Don't throw me back into the creek.

People had just as little common sense in Brooklyn at the end of the 19th-century as they do today, perhaps even less. I came across this odd article in the July 14, 1897 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. In the aftermath of a murder, two local men come into contact with what may be the disembodied head of the victim, and then handle their discovery with less than sheer brilliance. Despite the bungling, William Guldensuppe’s murderer was eventually captured and convicted; it was a barber named Martin Thorn, who had designs on his victim’s girlfriend and wanted him out of the picture. An excerpt:

“James Ceter, an Italian rag picker, who says he lives somewhere on Purdy place, went to the Sixth Precinct Police Station this morning and told a story that may have important bearings on the Guldensuppe murder case.

Ceter said that while he was working very early in the morning at the dump on Scott avenue, near Newtown Creek, he was approached by an unknown man, apparently a German, who held in his hand a human head. The Italian says that the head had a small black mustache and a gash on the left cheek.

In accosting the Italian, the German said: ‘Look at this! I found it down at the creek.’ The two men talked together for a moment and came to the conclusion, so Ceter says, that the proper course would be to throw the head back into the creek. This, the Italian said, was done.

Acting on the Italian’s story the police of the Sixth Precinct are engaged to-day in grappling in the waters of the creek. Ceter describes his chance acquaintance as a man of medium height and about 50 years of age. He had a reddish gray mustache and wore dark clothes and a jersey.

The dredging of the creek was done by Detective Sergeant Baker and Officer Trenchard and Tracy, under the personal direction of Captain Lees. They were still at work when the Eagle went  to press. They were watched by a large and curious crowd.”

More Old Print Articles:

• Three-card monte man passes away. (1878)
• Monkey rides bicycle. (1897)
• Bears brawl in Central Park. (1902)
• Umbrella duels. (1895)
• Boiling eggs with electricity. (1890)
• Billy goat guards recluse. (1900)
• Kissing bandit captured. (1892)
• A maniac gymnast. (1877)
• Performing bears at Bay Shore. (1895)
• Hobos steal fine clothes from decent folk. (1895)
• Hairy woman thrown through barbershop window, uninjured. (1897)
• Brooklyn judge encounters sea monsters in his bathroom. (1902)
• General Robert E. Lee kisses pretty girls. (1891)
• Brooklyn geezer tries to shoot noisy dogs. (1896)
• Hoaxer pretends to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. (1889)
• Manhattan madman goes on rampage. (1890)
• Fisticuffs at a male beauty pageant. (1893)
• Viennese surgeon performs experimental operations in NYC. (1902)
• Tough girl breaks detective’s nose. (1898)
• Circus Freak gets indigestion after swallowing metal objects. (1904)
• George Francis Train loses his mind. (1888)
• Hunchback paramour has throat cut. (1877)
• Organ grinder has monkey kidnapped. (1899)
• Human vampire behaves poorly. (1892)