The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-08-15
II il Claimed that Mrs. Adams
Was Grossly Insulted by
Mr.. Cox;
But tine Friends of the Dying Man
Deny the Charges in Every
Respect.
Brief Interviews With Prominent
People on the Cause and Re-
suit of the Trouble.


forenoon, wherein a boot and shoe mer.
chant of that place, named j. r. Cox, was,
Aim all probability, mortally wounded by
Edward Adams, a fireman employed on the
L. S. division of the Missouri Pacific
road. The BAzOo of Wednesday evening
contained brief mention of the sad affair
and was the first newspaper in the state to
Law the fact before the public.
The circumstances which led to the
shooting are of an unusual and interesting
nature, and as they have never appeared in
print in detail, and all kinds of conflicting
rumors are aaoat regarding
THE ORIGIN OF THE DIFFICULTY,
a BAzoo representative visited Pleasant
Hill, Friday night, for the purpose of col
lecting all the evidence obtainable and pre-
senting it entire to the readers of ''the
paper published 70, the people now on
earth"
On arriving there, at o'clock, the re-
porter at once repaired to the
Atlantic house, and had hardly
: stepped across the door-sill until he heard
! the matter being discussed, one party de-
nouncing the shooting as "a cold-blooded
murder while still another gentleman was
equally as positive that adams did simply
his duty" In the premises.
Adams, the man who did the bloody
work, is married man, and has one child,
q little girl between two and three years of
age. He is probably thirty-6ve years old,
and has always
BORNE GOOD REPUTATION
until the present difficulty arose. He is a
brother of Capt Robert Adams, the noted
criminal lawyer of Kansas City, and Mr.
'Dut" Adams, another brother, is engaged
In the grocery business in Pleasant Hill.
Mrs. Adams is few years her husbands
although not handsome, woman. An effort
was made to obtain an interview with her
Friday evening, but the family residence
spending the night with relatives, as her
HUSBAND WAS OUT ON THE ROAD.
Another attempt was made yesterday
morning, but the reporter was informed
that she had no statement to make. This
was learned from her brother-in-law, Mr..
"Dut" Adams, who is held as an accom-
plice to the shooting, and he, also, refused
to talk, saying he did 80 on the advice of
his lawyers.
Mr.. ]. r Cox has been engaged in the
boot and shoe business in Pleas
ant Hill for some time past, and
enjoyed a liberal patronage. He, too,
has wife and child, and stands we'll in the
community. He is of about the same age
as Adams, but has long been suffering with
consumption, and on this account has been
talking for months past of engaging in
some other business and
LEAVING PLEASANT HILL.
The difficulty ont of which the attempted
killing grew originated about the 10th of
July. At that time Mr. Cox had en-
ployed in his store as salesman a young
fellow named Robert Reardon, aged nine
teen or twenty years, whom he suspected
was Knocking down" on the till, and, ac-
cordingly, he kept a close watch on the
young mans actions. At about the date
stated, after closing the store at night, Cox
followed Reardon to the house Of Mrs Ad-
ans, whose husband was out on his run on
the road. What he witnessed on that oc
casion is not definitely known, As Cox has
never been able, since the shooting, to give
an account of it.
At any rate he discharged Reardon,
which fact caused Cox to gain a deadly
enemy, and many in Pleasant Hill can be
found who attribute all of the present
trouble to
REARDoN's SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS.
The friends of Cox claim that Reardon,
after being discharged, went to Adams,
with whom he was on good terms, and
told him that Cox had insulted his
{Adams) wife by saying that he (Reardon)
had held holding improper relations with
her. This, o. course, greatly incensed
Adams, and he was not at all backward in
saying that Cox should pay the penalty
with his life.
After thus informing Adams, Reardon
went to Cox and offered to settle the trou.
bic between Cox and Adams if he (Cox)
would again employ him (Reardon) for a
term of six months, at salary of $40 per
month. This Cox refused to do, but told
Reardon he had
NO FURTHER USE FOR HIM
Rumors reached the ears of Cox that
Adams had threatened his life, and his