Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-27
Tragic Deed by an Unideuti-
fed White Man.
BODY. HELD AT MORGuE
Man Of Respectable Appearance and
Evidently Of Good Family Con-
nection-APolice Investigation.

An unknown white man. respectfully at
tired and believed to be between forty-five
and fifty-five Years old. committed suicide
about $40 o'clock this morning near the old
Massachusetts avenue Tor Thompson)
bridge across Rock creek. by shooting HIM
self In the head. The weapon used was an
old English bull dog revolver. .3S caliber.
He placed the muzzle Of the weapon in his
mouth, being pointed upward, and pulled
the trigger by pressure from his thumb.
when Policeman J. F. Sullivan of the
tenth precinct reached the scene few
minutes after the deed was committed, he
found the man was dead The pistol was
held In his right hand, while lying On the
ground were seven cartridges, one of 20
caiiber and the others of .3S. Tie paste
board box in which the suicide carried the
revolver, was also on the ground. Its 2ur-.
chase mark was 'T6, 1914" written with
lead pencil.
The spot selected for the commission of
the act was in densey shaded ravine
about 200 feet east of the old Massachu-
setts Avenue bridge. and Ohlcer Sullivan
said 1t was his opinion that, had not col
ored youth been near at hand when the
fatal shot was fired, the body might have
remained undiscovered in the secluded spot
for long time.
Robert Blackwell's Statement.
Blackwell. who IS employed as butler by
Dr. George Barrie of 1921 Massachusetts
avenue. This morning Robert went out in
the vicinity of Rock Creek with DR.. Bar
rie's pet bull dog to give the animal exer-
cise
When near the bridge he noticed a
white man walking briskly toward him.
The man. according to the colored boy,
had worried expression on his face, and
seemed to be in a hurry"
The stranger seemed to be undecided
! which way go, but he finally descended
into the ravine and sought the shady nook
where he ended his life.
I saw him take pistol from his
pocket, said Blackwell. and I passed
along. In three or four minutes I heard
the report of "a pistol, and retraced my
steps. The man was lying on his back,
and l began to search for a policeman
The man must have had to load the pistol
before shooting-himself. judging from
the time that elapsed from the moment
| he entereH The Bushes until the shot was
fred. ---
Later argentleman came to where the
corpse was lying. who, was told. was Cor
Oner hewitt. He examined the body, and
said the dead man was neatly but cheaply
| Policeman Sullivan. who searched through
the dead mans clothing for some paper or
article by which he could learn his name;
| said he failed to find anything that would
lead to HIS Identification. After the body
nau been removed, to the mOrgue the cloth
| ing was again examined by Morgue Master
| Schoneberger. who discovered that the dead
mans ma .n linen was marked with the let
Policeniar Sullivan found box of medi-
cine which had been purchased at Girls
| wells pharmacy. It'll and F streets; a
bunch of ikeys marked washington. D.
c. IS in money, a pair of steel spectacles.
| which had been dropped from his eyes; a
silver watch nd some tobacco tags.
| description of Dead Man.
The dead man bore evidence of having
taken good care of, himself,
! He was five feet eight inches tall. with
gray hair and mustache, his head being
bald about half way back. He was dressed
in a neat, but not very. costly, business
d! suit the. pants being of a mixed gray: the
, coat darker. with.a brown stripe running
| through the goods. He wore white sus-
| penders, a white shirt, rubber collar and a
| black derby hat of size ~. -. s,,t si.sf'9
| He had the appearance of being a man
| about town and his appearance, the police
I man said, did not Indicate that he was a
| victim of either sickness or poverty.
/ A small colored boy, who gave his name
+ as Samuel Brown. said he met man who
looked like the dead man on Massachusetts
! avenue about 8 ocloek this morning
He was talking to himself said the
| boy, land heard him say something about
too much trouble =