HEAD SEVERED BY AN AX.
Negro Fell Dead and Police Followed
Blood Stains to Crap Game.
William Williams, a negro 19 years old, fell dead in a doorway at Penn street and the Southwest boulevard at midnight. His head was nearly severed from his body. He had been seen running in Penn street just before he died.
Spectators telephoned police station No. 3 and officers were sent to the scene. The coroner was called and stated that it appeared to be the work of a strong man with an ax.
Sergeant Thomas O'Donnell followed a trail of blood in Penn street, picked up bloody dice on the way, and finally followed the stains to a spot near a box car on the Belt line tracks near Twenty-fourth and Penn streets. He said the place looked like it had been the scene of a crap game.
The body was sent to an undertaker and the police threw a patrol out through the district in an attempt to apprehend the murderer.
