The sun., 1903-07-13
BRICK GANG KILLED WOMAN?
THEORY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE
BLOOD-STAINED GARMENTS.
They're a Notorious Lot or Ruf1ians Who
Hang Out Near where tho Clothing
Was Found--Titus Seeks to Connect
Their Finding with the Moxbury Case.


The foot of Lincoln avenue, In The Bronx,
| where the blood-soaked clothing OF a woman
was found by policeman early on Satur-
| day morning, Is one OF the toughest spots
| in all Of the borough, and. according to
employees of the New York, New Haven
and Hartford RAILROAD. whose freight
yards are at this point, has been the scene
| of more crimes of violence recently than
| any other one part Of the city.
The police Of the Alexander avenue
station believe that the woman to whom
tho blood-soaked clothing belonged wAs
| murdered, and that after stripping her Of
| her clothing her assailants threw her
body in the river. Policemen searched
both shores of the Harlem River yesterday.
but they found no trace Of body and no
further evidences Of a crime.
The place where the clothes were found
and the scene Of the murder Of Charles w.
Roxbury on Friday night are both In In
spector Titus's district, and he was trying
at one time yesterday to figure that the
bloodstained clothes had something to do
with the murder. The two places are two
miles apart.
bloody clothing was found, and the police
say that no one could lose as much blood
as did this woman without dying, the Job u
laid by many to the Brick gang, a. the group
Of young roughs who make this vicinity
their stamping ground Is called.
According to persons who live or have
business in the neighborhood. the Brick
gang makes the stairs leading TO the Second
avenue railroad footbridge a regular
hang-out, holding up all who pass there at
| night and committing assaults without
| number on those who refuse TO be robbed
| quietly.
| thrown from the stairs leading to the foot
bridge. Down in the railroad yard there
were no evidences Of struggle and NO
| bloodstains on the ground.
| watchman In the New Haven yards.
asked il a woman could he murdered on
! the stairs leading to the footbridge, eAad
yesterday that the police were 80 terrorized
| by the Brick gang that no one patrolnaaa
dared to go near their hang-out at night.
Assaults were of nightly occurrence, he
said, and women as we'll as mon have been
held up there. The watchman added that
he had repeatedly dressed injuries ON men
who had been laid out by the gang
He and other watchmen In the neigh
| borhood, he said, had often rescued women
l
spots near the foot OF Lincoln avenue,
but had never been able to cause the mem-
bers to run without first firing their pistols.
A thorough search Of the New Haven
yards under the footbridge and the stairs
leading to them was made yesterday, but
found. Under freight car where it may
have rolled after being thrown down from
the stairs, q hat belonging to sailor OF
the United States training ship Buffalo
wac found.
Anurnber of persons examined the blood
soaked clothing In the Alexander avenue
police station yesterday, but no one could
be found who recognized it, The clothing
is inexpensive In character, but outside
of the blood Ia clean and well made. The
fact that small lunch bag was found with
the clothing has led the police to believe
that the owner was a working girl
The articles Of clothing found consist
of white shirt waist, a white corset cover.
| with rows OF imitation lace insertion, a
chenise Of unblesohed muslin,. evidently
homemade, a black cloth walking skirt
and the lunch bag Of blue and white lowered
material. The blood is thiokest In the back
| OF the shirt waist, cheDise and corset cover
and well UP around the neck OF these arti-
cles. This leads the police 10 believe that
the woman was wounded on the back OF
the head.
The only marks on any Of the articles
found were on the corset cover, which
bore the letters u. c." under them . dash
and beneath that tho figures &c., all In lead
pencil. The police will take the CORSET
cover to dry goods store this morning
and try to find out what the marks mean.
The place where the bloody clothing was
found can easily be seen from the Second
avenue elevated trains that Cross the Har-
lem River Bridge, but 1t would be ALMOST
impossible to throw a bundle from the win
dow Of a car on the elevated to the spot.
"We haven't been able to find any OF our
people who heard anything unusual along
the pathway OF the stairs on Saturday
| morning" aaid q watchman In the New
Haven Yards Yesterday, Abut for years the
/ Brick gang has been operating along bore
and we don't regard the shrieks Of q woman
| in distress az anything unusual. when w
| know Just whore q woman is being abused
we do what we can to rescue her, but
as rule we hear these shrieks from dis
tance and can do nothing.
-The Brick gang has had full sway here
for years now, and it lis q fact that they
have tho police thoroughly cowed. The
finding of these clot hes may mean murder
and it may not. but II 1t serves TO call atter-
tion to tho doings Of this gang 1t will have
served mighty good purpose
ASSAULT ON SECOND AVENUE BRIDdD.
As TIE result of an assault believed to
have been committed by members Of the
Brick gang, August Huger, a young painter,
of s3f East l33d street, il in the Lincoln
Hospital with fractured skull and Is likely
to die He was attacked early Yesterday
morning by three men on the bridge near
which the woman 8 garments were found.
Huger, his sister Winln. who Ia about
2I Years old, and her sweetheart, Alexander
johnson Of Ridgewood, ". j.. were return
ing from dance at Sulzer's Harlem River
Park Although 1t was after O'Clock In
the morning, they decided TO walk over
the bridge.
They had about reached the middle
when three men, who were apparently
waiting for some one TO rob, appeared.
IIugcr, at the time, wps walking hundred
feet or more ahead Of his sister and johnson
As soon as he met the three men, they,
according 10 his sist or and johnson, sprang
at him. He gave shout which was heard
Manhattan end of the bridge, and Police
man Cassidy. who was somo distance away
from 'Ne other end. Then one OF the men
struck lIuger on the head with weapon
that, the police think, was small crowbar,
Huger went down unconscious and tho
men bent over him. Then Johnson ran
up, shouting for help. The three men
scattered, two Of them running north and
the other south. The two who went north
got away, while the third ran into the arms
Of Policeman Cassidy.
Az 10 whether the highwaymen got any
monev from Hugsr, his sister says
she doesn't know Huger has been up-
| conscious ever since the assault and Coroner
| OGorman, who went 10 the hospital, did