A Bereaved Husband, a Faithful Dog, and a 25-Cent Room

A man giving his name as Thomas, but who has been positively identified as Daniel Bauman, committed suicide at the Concord house, 1404 Front street, Sunday night by the use of morphine. His body was discovered yesterday morning at 11 o'clock, and at his side on the bed lay a little black dog that fought furiously when strange hands touched his master. Bauman's wife died at the county farm about three months ago, and since then he has been very despondent.

About 8 o'clock Sunday night Bauman went to the Concord house and engaged a room for the night. He paid 25 cents, and after obtaining permission to take his little dog along with him retired to his room. Further than saying that his name was Thomas, and that he had been working near Snohomish, he gave no information about himself to the people at the lodging house.

When the lodger did not get up yesterday morning Mrs. Anna Robel, who with her husband runs the house, sent one of the roomers up to see what was the trouble. After she learned that the man was apparently dead, she immediately sent word across the alley to Butterworth's undertaking rooms. Bert Butterworth went over to the house, and on entering the room found the occupant lying in bed on his left side, trousers, stockings and vest on. At his side was curled the little dog, which growled furiously and attempted to bite when Butterworth went close to the bed. Finally a large gunnysack was obtained and the faithful little friend of the dead man was bagged.

Coroner Askam was summoned, and on investigating the case found that the dead man had a silver watch, 5 cents in money, a pair of shoes, a bunch of keys, an A. O. D. W. pin, and a pocket knife, but no letters or documents that would reveal his identity. At the head of the bed on the stand was a drachm bottle containing about fifteen grains of sulphate of morphine. The tin foil covering had been torn off and lay upon the floor. In the man's coat pocket was a bottle of pain-killer about two-thirds full.

Coroner Askam was in doubt as to whether it was a case of suicide, so he decided to hold a post-mortem examination in the afternoon. County Physician Whiting came up to assist, and on seeing the corpse said: "Why, I know that man; his wife died at the county farm about three months ago of heart disease. She was suffering terribly with dropsy when she came to the hospital, and her death was only a question of time. She and her husband used to live out on Yesler avenue, near Lake Washington, as I recall it, and they tried to make a living by running a chicken ranch. They were very poor, and after Mrs. Bauman died her husband, Daniel, was very despondent. I have no doubt that that will explain why he killed himself."

The post-mortem examination confirmed the supposition that he had taken morphine.

Bauman was a good-sized man, and his hands showed conclusively that he had been a laborer.

L. Mawson, a nurse at the county farm, called at the morgue last night and identified Bauman. He said that Bauman told him at the time his wife was being laid out that he intended to commit suicide.