New Britain herald., 1917-03-02

SHdIlcS A. 1dIL, aS0Q LnlIIy -SeV6u years, taxi-cab proprietor of Fl Pearl street, Hartford, met instant death last night at the hands of an un- known assassin while at the wheel of his machine on Kensington avenue in a sparsely inhabited section of the city near the Berlin line Although he is supposed to have met death be- tween and 9 o'clock last night, his lifeless body, huddled in the drivers seat of the machine with rigor mortis fully .developedt was not discovered until shortly after 6 O clock this morn ing, when a passing milkman saw the blood-stained face and rigid figure and noted blood dripping from the body of the car. Fred E.. Carlson of 237 Kensington avenue, former super numerary policeman, now employed by Landers, Frary & Clark. was asked to inform the authorities and did so, getting in touch with Sergeant George J. Kelly at police headquarters. Aside from robbery, the authorities have been unable to secure any tangible clue as to a motive and the identity of Taft's companions last night re- mains a mystery.
 Brother F'avOrs Robbery Theory.
 The body was identtfied at M., J. Kenney & Company's morgue at 351 Main street. shortly after noon by AL bert Taft of Hartford, brother of the victim. He was unable to throw any light on the mystery. said that he knew of no enemies who had threat ened his brothers life and expressed the belief that robbery was the motive for the tragedy. Taft was known al- 1n~~ ,pNnN YNf SNf n. CIV with him and was reputed to be we'll off financially. No money was found on the body, his watch and chain were missing and the vest was unbuttoned and disarranged, as if handled hurriedly in removing valu- ables. There were indications that the pockets of his overcoat and other clothing had been. thoroughly rialed, letters, bills and Utifer persoHAe6es l0ngings Of no vaiue excepting to the owner being scattered about the floor and front seats of the car. Many of them were so stained with blood as to practically make the writing hope less chaos of marks.
 In his tragic end, Taft realized death in the guise which he had often predicted to garage men and concern ing which he had often had pre- monition. Colleagues comment over his oft-expressed statements relative to how taxi drivers are often beaten up, shot or meet some similar tragic end.
 Death Instantaneous.
 An autopsy on the body was per- formed this afternoon by pr. Philip D. Bunce of Hartford, medical exana- iner in that town and representative
 IT fN>1 Yr> was assisted by Dr. Harry. A. Elcock. medical examiner, of this city. It was found that the bullet had en- tered his skull on the right side short distance above the neck and itself in the right lower part of the brain. Death was tn- according to the sur geons, and Taft was sent into eternity warning or knowledge of what had happened. The hair was not singed, showing conclusively that the revolver had been held some dis tance away by the unknown passenger or one of several passengers.
 Nurse Secs Auto Stop.
 In fixing the time of the tragedy, probably the most important clue is furnished by Miss Ruth Alling. a nurse whose home sets back from avenue almost oppo- site from the spot where the death taxi was found. It was shortly after S:3O last night, she says, when she opened the front door of her home and her attention was attracted to a untitled sound that she thought to be the door of an automobile being slammed shut. She glanced down the l road and noted the closed taxi com- Ing to a halt almost directly under !! an electric light at the right side of the road. Nothing unusual was thought of this until the gruesome discovery this, morning as there is a physician i'll in the neighborhood and another physician had been accus- tomed to make late calls. leaving his 1, automobile in almost the same spot ! IS where the death car drew up. The believe that the sound heard by her was the revolver shot, 1 partially silenced by the tightly-closed ] storm top of the taxi. This morning. the rear door on the right side of the car was swinging open, indicating that the occupants of the rear seats l had made a hurried exit.
 Revolver Is Missing.
 Absolutely nothing was found about the car and in the vicinity to give any clue as to the identity of tho ! even the revolver being 1 taken away. Search of the immediate yards, fields and shrubbery by police officials and volunteers Jailed to disclose anything in the way of a clue or trace of the revolver T1, fyn0 Af a prevented any attempt to discover in which way the cars living passen- gers departed. Crews of trolley cars