Evening star., 1920-03-14
MURDER VICTIM
often Warned OF
LONELY TRAVELS
Farmer Police Captain, With
Whom Mrs. Mann Boarded,
i Advised Caution.

Advised Caution.
Mrs. Gertrude Harrison Mann, the
music teacher whose mutilated body
waA found in the vicinity OF Rodman
street. between Wisconsin ana con-
nee4icut avenues. late Friday alter
nanr, was warned repeatedly OF the
dsnaer Of passing through the
suarsely settled sections Of the suburbs
unaccompanied.
This fact was brought out yester-
day by detectives who are inSes''-
eating the murder. On numerous oc-
caSipns Henry Schneider, former po-
lice! captain. at whose house MIS-.
MoHn resided shortly after she came
toKashington nearly three years ago
cautioned her against taxing snol~
cuts through lonely sections; Mis,
NfX6h, IL was said. remarked that sne
vaEnot afraid, and visited her music
pupils. who lived in out-of-the-way
places. without fear.
The police last night admitted there
are-few. # any, tangible cieWs upon
which to work. Several bits OF eEl-
dence collected near the scene OF tne
murder may throw some igne upon 'ne
murderer, it was said
Wrapped in Old Paper.
It was pointed out that the chestnut
club which the police say Was welded
by the slayer was carefully wrapped
in q newspaper dated December l. 1918,
and used without removing the paper:
This fact suggested the possibility OF
it's having been wrapped long oeLore
the murderer reached the woods where
he attacked Mrs. Mann. 1t Is thought
the club stunned the woman. and
two-pound stone which was found at
the scene of the crime, pounded the
skull.
the slain woman, arrived in this city
last might from Smith College. North
anfpton Mass. where she is pupil.
She was met at Union station by Mrs.
Arthur ". Dunn and her daughter,
Miss Rebecca Dunn. and taken to their
apartment in the Oakland. Mrs. Mann
and Mrs. Dunn were girlhood friends
in the west.
Neill Hughes ami II. A. Cummings.
residents of 3Sth street. identified the
body at the morgue yesterday IN or
der TO save Miss Mann the ordeal.
Ms Mann boarded at the home OF
Anxious to obtain positive informa-
tion-rs to the color Of ,he slayer and
10 earn if any SUSPICIOUS persons
detectives yesterday afternoon made
a thorough canvass of that section:
They learned that a roughly dressed
white man had called at the home OF
]. w. Cummings. 20S Thornappie
street, Chevy Chase. Thursday after
noon. The man asked for something
to aat, it was said. Mr. Cummings
gavc him a meal and placed him
ABOARD a street car, with instructions
to the conductor to turn him over TO
a policeman on duty at Chevy Chase
CiTce. The man was not turned over
Il ,tr,v.
is being sought to shed additional
Ighr on the stranger.
Believes ISeptity Mistaken.
One of the oder members of the po-
lice force told Star reporter he felt
certain the slayer of Mrs. Mann is none
other than the colored man who as
salllt0d a number Of women north Of the
city last summer, and said he thought
the arrest Of the slayer would be the
means of saving Lewis Randall, colored,
under sentence of death for assaulting
NrSl Bessie Gleason, from the gallows
He expressed the belief that Randall
10 a victim Of a case Of mistaken
identity.
In each of the assault cases that oc-
CURED last summer. the detective stat
ed, the assailant gave an exhibition OF
brutality to a marked degree, such as
was shown in the case of Mrs. Mann,
and in each case he added robbery or
attempted robbery to another motive.
1t is-apparent that Mrs. Mann's slayer
did not force her so Tar from the point
of attack if he only wanted her valu-
ahless the detective suggested. and his
plah probably was frustrated by the
desperate fight she was able to put up.
That he did not go the limit in his in
tenti0ns, the detective said. may be due
to tie strength Mrs. Mann displayed
foI1 tal ;t, ~
angry and killing her with the stone.
Ia some instance last summer. the
detective pointed out. the aSSailant
ussdsa piece of silk ribbon about his
victims NECK or mouth. and iE an
otAef he had quantity Of strong
twine which he tried tn fasten about
his victims throat. Detectives are
certain that Mrs. Mann's muIdere,
fastened the handkerchief over her
mouth just after ne stunned her with
the chestnut bludgeon, aud had sht
not put up 50 desperate a fynt while
being forced to a more secluded spot
he may not have taken her life. IT
other words. according to the detec.
tige,- Mrs. Mann died defending her.
self against the efforts of feni.
Coroner ]. Ramsay hewitt yeste ida J
afternoon SWofe jury over the bod,
Of the slain woman at the morgue. ant
adjourned the hearing indefinitely tc
givessthe police an opportunity to con.
duct.a further investigation in an ef.
fort to accomplish the arrest cf IL,
slayer. DR.. ". Brown Carr. 1epu: .
coroner. made a careful e.anina ior
Of the body with the coroner, and {
laboratory examination showed the tx.
tent of the assault consisted "f u IN.
fiction Of wounds with the bludseor
and stone.
woman Thought Stunned.
Itsis thought the blow with tn,
hludgeon, as the piece of chestnu
wood was termed by the police, prob
ably. stunned Mrs. Mann and made
prompt resistance impossible. De
tsetfses think she quickly regainet
her !. strength while being take1
toward a more secluded spot and of
feSed such stout resistance that hel
asSaf1ant used the piece of flint ston,
on her head with telling effect
Coroner hewitt and Deputy Coroner
Cafrfound the skull of the murdered
woman crushed. marks showing evi
dences of several blows having beer
struSk. The lobe of the right ear wa!
almost severed, the cut being shary
enough to suggest the use Of knit,
or r1zor. but both the coroner ant
his deputy said it could have beer
done with a particularly sharp piec,
Of stone.
The police were able to fix a few
minutes before 6 o'clock Thursda,
afternoon as the time Ars. Mann wa:
killed. she having left the Gompers
home at $500 35th street. where sh,
had given Miss May Gompers, nice,
OF Eamuel Gempers. president of tn,
Amevican Federation of Labor,
musfe lesson. Miss Gompers was tn,
last ecquaintance who saw Mrs. Mann
aiiVes so far as the police were abl,
to learn, being the last person to tax,
- from bar hafors, he d.