The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-09
AGONIzED MOTHER
 IDENTIFIES BODY Mrs. SpiIker Believes It Is Her
 Son WAS AWAY FOR FIVE YEARS Lady From Warrior Is Almost Positive That Boy Killed In Railroad Yard Is Son She Was Expect
 ing Home.
WAS AWAY FOR FIVE YEARS

In an almost uabearable state of anxie- ty and fear for the life of her son, whom she has not seen for nearly five years, a little woman named Mrs. SpilSer. whose present home is at Warrior. called at the undertaking. establishment of Shaw & Son yesterday to view the remains of the boy who was run over and killed by a locomotive in the railroad yards near Sloss furnace some days ago. Mrs. Spilker states that she has every req son to believe that the boy who met such a tragic death Is her son, and prac- tically everything hinges now on re- ply to a telegram sent to Victoria, Brit ish Columbia, yesterday afternoon.
 Yesterday morning Mrs. Spilker called at the office of The Age-Herald and told of having read the account of the death of the boy. She stated that, while she had not seen her son for five years, she believed that it was her boy who had been killed She was directed to the es- tablshment of Shaw 6 Son where the remains of the boy are being held.
 At the undertaking establishment Mrs. Spilker was shown into the morgue and upon the sight of the body of the boy she was almost overcome by the strik- ing resemblance of the deceased youth to her Own son. She states that the only feature not familiar to her is the shape of the nose. In life the boy must have resembled Mrs. Spiker very much. The teeth, shape of the ears, hands, fingers and features in general, with the eXcep- tion of the nose bear a great similarity
 Mrs Spilker relates that her son left her, going to Victoria, five years ago when they lived in St. Louis Since that time she has moved to Birmingham and a short time ago she went to War rior. She states that she has not seen her son since he left St. Louis but has received one or two letters every month' She said yesterday that in his last letter her son wrote of his intention to come south to visit her and since this letter was received she has not heard from him.
 Mrs. Spilker is firm in the belief that the QeCedS6Q DOy W do ici SoAi. =A'AAo H~f poses that the boy left Victoria without much money and became stranded before reaching Birmingham, and that upon reaching this city and not knowing her present address and being unable to as- certain where she lived, he intended to go elsewhere.
 All circumstances which have devel- oped so far tend to indicate that Mrs. Spiller is correct in her supposition and that the negro who first called at Shaw & Sons to identify the remains stated that he had come from Jacksonville, Fla, with the boy and that he had told him that he was from the far north. Again, a lady residing in the vicinity of Avenue E and Twenty-ifth street called to view the remains several days ago and stated that she had every reason to believe that the body was that of a boy who had called at her home on the day before the accident and asked for something to eat. She states that she asked the boy if he was not cold and that he told her he did not feel the weather as he had come from the north, where it was very cold
 Mrs. Spilker believes almost to a cer- tainty that She has made no mistake in the identification of the body as that Of her son. .ne lays much stress on one point-that of the boys hair. The head of hair of the boy who was killed Is very heavy, very stiff and of a peculiar reddish color, a deep, dark red, which would at first appear to be brown. The hair is almost like bristles. Mrs. Spill ker says that she used to scold her son about not combing his hair, and that he would always tell her that it would not comb. that it was too stiff. She also states that her sons face was freckled in very similar manner to that of the deceased boy, whose remains have, so far, not been positively identified
 Yesterday afternoon Mrs. Spilker sent A telegram to the address to which she had been writing her son. She states that if the reply bears information that her son has left Victoria she will be cer- tain that the body here is his. She a waits the answer with much anxiety, dreading that it may state that her son has left Victoria.
 An answer to Mrs. Spilker's telegram Is expected to arrive not later than this although 1t may take several days to ascertain whether or not her son is still in Victoria.
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