Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1874-07-11
A LIFE TRAGEDY.

tlinOTe WAS puoiisueu -,
During drunken brawl in the Sher-
wood House early this morning. Berry
Amos, aged 35, . well known gambler,
was fatally stabbed, as he alleged, by
Sam Mcdonald, who was arrested. Nc
Donald is supposed to be here on q Wis
it from Indiana. He formerly resided
near Baltimore, and is the son of VIM.
Mcdonald, the millionaire, former own
er OF Flora Temple.
The young man who stands charged
with this atrocious crime Vas well
known in the West, and has many
friends in this city. Never did career
open more brightly than his and never
was the inevitable end Of unbridled dis
sipation more clearly fulfilled than in
the brief paragraph We have given
above. His fall from high estate, far
beyond the common, has been so head
long and rapid, that brief recital OF its
incidents will be of interest to the gene
raj reader, and will serve to point q sad
moral that cannot be too often inculca-
ted, and will not come amiss to some OF
our own jeunnesse doree.
The Baltimore papers. in chronlcllng
thu incidents of the crime, have but
briefly alluded to the previous career of
the alleged murderer. Some acqualnt-
ance with It's salient features enables
the writer to present the facts as given
below. The murder seems to have
been the natural sequence of four years
of the most extraordinary dissipation.
Three men were drinking together in n
Baltimore bar-room in the early hours
of the morning, and after night spent
in debauch. One of them was noted
gambler of that city-Berry Amos,
whom a local paper describes as tinc
looking man-at least, so far as the AMI
NAL part is concerned; tall, erect, broad
chested, and muscular, with sturdy low
er limbs, and brawny arms, and all well
rounded he presented to the eye the
very personitication of physical strength
aud manly vigor Another was boon
companion and the third was Sam Nc
Donald. The two first were at the bar
taking drink together, and the third
arose from his chair and stabbed the
gambler to the heart. The murder IS
said to have been done out OF mere
wantonness. The murderer was besot-
ted with liquor, and had bowie-kniie
in his pocket. Rising from his seat in
alcoholic delirium, he singled his victim
out simply because he was the taller
man in the crowd before him. There
is said to have been no cause for quarrel
between the two, and that it is not pro-
bable the drunken man cherished any
malice whatever toward his victim or
any other person in the party. Such
are the circumstances Of one scene in
the life-drama of which we write the
next must be left TO the record of the
courts TO tell, and of that which prece-
ded the bloody tragedy in its couise,we
may briefly allude to here.
Samuel Mcdonald was the son OF a
very wealthy man i'll Baltimore, whose
family occupied the highest social posi-
tion in that city. He himself was sent
abroad to be educated, aud spent several
years at one of the schools in England.
While still abroad his father died. leav
ing his immense fortune to be divided
between his son and daughter, his on
ly children. Young McDonalds por-
tion was something over S500.OOO, and
with proper management would soon
have advanced very greatly in value.
Shortly after his fathers death the
young man attained his majority. The
family residence, just out of Baltimore,
was one of the most elegantin the coun-
try. Here on the night Of his 2lst
birthday he gave grand dinner to va
rious friends in the city, and the cele-
bration is said to have been carried .out
in u style of almost unparalleled magnlf.
cencc. 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 con-
sumed. Thus he started ont upon Ca
reer of dissipation which has hurried
him in four years-he is now but 25-
to the horrible tragedy Of last Wcdnes-
day night.
Young Mcdonald at this age was an
extraordinary specimen Of manly beauty.
He was over six feet tall, straight rs an
arrow, broad chested, and muscular
yet as graceful and agile as an athlete.
A wealth Of flaxen hair and broad,fai
forehead deep blue eyes, and noble
mouth, with features perfectly classic
in their outline-be was perfect type
of the Anglo Saxon. Add to this the
exuberant spirits which always attend
good health, and that nameless mag1e
tism which SO few men possess, and the
possession Of which may be the best or
the worst of Gods gifts, he was most
enjoyable companion, the life OF the So
cial circle, and as much admired by wo-
men. Shortly after he attained his ma
jority he came out to Tere Haute, In
diana, on a visit. He returned to that
pleasant city few months afterward,
bought himself farm in the vicinity,
stocked it with toe finest horses and
cattle, and there inaugurated series Of
designations which shocked the goodly
little city to its centre. lie was soon
ostracised from the society of the town,
and direful stories are told of the excess
es into which he then plunged. There
were two gamblers from the East, whom
he had brought West with him, and it
il said that there were still more disrep-
...-lr1 ..1-ncoc;ora of onofhar sev Uho