Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-07-24

Oisfigursd Remains of Girl Found
Near Illinois City Sat.
urdaY.
PROBABLY HARRISON GIRL
Davenport Young Woman Had PreVi-
ousIy Attempted Suicide, and Miss
ing Since Monday.

The body of a young woman, now
supposed to be Alma Harrison. of Dav-
export. who disappeared suddenly, was
| found floating in the Mississippi river
near Illinois City about 1870 Saturday
afternoon. her throat cut almost from ear
10 ear Coroner Eckhart authorized
justice of the peace 10 hold an inquest
and the jury. probably without any
| knowledge of who the girl was and no
other evidence TO bear on the case. de-
cided that she came to her death by
foul play Relatives of Miss Harrison
from Davenport departed at noon today
for Muscatine and from there will go
over to see if the remains can be iden-
tilted by them.
Wore Diamond Ring.
The body was found by George Hat
ton opposite Wyoming hill. The nose
and teeth were smashed and the face
was discolored. although the limbs
were not. On the third finger of her
left hand was a diamond ring. She
would weigh about 1875 pounds. had
light hair, wore a white shirt waist and
a black belt. her clothing all giving the
appearance that she was well dressed.
The cutting of the throat apparently
had been done with a knife. II was
believed that the body had been in the
water for at least As hours. Alma Har
rison has been missing since week |
ago today.
Out on W. W.
The Davenport young woman at |
tempted TO take her life about a month I
ago and for about two weeks was kept |
under surveillance. and was thought to
have become contented in living out
her natural life. Monday. accompanied |
by a number of friends and relatives, |
she went to Buffalo on the excursion |
steamer w. w. In the evening when |
the party was to board the boat Miss 7,
Harrison was nowhere to be found. !
The authorities were notified soon af- |
ter and had been looking for her since. !
Dance Die.
Dance hall or death seemed to be
what Miss Harrison's mind was made |
up TO. this being revealed when she |
made the attempt to poison herself |
Under a physicians care she recover |
ed from the effects of the drug, and |
her sanity was inquired into by ply |
stefan and he found that she was sane,
but had practically danced herself to
death. However, she confessed that Il
was only under the ball room lights.
where the harp strains could be heard.
that life was worth living to her. and !
could hardly be convinced that the
bright lights were shining anywhere ,
but there
Under MatrOn's Care.
For four days she was under the
care of Matron Hill at the house of de
tentiOn, where an attempt was made to
convince her that there were other
things in this world aside from the glis-
tening floor the harp strains and the
brilliant scenes of the ball room whirl.
When she left the care of the matron
it was thought that she was in a more
cOntented frame of mind and willing
to continue this life at the home of
her widowed mother.
Nothing is known that detracts from
the reputation of the girl. but she had
simply developed a craze for the dance
and became melancholy when she could
not breathe the ball room air, which
seemed to be life to her.
Body Was buried.
MOI DelnS Iamlllar with the clrcum- |
Coroner Eckhart authorized
the burial of the remains, but this
learned that the interment had
been near the river bank where she
was found. This was contrary to the
practice Of the coroner, which has been
to give all persons a respectable burial.
and he Immediately gave orders for the
body TO be exhumed. Ii will be viewed
by the Davenport people. and if it
does not prove to be Miss Harrison it
will be again inferred under different