The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-31
\ Popular Montgomery Young Business
 Man. FOUND ON A T2ESTLE Body Was Mangled and Head Was Cut Off. srsntally Unbalanced from Long Ill., ness-Coroner Declares He Froze to Death Before Struck by
 Train - Funeral
 Today. -
FOUND ON A TaEsTLE

With the head severed from the should .,s ,ns hoav of Robert c. Farlss, Jr., <g Montgomery. was found yesterday r,orninp at s:4S o'clock, eIght miles anu a half from Montgomery on the "estci c. " of Alabama Railway trestle spanning Sa- foma Creek
 How death came upon the young man vfil Fever be definitely known. oorohei ". H, Tice, members of the Fariss la,i- Slv and railroad officials differ in tneories as to how the tragedy occurred "ei were no eye witnesses to 1t.
 For several years MT. Fariss had been sn nj health. During the last few months he suffered two strokes of paraiysis' HIS rsina was affected and it is believed that l,a yvandered away from the home or his father at 322 North McDonough Street 70 sneet sa peculiarly shocking death while demented.
 Different Theories.
 srbera is little doubt that the passen- xrr frain which left Montgomery for Sel- ma at 9:t5 o'clock Friday night passed over the body of MT. Fariss. coroner rice and railroad officials contend that Afr. Fariss was dead at least an nour before the train passed over the Catoma Creelr trestle. There is a difference of opinion, however, between the Coroner and the railroad officials as to when the accident occurred.
 The theory of Coroner Tice is that MT. Fariss froze to death during Friday night on the trestle and that he was dead when struck by the train.
 W.N. Cox Superintendent of the West Point division of the Western Railway. believes that the young man met death by striking his head on one of the rails. Popular belief is that he was crushed to death under the wheels of the train. z. Mr. Fariss left his home early Friday afternoon. He walked down town and cOnversed with friends. About o'clock he took a West End and Jackson Street car and rode to the end of the line in West End. He was never seen alive aft r that time. How he reached Catoml Gre k kEestIe. where the accident occurred. is not known. The supposition is that the troubled mind and worn body of the un- fortunate sought solace in a long and lonely walk down the railroad track.
 Coroner's Verdict.
 Coronek Tiee yesterday afternoon ren- dered verdict to the effect that MT. Farias froZe to death. In the opinion of the Coroner no engine struck the body un- E1 yesterday morning. This opinion, how ever. is refuted by the railroad officials.
 According to w. N. Cox, Superinten- dent of the West Point division of the " SctGAu ESanWdys d DuNCn or nalr cl0tteO with blood was found on a wheel of the passenger train that left here Friday night. This, he says, is conclusive evil dence of the time when the body was crushed.
 Mir. Cox, like Coroner Tice believes. however, that it was a dead body that the train ran over
 When the scene of the tragedy was vis- tied yesterday morning, little blood was found on the trestle or the ground below. The body, although terribly mangled Was only slightly bloody. This, the coroner and railroad officials hold, indicates that breath had left the body some time be- Fore the train reached the trestle.
 In all similar cases I have ever inves- Ggated," said the Coroner, there has been a profusion of blood and the only explanation of its absence in this case ts that the blood had ceased pulsating through the arteries when the body was crushed by the train"
 The Body Discovered.
 The passenger train for Selma stonned yesterday morning when it reached Cato