Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-08-31

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the meager facts each edition brought
them. The stories in the morning
papers but whetted their appetites for
more. In the early evening papers,
on the streets before the average
businessman had even thought of
| leaving his bed, were stories that
bristled with 1urid speculation. But
! that was ALL There was nothing be-
yond the actual finding of the dead
man, the woman who had come with
him, and the astonishing fact that he
had been brought to the restaurant
dead.
There all facts ended and reporter
ial imagination ran riot. Every pa
| per had its own theory weird, Won
derful, ridiculous. Each proved its
facts after its own style. But what
every one who had been in the din
ningroom had seen was all that any
one seemed to know. There was not
thing that would tell who the man
was nor whence he had come. The
pockets had been absolutely empty.
The woman was a mystery; not one
of the hundred of keen-nosed news
paper sleuths who were securing the
city had had time to connect the clair
voyant of the Peck Slip district with
the strange woman who had entered
the restaurant. The waiter who had
helped and then disappeared, was be-
ing searched for in every nook of the
city. But he had disappeared COM
pletely. The woman, too, had gone
from the hotel to step into oblivion.
According to the taxi starter, she
I had refused a cab, and had walked
around the corner. If there had been
another machine waiting there no one
had seen her enter it.
An interview with Manager Carl at
the Beaumonde was very brief 1t con-
sisted of newspaper mans questions
and slam of the office door in his
face. Interviews with Captain Nc
Mann and Coroner Bierbauer were
equally terse. Come to the coroner's
inquest at ten o'clock" was the gist
of both.
So the coroner's suite was filled
when Bierbauer, with the pompous
authority that marks the official busi-
ness of the city, started the proceed
| ings. Newspaper writer's jostled ell
bows with newspaper artists in their
who sought eagerly the one touch of
human nature in the case that yielded
no straight facts, wrote notes about
the crowd of morbidly curious that in
fest such places at such times. Bier
bauer selected his jury with the dis
patch of long practice, and necks were
| craned eagerly for the first witness.
Doctor Brown!" called the coroner,
and a we'll known police surgeon took
the stand. crossed this legs, uncrossed
| them, cleared his throat Importantly
and leaned back comfortably, con-
scious that he had made a good i'm
preston on the newspaper men. He
carefully kept his profile toward the
lean-faced young man whose pencil
was busily working over a sketch
from life"
Going to take no chances of his
own judgment being wrong" went
the whisper among the reporters.
-.
capacity, and length of service were
established and then came the first
question.
What in your opinion. was the
cause of the victims death?" asked
Bierbauer victim" evidently being
the official designation of the bearded
man.
"Arteriotomy. The wrist arteries
were slashed and the man bled to
death"
Isn't this supposed to be painless
method of suicide?"
! "Yes. After the first sharp sting of
the incisions the victim feels about
the same sensation as that of morphia;
the dreamy, floating-away feeling,
! lassitude, and then gentle sleep. 1t
! is, of course much slower than an
! opiate, and never gained wide favor
among the unfortunate victims of mel
ancholia because of the innate horror
would you, as a practicing phys
ician and surgeon, on your oath, give
| it as your opinion that the victim in
this case might have been a suicide ?"
| mol" The negative reply came
sharply.
why not?"
There were unmistakable marks
of violence on the body"
Heads lifted in all parts of the
room. The inquest was surely carry
ing out its promise of startling de-
velopments.
Tell the jury the nature of the
marks?"
The police surgeon uncrossed his
legs and recrossed them again. He saw
that the artists pencil was idle, and
fiXed his body in more comfortable
hposition.
The largest mark was on the left
side, directly over the heart, starting
ALMOST at the breastbone and extend
ing under the left arm at the armpit
1t was bruise, six inches long and
nearly two inches wide"
This could be made, how?" inter-
jected the coroner.
Il should say"-the witness cleared
his throat impressively that it
| had been made by a heavy club, The
| blow was struck over the heart while
the victim had his arms raised, pro-
ably in an attitude of pleading for
mercy"
Two: A wide welt on the left fore
arm and a bruise on the shoulder that
could only have been made by a ter
rible grip of fingers"
Gould you tell, by the marks.
whether they had been made by the
hand of man or a particularly strong
woman, such as the one who support
ed the dead MANI"
mo. The hand that made the
shoulder mark, and probably the welt
on the wrist, was heavily gloved, to
prevent Bertillon measurement and
comparison. The arm bruise is a welt
because the fingers entirely encircled
the thin forearm. The man could not
have weighed more than a hundred
pounds. Age and a sedentary life had
wasted the body. On the narrow
shoulder, the finger ends sunk into the
flesh"
How would you place the time of
death 2"
About seven hours before exam
ined the body, or about six hours be-
fore you first saw it."
Then there is no doubt that the
man who apparently walked to the
| table was dead? ?"
Again all heads lifted and all ears
strained for the answer Each per
son in the room knew what it wopld
be; yet each wanted to hear confirma-
tion of the thing that seemed SO i'm
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