The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-27

street bridge on the Harrison side Of the
Passaic River to the clubs %boathouse.
1t was at this latter point that William
Scales. a boatman, and who lives on the
Clara, locked near the clubhouse, picked
up half of a woman undershirt. The
garment was of pink color, cheap material.
and was cut up the centre identically in
the same manne as the red coat found
on the banks of the river yesterday morn
ing. Policeman Camplon took this to Har-
rison police headquarters.
The finding of this garment at this point
tends to conve two things. One Is that
the man who was seen by Peter Coogan,
of IA First street. this city. night watch
man at the Marine Engine Works, with a
bundle Christmas night, and who crossed
the Centre street bridge, may have thrown
the woman's clothing over the railing, in
order to hide any possible identity Of the
dead woman, providing he was the muir
derer. The other is that the murder may
have been committed on the Newark side
of the river and the tidewater carried the
undergarment toward the b~oathouse. The
Harrison police stick to this latter theory.
Another story Of a strange man being
seen in the vicinity Of the Marine Engine
c~ompany's plant was gathered today by
an EVENING STAR man.
John Thumm is the proprietor of a
saloon on the northeast corner Of New
Jersey Railroad avenue and First street.
Harrison. Business was slow Christmas
night about 10 o'clock, and Thumm and
his wife were in the saloon. They were
anxious to get upstairs TO their living
apartments to finish their Christmas tree
celebration, then Thumm heard the shut
fling Of feet. as il someone was scraping
mud from his shoes.
THinkfnn that cnna ann daafra1 ~ an
ter the saloon from the Railroad avenue
side, Thumm opened the front door and
looked out. He saw a well built woman,
resembling in every particular the descrip-
tior of the dead woman, accompanied by
a short, stocky man. walking %northward
in First street. lie paid no more attention
to them and closed his place.
Thumm is positive that he saw the
couple somewhere around 1920 o'clock,
which partially contradicts the time set
by Waterman Coogan, who said last night
that he saw them about 10 O'Clock walk
ing south in First street. Today when
Coogaii was seen again he was willing to
admit that 1t might have been II o'clock.
This would show that the couple after
passing Thumm's retraced their steps and
made for the desolate spot where the
woman vas found dead.
Isadore Lowery, of West hirty-eighth
street. New York. called at Harrison
police headquarters today and said that
his wife had deserted him several weeks
ago, going away with an italian. The
description tailed somewhat with that OF
the dead woman. He was taken to
Walsh's morgue by Policeman Campion,
but when he gazed on the dead woman's
features his only remark was:
mo. 1t is not my luck. I was in hopes
of finding my wife here. Then I would
have looked for the man she went away
with. l was told they came this way, and
! think now they are in Paterson"
With this he left TO catch an Erie train
for that city.
A man who said his name was Thomas
Smith, about SO years old, OF 14S Brill
street, this city, walked into the morgue
today and said that he had not seen his
wife since last August, and that she an
swered the description of the murdered
woman. When he saw the body, how
ever, he was o~Ver1oyed to discover that
1t was not his wife. Smith said that his
wife is, or was. employed at st. Michael's
Hospital, This city. and is 81 years old.
Every member Of the Passaic River
Yaeht Club resolved today to examine
their boats, which lie on the shore OF the
Passaic River, fully 500 yards away from
80 y ~ ~ 1Nhho AAA " A1oNlAA
the work Of the police. and in the hopes
that come portion of the woman's cloth
ing may be unearthed. The members feel
that the finding of articles near the club
house may lead some of the fanciful
writer's to cast aspersion on the club.
There are fifty boats locked there and
each Of them is getting an overhauling
today.
Various features were obtained late yes
IL. - f,rt ia l.. kh- 49, % H.
terviews with persons who thought what
they had seen or heard Christmas night
might be of value to the police.
Coogan. who is night Waterman at the
Marine Engine Company plant, about four
blocks away from the spot where the body
was found, remembered a strange incident
previously alluded to. This Is his story;
II don't watch things around this place
very much IN i don't pay very much
attention to anyone elses business, but
what l do see, / see, and if the Harrison
police took pains to see half az much
there wouldn't be anybody coming around
here bothering me about these things. l
guess 1t was about 10 o'clock last night,
that's Christmas night. as l was making
my rounds; 1 was crossing a street to the
annex of the works. when h shutting
of feet on the flag pavements attracted
my attention. l looked in the direction
of Railroad avenue and saw a woman.
well built. and a man.
II was a short and stockily-built eiap;
she was a big. powerful woman. l see
some of these things quite often, but was
curious enough to put my lantern behind
me under my coat and slip into the mill
door and stand hidden and wait for the
couple to pass. The man was walking
just a little bit ahead of the woman, and
as they passed me they didn't speak to
each other. They didn't see me. This
woman had on a red jacket and her hat
had either a wnlte feather or a white
ribbon on it. AS they neared an arc light
a block lower down, the woman stopped.
! thought she put something into Der