New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-09-19
SLAIN WOMAN IN CANAL
MJ-TILATED AND WEIGHTED BODY
FOUND IN TIDEWATER DITCH.
VICTIM IDENTIFIED AS WIFE OF JOSEPH
PULITZER. OF no. 1eo WEST FORTY
sIxTH-sT-POIICE HERE ARE IN
yEsTIGATING THE CASE.

r.
sIxTH-sT-POIICE HERE ARE IN
vEsT1GATING THE CASE
The nude body Of murdered woman was
found yesterday afternoon in the Morris Canal.
midway between Jersey city and Newark, She
was Mrs Joseph Pulitzer. Of No. 100 west
Forty-sixth-st. this city. tie strap. such
as is used for hitching horses, to which was
attached 20 pound weight, was fastened about
her waist rope about twenty feet long
was tied about the left leg and waist The
woman's skull had been fractured, and 'hefe
was deep wound five inches long extend
ing downward and across the left SIDE oI
the abdomen The crime had not been COM
rnitted more than forty-eight hours prior 70 the
finding Of the body. Decomposition had not
set in.
The canal runs parallel 10 and close to the
plank road between the Hackensack and Pas
sale rivers John F. Kellar. Of No 122 Ferry
st. Newark. driver Of an express wagon, Was
on his way from Newark to this city with
load of merchandise The canal between the
two rivers is tidewater. and the tide had ebhed-
When the driver saw the body he drove rapidly
10 Jersey City 70 report the discovery at the
Fourth Precinct police station. The morgue
keeper was notified and took charge Of the
body
The Jersey City police also informed the Off
cials of Kearny Township. in whose jurisdiction
the discovery was made. Prosecutor Erwin Is
conducting the inquiry. He is aided by four de-
tectives-Edward Mccormack. Charles h
Relay John Graham and Gustav Herman
The victim was small. plump and pretty
blonde probably a scandinavian. She was
about twenty years old, 3 feet . inches in height
and weighed about 12o pounds. Her upper
teeth. proba bly, an artificial set were gone The
presumption is that the woman was murdered
in New York. Brooklyn. Jersey City or Newark,
was divested Of her clothing and carried in
wagon to the spot and thrown into the canal
at high water on Tuesday or Wednesday night
It was undoubtedly the latter as the plank
road is busy highway and hundreds Of team
sters drive over It daily.
DR. Charles B. Converse. County Physician.
examined the marks on the body. and con
WINGED that the girl was victim of foul play.
He found a bruise on the right side the
temple fracture of the skull on the left
side in the frontal region, and the cut in the
abdomen was so deep that il had opened the
abdominal cavity. He thought that the wounds
on the head were not inflicted by the same force,
but that the fracture might have been caused
bv some blunt instrument and the other by
fall The wound in the abdomen was made by
q sharp instrument. He said the girl had been
dead about two days He VIII hold the autopsy
to-day
Prosecutor Erwin, Assistant Prosecutor Wick
ers. Grand Jury Clerk Clark. Sergeant Smith
Acting Chief Of the Kearny police. and Patrol
man Oliver. Of Kearny, were AT the morgue
when DR.. Converse made the superficial ex-
animation. Prosecutor Erwin said there was
no doubt that a murder had been committed
and he was confident that the mystery would he
probed.
The first cIew obtained last night. Jo-
seph Johnson, the bridge tender at the Hacken-
sack River, remembered that a buggy used by
physicians passed the bridge from Jersey
City between II and u O'Clock Wednesday
night There was only in the buggy.
and his attention was attracted to II by the fact
that large trunk was fastened behind. Walter
Blair. inspector at the Passac River bridge. saw
the same buggy pass. but noticed what he
thought bundles in front.
This disclosure aroused the suspicion that the
body may have been tied up with the rope and
s1ueezed into the trunk, and when the isolated
place was reached and wagons trolley
cars were in sight Uhe cars the plank
road at short Intervals the body might have
been hurriedly forced out of the trunk and
dropped into the canal Then it is believed. the
man in the buggy without waiting tie the
trunk on the back of the vehicle threw It hastily
in front Of him and drove with IT toward
Newark He could have returned by the turn
pike route 10 Jersey City.
The theory is regarded as plausible, and the
presence Of the rope on the drawn up leg leads
to the conclusion that the victim, having been
small the body folded and the legs were
wound closely the neck and trunk by the
rope There were marks the body to in
dicate that this had been done. except the one
drawn up leg. The clew is being followed and
the bridge tenders have been advised to main
tain q rigid silence.
shrewd police officer shook his head dubi-
ousy when informed of the clew. and asked:
why should a physician resort to the bIudgeon
and knife?"
II was learned last night that weights the
same as that found the body of the woman
taken from the Morris Canal were used bv NJ
A Muln Newark livery stable keeper ON
Wednesday young man who gave the name of
NJ Schuman Forest-st.. Orange Valley. hired 2
horse and runabout promising to return it that
night Up to late last night nothing had been
heard Of it AS Mr.. Mullins SON. who hired ont
the rig was out of town last night il could NOT
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