Camden Mystery More Involved

CAMDEN MYSTERY MORE INVOLVED Bones Found in the House in Which Mrs. Lillian Chambers Died AUTHORITIES AROUSED Wilkins, the Vocdoo Doctor, Under Arrest, and Investigation Being Made CARSON'S LAST WORK The Murdered Prosecuting Attorney Visited the House Just Before Leaving Camden The investigation following the death of Mrs. Lillian Chambers, of 706 North Eleventh street, Philadelphia, at the house of William H. Wilkins, colored fortune teller, planet reader, voodoo doctor and astrologist, at 825 Locust street, Camden, on Friday afternoon, has revealed what may be a clue to one of the most ghastly and horrible crimes known. Hidden within a concealed fireplace in the room where the "voodoo" received his dupes was found a great boiler filled with what Coroner and police think are human bones and flesh. Beneath it were the embers of a fire, in which other bones had been placed. The stench when the fireplace when opened was overpowering. On Friday afternoon the body of Mrs. Chambers was found in the rocking chair at Wilkins' house. The woman had left her home in the early morning, and when her husband, Henry Chambers, returned for his dinner he found his wife missing and the house locked up. A Chinaman, who occupies the store portion of the Chambers house, gave him the key, stating that Mrs. Chambers had left early in the morning, not stating where she was going. The Woman's Death Considerably worried, Chambers ate his dinner and hurried back to Baldwin's Locomotive Works, where he is employed as a laborer. On his way, however, he was met by his sister-in-law, Annie Stewart, and Wilkins, the fortune teller. Wilkins, in great excitement, told Chambers that Mrs. Chambers had been taken ill at his house and that he must at once go back with them. Chambers and the others immediately hurried across to Camden and to the Wilkins house, on Locust street. Wilkins entered first, being closely followed by Chambers. In the parlor of the squalid frame house in a rocking chair sat Mrs. Chambers, her arms outstretched, but perfectly motionless. Chambers rushed to her and threw his arms around her. The body fell forward. "She's cold. My God! they've killed my wife!" shrieked Chambers. He rushed into the street shouting "murder!" Policeman Harry Frisby pushed the frantic husband aside, and, laying his hand on the motionless woman's heart, found that she was dead. He immediately placed all in the house under arrest. Chief of Police Foster, after notifying Coroner Landes, began an investigation. Wilkins stated that he had never seen the Chambers woman until Friday, when he met her on the street sick. Taking her into the house he learned her name and address and had notified her people. This was before 12 o'clock, as Officer Frisby remembered seeing Wilkins and the Stewart woman going toward the ferry at 11.30. Coroner Landes, who arrived shortly after four o'clock in the afternoon, stated that the woman had then been dead from four to six hours. At the autopsy performed on Saturday afternoon by County Physician Jones it was found that death was due to a criminal operation. A Ghastly Find The house was searched from top to bottom. In the front room where the Chambers woman was found the police noticed a disagreeable odor. Apparently there was nothing to cause it, suddenly Captain Hanley and Sergeant Hyde pushed aside the stove that stood on one side of the room and exposed a fireplace, sealed with a strip of zinc. The zinc was torn aside. An odor which almost overpowered those present issued from this aperture. Within on two bars of iron was a great washboiler. In it, almost filling it to the top, was a mass of bones and flesh. Beneath it were the embers of a fire, among the ashes of which were a number of small charred bones. Coroner Landes ordered the contents of the boiler to be taken to the yard and emptied of the liquid, which was over them and which seemed to be some pickling fluid. As they were placed in another receptacle he was struck by their resemblance to human bones. He immediately ordered them taken to the Morgue. Yesterday Captain Stanley, Sergeant Hyde and the Coroner all reiterated their impression that the bones were those of human beings. Wilkins was questioned as to their nature. He said that it was an opossum that he had been cooking. And that was all he would say. His daughter, Louisa, was then questioned. She denied all knowledge of any bones being in the house. They had never had any opossum to cook, she told Chief of Police Foster. Carson's Last Act Strangely enough the investigation which resulted in the ghastly find was started by Assistant Prosecutor Carson before he left to take part in the reception to General Sewell. An Inquirer reporter noticing him leaving the room frequently, in which the body of Mrs. Chambers was found asked him what his reason was for so doing? He replied, "There is such a peculiar smell that I cannot stay in that room any length of time." "Do you think it comes from the body of Lillian Chambers?" asked the reporter. "I do not and I have given strict orders to have the house thoroughly searched by the police, and I expect they will find evidence of a murder," was his reply. Before leaving he left his address at Belmar with Chief Foster, with instructions to notify him at once if a find was made. Chief Foster heard of Mr. Carson's death shortly after the discovery of the remains in the washtub. Coroner Landes when seen yesterday expressed his intention of securing the services of Dr. Deever, the celebrated anatomist of the University of Pennsylvania, to examine the bones. "I do not wish to trust to my own impression," he said, "and will have Dr. Deever and probably another expert examine the bones The odor from them was simply indescribable. They had probably been hidden in the fireplace for weeks." Both Captain Stanley and Sergeant Hyde also spoke of their impression that the bones were of human beings, but had been instructed to say nothing until after the examination. Numbers of letters and photographs of women were found by the police. The contents of the letters they refuse to reveal until the inquest. Some of them, it was learned, however, were requests for spells to take away trouble, to bring back lovers or to put charms on others. A letter, which was found by an Inquirer reporter in the squalid parlor where the woman died, and the ghastly find was made, was from a Philadelphia woman, praying the "Dear doctor" to assist her lawyer by his charms in making her husband support her. There were others of like character. Just as soon as the bones found are in condition for examination, a rigid one will be made. It was in this same house that some time ago were found a number of baby's bones. When questioned Chambers denied to the police that he had ever known his wife to visit Camden, but the Stewart woman told them that Mrs. Chambers had made frequent trips across the river. The Wilkins house is closed and under the surveillance of the police. [Illustration, captioned:] Front of Wilkins's House [Illustration, captioned:] William H. Wilkin [Illustration, captioned:] Fireplace where the Bones where Found