New-York tribune., 1919-08-15
One of Two Who Registered
Early in Morning After
Advance Payment Is Mis-
sing; No Clew Is Found
Slight Wound on Body
Medical ExaminerMystifed,
but Will Hold Autopsy
to Solve McAlpin Mystery

An unidentified man was found dead
in room 1897 Of the Hotel McAlpin at
1880 yesterday afternoon.
He is believed to be one of the two
men who registered at the hotel at 2
o'clock yesterday morning. Their sig
natures on the registration sheet, al
though almost illcgible, were deciph-
cred as P. J. Pouvre and c. E. Lam
don, both of New York. They had no
baggage, and on payment of $40 in
advance they were assigned to room
1897.
Which of the two is the dead man
is a mystery. The other has dsap
pearcd.
The only mark indicating violence
found upon the body is a laceration
over the left eye. The face was COW
cred with towel soaked in blood, ap
parently from this cut. The police be-
lieve it is a case of homicide, although
the only visible wound does not seem
sufficient to have caused death.
Was Taller of Pair
The dead man was identified by the
clerk who registered the pair as the
taller of the two. He does not recall
which name the tall man signed. The
dead man is about five feet seven
inches in height
1t seemed to the clerk that the two
were intoxicated. The voice of the tall
man was thick as he asked for the
room and paid $40.
AS they left the elevator and turned
down the hall to go to the room one
shouted "Squads right" The other
luughingly obeyed.
Neither was seen after this until
$3.50 in the afternoon, when maid en-
tered, intending to clean up the room
She saw a man lying on top of the
blankets, with a towel over his face,
house detective.
Osston found that the man was
dead and notified the police.
A squad of twenty-five detectives,
headed by Inspector John J. Gray,
head of the Detective Bureau, immc
diately went to the hotel.
No Money on Body
No money was found upon the body,
and, according to the night clerk, the
man had showed no money when he
registered except that with which he
paid for the room. His only piece
of jewelry was a small gold ring bear
ing Japanese design.
He wore underwear like that issued
by the United States army, and around
his waist was a khaki-colored web belt
with the insignia 90. NJ. CO. A hat
was found in the room bearing the
mark of a store on Amsterdam Ave
nue., in the Washington Heights dis
trct He was in civilian clothes.
Gustave Dennison, chief house de-
tectivc, said that he believed he had
seen the dead man, in uniform
around the hotel.
Il recollect the face, bat I can't place
it," he said. "Hc IVES not a regular
patron of the hotel, but l think | have
seen him around. The face is con-
nected in my mind with a soldiers
uniform and | have no doubt that this
man had just been mustered out.
"His shoes were new, which is ad
dtonal indication that he had just
been discharged"
Cause of Death Mystery
Assistant Medical Examiner George
Holman, who examined the body, was
unable to say what had caused death.
also present. The body was taken to
the Morgue, where an autopsy will be
performed to-day.
No one has been found who saw the
missing man leave the hotel. The po-
lice declare they hove no clcw by which
to locate him. The names of both men
were sent to the Bureau of Missing
Persons to be traced.
When the body was found it had on
neither collar nor socks. The room was
not disarranged, and no trace of a
struggle was visible.
The dead man had black hair, gray
eyes and a long upper lip. He wore a
blue serge suit, brown oxford shoes and
a purple linen shirt with black stripe