The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-09-04
A FATAL RENCONTRE.
The Particulars Of the Late st.
MartinsviIle Tragedy.
How the Difficulty Between M essrs.
BONN and Wilt Originated The
Card That Led to the Meet
ing "A Loyal Statement
from the Dying
Man.
Especial Correspondence Of tho Democrat.l
ST. MAsTtNsvILLE, August 81, 1870

/ ST.. MARTtNsvILLE, August 81 1870
NY telegram Of this date must have struck
the minds of your renders as presenting one
Of those circumstances In country ilfe not m
common In our locality. Figure W yollrFel1 o
bright Sunday morning; ladies'. children,
gentlemen. vending their steps at That early
bour Il, the parish church for the early ser
vices Of first mass" md, on their way,
frightened and stopped by the repeated re-
ports of pistol shots by their side. This may
be- Of common occurrence In your city and
attracts but little attention, but ia our midst
IL 4 aouree or great excitement. 10 tho facts ::
| anne time il the month OF August there
seems 10 have existed, as now, diseord and
much ll-feeing between Mr.. Arthur Bunin
and his wife. On this account Mrs Arthur
BONN abandoned the conjugal domicile
@d 9os 4 s"ss WITH Fl hsr fbetsfrs aposs
| n criminal action for assault and bat
| terry before the Hon. Ralph DeBlanc,
Justice Of the peace for the first ward Of this
parish. and which includes tho corporation of
st. Martiusville. On that day Mr. Onesiphore
WtIlz aud Mr.. Paul Alfred BONN. the latter
brother Of Mr.. Arthur BONN, the husband Of
Miss Witt, met, and before the examination
Of the case before Judge Ralph De5lanc words
out cartel from Mr. Paul Alfred Bonin to
Mr. Oneslphore Wilt. The sheriff having
been notified OF the fact, made the proper ani-
davlt, but only ono Of the parties was ar
rested namely, Mr.. Oneslphore Witt; but he
was never brought before the Judge for the
purpose Of furnishing the necessary bail.
Subsequently It would seem that the sheriff
returned his writ unsatistled and Withdrew
bis affidavit.
III the meantime It would seem, from what
/ can learn that Mr.. Paul Alfred BONN had
disappeared from the parish Of st. Martin.
with the view OF FSfgLpluQ arrest.
On Friday, the twenty-seGOnd, at early
morn. throughout the town Of st. Martins
Vile were seen posted small blue slips" re-
lating to the whole affair, and signed by Mr..
Paul Alfred BONN. append one Of them:
70 THE PUBLIC.
Having been struck In public By Mr.. Onesi-
phore Wiltz, without any explanation and
without any cause whatever ! have believed
1t to be my duty to demand reparatiOn from
the lnsulter, who has caused himself to be ar
rested.
/ take therefore, this means, which is the
only procedure that remains to me, to declare
publicly the said One5iphore Witt as a cow
ard and II poltrOon, unworthy the respect Of
honest and respectable people.
PAUL ALFRED BONN,
st. Martinsville, August 70, 1879
The "placnrd card created the greatest eK
element, and every one seemed tn be on the
qtii vive for the first encounter Of Messrs.
Witt and BONN.
o'clock. Mr.. Paul Alfred BONN made his ap-
pearance In town. No one seemed to have
noticed that hs had armed himself. Stopping
buta few minutes, he proceeded on horseback
toward the church, two blocks and u half from
where he had first stopped, when he was met
by Mr.. Onesiphore Witt who questioned
him As To his past conduct In relation To the
whole matter. Words were exchanged, and
before any outside interference could have
prevented the unfortunate occurrence, the
oh q hui jraI md W. ta1t 10
wounded. Doctors 4. NJ. Thomas, j. =.
Lynch and De Lanreal saw him and prObed
the wound and to your correspondent stated
the same to be mortal. / must add that inn
mediateIy after the shooting Mr.. Witt went
and constituted himself prisoner In the
hands of the sheriff, i'm whose custody he now
is. At 8 O'Clock Mr.. BONN requested the
presence Of Mr.. Wilt, who WAS Immediately
Bienvenu and Judge Ralph DeBlanc.
Mr.. BONN could hardly articulate but shook
hhnds with Mr. Witt. who had wounded
him. few minutes previous he stated to
Mr.. Casimir Witt, brother OF Onesipnorn
Witt: .'Tu vols que je mai pas ca peur"
c'You can see that was not afraid.'D
From the reports OF the several physicians
attending Mr.. BONN, Judge Ralph DeBianc,
attended by Messrs. Louis O. Duchanp and
Jeremiah Fitzgerald, called upon Mr. Bonin
and after putting the usual ana legal inter
rogatOries to the wounded party, and obtain
ing from him the answer that he believed he
was at the point Of death, at 10 minutes to 10
o'clock wrote down the following declaration,
which abridge:
II met Onesiphore Witt this morning on
the street. He had stick In his hand. which
he was brandishing In a threatening manner.
1 turned my horse from him and galloped
about fifteen steps away. Then stopped my
horse pulled out my revolver and asked him
whether no was ready After this we fired
about the same time. Onesiphore Wilt de
Tended himself loyalty mud bravely.'
Mr.. BONN IS expected to die In q very few
hours, and the case will probably appear be-
fore the Parish Court on Monday or Tuesday
for preliminary examination, when ! shall
advise you further. PLANTER.