Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-01-17

Hotel, I entered by the private en-.
trance, and when | entered the first
/, door l met the boy, of whom [ inquired
II Mrs Morse was in. He told me
, that Mrs. Morse and her YOUNGEST
daughter had gone out, but he thought
that the other daughter was in her
grandmothers room. I asked him TO
go up through the other door, and was
gong up stairs, and had gone up about
two steps when, looking up, | saw Ed.
: ward 5. Stokes at the head of the
STAIRS. AS soon as / saw him I no.
tlced he had something in his hand
and second afterwards I saw the flash
and heard the report, and felt the ball
enter my abdomen on the right side.
Ihe second shot was fired immediately
atterWard, which entered nv arm.
When L received the first shot 7 stag.
gered and ran toward the door. bnt
noticing the crowd gathering in front |
ran back to the stairs again. 7 was
then brought up stairs in the hotel. T
L saw nothing more of Stokes until he
was brought before me by an officer for
Identification. I fully identified Ed
! "''i" ~ Ooohoo do Gue person VINO shot
me. signed, JAS. FISK, Jr.
ORIGIN OF THE DIFFICULTY.
The Origin of the difficulty between
Fisk and Stokes, oates back nearly two
years. Col. Fisk and Stokes were in
terested in an oil company. which fnr.
nished all the oil used by the Erie Rail-
road company. Fisk and Stokes be-
J n nt 70 frin
a smart, energetic young man. and grew
rapidly in Fisk's favor. The profits of
the OIL business were very great. Stokes
became frequent visitor at Col. Fisk's
rooms in the Grand Opera house. They
were continually together So intimate
were they that Stokes repeatedly dined
with Colonel Fisk at the house of Mrs.
Mansfield -Lawler.
THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE AssAssINA-
.TIoN
On Friday Judge Brady rendered his
decision, continuing his injunction
against the publication of the letters.
/ This was bitter blow to Stokes. On
the following day Mrs. Mansfeld's
charge of subornation of perjury was
continued IN the Yorkville polies court. |
Mrs. Mansfield and Stokes were both
present. Mrs. Mansfield was placed
on the stand. Her cross examination
was very severe Mr.. Fisk's LAWYERS
endeavored to draw out of her an ac |
acknowledgement that the Colonel had
picked her up when she had but one
dress IN the world, and not enough |
money to pay her rent. They asked
her whether she did not engage the no.
torious Miss Wood to procure for her
an introduction to Col. Fisk. They |
endeavored to show that she was delib- |
erately bleeding Col. Fisk, and that |
she afterwards said to Miss Wood that |
Mr.. Fisk had taken great fancy to
her (Mrs. Mansfeld), and that in proof
of her assertion she showed Miss Wood |
some costly diamonds and silk dresses
which she said Fisk gave her. They |
eDdeavored to prove that Miss Wood /
told Mrs. NJ that she had been with |
Fisk long enough to have got more
than thatif she was smart, and that Mrs. |
Mansfield replied that she didn't mean
to beat him too fast. They endeavor-
ed to make Mrs Mansfield admit that
she told Miss Wood that she did not
love Fisk, but only loved his money
that he was not the style of man she
liked, but she would get all the money
she could from him. and then let him |
go. Fisk lawyers further endeavored |
to show that in conversation with /
Miss Nully Peiris; Mrs. Mansfield said
that she intended to blackmail Fisk
out of all the money she could, and
that if Miss Peiris would assist her
she should have her SHARE During
this terrible cross-examination, Mrs.
Mansfield, for the first time in her life,
became Instantly agitated, and finally
broke down Id food of tears.
Stokes was fearfully ehraged. Judge
Brady's decision and Mrs. Mansfield's s
cross s-examination excited him to ter
rible pitch.
THE LAST FEATHER.
After the adjournment of the Court,
Stokes entered a carriage with Col.
| John r. Fellows and the Hon. Jno.
| McKeon, the prosecuting attorneys in
the case On his way down he asked
whether it was possible that there was
no way left for him to get the better Of
Fisk. He drove to Delmonico's, and
/ there the party separated. Meanwhile
the district attorney had brought the
attempt to blackmail Col. Fisk to the
attention of the grand jury. On
Saturday, it is said, the grand jury
brought in an indictment against both
Stokes and Mrs. Mansfield. It was re
ported during the afternoon that a
I bench warrant was out for the arrest
of Stokes and Mrs. Mansfield, and sent
to the sheriff's Office for service. After
leaving Delmonico's, StoE es appears to
have gone to Mrs. Mansfeld's house
though Mrs. Mansfield denies that.
They were believed to have conversed
together for over an hour. Then ring
was heard at the door. One of Stokes
friends entered and announced that the
grand Jury had found an Indictment;
that the warrant was in the hands OF
the deputy sheriff, Judson JARVIS, and
that Jarvis was on his way to serve It,
A warrant may have been In existence,
but it was certainly not placed IN jar
yis' hands, We are informed that on
hearing this news, Stokes lost all con-
troll of himself and declared that Fisk
had signed his death warrant, or used
words of similar import. He was IN
O. raving passion, and determined to
murder Fisk at the first opportunity.
: Tt is reported that before Stokes
f reached Mrs. Mansfeld's, Col. Fisk
had called upon her and expressed
his regret at the severity of her cross;
t examination, and that he had agreed
| to give her $15, 900 in settlement of the
dispute. IF this was SO, it is possible
? that Colonel Fisk may have told Mrs.
$ Mansfield that he was about to call
? upon Mrs. Morse at the Grand Central
: hotel. The thing is certain that Stokes
7 knew where to find Fisk, after leaving
Mrs. Mansfeld's house be inquired for
r the Colonel at the Grand Opera House,
> and at half-past three o'clock Jno.
4 Chamberlain saw him in a coupe on
Eighth avenue, anMously watching the
? windows of Colonel Fisk's room. How
e long Stokes lurked about the Grand
t Opera house is unknown. He may have
waited until he saw Col. Fisk step out
oG +l,o Oparo Hons and enter his car