
OF the kindergarten, whose walls are still
adorned with the cheerful legend Come
Let Us Live With Our Children" " in ruddy
| letters, notified his superiors at the
| Twentieth district police station. The
latter also came, saw and promptly
turned the case over to the coroner. where
ii at present rests.
Janitor 0DoDnell is quite certain that
| 70 one except himself has had access to
the building or to the room in which the
! fragments of a skeleton. and the cIoyen
| hOofs were found. since the place was
, closed early in January 1899 After
| thinking it over he is of the opinion tiiat
| the bones were the property of former
! instructor in the asylum who was at the
| same time a student in HahnemaEn Col
| lege He thinks the latter had the portions
! Of the human frame in his possession for
/ scientific study and that when he left
| the Institution he entirely forgot or neg
lected to take his specimens with him
| and as consequence the bones have
| since lain in the closet uIdisturbed and
unsuspected.
| The theory is sustained by the fact that
| the limbs all show evidence of having beer
! injected with a chemical preservative and
have been carefully dIssected. That they
| were or had been in possession of q col
/ iege or a museum is also indicated ty a
! printed card which was found with the
human fragments and which gives "a par
tial list of specimens and fossils, models
| and appliances now in the collection con-
tanning aiso a formidable register of ana
| tomical models, human viscera, etc, and
| declaring the specimens on hand to COM
pI sc models of a man, monkey. bird, fish,
| frog, turtle, COW, mas.odon, cave bear,
| with comparative anatomy also of various
euadrupeds.
What makes the hard luck of the mar
who bought the skeleton in a closet ex-
| tremely acute is the fate that befel the
glass doors. for the sake of which he made
| his grim bargain Leaving the bones on the
floor Of the kindergarten for the inspec-
ton of the janitor, the police, and the
! coroner, the workmen loaded the rest OF
| their employers purchase on their wagon
and as they undertook TO drive under an
aTchrvay they struck low bridge tumble d
the dCors onto the ground and the ass
| was smashed into little bits.
|