The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-01-08
Chicken Bones and Pieces
OF a Sausage Found in
Bundle Of Rags.
Deputy Sheriff Makes a
Statement; Saw The
Body OF a Child.
From MONDAYS Daily.


The twin city papers yesterday
contained sensational stories about
the alleged body of baby, which
the state is trying TO connect will
Ambrose Ref, in its charge of muir
der against him, turning out to be
package of chicken bones and sau
sage left by some tramp, and found by
someone, who thought it the remain;
of an infant and turned it over tC
the Hennepin county authorities. The
following is from the Minneapolis
Journals:
A few chicken bones and severa
pieces of sausage. found in bun
die of rags last night at Comolly'S
undertaking rooms after the package
was brought from the vaults of the
Hennepin county poor farm, cleared
up a murder mystery, and Andrew
Ref. farm hand held ut Mankato
Mimi. on charge of murder, has
cause To rejoice.
The discovery Of the sausage wrap.
ped in cloths, together with few
chicken bones, indicated, certain coun.
" officials, said, that murder had
been committed The bundle was found
in Il box car OF the Minneapolis
81 Louis railroad, seeral weeks ago
The Last Link"
Coroner j. N. kistler said deatl
was due TO natural causes when
the body was discovered The bun
die was placed in the vaults of the
poor farm. Last Tuesday G. G. Phil
lips deputy, Sheriff OF Blue Earth
county. arrived in Minneapolis from
Alankato and went to the vaults of
the poor farm. viewed the body" and
positively identified the cloths that
encased it as 1.-The last link" in what
he said was chain of evidence need
ed ito cinch the case of the county,
Ambrose Ref, the alleged murderer
has already been arrestd in Mankato
according to Sheriff Phillips. The
clothes. he said, came from the farm
of Mrs. Emma Zimmerman, widow
living near Mankato, by whom Ref
had been employed as a farm hand.
Phillips said that on March 20 a
child died at the Zimmerman farm,
that it was a ease of death
from natural causes, Ref ac-
ted suspiciously, the Authorities al
legged. and his arrest followed. He
was held to the grand jury.
The sausage was recognized by I'M
dertaker Connolly last night when
the bundle was brought to the es-
adjustment to be sent to Mankato
10 be produced III evidence.
Another Story of the Infant.
This is the Minneapolis Tribune s
story of the infant
A rag and bone and hank of
hair" was Kiplings description of a
woman but it required mucl less than
those indications OF human being
TO make several men, among them
public officials, see a perfect form of
a real. flesh and blood baby.
Incidently, on the strength of the
discovery" of the body" a band of
evidence was being drawn about the
neck of one unfortunate man down
at Mankato, Mimi, which in the
minds of thousands of people was soon
to strangle out his life on the scat
fold on the charge of infanticide.
The end of what was believed to
be a horrible, dark and mysterious
deed of coldblooded human savagery
came last night. and was succeeded
by q tale of drolest, almost unbeliev-
able error.
Sausage and Biscuit.
The bundle of rags which was de-
clared by morgue keepers, deputy
sheriifs and cOrOners and Others to
contain the body of the murdered in
FAINT. was last night found to be
nothing else than quantity of 'blut-
Wrist" sausage, bones and Il weevil-
eaten soda biscuit
The supposed dark and bloody deed
was believed to nave been found out
when, on Nov 20, the aforementioned
bundle was found in a freight car in
tle NJ. & st. l.. r. r. yards, Mime
apolis. following report from Man
kato that a baby recently born to a
wealthy widow living on farm near
that city had been murdered, placed
in sack which, with some other
rags, was sold to "a peddlar, who
in turn, shipped the lot to Minneapo-
lis in box car.
The conclusion WIS Immediately
jumped at that the discovery in the
box car in Minneapolis was undoubt-
eddy the body OF the child, and GER
tain portions of the contents of the
bag, together with the unmistakable
odor which it eXuded, greatly strength
ened the deduction.
Meanwhile Il man named Ref, said
to be a sutton for the hand of the
widow, was placed under arrest on the
testimony of farm hand in the
neig lborhood, and bound over to the
grand jury and indicted on a charge
of having murdered the child, The
widow backed up the testimony of
fered regarding the sale of the rags
and everything looked lovely to the
IA U r. Wa certain that