The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-11-07
THE DISPATCH.
Tragedy In nPhiladelphis--se due tton
and Murder.
SATURDAY SATURDAY MORNING ......-N0vEMBRR I. Is57

Tragedy In nPhiladelphia--se auc ttou
and Murder.
The telegraph yesterday mentioned the occur
renee Of bloody tragedy in Philadelphia. Wedue.
day, In which Richard Carter, President Of IN.
Anthracite Bank, Of Tamagua, Pa, was killed :,
the sc. Lawrence Hotel by Thomas Waab,,,to,
Smith, Of Cecil county. Md. The Ledger of Thur.
day has the following particulars Of the affair:
Mr.. Carter arrived in Philadelphia yesterda y
| morning, abont eleven O'Clock, and entered III.
name on the books of the st. Lawrepce Abo.s !
O'Clock, yesterday afternoon, Mr.. c. was sitting In
the front parlor OF the ST. Lawrence ON the fir.t
noor, and near the table in the same room. was
stt n by James McCandle . Of Allegheny cit, =
Mr. Thomas Smith ca ne into the parIor and e, 4
| seat upon settse besile Mr.. Carter and ca,,,
m need conversation with him in q low voice.
Lne conversation was continued for nearly half an
nour, and In SO subdued tone that Mr. Mcf,an
oiees who was reading near by. was unable to say
ANYTHING about the subject of their conyersation
MT. McCandless' attention called to the pa,.
nes by the report of pistol. and on turning I
mead, he saw the accused shoot again. Mr. Carte,
then got upon his Feet but instantly fell to the oo
| @hen two more shots were fired at him by Smith
| Ihe only exclamation made by Carter was sohl ob,f
ahd wien persons rushed to his stance life h
Hed smith, alter firing the pistol. put IL i'm his
pocket and pulled out large bowie knife some n
or Twelve Inches in length, and said that he would
give bimseif up to the proper officers of the law
lie then deliberately walked out of the house and
| started down Chesnut street with q moderate pace
| followed by Mr. VIM. s. Campbell. one of IL e prt
prietors oil tie St. Lawrence Hotel and another GEN
| tieman Smith still held the bowie knife in hi,
hand, ana when the gentleman, with Mr.. Campbell
approached him, he (Smith) said that if he the gen
teman touched him, it would be at the peril of bis
| life The two followed Smith to Ninth and Chesnut
when Officer Albright, of the reserve corps. was
met, ana smith pointed out to him. On the al.
proach of the officer, Smith at once gave nm his
weapons, and walked quietly to the Central Office
Ihe deceased is about 45 years of age has a wife
but no children, and is highly respected as far
we could ascertain, by all that were acquainted
| with him.
smith was brought before Alderman Epue. at
O'Clock last evening, and the news of the affair
having been widely circulated, the Office was
! crowded 70 excess by persons anxious to get
glimpse OF the prisoner, and it was with difficulty
| that the officers could keep the crowd from sur
rounding the prisoner, Alderman and witnesses
The accused is 80 years of age, fine looking gen
| toeliy dressed, and had the appearance of man
| slightly derangcd, or laboring under great men
| tai excitement.
Wm ]. Carter, nephew of the deceased test
| ned AS follows: | reside in the city, 2307 Green
street was sitting by Mr. Carter's side when this
| man. smith, came up in front; he said he wished
| 70 speak to Mr.. c.; MIR. Carter looked at him and
ala not appear to recognize him; Mr.. Carter said
| "yes SIR L then Withdrew from the room: the
man sat down or the chair opposite Mr.. Carter,
| and went into the other room and back two or
| three times, and saw them talking. Smith after
wards sat on the sofa by Mr.. Carter's side, still
| talking; / then sat down in the other room for
some minutes, when heard the reports of the pis-
! tol; and then got up from my seat, looked around
| ana saw Mr. Carter falling; after that saw Mr.
Smith shoot at him twice; MIR. Carter said think.
on! Oh! as he fell the prisoner then walked out
and said he would surrender to no one but an Off
| Ger; he went to the next room Mr.. Carter resides
| at Tan.Gqua he is between As and 80 wears old:
when Smith spoke to my uncle he was not excited;
| spoke calmly he made no reference to previous
1 a nj tfaS Gt,i ila
appeared to be an ordinary one and once | saw
MIR. Carter smile; had heard of man called Smith
and believe there was difficulty; have heard
my uncle speak of him, but can't say that there
was difficulty either; it not business trans.
action; think it was in the early part of the sum
mer heard my uncle speak of Mir. Smith; think
| he (Smith) was book agent.
| DR.. ). T. Brown, sworn-I made a postmortem
examination; four balls entered the body; the one
upon the left side passed through the heart caus.
| ing DEATH
| The prisoner declined to ask the witnesses any
questions, but when told by the Alderman that the
examination had been concluded, he desired to make
| a statement
Alderman-You had better make no statements
| as you will be tried for your life."
| Prisoner-"I acknowledge that l killed the
man."
| Ald.-"You had better say nothing
Prisoner-"I stand here as an honest man, and
| desire TO make statement"
| The Alderman instructed the officers to remove
the prisoner, ana IN a lew minutes he was placed
| in hack and taken to prison.
| The pavement in front of the Office was crowded
and several officers were required to open passage
way to the hack.
The Ledger adds;
| The deceased, Richard Carter, was an English
man by birth, and Eai been in this country abou,
twenty five years. For some time past he has been
IN the coal business, and in the prosecution of il
often had occasion to come to the city. The pris
oner who hats been agent for a Southern prbI
cation, was originally frob, Cecil county. Md He
| had occasion To travel much, and pntil recently
| had no fixed residence, when he became resident
| OF this city. Some months back he married. a
| ward of the deceased; aud it is alleged that by
means of intercepted letters, he became auprised d
uf the fact that there had been a criminal inter.
!. urse between them. lie then took the prelimi-
nary steps TO obtain Il d.crre. but it had not vet
| been the subject OF judicial Investigation. There
| can be no doubt from all the DEVELOPMENTS made
| that Smith had armed himself to take the life of
Mr.. Carter and that be went to the hotel for that
purpose. He MAS not known thsre and so fur as
appeared from the testimony ofthe proprietor, had
| not been seen there before The weapon with
which the deed was committed was one of Colt :
single barrcled breecE-revolving pistols All the
| shots had been discharged but one The bowie
| knife was a irishtful looking one The blade is
fully ten inches long. and an inch and a half wide
at the handle. 1t enclosed in leather shield,
| which Smith removed when he put UP the pistol
| and walked out of the door of tine TO el
| The shooting created the most intense excite
| ment, and the report of it spread far and
| wide In the course of the evening the hotel was
thronged with persons eager to obtain information
of the parties and of the motives which led to the
commission of the act
STATEMENT OF THR ACCUSED.
| After Smith had been placed in the cell he ex-
pressed desire to make statement, but the off.
GERS generally declined listening to him. lie al
| legged that he was q Southerner-a high-minded.
1 pentiemanly man who would not he vuiltv of I.