New-York tribune., 1908-02-06
DOUBLE DEATH PUZZLE
JTONEN,S BODIES FOUND.
Leauc Nothing for Police to De-
termine What Killed Them.

Alone but with food and clothing and fuel
about them two women were found dead yes
terday afternoon in the kitchen OF the big house
at No. 351 West list street, the younger with
| her head pillowed in the lap of the Older woman
There marks Of violence on their bodies.
and nothing indicate that they had come to
their death either by accident suicide. MIX
| left for them was frozen bread and meat left
about was frozen solid, and was the water In
all the pipes and other receptacles In the mousse
Mrs Margaret Meek Bert the elder Of the
women apparently had been at least well-to-do
| at some time and acquaintance OF many
well known persons as was shown by letters
and photographs about the room. A few trinkets
and toilet articles in her bedroom were supple
merted by pawn tickets which told where 9TH
ers had gone.
| The other woman known as Mrs Mar
garet Kelly She about forty years DID,
while Mrs. Berti was seventy. The close friend
! ship Of the women made the servants about the
neighborhood believe them to be mother and
daughter
Coroner Harburger's investigation showed
that of the twenty-five rooms in the house the
two women had occupied only three. the kitchen
dining room and parIor in the basement. In
| these three rooms. however. were found SIX cots
| and one double folding bed. each with full
quota OF bedclothes and each one disarranged
as if recently used. The coroner took possession
of the property of the women and ordered the
| bodies removed to the Morgue, where an autopsy
will be held this morning.
James Meek, the brother of Mrs BERT, called
there and identified his sisters body and also
made ARRANGEMENTS for its care by an under
| taI1er He professed entire ignorance as to
Mrs Kelly but he also admitted that he had not
been in frequent communication with his sister
That Mrs. Kelly was not his sisters daughter,
he was positive.
Jamie Leck, of No. 32 ST. Clare street, Glas-
COW Scotland was said by Mr.. Meek TO be a
| nephew of the dead woman, and he added that
| she had many relatives in that country.
A representative of the agent who has the
| house in charge went to the house, which stands
next to the New York Central tracks, in the
afternoon and entering by means of a pass key
| found the bodies in the kitchen. Mrs Berti sat
| In a rocking chair and Mrs Kelly on stool at
her feet shawl was about the shoulders OF
Mrs Berti, but Mrs. Kelly had on only thin
| wrapper over scanty supply of understanding
An ambulance physician said they had been deao
/ at least day The room was in filthy condi-
| ton Ashes were strewn over the floor and un-
| washed dishes were piled in corner. mixed with
empty fruit and vegetable cans. In side room
| q pocemans billy and an old revolver were
found on a. cot but these probably belonged to
| women,
| day. cleaning the sidewalk. They occupied
only the rooms in the basement, which were
furnished in a meagre way, although articles
/ here and there showed that they were not
| common servants In the rear of the rooms Is
an iron door common to houses of that type.
This was found unlocked and open, but there
were no marks on it to show that 1t had been
forced Neither were there any marks of dis
| order in the room such as would indicate
struggle
The puzzle to the police is why the. women
| should have died with food clothing and fuel
| about them: how they could have been killed or
have committed suicide without any external
| evidence. or have died by disease at the same
I time The autopsy will be held this morning.
| and Dr. O'Hanlons report may reveal one OF the
most mysterious cases in the city in the last few
months.
Books letters and photographs strewn about
| the room showed that the women. though evil
IDENTIFY dying in the midst of want, squalor and
filth had formerly been connected in some way
with many men who were much in the pubic
eye a few years ago. Letters found on the
kitchen table from J. Watson Berti to his
mother proved that her son had been a soldier
| in the Spanish-American War. a member Of an
engineer corps and later q captain Of a Span
ish- A Americ9n War veterans post. There was
also a receipt for his tombstone in Fairlawn
Cemetery.
One OF the photographs, which was on top OF
the pile, was of Henry Irving. the actor, and
written on the back of that were the words:
"Y ours truly Henry Irving. to j. S. Meek. April
% 1890" According to Mrs. Alena Clark, who
formerly lived In the furnished room house
which Mrs. Berti conducted until October. at
Nos 400 and All Fourth avenue, J. s. Meek
Mrs Bertis first husband. from whom. Mrs.
Clark said, Mrs. Berti was separated twenty
years ago in Glasgow, Scotland.
Mrs. Clark also told about the brother, James
Meek who called at the morgue later
Mrs Berti's second husband, J. ". Berti ac
cording to Mrs. Clark died In November. 1905.
He had quarreled with his wife and went out
| of the house. A few minutes later word
brought back to the wife that he the
way to the New York Hospital. seriously in
iured He never recovered consciousness. and
| he died without knowing that his wife at
his bedside begging his forgiveness for their
| trivial quarrel.
This affair, Mrs Clark said, had apparently
had a bad effect Mrs Bert and from then on
she was continually brooding, and her former
lodger declared that the trouble had In some
measure unsettled the widows mind
FIFTH 4TE. NOTICES OFT.