Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1878-08-06
YOuNG AND RUSSELL.
Was there Foul Play at h Duck
water Fire?

and Russell lost their lives. The case, We
understand, is to be submitted to the
Grand Jury Of Nye county at the present
term Of Court. By request we publish the
whole of the testimony taken before the
coroner's jury, only a portion Of which has
hitherto been given to the public. There
are some singular circumstance surround
ing the case, but the whole thing may
have been the result of accident, for aught
we know. According to the evidence, the
fire when first discovered was thirty feet
away from the room in which Young and
Russell were sleeping. Brown himself
t~estifes to having brought a bucket OF
water from the ditch, forty yards distant,
and thrown it upon the fire while in this
position. Brown also says he went to bed
when the rest did, bu when the fire broke
out he found himself on the ground back
of the kitchen, and doesn't know how he
got there. There seems also to nave been
something strange in the conduct of the
man Upham. Brown says he put him
to bed with Johnson, in the bar
room, but in the morning after the
fire he turned up from a cabin
uOWn Ill tie Leiu. IOuHS anu RUSSELL ar
rived at the station at 3 P. M. Mrs. Black
well soon after bundled up and departed
for a party at the ranch of Jaques, seven
miles away, taking all of her children with
her, some Of them being small. This is
looked upon by some of the Duckwater
people as being rather strange, particularly
as she was not especially friendly at the
Jaques ranch. The Duckwater people
raised Mrs. Blackwell 1920 in coin and
about $50 worth Of supplies of one kind
and another, She then came TO Eureka,
remaining five days, and got $3.50 more.
Before starting for this place she divided
her children among the neighbors to be
cared for until her return. Mrs. Black
well and Brown had had a marriage license
for ten months. They have married since
the fire. Most OF the men about the sta
ton were on a sort OF Fourth of July spree.
1t is considered a little strange that all Of
the drunken men escaped, while the
two sober men were burned. Young was
known to have come to town after money
to pay off his men, while Russell it was
believed had sold his lem pahute mine to
Chicago parties for SIS, 600. Young be-
fore his death frequently remarked that his
few hundred dollars cost him his life. He
also said to Mrs. Jacques that he thought
he had been struck on the head, and re-
quested her to feel if his skull was not
fractured. There was a slight wound in
the scalp. Whether the men were followed
from town by robbers or whether they
were the victims Of foul play by some one
about the Warm Springs station, may pos
sibly never be known, but it is certain that
the circumstances are such as to arouse
sufficient suspicion to demand a searching
investigation. We know non Of the par
ties, and only give these facts in the hope
OF furthering the ends of justice.
THE coRoxER's INQUEST.
The State of Nevada, County Of Nye, 49,,
in the matter Of the death Of samuel
Young.
Before a Coroner's jury, called this day,
before Isaac Irwin, Justice Of the Peace,
Duckwater precinct, Nye county, Nevada.
The following named gentlemen were sum-
moned, sworn and approved as jurymen,
to wit: b. f. Bayley, Thomas Pepper,
Joseph Sabron, Alex. Mccullough, J. W..
Simpson, Henry Purdy.
Peter A. Marsellis, aviag been duly
sworn, testified as follows | knew Samuel
Young in his lifetime; ne was born in
1hDdtid nc WtS % NCuls OIu db Tie LliIlt Vi
his dccease /; he went into Eureka for
money. and was to pay me some of it /
was with him before his decease, and he
told me that he had eleven hundred dol
lars in gold notes and eleven dollars in
silver l did not hear him say the amount
Of the bills; all the information was tiat
he said Mr.. Brown saved his life he was
generally sensible when / talked about
business; he died on Monday, July Sth, at
1880 A.. NJ, in Mr.. Jacques house.
PETER A. MARsELLIs.
James Pepper, having been duly sworn.
testified as follows | got to Warm springs
about half-past 4. and found Young and
Russell in a very bad condition / heard
Mr.. Russell remark that there see ned to be
foul play in regard to the fire Mr.. Young
said he had eleven hundred dollars, viz:
three one hundred dollar bills, but could
not tell me where he got them Mr.. Young
said that he thought it was set on fire by
one, but mentioned no names he
said the doors were locked he said they
were locked in he knew nothing about
the window; l brought Mr.. Young in a
wagon to Jaqnes' house; Young repeated
very often that there was something wrong;
l found them only covered with a blanket.
JAMES PEPPER.
Charley BODICE being duly sworn, testi-
fed as follows: / went to Warm Springs
between 4 and 5 O'Clock on the morning of
the 9TH of July / found Young and Rus
sell i'll bed close to the stable Young
wanted to know if l had any m dicine l
said no, but that some was coming; Rus
sell said there was foul play, but did not
state in what way.
Mr.. p. Bodge's evidence continued,
Young never mentioned anything about
the fire, except that Mr.. Brown helped him
out. CHARLES BopaE.
Mrs. Jaques, having been duly sworn, tes-
tilted as follows: / know nothing about
the fire; | knowed Young; l took care of
him until he expired; Mr.. Young stated
that he was burned to death, and that he
was locked in the room; he told me that
he was so bewildered that he didn't know
what he was about; that some one struck
hin over the head; also, will you see il my
is broken; he said my few hundred
dollars has cost me my life; he said the
door was fastened on the outside; / have
no recollection of his saying what house
the fire occurred in; no seemed to the hest
of my opinion that he was perfectly sensi-
BILE; l found a cut or q burn on his head,
but am not certain which.
MRS. NJ. JAQUEs.
mi' D. huSsciip having Detu uuly sworn,
testified as follows: l got to Warm
Springs about 8 P. NJ, 4th July; Brown
asked myself and Young to take a drink,
which l did; Young and myself drank once
more with a Mr.. Johnston, and that is all
we drank that day; Johnston and Mr..
Blackwell and family then went to a ball,
and a man called Upham then began to
make himself very obnoxious to both me
and Young, calling the latter a thief and a
liar; Brown then, as far as l could TIL,
began shaking him, although | did not see
him do it, but judged so from the voice l
heard; Upham then began using tho most
threatening language that / ever heard
used. saying that he would destroy his
property and ruin him; l then said to
Young that we had better go to bel; we
went to our room and examined the
only door in the room and found il locked
on the inside and found no key; Blown
then came in and asked Young when he
wanted to start: forgot his answer.