The Unknown Man of Lake Washington

The body of a middle-aged man, evidently a laborer, was taken from the waters of Lake Washington just south of the Madison Street wharf yesterday morning. There is not the slightest clue to his identity, and owing to the advanced state of decomposition it was necessary to bury the remains immediately.

Robert Finlayson, who owns the boathouse at the south side of Madison Street wharf, saw the body in the water and by means of a long pole with a hook attached brought it around to the landing, where Coroner Askam made his investigation. The body was that of a heavy-set man who wore a sandy mustache. He had on a coat and vest made of brown material and a heavy blue flannel shirt. Under ordinary blue overalls he wore cheap striped trousers. All the pockets of his wearing apparel were searched, but neither money nor papers were found—only a corncob pipe. No marks of violence were found. The flesh had commenced to “slide,” and although it would have been possible for a person who knew the man in life to have recognized him, it was impossible to defer the interment. The body was taken to Bonney & Stewart's morgue and late yesterday afternoon was buried in potter's field.

When the remains were first found, it was thought they were those of Harry Ahlers, who threw Mrs. Emma McDonald into the lake and then jumped in himself, but the clothes settled the question in the negative. It is now over two years since the McDonald-Ahlers tragedy took place, and neither of the bodies has ever been found.