Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-02-26
A TEXAS SENSATION.
An Editorial Street Fight In Houston
"A Little Boy M0rtaily Wounded by
a Stray shot

] "A Little Boy MOrtaily Wounded By
Stray shot.
The following is from the Hous-
ton February ICY correspondence
of Galveston Meas:
On Saturday morning, between
ten and eleven o'clock, Tracy sent
word to Kinney that he intended to
kill or shoot him on first sight.
When Kinney received this, being
then IN the Times Office, he asked
MIR. Claudon, his partner, to go and
see Tracy, and arrange for a meet
ing between them at some place
WHARF the lives of others would not
be endangered.
Mr.. Claudon departed on this err
rand, and was gone long time
looking for Tracy. As he did not
return as soon as Kinney expected,
he asked Col C. C. Gillespie to go
also to seek Tracy with the same
message, who complied with the re-
quest. Some time after Col. Giles
pie left, Tracy appeared on the side
walk on the corner of Travis and
Commerce streets, some twenty five
steps from the Times office. He
there proclaimed to parties passing
TO keep off the sidewalk; that he had
come there to shoot Somers Kin
ney. Maj. W. B. Vincent, whose
office is next door to the Times
office, heard of this, and went to
warn Kinney of his danger. In
going to the Times office he passed
along Commerce street to the corner
where Tracy was standing, then
turned up Travis street, passed
Szabo's cotton warehouse and en-
tered the Times Office at the rear
through vacant lot on that street.
He told Kinney that Tracy was
waiting for him on the corner of
the street, making loud threats, etc,
also advising him not to go out of
the office by the front door. When
Kinney heard this, he remarked to
those in the office that he could
stand this no longer, and that he
would not wait for Claudon or Gil
lespie's return. Picking up a six
shooter he went out of the Office
through the rear door, passed up
the vacant lot to Travis street, and
stepped out on the middle of the
sidewalk. When he got there Tracy
was still on the corner, facing in the 4
direction of the Times office. Two
or three persons were standing with
him, or near him. Kinney spoke
in loud voice, "Get out of the way
there y andsome one else exclaimed,
There he is; look out, Tracy
The latter being about the middle
of the sidewalk of both streets,
turned and Immediately fired. He
shot wildly, for his ball struck a
sign board only q few feet from the
mouth of the pistol, considerably to
the right of a direct line to Kinney.
1t glanced off the board, inficting a
mortal wound upon little Baltis
Hinele, who was on Travis street,
about fifteen PAGES in the rear of
Kinney He died that night. Fl
Tracy then advanced from Com
merce to Travis, in front of Szabo's
warehouse, Kinney, in the mean
time, deliberately fixed his aim upon
him. Tracy advanced to the third
door from Commerce street, of SEA-
bo's warehouse, about fifteen or
twenty feet from where he fired bis
first shot, and then jumped into the
door, firing again as he did so,
Kinney fred just as he made the
jump, the ball striking the jamb of
the door behind Tracy Had he
fired an infnitessimal part of mo-
ment sooner, Tracy would have been
shot through the body. The bulk
of the testimony is that there was
an interval of about five seconds
between Tracy's first shot and Kin
ney's first and only one--some say
more, some say less. After getting
into the door, Tracy fired another
shot, but very widely and without
effect; Kinney, in the meantime, still
on the street, yelling to himto come
out and give him a fair showing. At
this juncture, City Marshal Taylor
came up and arrested Kinney, and
officer Rupersburg, who appears TO
have been with sTracy all the time,
arrested that individual.