The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-06-13
THE DEATH OF LIEUT.. zEILIN.


An Authentic Account of the Tragedy.
10 The EdHor of the landmark
Such deep and widespread interest con
tinucs to be manifested In the terrible accident Of last
sons NJ II have been put forth Ivy persons aud papers
entitled TO consideration hardly any two agreeing
and none strictly correct, that have taken the trou-
bile to reconcile them and get mt the true story, as
nearly as may be- by most patient and careful per-
soun Investigation Of all the attending circumstances
horse was not running away at all; that MR. zclIn
merely riding fast TO cat the train In, mud that
II the gates had not been closed he would never had
been Killed. II has al.p been intlmacd that he had
been drinking; but these views are not only In con-
| innocent people, l WIN cndeayor to show. Tho
| gates were undoubtedly open, hut whether open
| same. 10 commence at the beginning. Lieut..
W. r. Heilin, u. =. NJ. C., came here In February
last from the Mare island CraiJ Barracks as the oli-
| Ger detailed to command the marine guard of the
receiving slip Franklin shortly after his arrival he
went TO Baltimore and brought down blooed horse,
called Hector OF chestnut color and stylish appear
ancc, which he had owned for several years and used
for riding The horse was stabbed at thayer where
kicking, and interfering with the other horses that he
had to he assigned special quarters In box stall lie
| equally Wen, ana IN many ways exhibited
much sagac,ty. At times he was playful, even
| coqneitish, and would rear at command, follow
his master about and search his pockets for apples.
| In March last, Lieut.. 2elln was unable to drill or
carry his sword for several days on account OF injury
to his right shoulder by the horse rolling upon tim,
and friend of his In Baltimore previously made
insensble Tor twenty four hours by being thrown.
| Later, the animal threw Mr. Augnr, of tho United
| states steamer Alliance, and gradually established
such reputation that Mr.. Zeilin several times re-
viii break my neck ye. Good rer" l "s noweysr n0re
| like hne swimmers, take big risks.
Last Thursday he rode the horse down to the club
house ut Ocean View, using brldlc with both curb
| aud SndHe bit, and skeleton saddle Weighing only
S n"nn ~, an & hal without , the s,irrns on the way
him from running into The wagon of Mr.. simpson,
| who was on tho road. lie Remained all night, and
N
mon, who went down from Norfolk. During the
day he took the horse into the water for u bai and
| Ing he sa,licd him to return, assisted by n friend
Mr. Allen Saunders, of this city. who was the last
bIdle and hooked the chain of tho hit himself, and
| when MIR. Saunders said: ''Whv, WIN, you loli,t
@ nSc wi s , sn "a" 4" to S G' @ 5s and
| Frequently he would come In from riding with His
hands skinned and Dllsterl. Ne then sad ''Alcn.
| dhe 1890 train.) MIR. Saunders remarked that he
won'l do SO with pleasure hut for the fact that he
practice. A little after eight O'Clock Hector,
ridcrlcss and rcking with sweat, came dashing
down hank street, and Into his stable. Ills groon
ordered him To stop. which he did, and let hin, ap-
proash. lle was SO very wet and much cut that IN
tween oand 10 O'Clock Mr. stokes, who lives at this
end oi the first bridge on the Cottage Toll bridge
ROAD rSaa ,r"w Ea%s into & the e., city % and reported that man had
tol.gatc, about two miles out II was Immediately
decided to he Lieut.. zellln and the news spread
|
Iasher United States Navy, and NIcssrs. farewell
true. The body Of the young ofcer was lyng on the
porch Of the to,keeper's onse, and the bridge,
master smith found his watch and watcl,-kcy
,, l,nI,,e'stnnding that nothing could he done
' M the ,Gsy Sr'vn, 1epneo Of Coroner :" ra,% a,
i.;ao and the lasiy account gathered by them was
published IN the morning papers. The coroner's ar
friends, who, with great credit to themselves went to
erklcy In small boat and reused him out of bed III
alnry they said they would settle and the coroner e
, yielded. a:ao AN, Messrs. Henry Wake, Win.
well, John vermillion, Alien Saunders and Lieut. T.
H. Harrington u. s. NJ. g., Were at the bridge some
empancled jury. The view was had and testi
mony taken by the light of an oil lamp, averct rem
lersd and tho bruised body delivered at Morrisets
the room 1t had occupied In life The undertaken was
assisted in preparing the corpose, to he placed on
removing the clotted blood AMI dust from,
the the, head , and and face. and the torn clothing
at the toll gate and were made of the terrific
force with which he had been THROWN 1t is safe To
thirty miles hour These Injuries were all on the
right side, and weie abrasions, cuts bruises III,
principal ones being on the temple and nose, In The
Blood flowed from the ears freely that cotton had tc
he inserted to stop It, and In doing this portions
small ragged hole over the right eye, and band o
. white skin of even width, say half nch between
two large red patches on the temple, which led t,
Il hclieve that In falling he had struck the head of
spike In the floor of the bridge and exactly over
crack between two panks, aud this proves, to be cor.
: parent. The next day Went TO the sta6,
1 i,s nss txnl"e Vera 'na m n horse ,, and en're",s
the same side. His head was cut, his right nostri
hlseng several very sore spots on of shoulder. an'
y large abrasion on his hip. The pommel Of the sad
II die was Scared and the snano bit the left sid
was found by the groom under the curb BIT, maxim,
l "A hnp mn hnNy 4 .t.t,.
mine IL before the accident, 1t explains why til,
= horse was nnmanageabe. The same evening 1 Wen
It to the tollgate and spent two hours examining thu
IF surroundings, interogatng the witnesses. then calm
h and trying to solve the veSed questions involved
. measured all the distances, and found tho width lie
tween the gate posts to bo twelve feet and the gates
. which are donbIe, and open toward Ocean View, AR
eight feet high, and hung on posts one foot square b!
three heavy iron pintle hinges. From where he wal
first seen to the gate is about hundred yards an'
"% the ga,s t" Mr. the GS" where , he - s.k m
keeper Is the principal witness, and she tells sucl
II straight story that give 1t full credence She saw
'e the whole affair and having lived there years
l. Is familiar with runaways. Heard the horse befor
she could see him. and supposg that there car
age attached called her son Charley aged nineteen
to shut the gates. Charley crossed the road ia,
the gate on that side about one third closed when s
II He stepped back pace with the gate, when IL,
m which paralyzed the boy so that he was worthless fo
Ie day, and had to go to bed. The cato M,ckied an,
rs broke the outer end being torn from the boy han
and carried on before the horse, who stumbled
10 to the right beyond tho boy. Lieut.. Zeilin who III
to the time of the collision, had been calling 'wioa
II Whoa' was still In the saddle, and leaning forward
is although the horse had struck the heavy gate-post
both with his fore leg and his hip breaking shor
of nj the ground, after breaking tho gate withou
t, any arrest of his great speed which Mrs Lee say
X like tornado, the horse gathered himself "
l. and gave tremendous leap forward. Mr.. Zen sl,o
at up into the air and came down head first upon til
" bridge, with what Mrs Lee describes aB aw G.
6f sound, squp which shall never forget - IN
III momentum was such that he was thrown alIout four
III teen feet and turned u complete sonershuIt his fee
IN being found pointing In the direction Norfolk. III
al head was doubled up under one shorEf, and his
40 mind ran to him and drew his head out but saw iha
le there was no hope. His pulse heat feehy for fe,
IN minutes, but he neither spoke nor Groaned. Mr.
ie Lee, who was Sitting NJ u window, saw tile hors
OF go by ''ike sl'... fIom n gun, ~ and rnsie
" ont. hut by the time hc got to the road tn
90 animal was out Of sight. Mr. Stokes saw the hors
pass his place with an empty saddle, and aero,
IN the bridge where he tried several measures try an
g restore the injured man, without any impression
In Ihe body was then removed to the porch and MI
!. stokes came To Norfolk with the news. with III
st hepof MIR. Lee put the broken parts of the gai
he together and then In The position was alleged 10
lie when struck, and It he only position that win ne
ne count Tor the results There bruises The gat
N and post aso blood and horse hair showing where
al was struck and how. As there at the time u pas
at eost siepea feet Diie II Is fair pies
L. that the horse was either trying to rub his rider oil,
III common trick with vicious horses; or trying to jmm
In on The hoy Charley, another trick; slying frOl
In MrS. Lee, who stood ON the porch on the opposite
a ING road or being pulled by his rider. This Is III
% negroes noticed The horse fretlng orc than a mi
~ from the toll gate and another group nearer repO
g ai ,;a no was rnnning when he passed them iftl
ie Viow we have u solution Of tho runaway valuable
In those who claim that Mr. Zeilin WAS too good hos,
man To lose control Of his huise. to he thrown as
al was. Trust that have made this sad matter plain,
io IMAM II has been Very respectfully,
Mt NORFOLK, VA, June 10, 1850.
rs Father is Getting Well.