The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-27
UNIDENTIFIED DEAD
SUICIDE FOUND AT OGDEN IS NOT
 KNOWN.
Before Taking His Life the Stranger At Hotel Concealed Everything That Would Lead To His
 Identity.

Mobile. Feb 26.--(Special)-To the list of unidentified suicides in and around Mobile will be added the man who was found dead with bullet wound in his right temple beneath storm wrecked house on Bayou Coden yesterday afternoon.
 To the people at the Villa Alba Hotel at Coden the man was known as Will liam Smith, but this name is evidently fictitious, from the fact that before ending his troubles the suicide took special care not to leave anything by which his real indentity would be made known Letters, books and all his pos sessions were destroyed and to furth- CT hide his identity the man cut the
 inside band out of his hat on which
 was written the name of the firm from
 whom it was purchased
 The first known of the dead man, was a latter received by the Villa Alba Hotel asking for rates at the hotel. The letter was written on stationery of
 the Windsor Hotel in Mobile and the name William Smith was signed. An answer was sent to this Inquiry for
 rates, and Smith accepted. going i'm
 mediately to Ccden and took up his headquarters at the Villa Alba. Noth- ing in his actions aroused suspicion,
 only that he seemed continually at
 
 the people around tho hotel that hc
 was q correspondent for The St. Louis Globe Democrat. Thursday last the man disappeared from the hotel and was not seen again alive. being found l lying beneath a storm wrecked house | on the banks of Bayou Coden, face downward with a bullet wound in his right temple and 32-calibre pistol grasped tightly in his right hand a ( n f was notified and an undertaken was sent to prepare the remains for burial The body will be held for several days and an effort made to learn the mans l identity
 The only thing found on the dead man that might lead to his real ident- ity was a card of the Turf Exchange | on Cont Street The bartender at the l Turf Exchange was interviewed this
 morning and asked if he remembered 2iving anyone a card who in any way tailed With the description of the man. | He stated that he did give a man a | card who in part tailed with the de- scription, and stated that he wrote his name, w. V. Pearson, on the back of
 the card. MT. Pearson stated that he knew where the man worked, but did
 not know his name. The Advertiser correspondent immediately sent a wire
 to Coden asking if the card of the Turf Exchange found on the dead man had the name Pearson written on the back.
 The reply stated that the card found has no name on the back nor does the name of Mir. Pearson appear on any of his effects.
 The proprietor of the Windsor Hotel | from which the letter was written to Golden asking for rates at the Villa Alba. was seen and stated that he had read of the suicide but did not know Of any one wno left his place for l Coden. He stated that the fact that ! the letter was written on stationery 1 of the Windsor would not make the ! man a euest of his hotel. because many
 people used the stationery who were
 not guests of the hotel
 1 If the mans identity Is not revealed within the next few Gays the body
 will he inferred at Coden among the | unidentified dcGd.