Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-16
SOLDIER SKELETON
MYSTERY PROBED
Army Board at Fort Meade
Seeks Cause of Calder
Death.

! BY Staf Correspondent of The Star.
FORT GEORGE G. MI DE, Md.
July l6.-While a mimic ar ragged
about them members of an Army board
of inquiry today investigated a grim
! military mystery of real life-the fatal
| shooting of Pvt. William F. Calder,
'outhful sentry, whose skeleton was
| found yesterday in a dense thicket at
the edge of the reservation.
Calder. who had been missing since a
cold night last January when he was
assigned to patrol a lonely beat near
the post coal tipple and ordnance ware
houses, had died from a bullet over his
, right temple, apparently fired from his
own .45-caliber automatic service pistol
Certain peculiar circumstances attend
ing the tragedy have led official investi-
gators to express doubt that the sentry
committed suicide. One theory ex-
pressed here today was that the soldier
was murdered by trespassers whom he
surprised while making his rounds.
Investigators Are Named.
Maj. D. T. Green, post executive off,
Ger, appointed Maj. C. D. Holmes, Capt
S. J. Raymond Capt. w. o. Schrumm
and Lieut.. j. Heylman to make thor
ough investigation.
The remains, with Gaider's gun be-
SlOC anu all GADlOuCu SHELL IcaTDN,
were found by sergeant and a civilian
*. P" who stumbled upon the bones
while walking through the thicket The
men said they found the gun beneath
the edge of the soldiers overcoat, which
lay on log just back of the twisted
body. The finders removed the gun
and turned it over to superiors at post
headquarters, thereby pulling what
officers said was "a bad blunder." In
vestigators said the men should have
left the weapon where it lay, so that
its position with respect to the body
and the coat could have been studied.
It was pointed out that If the gun
actually lay under the overcoat the
problem of how it got there after
suicide was one requiring explanation.
Suicide Is Doubted.
Lieut.. L. A. Day of the service COM
pany, who was assigned to Gaider's
company, expressed the opinion that
the private had no known reason to
end his life and said he could not
understand why man should want to
stray so far from his post in order to
do so. The body was found about half
a mile from the sentry's beat, near the
tracks of the W., B. g. A. Railway.
According to Lieut.. Day, Pvt. Calder
was next in line for promotion to cor
poral and was highly regarded by his
officers and the men in his company.
His disappearance caused an intensive
hunt through the brush for several days.
as the officers were reluctant to list
him as deserter
The pistol found beside the body
was identified as Gaider'S from the
serial number, after an examination
by Lieut.. Day. 1t was cooked. as though
bullet had been fired and the weapon
had recocked itself for another shot.
The gun was rusty from exposure to
the weather, and difficulty was ex-
perienced in breaking" it.
Another strange circumstance was
finding beside the body of what some
investigators thought were the ashes
of fire. This gave rise to two theories
that the soldier had burned some
thing he wished to dispose of before
ending his life, or that other persons
had kindled the fire and its light had
prompted the sentry to investigate, his
death resulting from the inquiry.
There were portions of the torn
sleeve of the soldiers coat nearby, but
the cloth may have been mutilated by
animals, it was remarked. Private
Calder was a member of Company B,
1st Tank Regiment. He was the son
of Frank Calder of Al Kirkpatrick
street, Pittsburgh, Pa, who has been
notified.