Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-12-06
rsz-Alleuea Murder on he ttennler Ben

e1SY@ ALLGyeI Murder on the SteCIDler E3eE
IoN.-On Friday last man namcd James
Davis made information before the Mayor Of
Pittsburgh charging an engineer on board the
Ben Bolt with murder and duplicating other of
ticers in the crime The poll e at the instance
of the Mayor arrested all tl!e parties they could
find on the boat, and from our Pittsburgh cx.
changes " e take the following evidence elected
at the examination:
James Davis, the prosecutor was sworn and
testified tina, ne, together with John Jones.
shipped at st. Luis nt. oUard the Ben Bolt for
Pittsburgh, they i".yIrg through; at Cincinna ii
the mate asked them if they would work up to
Pittsburgh, which they consented to do; on the
22d ult. passed boat aground below Marietta;
the missing man shipped from that boat on the
Ben Bolt; at night the Ben Bolt stopped on the
Virginia side, [uear Millersburg or Millcrsport,
Tyler county, Va. we supposed to fix wheel,
all hand got out to get log, which being OBJ
tanned, most Of the deck hands turned in to
sleep; after this witness saw the engineer-did
not see him among the defendants arrested--go
TO the bunk of the deck hand, and tell him lie
wanted him to go up and help fix the Wheel the
engineer then pulled the man out of the bunk
by his coat collar, before he was quite awake
knocked him down on the deck, kicked him two
or three times, and then pushed him from the
watchman and mate came along, and made in
quiries for the man to go and help at the pump;
when they inquired for the man, witness and
others said they believed the engineer had
pushed him overheard, to which the mate re-
piled, ats small loss-thcre are plenty more
like him." and the Waterman smiled but said
nothing. Afterwards, the engineer who had
pushed the man into the wheel house came and
sat by the stove, ana said, "Look how I've
kicked the sole of my boot by kicking that
fellow"
There were no other officers up at the time
that witness was aware of. The boat started
from the place the same morning about day
break, but witness saw nothing of the engineer
that day OF the following night; the next morn
ing (thc 24th) when about two miles below
Wheeling witness saw the engineer jump off
the steamer into fiat or coal boat and go ashore.
The day after the event happened witness heard
deck passenger, who got off at Marietta, ask
the mate for the name of the engineer, to which
the mate replied that he did not know it. Wit
ness had seen the deck hand the day before
when he shipped from the boat aground; hewa
small young man; was stranger to witness;
said tie had worked at Pittsburgh, Wheeling,
lronton, and Cincinnati, and that he came from
Glen Morganshire, South Wales. Witness was
certain that it was the engineer who left the
Ben Bolt below Wheeling.
John II. Jones corroborated this testimony.
and the good character of Davis was proved by
other witnesses. The Mayor held Capt. Afford,
Fitzsimmons and Hays, officers, for further
hearing on Friday, in So, 600 each. Fulton, the
engineer, and apparently the guilty party, left
the steamer at Wheeling, and is probably in
this State. The Waterman, who smiled so sig
nificontly, and the mate, are missing. The for
mer enparcd HS yvotcbmonOD tho H1oro Door
has made himself invisible. We presume all
possible effort will be made to capture the mis-
sing parties.