A STRANGE STORY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1525, 14 November 1873, Page 16

A STRANGE STORY.

A very remarkable case of mistaken identity has (according to the Nfto York Herald) just been revealed in Brooklyn. On the morning of the 3rd of July, the body of u man, about thirty years of age, was found in the water at the foot of Vandyke-street, Brooklyn. The hand of the deceased was firmly secured by a rope to a satchel, and the satchel was found to contain seven large flat irons. It was also discovered that the deceased had a bullet-hole in his head, and a box of: percussion caps and nineteen pistol cartridges in the hip pocket of his pants. Some believed that the man had committed suicide, while others were of opinion that he had met his death by foul play. If he had been murdered, it was argued he would have been robbed ; but it was found on searching bis clothing that he had 21 dollars in his possession. Strange as it may appear there was nothing about the body except his clothing which would lead to his identity. Coroner Jones being notified, caused the body to be moved to the Brooklyn Morgue, where it was reviewed by a large number of persons who had missing friends whose appearance corresponded with that of the deceased. Four days after the body had been taken to the Morgue a lady residing in Grandstreet, 13.1)., whoso son-in-law hod been missing for two or three weeks, called at the Morgue and positively recognized the deceased as that of the missing man, Charles Dichl. Diehi, she said, had married her daughter contrary to her wishes, and they had not lived very happily together. He went oil', she said, in a fit of anger, and had in all probability

committed suicide. His wife, knowing his disposition better thai; her mother did, .said, "No; if that is the body of Charley lie was murdered. He never committed suicide, for it was not like him." The uncle Diehl also visited the Morgue, as well as others who knew him, and they were all firmly convinced that the unfortunate young man had come to a sad end. His family were thrown in great grief, and set to work at once to make preparations for his funeral. Diehl has been employed as agent for the Atlantic Life Insurance Company in New York, and being pretty well known in the vicinity in which he resided, the funeral was largely attended. The body was put in the family plot, and Mrs Diehl mourned the loss of a husband to whom, with all his faults, she was deeply attached, and dressed in the habiliments of a widow. Time wore on, and nothing occurred until the 17th instant to lead her to suspect for a moment that she was not a widow. On that day, to her unbounded astonishment, she received a letter from her husband, who was, when he mailed the letter, at Key West. He wrote that he regretted leaving her so abruptly; regretted his hasty temper;' said he was well, and "hoped that nothing had occurred since his departure from the city that might cause lier any uneasiness iarfchor than what she

might feel concerning her erring husband. It required considerable effort on the part of Mrs Dielil to read the letter, for, as may be imagined, she almost fainted. She would have been more surprised had her husband, whom she supposed dead and buried in the family plot, walked in and held out his arms to her, but the letter was nearly as great. She had buried some one for her husband—perhaps somebody else's husband, and who could it be? Who the man is who was buried by Mrs Diehl is a mystery which will probably never be solved, for now the remains have passed beyond recognition.