Evening Journal

FOUND BY DOGS IN A WOOD.
The Sensation Which Furnishes Excitement for the People of Clover Creek,
The Detectives Will Investigate.

Clover Creek, a small settlement about three miles from Newark, has a sensation and the gossips are having the richest period of their lives, turning the morsel over under their tongues. Saturday afternoon James Harkins and his two sons and two dogs were taking a walk in a section of the woods remote from the ordinary stroller when the canines began worrying what looked like an old bundle of rags. Harkins called to them but they kept up their pulling and shaking. An investigation was then made and the body of a female negro child, evidently about a year old, and badly decomposed, showing evidence of having been buried for at least a month. It was so badly torn that identification was impossible. A search made in the vicinity resulted in the finding of a shallow grave, where the body had evidently been interred, and nearby was a partly concealed shovel with the letters "W. T." cut on the handle. While there is quite a number of colored people living in that vicinity, none of them seem to know of any child dying or disappearing during the past month. One woman was found who claimed to have seen a colored man with a bundle under his arm, going in the direction of the spot where the find was made, but she cannot recognize him. The case was at once reported to Deputy Attorney General Peter L. Cooper, Jr., and he directed Detectives McVey and Witsil to look into the matter. Both these officers went to the scene to-day. The body was turned over to Deputy Coroner Chandler, who empanelled a jury and began an inquest, which was continued pending investigation. There is a division of opinion. One belief is that the girl was the victim of foul play. The other, and the one most generally accepted, is that the child died, and her parents being poor, buried her in her lonely grave surreptitiously.