, 1879-04-13

/
I Special Correspondence OF The Tribune
! New YORK. April 1O.-The shooting bee at the
Coleman House has been talked Of good deal
| hercabouts this week
! 1t was lively racket.
And when 1t is thought how near fatal it was to
Wash Sathan-and missed-everybody is sorry.
| hope make myself clear.
| Mrs. Barrett meant well, but she failed to con-
/ meet And, as she had never lived in Texas. her
| reprehensblc inaccuracy in the use OF frea1ma
| may perhaps be quite natural.
| What We can't forgive. We may condone,
Mrs. Barrett's attempt to pass herself of "a M
actress, after the affair was over, had flavor OF
| gr1m humor about it. She wanted folks to under
stand that she was star-a sort Of shooting star
| But she couldn't comet
| 1T somebody viii: kindly kill me before have a
! chance to do tha: again. shall be obliged,
| / have been looking into the anteccdchts OF tho
people concerned in the Coleman House frolic, and
| I'll tell you shout 'ea.
Wash Nathan is the son OF old Benjamin Nathan,
| who WIS murdered on the 29th Of July, 1870, and
| whose slayer has never ret been brought to JUS
ice. The Nathan family lived In handsome
| brown-stone mansion at No. IL West Twenty third
street, opposite the Fifth Avenue Hotel. On the
night OF the old mans murder he went to his bed
at II 20 4. n- At $40 the same morning Wash
went to his fathers roon, 10 awaken him,-as he
61tE1NAIU CApa1uCU. LIE 1UQuQ Tue Olu ulAQ a
corpse. with his head mashed out OF human SEM
blance. The weapon which WAS used in the COM
mission Of this horrible murder was an iron
"dog."
At that time and for number Of months after
ward the police made frantic and Intellectual en-
deavors to find ont who did the killing. And have
sometimes heard 1t limited that if the officials
hadn't betn quite so frantic about it they might
have had more success. Just then law IN New
satires Of the age. Properly backed. d man might
do whatever he pleased. without fear of punish
ment
And the way that Nathan murder WAS 'straced"
to different people was q caution. It was even
suggested With more OF less vagueness that Wash
Nathan himself had hand In the business. 1t
was not proven. however, and there the matter
rested. But be has never entirely outgrowu the
suspicion, and probably never will until the real
as sss u noa sss M w s sa1oDy PERIOD
'tWid w1ys" Is mild expression.
He has been regular whoopcr. And he is for
ever getting into some sort Of trouble.
Awhile ago, when he was drunk in a notorious
bagnio, the landlady did something which Wash
DID not Ike Ihese9Don 7,1: he jumped into cab;
peremptor1iy ordered that official to '.pull " the
ranch he had just come out Of.
od It 20 soe .. n
h1m and showed him into cell Tor ths night
Nathau's connection with
MRS. BARRETT
dates back over q long period. She hiss been his
mistress And she hns been lively sort OF girl,
too Once when Wash Was climbing upon horse
ear. after cutting up some shine with another
sweet- -eceuted crltrct, Mrs Barrett went for him
with a iacS knife. Wash lied through the car,
Jumped of the front platform, and scooted for
dear life. ... .'.
So. ron see, Mrs. Barrett has always exercised
her taIeuts in the direction Of reform.
She owned tsvo dogs, once upon time One |
was small, and the other large She was pettins |
the little one q ceseain morning some years ago,
when the other became Jealous, and bit her on tho
cneek.. Whereupon she seized him By the collar
dragged him down to the front stoop, and shot him
through die neck The brute ran to the corner OF |
the street, and then rolled over and died
1t is said that upon one otErr occasion she tr5ed