National Republican., 1883-07-10
A LIVELY LUNATIc.
He Raises an Immense Rumpus I'm an
Iowa Hotel, Frightens All the People in
Town. and Then Attempts Suicide.

Bc Raises an Immense Rumpus I'm an
Iowa Hotel, Frightens All the People in
Town, and Then Attempts Suicide.
DEs MoINEs, Iowa, July Son tho 1
o'clock train from the east this afternoon
there arrived a man who registered at the
Morgan house as Henry Seager, from Swain,
N. ", and who, after paying for his room in
advance, was assigned to No. "a, next to the
southwest corner, on the third floor of the
hotel. Nothing unusual was noticed about
the mans actions until about o'clock this
afternoon, when the occupant Of No. 53which
is across tho hall, heard him talking in
a loud voice. 1t was Immediately evident
that the man was crazy. He seemed TO be
holding colloquy with imaginary persons
whom he believed to be seeking his life. He
first demonstrated, saying that if he had done
anything they should arrest him and take
him to police headquarters rather than to kill
him. This talk became louder, and finally
the occupant of room No 50 stepped into the
hall with the intention of going down to the
office.
Seager opened his door and fercely threw a
quart beer bottle at him, but which was
lodged and the bottle shivered in thousand
pieces as it struck the wall over the stairway
AlJeT throwing DObblo oodBeI
commenced his work of destruction. Taking
up piece of crockery he pitched it through
the window into the street below. The Rock
Island depot is but short distance from the
hotel, and large crowd had been attracted
by the arrival of the Sunday train from
the west. After breaking the window the
crazy man hourished revolver through
the open easement and the crowd stampeded
to shelter behind the cars and around the
corners of the hotel. IL seemed that every
moment the unfortunate man was becoming
wilder. Turning to his room again he COM
menced a fusilade at the door and the north
wall, and the marks show that eleven bullets
were discharged in that direction. They
penetrated the door or passed through the
partition and lodged in the plaster on the op-
posite side of the hall.
Every article of furniture in the room was
demolished The table, stand, bureau, and
bedstead were split to splinters by the infuri-
ated man. The panels were knocked out of
the door of his room, and after finishing the
work of destruction there he picked up the
small coal stove and threw it down the
stairs. Room 80 was next visited. The door
was knocked in and the same work of
destruction was re-enacted. Everything
was demolished. Joseph Holmes, the oc-
cupant, was struck over the head with q
beer bottle, inhicting bad scalp wound,
and his life was only saved by flight. Seager
cupied room, whore he broke out a window,
threw out more crockery, and hourished his
pistol, putting the crowd to fight, as he had
previously done on the south side. His steps
were then retraced, when he entered room
No. 81. There Holmes was found, and the
latter fled through the window which leads
to the roof of lower portion of the hotel.
Seager followed him with O revolver in his
hand.
Perhaps his escape from the house had some
influence upon him. for, instead of following
Holmes, he ran along the north side of the
"oof to the west end and then crossed to the
southwest corner, where he climbed upon the
wall, which is three feet above tho roof, and,
standing erect for a moment, he glanced
around and then put the pistol to his fore
head and fired. Aftere firing Seager threw
the revolver away, and it struck the
ground about thirty feet from the base
of the building, and his body fell
back upon the roof. The police, who had
previously been very active in keeping out
of his way, now rushed out and captured the
prostrate mailman. He was taken to the
hospital, and an examination showed that the
bullet which struck his forehead glanced, and
did not penetrate his skull. There was also
an ugly bullet wound in his right leg, just
above the knee, but both are not necessarily
fatal. There is no evidence that the man had
been drinking to excess. There were half "a
dozen beer bottles in his room, but nearly all
were full.
His mutterings before the furious outbreak
indicated that he had experienced domestic
trouble. His wife was spoken of as having
left him. 1t was most remarkable case, and
one that the spectators will not soon forget.
Seager had some money in his possession.
This, with everything else, was thrown
indiscriminately out of the window
and was Immediately gathered up by the
street gamins when his revolver was not
fiourished at them. Seager is man of me-
dium build weight about one hundred and
sixty pounds. His complexion is rather light
and his moustache is u light brown color, He
was dressed as a man in moderate circum-
stances and carried no baggage. The battle
lasted upward of half an hour and attracted
crowd of fully two thousand people.