1905-06 Volume 30 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

2i8 THE SCROLL.of the main track of the C. A. & C. Railway Company, west of Gambierstation.' From the condition of the body of the said Stewart Pierson, which I examinedafter the same had been sent out of Knox county to Cincinnati, andfrom which examination I found evidence of having been bound or tied atthe wrist and at the ankles, and which, in conjunction with all of the evidenceadduced, I find, therefore, that the said Stewart Pierson was eithertied fast to the railroad track or railroad ties or otherwise bound arid tied insuch manner that he could not extricate himself from his perilous position,and while so tied and bound in that manner, was run over by an engine andtender going west on said railroad, which struck him while lying flat betweenthe rails of the main track on said bridge, and in that manner met hisdeath.I had no trouble in the finding of the above facts, and the investigationcould have been concluded long before it was, but I was seeking with theassistance of the prosecuting attorney, to find the guilty parties to this horribleact; but, inasmuch as the body of Stewart Pierson was taken out ofKnox county as soon as possible, on the same night of his tragic death, andthe bridge washed and scrubbed, and all bits.of evidence otherwise destroyedwe are, therefore, compelled to wholly rely upon the evidence of the testimonyof witnesses for the proof; and, under the peculiar circumstances ofthis case it is impossible for me to determine who the guilty party or partiesare that tied the young man as aforesaid.It appears that, on account of the habitual aloofness of themembers of the college community, the relations between themand the people of the township and county are far fromfriendly. The animus of the activity of the prosecutingattorney and the coroner in this case was, perhaps, based onthe fact that young Pierson's body was hurriedly taken toCincinnati, and the fact that traces of the accident were removedfrom the bridge before these officers could make anofficial investigation.On November 13 President Pierce issued a signed statement,saying that he believed "the coroner's finding in thecase of Stuart L. Pierson to be entirely mistaken." He gavethe details of the accident as they had come to his knowledge.He said that the body was prepared for burial in his home,in the presence of himself, a physician, an undertaker andanother person, and that their concurrent testimony was thatthere were no marks of a character to excite the suspicionthat the boy had been tied." He further said:The coroner admits that in his examination of the body in Cincinnati helooked only at the ankles and wrists. Having myself seen every dreadfuldetail of the boy's injuries, I am prepared to assert that the wounds on theright wrist could be understood only in connection with the general conditionof the whole body.In conclusion, 1 would contradict in detail some of the falsehoods andperversions of the truth which have got abroad.First—It is not the custom of the AKE fraternity, nor of any other fraternityin Kenyon College to tie its initiates to the railroad track, nor has