The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-05
WEIRD HUNT FOR DEAD
DETECTIVE BELIEVED WHITE WO-
MAN HAD BEEN MURDERED.
BODY FOUND IN CASEY CANAL.
STARTED IN PURSUIT OF HER SUP
POSED SLAYER.


and the Discovery Made That II
Was Remains of Aged MuIattO WO-
man-NO signs of Violence and She
Probably Slipped From Treachcr-
Gus Bank Into Water-WeII Dress
ed and Had IL Cents Tied in Hand
! kerchfef-BOdy Held by Undertake
| ers for Identification and Murder
| Theory Abandoned.
For an hour last night the Casey
| canal, in the vicinity of the Herman
| Winter Brewing Company's place, was
! searched by Mr.. Henry Stab and two
newspaper men for the body of a sup
| posed white woman. thought to have
! been murdered.
During the early afternoon w. NJ.
! Pemble of No. 924 Duffy street. east,
| and c. V. Snedeker, Jr., of No. 924
| Park avenue, east, two young men who
were hunting rabbits with a dog, in
| the fields east of the city. discovered
| the body of a well dressed woman in
| the canal. She was only partly cover
| ed by water and had all the appear
ances of a white woman. The banks
! of the canal are rather steep and there
is heavy growth of fennel and coffee
weed for more than a mile on either
side.
| The young men could not get close
! to the body and hurried to Mr.. Win
| ter's home and reported of their dis
| covery. telephone message was sent
at once to police headquarters. Bicy-
oil
| and Detective Nose Davis followed a
few minutes later. It was then day.
! light and the officers experienced no
| great amount of trouble in finding the
| body. The woman was lying on her
back in a rather cramped position,
and Detective Davis was certain that
| she was white.
Saw "a Woman Running.
The young men told a story of pass
ing mysterious white woman the af-
ternoon before in the same neighbor-
hood. She was running towards the
canal. A short distance away they
| met an aged negro. He told them
| that the woman had passed him and
had said that she was going to a milk
dairy. She had started to. run when
she passed him and he had said Don't
| fear me- The boys were of the opin-
| ion that the woman in the canal was
the same one seen by them the after
noon before. They said the old man
was going in the same direction as
the girl when they left the field
On the strength of this information
Detective Davis surmised that a MUIR
der had been committed and left at
once for the city. He believed he would
be able to secure further information
| that would warrant him in making an
arrest. The place where the body was
found was not marked, and it was dark
When detective Davis left. The body,
| too had been left in the water undis-
| turbed. Another search was made by
Mr.. Stab and the newspaper men, so
that there would be no delay upon the
arrival OF county Detective Charlton,
VINO mad IN the meantime been sent for.
Searched With Lanterns.
The search through briars and un-
derbrush was a tedious one. A lantern
was tied to the end of a pine sapling
and cautiously the treacherous bank
was followed for a mile or more. The
faint light made weird shadows on the
water and at times the small search
ing party could see all manner of
ngures 1t was a gruesome search and
When the spot was reached the search
ers were almost paralyzed. The glimmer
OF the lantern was first reflected by
the teeth of the corpse and the man
who held the long pole almost dropped
the light into the water. A few minutes
later County Detective Charlton ar
rived. He had gotten lost in the thick
cts that separate the canal from Thun-
derbolt shell road.
The detective, Mr.. Stab and the
newspaper men tugged on the treach-
erous bank until they pulled the BODY
out of the water. 1t was seen at once
that the dead woman was a mulatto
about 20 years of age. She was we'll
dressed and wore handsome black
coat over a dark waist of good mater
1al. There was nothing upon her per-
son to make Identification possible and
there was no evidence of foul play
A handkerchief was found in the pocket
of the coat, but there were no marks
on 1t. In one corner was tied a dime
and a nickel.
The COrOner's Examination.
Some time later Coroner Keller. who
had been in the country arrived and
| turned the body over to Undertaken
| Weeks. At the undertaking establish
| ment on Liberty street, thorough ex-
animation was made, and no signs of
violence were discovered. DR.. Keller
| gave it as his opinion that the woman
had been drowned by falling into the
| canal. There was no motive for muir
der, and this theory had to be aban-
| doned. The woman probably slipped
and fell into the canal Her hands
were closed and in each she held a tuft
OF grass, showing that she probably
grabbed the side of the bank as she
fell. In the opinion of DR.. Keller the
body had not been in the water manv
hours before it was found. The re-
mains will be held at the undertaking
establishment of Fox & Weeks during
Inc morning for Identification