The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-20
He Was at Once Taken to the City
Hospital and Died There without
Regaining Consciousnesy.
A BRUISE ON HIS ABDOMEN
POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION BY
THE DEPUTY CORONER.
He Thinks There May BE Evidence Of
Crime-ClOthes Marked .M. r.. W.
Poison Bottle Found.

The mysterious death of an unknown
man, which from all the evidence savors of
a crime and in every way bears the ear
marks of foul play. is at the present time
puzzling the police department of the city,
Shortly after o'clock yesterday morning
Oscar Simms, a colored boy living at
Twenty-fifth and Rural streets. was driving
some cows to pasture at Brookside Park
and. hearing groans which seemed to come
from the heavy bushes at the east end of
the park, followed the sound through dense
brush and weeds to secluded spot in the
woods, where he discovered the PROSTATE
form of man. alive, yet apparently in the
throes of death, and seemingly suffering
terrible agony.
Simms, for the time, forgot the cows
which were intrusted to his care and ran to
the Office OF DIR. Egbert and told him of his
find. The doctor went at once to relieve the
suffering man, in the meantime calling the
City Dispensary ambulance and the bicycle
police.
On arriving at the spot where the un-
known man lay the doctor at once saw that
arrival of the ambulance turned him over
Dispensary. who took the dying man to the
City Hospital.
DIED AT HOSPITAL.
The doctors at the hospital did everything
i'm their power to save the life of the un-
known, but in spite of their efforts he died
within half on hour after his arrival there
without regaining consciousness sufficiently
to disclose his identity or the true cause
of his death.
Bicyclemen Trimp and Lowe, who were
the first of the police to arrive on the scene.
failed to elicit any information from the
suffering stranger, and say that he was in
an unconscious condition when they first
saw him.
A search of the vicinity where the man
was found reevaled bottle. which appar-
emily had at one time contained tincture
of opium, but the bottle was found several
hundred feet away from the body, and it
Is not evident that the man threw ii there
after drinking its contents, nor is IL prob
able that he Intentionally drank the drug
before entering the bushes where he was
later found.
Deputy Coroner Gels held a post-mortem
examination of the body last night at the
City Hospital. and found that the man
died from a hemorrhage of the stomach
and a large bruse on the body over the
stomach appeared as evidence of a kick
or blow which could not possibly have been
inflicted by the man on himself. DR.. Gels
said last night after the examination:
From the post-mortem examination which
I made IL looks TO me that there is very
strong evidence of foul play, and would
not say that the man died by his own hand.
| will examine the stomach tomorrow to
find whether il contains any poison, and
will then be able TO give more definitely
my opinion to whether the case one
of murder or suicide.
II is the opinion of the police that the
man was drugged before being taken to the
bushes where he was robbed and given the
blow in the abdomen which caused his
death.
MARKS ON CLOTHING.
From the appearance of the unfortunate
il is evident that he had been calling on
friends Saturday night. He was well
dressed. wore a suit of grey Scotch goods
bought at Reuben's. black derby hat pur-
chased from the Eagle clothing store, a
light tan overcoat patent leather shoes.
white vest marked M r. W." and the
same mark appeared on his collar. On his
person was found a paper from Peru, Ind.
dated June 10, a pocketbook which was n
souvenir from Clarence Terrills saloon in
Peru Ind, and about 81 I'm money. Nothing
was found which would give any infor-
nation to his identity.
After the post-mortem the body was re-
moved to Tutewiler's morgue where It was