The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-07-12
MISSING SOLDIER DEAD.
Is Supposed to Have Committed Sui
eide in Columbia.

eide In Columbia.
Eden Mattox, the soldier that has been
missing from Fort Screven since Satur-
day, has been found. or rather. his re-
mains have been found, for it is generally
committed suicide in Columbia Tuesday.
and who is now lying in an unmarked
grave in the Potters Field Of that city.
All of the evidence of the case points
to this conclusion. Mattox's two BROTH
ers, Eugene Mattox of Reidsvile. and S.
W. Mattox of Daisy, visited Fort Screven
yesterday in an effort 40 find what had
become of their brother. Meantime Lieut..
W. G. Peace, who had seen a notice OF
the suicide in Columbia, and suspected
that the dead man might be the missing
soldier. autographed the proprietor of the
Congaree Hotel. where the man had died.
giving a description of Mattox and ask
ing for such information of the dead man
as could be given. Yesterday he received
from ]. p. Faulk, manager of the Conga-
rec House the following letter:
Your telegram received; the descrip-
ton suits very well. He had on pair
of cheap cotton pants and a yellow cot
ton coat, very short, and had on very
cheap cap, with no overshirt. He wore
pair of army shoes, about No. g. and
had SIS in money, three new five-dollar
bills. Please write me where his home
is, If you know. as 1 would like very
much to let his people know what became
Of him."
These facts coincide with what is known
of Mattox and the condition and kind of
clothes he had on when ne was last seen
here M. c. Sutton fellow soldier of
the dead mans, and one of his closest
friends at the fort, says that he, dis
tinctly remembers that Mattox had chang
ed his regular uniform for the sort of
clothes described in the letter from Co
lumbia. and also that Mattox did not have
on his overshirt when he was last seen.
The story of the suicide as brought out
at tie coroner's inquest in Columbia is
that an unknown man had gone to the
Congaree Hotel on Monday and secured
room, without, however, registering. He
told one of the employees of the hotel
that he was feeling bad, and going to
his room he remained there until found,
at O'Clock Tuesday morning, lying
across the bed, dead. An empty NOR
phine bottle that had contained an eighth
of an ounce of the drug, and which vas
found in the fireplace, told the story of
how death came. There was nothing by
which the man could be identified and so
he was buried at the city's expense.
Mattox had a number of friends and a
few relatives in Savannah, all of whom
speak well of him. He came to Savannah
about 10 months ago, enlisted, was assign
ed to Fort Screven, and had been there
ever since I'D TO the time that he failed
to show up on Saturday. He had never
revisited his home, near Reidsville. after
he left it, though he has had many
chances of doing so, but has seen his rel
atives often when they visited Savannah
or the fort.
About two weeks ago he had an attack
of brain fever, and though he recovered
sufficiently to get up and be about, his
friends noticed that he had chsnged
In many ways, and that he appeared to
be mentally affected. 1t is their theory
now that it was in a fit of mental aber-
ration that he left the fort and afterward
took the morphine.
The Messrs. Mattox and Sutton left
last night for Columbia, where they hope
to make sure whether or not the dead
man is Eden Mattoxs A photograph was
taken of the dead man in Columbia, and
should this not be sufficient to establish
Identity the body will be exhumed II
is probable that the body will be ex-
humed anyway, and either taken to the
dead mans home and reinterred there, OF
buried in more respectable place in Co
lumbia.