The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-05-28
A DErERM1NED SUICIDE.
A man Shoots Himself Four Times
Rcfore He RiIIs HImseIC


A Man Shoots Himself Four Times
Before He Kills Himself.
The sleepy village:of Tarrytown was
| thrown into q state OF unusual excite
ment yesterday morning by the report
| that one of its well-known young men
had been found dead in the factory of
the Irvington and Tarrytown Union
Gas Company. The name OF the
Young man was Charles n. Starr, and
at the time of his death he was, as for
some time previous he had been, en-
gagged by the Company named as It's
Superintendent. His body was first
discovered by John Donohoe, another
employe of the Gas Company, at about
8 O'Clock yesterday morning. 1t lay
then with its face to the ground. and
| the first impression of Its discoverer
was that the deceased had fallen upon
some of the irons near by, and, stunned
| by the fall, had not yet recovered from
its effects This impression was quick
iy dispelled, however, when, lying
by the side of the body, revolver,
containing seven chambers, six of
which had been discharged, was also
espied. On turning the body over
| on it's back, it was found besmear-
ed with blood, and disfgured by four
CHASTITY wounds. One OF these lay d.
| rectly over the temple on the right side
| of the head, The pistol had evidently
been presented closely to the head, but
had not been properly pointed, and the
ball glided along the skull, under the
scalp, TO a point about two inches dls-
| tant when ii passed out. The second,
| a more serious wound, was in the fore.
head. The pistol had this time been
suuarely presented, but, reluctant to
accomplish its mission Of death, the
ball, instead of passing into the skull,
had merely embedded itself into a de.
| 4 . N FDFN
| by the flesh, ii remained until removed
by DIR. Dahlgren, upon his post morton
examination of the remains. A third
wound lay in the breast, directly under
the fourth rib, and still fourth-and
undoubtedly the fatal one-WAs made
Immediately below the fifth rib. the
| ball which inflicted the last wound
penetrated the left lung through the
bronchial artery, and though it was not
| found, is supposed to have passed
thence onward to the spine.
The question which suggested itself
| to every mind on witnessing this scene
of horror, was the same: Whose hand
held the pistol which disigured the
| BODY with its ugly wounds? Was death
| the result OF murder or of suicide? The
villagers seem to have had some diff
Guilty in reaching conclusion upon
this point. The evidence was, however,
strongest in favor of the theory OF sui
|
circumstances which gave some color
| to the theory of murder, but these were
| not wholly reliable. The watch of de-
ceased was not found upon his person,
and some thought the CHASTITY spectacle
| the work of it's thief; but the fact that
the hook of the chain was screwed to-
Cether as though it were clasping the
ring of a watch, certainly lent no coun-
tenance to this suspicion, and the sub
segment discovery of the missing time
keeper in the shop of jeweler, with
whom IL had been left for repairs, ami
hilated it altogether. Others founded
their suspicion of murder upon the i'm
proba bility that any man could. within
the compass of half an hour, 1nfltct Jour
such terrible wounds upon his body.
But this was not impossible. DINERS
| favored the theory because the pistol
with which the shooting had been done
was found cooked. This circumstance
merely proves that the deceased inten-
ded to discharge another load into his
body, and was hindered only by want
of physical strength, or by conscious.
| ness that those already discharged had
accomplished their object.
The theory of suicide is more strong
theory was exploded by the testimony
| adduced before Coroner Smith, OF Hast
iups, upon his inquest into the cause
of death yesterday. he had several
times in the presence OF friends threat
ened to take his life. His wife testified
to his having remarked to her on Mon.
day night, that If his life were insured
for So 600 be would not hesitate to put
himself out of the world. His wife
also testified that during that night he
did not sleep at all. Yesterday morn
ing he was up bright and early; at 7
O'Clock no visited a friend named
Hackett, employed In the distillery Of
| nd IN
n loaded pistol, explaining that he
| wished 10 shoot a cat with It. Hackett
had none to loan him, and he went
away. Five minutes after, he had
borrowed one from a clerk in drug
store in the lower part OF Main street,
known as to what occurred between
his parting from Smith and the finding
of his lifeless body, except that two
pistol reports we're heard at about 1880
O'Clock by Mr.. Jacob o. Weeks, en-
ployed in the vicinity OF the factory.
The motives for the suicide were not
very definitely developed during the
inquest yesterday. The testimony then
adduced proved, however, that 1t was
done in a moment of extreme depres-
sion of spirits. The principal of the
difficulties which reduced him to this
lamentable state, seems to have been
business transactions. His wife testi-
fed that when he reached home, on
Monday evening, he remarked that he
felt discouraged: that things were going
wrong at the gas house, but In What
particular he failed to specify; that he
thought that the Gas Company was
dissatisfi with him, and that II his
life were insured he would prefer death
to life. He also carried home with him
the coal account-book, and asked his
sister-in-law to look over it, remarking
that he was so nervous that he found II
impossible to do 1t himself.
These facts were given to the jury be;
fore whom the inquest was conducted
Yesterday, and its MEMBERS. after
long consultation, returned with yer
dict that the deceased came to his death
by pistol shot wounds by his own hand
while laboring under temporary de-
preston of mind.
Starr was less than Sthirty years OF
age, and bore, among his fellow-v1l'
layers, character beyond reproach.
AN Euglishman was telling the latt