Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1874-07-09
A WILD CAREER.
Story of Sam Mcdonald, the
Millionaire Murderer.

1HC OOUf tef -o o0FHdt punllSneS the
following account of Sam Mcdonald.
the young Indianian who fatally
stabbed a gambler named Berry
Amos at the Sherwood House, Balti-
more, one day last week. 1t says:
"The Baltimore papers in chroni-
cling the incidents of the crime, have
but briefly alluded to the previous ca
reer of the alleged murderer. Some ac-
quaintance with its salient features
enables the writer to present the
facts as given below. The murder
seems to have been the natural Sc
quence of four years of the most eX-
traordinary dissipation. Three men
were drinking together in Balti-
more bar-room in the early hours of
the morning, and after a night spent
in debauch. One of them was no
ted gambler of that city-Berry
Amos, whom a local paper describes
as a fine-looking man; at least, so far
as the animal part was concerned;
tall, erect, broad-chested and muscu-
lar: with sturdy lower limbs, and
brawny arms, and all well-rounded,
he presented to the eye the very per-
sonification of physical strength and
manly vigor. Another was boon
companion, and the third was Sam
Mcdonald. The first two were at the
bar taking drink together, and the
third suddenly arose from his chair
and stabbed the gambler to the heart.
The murder is said to have been done
out of mere wantonness. The mur-
derer was besotted with liquor, and
had a Bowie-knife in his pocket.
Rising from his seat in alcoholic de-
lirium, he singled his victim out sim
ply because he was the taller man of
the crowd before him. There is said
to have been no cause for quarrel be-
tween the two and that it is not
probable the drunken man cherished
any malice whatever toward his vic
tim or any other person in the party.
Such are the circumstances of the
scene in this life-drama of which we
write; the next must be left to the
record of the Courts to tell, and of
that which preceded the bloody trage-
dy in its course, we may briefly al
lude here.
Sam Mcdonald was the son of a
very wealthy man in Baltimore, whose
family occupied the highest social
position in that city. He himself
was sent abroad to be educated, and
spent several years at one of the
schools in England. While still
abroad his father died, leaving his
immense fortune to be divided be-
tween his son and a daughter, his
only children. Young McDOnald's
portion was something over a half
million of dollars, and, with proper
would soon have ad-
vanced very greatly in value. Short
ly after. his fathers death the young
man attained his majority. The
family residence, just out of Balti-
more, was one of the most elegant in
the country. Here on the night Of
his twenty first birthday he gave a
grand dinner to various friends in the |
city, and the celebration is said to
have been carried out in a style of al
most unparalleled magnificence. The
spacious grounds were ablaze with
light, and fountain ran champagne
in the yard. The night closed with
an orgie of wine-drinking in which
an amazing quantity was consumed.
Thus he started ont upon career of
which has hurried him in
four years-he is now but twenty-five
to the horrible tragedy Of last
Wednesday night.
Young Mcdonald at this age was
an extraordinary specimen of manly
beauty. He was over six feet tall.
straight as an arrow, brOad-chested
and muscular; yet as graceful and
agile as an athlete. A wealth of
flaxen hair, and a broad, fair fore
head; deep blue eyes, and a noble
mouth, with features perfectly classic
in their outline-he was a perfect |
type of the Anglo-SaxOn. And to
this the exuberent spirits which al
ways attend good health, and that
magnetism which so few
men possess, and to the possession of
which may be the best or worst of
Gods gifts, he was most enjoyable
the life of the social cir
Gle, and as much admired by men as
he was adOred by women. Shortly
after he had attained his majority he
came out to Terre Haute, Indiana, on
a visit. He returned to that pleasant
city a few months afterward, bought
him a farm in the vicinity, stocked it
with the finest horses and cattle, and
there inaugurated series of dissipa-
tions which shocked the gOodly little
city to its center. He was soon Os-
tracized from the society of the
town, and direful stories are told of
the excesses into which he then
plunged. There were two gamblers
from the East whom he had brought
West with him, and it is said that
there were still more disreputable
of another sex who lived
in the same house with him. From
this rendezvous he would take fire.
uuent hunting excursions into the
prairies of Indiana and
Illinois, the return to be always cele-
brated by a debauch. Wine flowed
like water in the hunting lodge, as he
called it, and cards followed the wine
on the table. 1t was said by those
who professed to know that young
spent over one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars the first
year he lived in Terre Haute. Here
he has since lived, and we are told
that most, if not all, of his original
has been squandered. 1t
was on visit to Baltimore that this
last fatal tragedy was enacted.
Should the circumstances as de-
tailed in the local papers be correct,
there will probably be a sad and sud- |