The New York herald., 1872-10-15
ASSASSINATION In BOSTON.
Charles Lane Murdered in His
Own House.
a Mysterious AfiAir-A Man Shoots Him in the
Abdomen from Behind an Open Umbrella
The Hub Greatly Excited-No Clew
to the Herperator Of the Deed.

BOSTON, Oct IA, 1874
Best0nians have been terribly shocked and ex-
cited to-day over what lie now very mysterious
tragedy. The victim is Charles Lane. . man OF
nearly seventy years, an old and honorable Boston
merchant, and the senior partner In the commits
sion frm OF Charles Lane h Co., on Federal street.
The assault was made at about nine O'Clock last
night, at Mr. Lanes residence, in the Dorchester
district on Hancock street. He was
SITTING ALONE IN HIS PARLoR
at the time, his wife and family being in the upper
portion OF the residence, when the front door bell
rung, and in response he passed to the foot
of the stairs and called to Mrs. Lane to
know II she had rung, and on receiving .
response In the negative turned and opened
the door. Here he was confronted by
man, whom he is unable TO describe In any man.
ner, for az soon as he had fairly opened the door
the wOuld-be murderer screened himself behind an
open umbrella, beneath which he projected
pistol. and at q distance Of not more than two
feet, fred directly at his victims abdomen, ana
then ran of. On receiving the shot Mr.. Lane stag
gered up to Mrs. Lane's room, and, falling on o
bed, exclaimed, =" am shOt;' but in response to
her anxious inquiries was only able to recount the
foregoing story and add that he was not conscious
Of having
AN RNRMY IN THE WORLD
or Of having committed any act which could form
pretext for illfeeling on the part Of any person
Almost instantly the alarm was given and Drs Sted-
man and Fiield were In attendance, and, placing
their patient under the influence Of an an@sthetlc,
proceeded to search for the ball, which was found
to have entered the abdomen, about two inches
below and to the right OF the navel but as probing
to any extent was deemed injudicious Its course
and resting place are unknown. 1t was not till
the police were notified; but when knOwl-
edge Of the affair finally reached Lieutenant
Pierce ne put every available oicer M on the assas %
| and stood In the porch whence he rung the bell
and fred the fatal shot, which was scarcely heard
and locked the door, ascended the staircase to his
own room in the front OF the house and exclaimed,
'sELIZABETH, AM sHOTi
man suffered intensely and called repeatedly for
chloroiorm. He was kept under the influence OF
dawned efforts were made to arouse him
without avail. His brother-in-law, Mr.. Daniel +.
| Carlton, aud Mrs. Lane watched by his bedside
| throughout the night He remained unconscious
to the last, and at hapast nine o'clock he expired
Mr. Lane was native Of Bedford, Mass, and was
for many years q member Of the firm of WOrster h
Lane, produce dealers. During the past seven
years he has been engaged In the wool business
the staple from the West and elsewhere. Recently
he became associated with the firm Of Wright,
Goodwin 4 Delano. He frequently loaned money
overreach another In his business dealings he was
nevertheless exacting In the fulhlment Of the con-
HE LEAVES A WIDOW AND TWO DAUGHTERS
and wide circle Of relations to mourn his sudden
and untlmey death. One OF his daughters married
an eminent physician of this city and another is the
wife of q member OF the firm Of W. G. Strong Co.
There are various
THEORIES AS TO THE ASSASSINATION /.
and the causes which provoked 1t. Some maintain
that the assassin mistOOk his man, few hiRt that
the murderer was insane and the police who are
as ignorant as anybody, manifest their usual DIS
play OF apparent wisdom and profound silence Mr..
Lane, although he was between sixty and seventy
years OF age, was still man OF the world, and was
genial and g0Odnatured His wife has been an in
valid for the past fifteen years. An inquest will be
commenced tomorrow.