The Washington times., 1919-05-18

that the missing man had an
American eagle tattooed on his right
arm and a gold front tooth"
The rest Is simple for the mOrgue
keeper. II he had ever had the
body of the missing" man, he will
be able to refer to his records and
in the twinklinE of an eye tell the
spot where it has been buried in
Potter's Field, the final resting place
for paupers and the unclaimed dead,
forgotten in death as they were in
life.
Many Missing Found in MOrgue.
These records are tucked away in
the archives in the chamber of the
unclaimed dead at the morgue.
Strange to say, distressed relatives
and friends. shocked to learn Of the
death of their kin or acquaintances,
are immensely gratified in the realiza-
ton Of finding the missing who can
be given decent burial Countrywide
searches have been, instituted for the
missing only to end frequently in
the finding OF their bodies at the
morgue. Gratitude. and even joy. hlls
the hearts of the relatives to find the
much-sought bodies of those who
long since had formed part Of the
great army OF .derelicts s..
FinEerpTints are not taken Of every
unclaimed body. But in some cases
fingerprints have solved many q mys-
terry for the police. Long-sought
criminals. who have met death either
by suicide OF through accident or
have died a netuTaI death. have been
identined~at- the bureau. II man is
arrested in Warrington his photo
graph and hngerprints are taken and
kept on record at Police Head
quarters should such a man be
found dead. his Identification. can be
made through these records.
1t is strange. but few persons carry
cards of Identification. II they did
so. and were not anxious to hide their
identity, Ii would be an easy matter
for the police to ind. out who they
are should they meet with accident
or death.
Why One Man Wanted Death.
why do you want to die-why did
you try 10 commit suicide?" Detec-
tive Guy Burlingame asked of man
who fred a bullet into his breast in
an attempt to end his life.
I'm an embezzler." he said. 81
feared arrest lost all faith in man
kind. I wanted to die, but try to
have the doctors save my life. l
want TO live now"
This man stripped his clothing of
every mark of Identification before he
shot himself. He wanted to die and
be put away under six feet OF sod,
even in potter's field. without giving
a simple clue to his identity.
Today he is employed in one of the
Government departments. holding a
responsible job. He has made good
and now faces the world with a new
hope shining in his eyes.
An instance Of how the seemingly
impossible has been accomplished in
Identifying the dead is the case OF
william Smith, a Government clerk.
who fired a bullet into his brain in
the Mall.
Mirror Furnished This Clue.
A mirror. used by the suicide in
the revolver az his right tenn
pie. disclosed his identity. The sui
eide had torn off every tailor mark.
destroyed his collar, cut out laundry |
marks OF his linen. Then. he coolly !
sat under q tree and fired the shot.
Only the mirror and revolver were
found beside the body. A minute ex-
animation was made by Mr.. Schone-
berger in an effort to get at some
clue. without which Identifying the
suicide would have been out OF the
question. No one claimed the body,
and it was buried.
Two months later a letter reached
the bureau from New York 1t stated
that a fruitless search had been made
the country for Smith,
and that as a last resort the District
morgue was appealed to. The letter
stated that Smith left his home ap-
parently to get work in Washing
ton. Fear was entertained that he
had met death, either by accident or
suicide. The letter casually men
toned that among his personal eff
fects Smith carried a small hand mir
ror with a red back. No mention was
made Of the fact that Smith had a
front gold tooth.