Morning journal and courier., 1882-02-10
A FATAL WOUND INFLICTED.
Statement of Parties to the
Affair.
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.

WASHINGTON, Feb. "a shooting ARRAY
took place in the Office of the National Re.
publican just before 10 o'clock to night, dur
ing which A. M. Soteldo, jr.. clerk of the
Senate Committee on Railroads. was fatally
shot in the back of the neck, and Clarence
Barton, managing editor of the Republican,
| was also shot in the neck and again in tn g
side The trouble between the parties was
of long standing. Soteldo was at one tim g
managing editor of the Republican,, and
afterward correspondent of the San Fran
cisco Chronicle and of the Baltimore Times
For the last two Congresses he has been clerk
| to the Senate Committee on Railroads. He
has gained considerable notoriety recently by
| lawsuit with the proprietor of the
| Lyon House in this city, and also
| on account of a fracas with Colonel
Keegan of New York. The latter affair and
| it's sequence have been made the subject of
personal comment by the Republican and
| Soteldo has openly attributed the authorship
of the articles to Barton and declared that he
would in turn show him up to the public in
| his true light. To this end he procured what
purported to be copies of letters from Barton
| written some time ago and confessing for
gerry to the amount of several hundred dol
lars. These papers Soteldo held in allegiance
until to-day, when the current issue of the
| Republican contained the following
''Mr. A. M. Soteldo, jr., native of Venezu-
| ella, South America, whilom proprietor of the
| Lyon House on T street, clerk to the Com
| mittee on Railroads of the United States Sen
| ate and a nAyvSpaDer c0rrhsron6ant offered on
| Tuesday to William G. Hinton, typo on
| the Republican, SIS if he would secure for him
| the original manuscript of news article
which appeared in. these columns relative to
| A. M. Soteldo and Col. James Francis Kee-
| gan on the 18th ult. Mr.. Hinton, who was
an apprentice on the Republican some years
4 ago when Mr.. Soteldo was managing editor
1 ana who has been attached to the paper for
the last ten years, proved to be incorruptible
| and refused to violate the customary conf
dence reposed in the employees of newspa-
per Office just why Mr.. Soteldo, jr., de-
sires the original manuscript is not known,
but he ought to remember that bribery is
not journalism and that such a proposition,
coming from the clerk to Senate COM
mittee, would naturally tend to de.
stroy confidence in said clerk The
| night after the publication of the article
referred to Colonel Keegan forwarded a card
to this Office giving the details of disgrace
full affair which brought himself and Soteldo
I into the court and the newspapers. Mr. So
| teldo got wind of the intended publication,
and through his earnest personal solicitation
| and those of his friends based upon the plea
| that it would ruin him in the community the
card of Colonel Keegan was not published.
This injustice to Col. Keegan and favor to A.
M. Seteldo is repaid by the latter in an at
tempt to corrupt one of the employees of this
journal. 1t is not forgotten here that when
this man Soteldo was managing editor of the
Republican he boosted he held the mirror up
to nature in presenting the naked facts of
passing events to the public through its col
umns. Whether he did or not is best known
to those who remember his signal failure in
| his efforts at so-called reform, a failure to be
very naturally expected when Soteldo's con-
nection with well known matchmaking sheet
in New York, namely the Free Lance, was so
well remembered.
| Soteldo to day characterized the above as
libellous, and said he should bring an action
against the paper. Tonight however, 'he
and his younger brother Charles went to the
Republican office little before 10 o'clock and
found Barton at work editing the telegraphic
| news. No one else was present. The others
in the building heard several shots
fired Barton and the younger Soteldo
had an after scufie down stairs.
The elder Soteldo was found unconscious
on the floor of the sanctum. The latter re-
1 h1uAhOS1 uACcASClOO5 1OI 40dI1y oil
Doctors Bliss and Adams attended. He was
found to have been shot in the back of the
| neck and the ball seemed to have passed
downward through the spine. His hands and
| feet were paralyzed, but when consciousness
was regained he was able to talk incoherent-
ly. He said he did not know who shot him,
that he was very weak, that he was going to
die and wanted to be taken to the Providence
hospital. At II p. N. he was removed there
1 and his wife informed of the fact
| Barton was found on the counting room
floor. He was able to walk to carriage and
was taken home. His story is that the So
teldos came in on pretence of the publication
of some papers the elder one held in his
| hand. He refused to look at them, saying he
was not the editor. Thereupon the elder So
teldo seized him by the throat and the
younger fired at him with revolver, and
then he took his pistol from his drawer in
self defence and fired a shot. He says, how
ever, that he could not have shot the elder
Soteldo in the head for he aimed at his body.
Frank Conger, bookkeeper of the Republican,
and copy boy, both of whom entered during
thefracas, corroborate Barton's statement that
he was the party attacked and that Charles
Soteldo shot his brother by mistake.
Charles Soteldo, the younger brother, was
arrested and locked up. He was uninjured.
He says his brother shook some papers in
Barton's face and asked him if he recognized
| 'DdEGOu I0luSSa W AOOh
at them; that his brother then
moved toward him and that Barton
taking revolver from his desk fred a shot
that brought him to the floor. Charles says
he then sprang upon Barton. They scuf.
fed across the room and. down stairs and
the pistol was discharged several times dur.
ing the scuffe and that Barton shot himself.
Both Soteldos are said to have been under
the influence of liquor. A great crowd
thronged the Republican office until the
wounded men were removed and
considerable excitement was mani
fest. Mrs. Soteldo reached her husband
at midnight, at which time he was barely
conscious. The doctors think he cannot live
until morning. Barton is badly wounded
but his wound is not necessarily fatal.