New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-11-18
NEW TRUNK MYSTERY
BATTLES The POLICE
Body in Cellar Of Tenement
House, in West 54ji1 Street
Cant Tell Sex.
VICTIRA DEAD FIVE YEARS
Detectives Fail to Report Case
Until Long After Discovery
Was Made by
Janitor.

Detectives are working on a trunk
mystery which was unearthed yester-
day. The police say il is one of the
strangest cases they have had 10 deal
with Judging from the almost feshless
skeleton found in the trunk and story
told by Philip Meagher. of No $40 West
9TH street, the murder was committed
more than five years ago. But the police
are not yet prepared to say it is a mur-
der case.
Meagher, according to the police dis
covered the skeleton when he opened the
trunk where it had lain in the cellar
fCr years The trunk was left in Mea-
gher's charge by a man named William
Lewis. 1t had never been disturbed, he
said. in all that time. and had been
slowed away in the cellar, surrounded
by kindling wood and rubbish At
times, Meagher told the police. a pc
culiar door had been noticed appar-
emily coming from the trunk but. not
caring TO interfere with the property of
another. he never had investigated.
The skeleton would have remained un-
discovered for a longer time if the
Meagher family had not decided to move
from the West 54th street house. The
question of taking the trunk along came
up. and Measher said that he decided
to open it to see whether it contained
anything of value to justify him in cart
ing It away with his own effects,
Neagher reported the finding of the
skeleton TO Lieutenant O'Neill, of the
West 47th street station, and Patrolman
Mccormack was sent around to make a
report. The Fourth Branch Detective
Bureau was informed and Detectives
O'Grady and Mckinney were put to work
on the case. Coroner Winterbottom
after looking at the trunk and the body
had them sent to the morgue, where an
autopsy viii be performed to-day by
COroner's Physician Leblanc
The trunk is an ordinary wooden one
about four feet long and three feet deep,
covered with brown canvas. Inside is a
lining of zinc. The space between the
zinc lining and the outer shell is filed
with plaster of paris. The body was evi-
IDENTIFY trUssed up, with the knees under
A rope had been used TO keep the
members of the body in position, but the
rope had long since rotted az - De-
composition was So 1ar advanc. : that II
was impossible to determine the sex
without expert examination.
Though the police had been working
on the mysterious discovery since early
Yesterday afternoon II was NOT 1rri'
late in the evening that it became public
Even then few details could be learned
and the impression got around that the
detectives had some clews which they
did not care to have made public
Coroner Winterbottom examined Mea-
CHER closely for long time No arrest
had been made up to midnight
Outside OF the trunk was bundle OF
New York papers bearing date, of Feb
ruary, 1902. Around the body were
stuffed copies of various papers. The
dates on them correspond with the time
at which Meagher told the police Lewis
came TO his f1at.
There was a report that either Meagh-
er or his wife had said that the trunk
had been sent to Lewis a month or two
after he moved into the house at No
450 West 54th street
Coroner Winterbottom said that nc
suspicion attached to Meagher or his
family. Mrs. Meagher, the coroner said
had told him that none of the family
knew much about Lewis He was quiet
and reserved, and never spoke Of his
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