The Washington herald., 1910-11-19

| perA IN Shskct DutFu APFhf ApO~s
| New York, Nov. lS.-The body found
/ in trunk in the cellar OF tenement
at 450 West Fifty-fourth street yester-
day was examined to-day by C0roner's
| Physician Leblanc and Prof. John Nc
/ Allister, who decided that it was that Of
man, and that the victim had been
placed in the zinc coffin-like receptacle
within the trunk while he was still alive
A description of the man, which the
doctors achieved by a process of dedue-
tion from the remains and some knowl-
edge Of the character and habits of Will
/ lam Lewis, the waiter who owned the
trunk. the latter facts contributed by
/ Philip Meagher, in whose keeping Lewis
/ left the trunk, are all the police have
to work on. So far as they reported, they
made little progress in solving the mys-
/ terry to-day, but 1t was said at police
| headquarters that information has been
received which would enable the de-
tectiyes 10 make sure within few hours
whether Lewis is alive or not
TaIIies with Lewis Description.
A strange feature OF the case is that
the description OF the murdered man
I built up by the doctors tallies rather
closely with the description of Lewis
which Meagher and the latters wife
gave the police. The Doctors say that
| IN life the man was tall and thin, had
/ light or red hair. and was partly bald
/ in front His teeth were good. with the
exception of a broken canine on the left
/ side and the second bicuspid on the same
side. which was filled with gold. He
/ had a slight mustache. The doctors
thought he was about thirty-ive years
| old.
/ The only clothing found with the body
was a portion OF a nightshirt. which
| bore the mark OF a New York depart
ment store This was found under the
/ body when it was lifted from the trunk
/ In which. according 70 Meaghers story, it
must have lain for eight years. The doe
tors deduced from their examination that
I the man was alive when the body was
placed in the trunk because Of the condi-
ton OF what remained OF the lungs The
condition OF the body was such that IL
was not possible 10 determine whether
poison had been administered 10 bring
about a stupor. There were no marks OF
violence so far as the doctors could see
There for Eight Years.
The time that the body was placed in
/ the trunk is fixed approximately by news
papers placed on top of the zine easket
These were dated April IS and %, 1902
/ The zinc box inside the trunk was ap-
/ parently the work OF an expert tinsmith.
/ Philip Meagher Lewis friend. who has
stored the trunk since 1902, was called TO
the district attorneys office to-day 10 tell
what he knew His story differed in some
particulars from that which Meagher told
the police when he called them 20 COM
| plete the examination Of the trunk which
/ he dropped in a hurry. he said. after get
/ ting an idea what might be inside.
Meagher told Assistant District Attor-
/ ney Rubin that ne had known Lewis
/ since they were boys together in ROscera,
! Tipperary County. Ireland. Meagher. ac-
cording 10 his storv,s came TO New York
/ In 1889 and was living at 536 West Forty
seventh street. when Lewis turned up in
( 1902. He learned from Lewis that the
/ waiter had already been In New York
/ for a year, having come here in 1901
/ Lewis was a frequent caller at Meagher's
/ house, and when he asked if he might
store a trunk there Meagher made no OBJ
/ lection. Lewis brought the trunk In an
I express wagon and when Meagher ex-
! pressed surprise at its weight explained
1 that II contained a plaster cast belonging
to an artist friend Of his.
Brought Trunk AIcng.
It was not long after this that Lewis
went to live with the Meaghers as a
/ hoarder, and when they moved to the
1 fiat in Fifty-fourth street. he went along
and helped move the trunk. At this time
/ the Meaghers understood that Lewis had
job in a cafe called the Hub. some
where In Thirty-third street, they
thought They also learned that Lewis
/ had lived before coming 20 them some
where in l2ith street. near Eighth ave-
nue..
/ Lewis was away a good deal OF the
! time and he didn't appear TO have steady
work often spending whole weeks sit
| ting about. reading the personals" in
/ the newspa apers. Mrs Meagher says. Dur
/ ing the time he was with them he paid
only s. board, and Mrs. Meagher didn I
/ express any regrets when Lewis said
that he had a job as a walter at Man
/ haitian Beach and was going to live
| down there. He goes out of the story at
that point, for the Meaghers say they
! have never seen or heard from him since.
! This Mrs Meagher says. was in 1905.
But Lewis didn't take his trunk with
! him and Meagher doesn't appear TO have
| thought much about il. for. ii lay un-
noticed in Meagher's bin in the cellar of
/ the fiat house until last Wednesday,
! Mrs Meagher. when questioned to-day
/ about Lewis. gave a description which
( tailed very closely with that built up
| by the doctors for the body in the trunk.
! When a reporter described the dead
mans teeth. she hesitated a moment.
and then said that she was sure that
Lewis had false teeth-an upper and
| lower set
/ further examination of the trunk and
/ the body win be made tomorrow,
Fight on Tuberculosis.
Ithaca, n. Y. Nov 1S.-The New York
State Federation of Womens Clubs. en-