DECAYED RELICS OF BODY MAY SOLVE MYSTERY
Coroner Seeks Clews Among Bones
and Belongings of Sec-
ond Tamalpais Victim
No Tangible Connection as Yet
Between Two Tragedies on Silent Mountain
Rivaling the sea in its propensity for
giving up its dead, Mount Tamalpais
has added a fresh tragedy and mystery
to the history of Marin county. Lying
on a natural seat between two young
redwoods there was found last Monday
the crumbling bones of a man. Coroner
F. V. Sawyer yesterday visited the spot
and gathered the whitened relics of
what once had been a human being,
together with meager belongings, and
from the mute remains will endeavor
to revive the memory and the story of
a man who possibly three years ago
died on the east slope of the silent
mountain.
MURDER OR SUICIDE
One fact in the mind of Coroner F.
V. Sawyer of Marin county points to
murder or suicide. The coroner said:
“On the right side of the skull, two
inches from its center and a half inch
from the rim of the eye socket, is a
small puncture which might have been
made by, a 22 caliber bullet. But no
weapon was found near the body, and
while there was no money on the re-
mains there was some jewelry. No
bottle was found to indicate that the
man might have taken poison.
“While I am not in a position to ad-
vance any theories as to his death, it
is a peculiar fact that the man had in
his pocket a cigar case with the name
of a Portland Ore., firm on it, and the
clothing worn by the unidentified
woman found dead last February was
made in Portland. The body of the
man found yesterday was far more de-
composed than was that of the woman,
but decomposition might have come
faster in the damp place where the
man was found than where the
woman’s body lay. But the two spots
are six miles apart and it is difficult
to support any deduction joining the
two tragedies.
FINANCES PROBABLY LOW
“I would say that the man found
was about 40 years of age, nearly 6
feet tall. His face was long and
narrow. He had a large head and
prominent features. His cheek bones
were high, he had a low forehead and
a medium chin. Judging by his teeth
he used tobacco excessively. His
teeth were well cared for and many
cavities were filled with gold, but re-
cent cavities were not attended to,
from which I infer that he had not
lately had so much money as for-
merly.”
The body found Monday was badly
decomposed. The bones were dis-
jointed and the head had rolled 20 feet
away from the trunk.
There was no money found in the
worn pockets. But the suspicion of
robbery is discredited by the fact that
a pretty opal scarf pin was found by
the body. The stone was small, but
was good. The man carried an Inger-
soll watch with the “mascot” trade-
mark, which had stopped at 8 minutes
after 1 o’clock on some doleful day.
His cufflinks were of gold, or heavy
plate and were of simple dumbbell pat-
tern. His collar buttons were plated.
His shoes were No. 8, black lace, with
extension soles.
HAT BOUGHT HERE
A black derby hat, size 7¼, pur-
chased of “M. Goldstein, 1509 Fillmore
street,” was found near the body. The
coat, which was dark blue, had faded
to a brown. It was purchased of
“Wood Bros.” The location of the store
was obliterated.
In one pocket was found a leather
case containing nail files and hair pins.
In the coat pocket was a leather cigar
case with the name “M. Gunst & Co.,
Portland, Ore.”
The trousers were of good material
dark check worsted. In the trouser
pocket was found a one bladed ivory
handled penknife. In the vest pocket
was a half length of yellow lead pen-
cil. The underwear was of balbriggan
material and was white.
Leo C. Lennon and R. X. Ryan found
the body while walking down the moun-
tain toward Blithesdale. It was in a
gulch which disgorges a half mile
above trestle No. 11 on the Tamalpais
railway, and the body was found on
the mountain side about 400 yards from
the railroad.
FOUND NEAR TRAIL
From the position of the body it was
possible that the man might have seat-
ed himself between the trees while suf-
fering from the results of over exer-
tion and died of natural causes. The
body was not far from a well defined
trail, but was screened by a vigorous
growth of underbrush and also by the
redwoods between which it was found.