Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1873-07-17
81 From Night to Light" the Contest is
Continued Until IL Ends In Mur-
der Most HOrrible-Fun
Particulars.
The Victim Dies Only after Receiving
Seventeen WOunds-ILis Last
ShOt-The Murderer and His
AecOmplice. aA

opening of numerous doors and win
dOws in the vicinage, from which pro- |
truded the heads of anxious and curious
people. -s
Those who thus came forward saw a |
man emerge from the door of the cot |
! tage Whence the shot was fired, bearing |
q six-shOoter in his hand, with which he |
approached penaeingly another man,
who leaned against a tree, growing on /
| the edge of the banquette Those who |
| looked upon this scene were conscious, |
| from the attitude of the one who held |
! the pistol that there would be trouble, |
but were scarcely prepared to see en-
acted one of the
BLOoDIEsT TRAGEDIES sci
ever perpetrated in this city. In less
than five minutes the fatal encounter /
was terminated, and one man, the vic /
/ tor, walked hurFiedly of in the direc- !
! tion II st. Louis street, bearing in his
/ hand lOng-bladed dirk-knife, from the 4
! point of which trickled drops of dark, /
TeC blood, while the other, with an /
enlpsy pistol ia his hand, staggered for
| the house, into which he found his way, /
his iife's blood pouring from
SEVENTIES DIFFERENT WOUNDS.
Entering the dwelling he cast himself |
upon a large bed that stood in the far
corner Of the front room and expired in
4 less than three minutes. This fearful
hand to hand fight was between two /
quadroons, Charles Demassallier, po-
! liceman of the fourth precinct, and Mel
son SEVERN, q barkeeper engaged at the
cofteehouse and dance saloon of Louis
| Fernandez, corner of Cont and IRENE
streets-the first named being the one
who was so fearfully gashed, and whose
| life was terminated thus tragically. The
! beginning of the difficulty is said to
have been al a ball given at Fernandez's
I daneehouse on Saturday night, where
were cOngregated a large number of
! that questionable class of the colOred
| population so numerous in that portion
of the third district. During the pro-
gress Of
THE BALL
and some time after midnight, when the
majority of the men were in rather an
advanced stage of intOxication, super
induced by frequent pOtatiOns from Fer
nandez's handy bar, the deceased, who
was as full probably as any, struck an
old man who happened to be present,
and who was physically unable TO resent
the insult A young man, Auguste
Macarty, who is in some way related to
the old man, interpOsed and took the
latter's part. ThereupOn Demassallier
and Macarty had high words, during
which the latter was struck by DemRs-
sallier, the blow not being returned be-
cause of the interference of two police
men. Macarty had friend present, in
the person of Nelson SEVERN, the bar
keeper, who went to Demassallier and
demonstrated orsabused lit is impossible
to ascertain which,, him for striking I
Macarty, whom he rated only as boy,
much too young, and physically unable
to stand before him. This brought in
the fourth party 10 the
INSIGNIFICANT DISPUTE,
which was then suppressed, as it was
thought, by the interpOsitiOn of the two
policemen stationed at the hall for the
purpose Of maintaining order. This
was not the case, however, for when the
ball broke up, just before daylight, dis
position was evinced on the part of Ma
carty and SEVERN to renew the Difficult
ty, and Demassallier was heard to say,
as be left the hall, "You know where to
find me when you want me.n At an
early hour yesterday morning, the two
friends, SEVERN and Auguste MacaTty,
met and went together as TAR rs the cor
ner of Bienville and Roman streets,
where the latter stopped, while SEVERN
proceeded on to the house of Demassal-
lieT, as is alleged, the bearer Of
CHALLENGE.
At the house he found the door closed,
and all his rapping was not sufficient to
arouse the profound slumberer inside,
who, after a night of dissipation, was
wrapped in stupor and sleep. Not tobe
deferred from fulfilling his mission, and
made persistent from being half drunk,
SEVERN took advantage Of window
WIN, opened on the street as a means
of ingreSs, and climbing through found
Demassaliiier occupying a bed alone, in
the front rooi,l. The latter was aroused
by a vigorous shake or two, and Jump
ing up demanded wy be was molested,
and what was meant by sucn intrusion.
SEVERN stated why he had coiue, Shere-
upon he was ordered peremptoriiy ~
Demassailier to leave. This he refused
to 10, whereupOn a seuffie ensued.
Dlu4ssallier beng the aggressOr, and
g-- lg the best of it, inasmuch as Sew
e.. was thrown upon the bed ana
severely beaten about the face. The lat
ter only attempted TO defend himself in
this :
ROUGH AND TUMBLE FIGHT, !
and so far succeeded as to snatch chair :
from the hands of Demassallier, with a /
demonstration being made against his I
(Seyerin's) head. Arriving at the con- :
clusiou presently that this room was q 2
few degrees hotter than he had calculat- /
ed on, SEVERN made for the door, and J
as he did so Demassallier snatched a =
heavy pitcher from the washstand andi !
delivered a tremendous blow on the in !
trusionist's head, shsttering the crock :
cry into a hundred pieces. This was c
followed by another, with the fragment
that remained on the handle, whereby
the nOwthorOughly demOrslized SEVERN =,
was cut very severely in the hand as he =
attempted TO ward of the blow. Get
ting clear Of the house eventually, be :
found himself in 8 most unenviable
condition. for the blood was streaming
from his head, his nose, his wounded
hand, and his left eye showed signs of I
having coliided with a heavy fist. He I
waited demuTely at the corner of st.
Louis and ROEan streets, but turned, as I
if aetuated by some sudden impulse, .
and, retracing his steps, took up posi-
ton IN front of the house from which he Z
had been driven, and there remained for ]
some minutes. He leaned against a tree (
in an attitude indicative Of a resolve 10
bide his time, for very soon Demassalier
looked nom the window and told :
him to leave; SEVERN replied sullenly; |
"I WANT sATIsFAcTIoN.n
1t was then that Demassallier threat !
ened to use his pistol, which he pro-
duced, with these words: " ] told YOU (
TO keep away from me, and if you don't ,
90. IN shoot you" Undeterred by this
threat, SEVERN merely repeated that he
would not leave, whereupOn the former,
true to bis word, leveled his weapon and
FIRED DIRECTLY AT SEVERN,
a. he stood oniV the width Of tbs ban
quette from him. Whether Il was be-
cause the latter was drunk, and was
therefore in condition whereby he was
unable to appTehend his great Danger,
or whether he is naturally brave, Il Is
certainly true that he acted very cour-
ageously at the moment, for when the
Tstol was leveled at his head, be
faced his man, without moving mus
Gle, only raising his left shouldeE slight
~ rs the ball grazed his neck, bnt not !
changing his position. After firing tbel
sbot DeeassRllieT left the window and
ia q moment passed out Of tlse door
an N fha hanaueffa FiSfOl in hand. and