New-York tribune., 1903-07-18
FINDS BABY,S SKELETON
Bones Found Under Floor by c,,
penter-LookS Lake Murder


With a piece OF tape tightly knottss -,
it's neck the skeleton OF a child ahou, . -
old was found by a carpenter under the -
OF the kitchen in the three story brick ho,,..
No. 81 West Ninety-third-st yesterday -
man who made the find was Frank c T,av,,
No. 2.T99 Eighth-ave.. who had been sent "a ,s
house to make some repairs IN the woo5v,,-.
Underneath the washtubs in the kitchen -.
some boards that appeared to be rottinx a.
The man started to remove these In orda-
replace them with new ones. when he was -
riied to find a skeleton jammed In betwee, =
boards and the ceiling OF the cellar. VIM.
waiting to further investigate the man -.
into the street. Meeting Patrolman Suyd.r. !,
the West One-hundredth-st. station. be ~
him what he had found. and the policeman v,.-
to the building. With the help OF the carDs,,.
the policeman pulled the bones ont OF their r...
ing place. and it was then seen that h.
piece of tape was wound around the nsck y
the skeleton and tightly knOttsd.
Snyder lost no time IN reporting the find 4
the station, and Detectives Neathercotts ass
Mclaughlin we're sent out to investisats q.
case.
They found the skeleton had been wrapD.s
In a mans white negligee shirt size 15Is. n
the ribs of the skeleton were found a few shred,
OF flesh. Both the flesh and shirt showed sgl
dence OF having been gnawed by rats.
Coroner SchOler was Informed. and after Il.
examination of the skeleton he said II look.s
very much as II the child had been murdsrsa
He ordered the police 10 make a thorough n.
vestigatiOn, and then gave a permit for the -
r1OvaI Of the bones to the Harlem Moryue
The position Of the skeleton when found rass
it appear as II the child had been alive VIA,
placed underneath the flooring. The bones a
the arms were doubled up and the fingers tight
" cIenched The skeleton was brown with ass
and the police said they thought II had been
underneath the floor for at least a year u.
tame was taken to the station house and h.
dirt washed of 1t. It's color was found to y
blue. with a yellow stripe through IL The assa
shirt and tape are being preserved by the poli,s
as cIews to the finding OF the person VIA
placed the skeleton where it was found
Detective Neathercotte found that John Jact
son. a colored man. who is a caretaker OF u.
house at No. 80 West Undergraduates. had ben
employed TO take care OF the house next doo-
by Charles ]. wittenberg of No. IL BroadUav
the owner OF the house. Mr.. Wittenberg bought
the house recently. it was learned. and sent
Davis to make such repairs as were needed
Jackson told the police that man named
Rothschild and his family had occupied ths
house up to last January. and the coored unan
said the family had moved to No. 169 IVES.
Seventy-ninth-st.
The detective found that the Seventy y-ninth-st
house was occupied by Thomas Thedfori
wealthy coal dealer. and no one in the family
had ever heard OF any one named Rothschlt
The colored man had said that Mr.. Rothschli
had an Office at No. 131 Bleecker- and ths
detective went there. He found that. instead q
Rothschild. Abraham E. Rothstein. Of Roths,sh
Bros. & Rittenberg converters OF cotton goOz
was the man who had occupied the house. "
Rothstein admitted that he had lived IN tie
house for about two years. but said he hss
moved away last August. He was greatly sG
prised when told OF the finding Of the skelstn
and said he believed another family had oc-s-
pied the house since he had moved away fran
it, His reason for moving. he said had hsss
because the landlord would make no repairs
Detective Neathercotte. OF the West One-hr
dredth-st. station. who has been detailed on ths
case, said last night that he had questonsi i
Mrs Opdyke, who had lived in the house. tar
oughly. and was satisfied that she knew mo-
ing that would aid them in discovering VIZ
placed the ehild's body under the flooring
"I think said the detective. that the biay
was placed under the flooring by some former
tenant Of the house. 1t does not seem poss.as
that any one would risk breaking into vacan
house for the purpose OF concealing the child \
body. There are too many places where Il wOui i
be more convenient TO do so. with so much lsz
risk"
Captain Kelly said last night that he and hs
detectives were working the theory that the
body OF the child was placed under the hooring
by a former tenant. He says he thinks the baby
was newly born or not more than few day'
old