FAITHFUL ANIMAL
GUARDED HIS BODY
HORSE KEEPS VIGIL WHEN MAS-
TER DIES IN ITS STALL.
WAS THE MAN'S ONLY FRIEND.
ECCENTRIC CONTRACTOR WHO
FITTED UP BARN AS A HOME.
Burt Davis Slept in the Stall With
His Favorite Horse and Death
Found Him There at
the Last.
After having been inseparable companions for several years, eating in the same stable and sleeping in the same stall, Burt Davis, a contractor, aged 55 years, was found dead in a stall with his horse in the barn occupied by both, Forty-third street and Indiana avenue, late yesterday afternoon.
Although heart disease is thought to have been the cause of death, Davis is said to have met with an accident last Tuesday in which he was thrown from his buggy, alighting on his head in the street. This accident may have been indirectly the cause of death, and is so accepted by the coroner as an autopsy developed the presence of a blood clot on the brain.
Davis was well known in Kansas City. He was a widower and noted for his eccentricities. Several years ago he gave up his home and took up his abode with his horse in his stable. For some time it had been known that Davis slept in the same stall with his horse, and, as the body was found there after death, it is altogether probably that he expired while asleep at the side of what he often characterized as his "only friend."
The body was found after Davis's absence had been noticed. It was his custom to be seen working about the barn at different hours of the day. An investigation was made. The interior of the barn was found to be fitted up with almost everything necessary in the ordinary bachelor apartment, such as cooking utensils, ice box, small table, etc., while on the floor was carpet which extended into the horse's stall.
When an effort was made to remove the body from the stall the old horse showed his displeasure by kicking and attempting to bite, and finally it was necessary to quiet the animal with a pitchfork before the body could be taken from the stable.
Other than a bank book, showing a balance of $100 in a local bank, nothing of value was found in the stable. It is not known whether Davis had relatives living.
