St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-05-31
A SAD SUICIDE.


Upon Himself and Dies Suicides DEATH
LOUISVILLE, KY, May l6.
A sensation was caused yesterday b,
the suicide of Superior Judge Richard
Reid, at Mt. Sterling, Ky. On the 1Gtl
of April Judge Reid was cowhided b,
John J. Corneilson, a prominent barrister
in his law office at Mt. Sterling. Cor
nelson accused the distinguished
| jurist of duplicity in an important
lawsuit, and attacked him upor
that score. Judge Reid made
no resistance, and failed afterward to
call him to account, although importuned
| to do SO by his wife and many of his
| friends. He wrote card at the time,
| in which he defined his action by de-
his judicial dignity and unbecoming
Christian to seek redress in a
personal encounter. BY many his
course was approved. Others charged
him with q lack of manly courage.
His wife, who is a high-bred and high
spirited woman, as well as most am
bilious one, is charged with having re-
buked him bitterly. 1t is said she threat
Il.
these things weighed upon the spirit of
the jurist, and to-day the affair
ended in pitiable tragedy. He
ing. He walked into the Office
of Judge Brock, at Mt. Sterling,
and told the Judge that he was suffering
from severe headache, and would like
to go upstairs and lie down. Judge
SV.nO h 4o1,I u
no more about it, but went out into the
street, and after the lapse of an hour went
upstairs to wash his hands and was hor-
ritied upon discovering Judge Reid dying,
stretched out on the floor, his head lying
in pool of blood and a 38-caliber Smith
& Wesson pistol on the floor by his SIDE
He Immediately gave the alarm, and in
few moments the people tlocked to the
office to view the sad scene.
A BULLET IN THE BRAIN.
1t is believed that Judge Reid stood up
before the looking-glass, put the pistol
behind his right ear and fired, falling at
full length on his back The ball had
passed straight through his brain, and
struck the wall some distance from him. |
Coroner Jesse Orear was called in, and |
the following jury: VIM Nit
,hell, DIR. C. w. Harris, w. S. Thomas,
4. j. Rawlings, w. H. Fletcher and d. T. /
Wyatt, their verdict being that he came
% his death from pistol shot, fired by |
lis own hand. The following note, writ
en- on the back of a business card, was
ound on the bureau in Judge Breck's
Dom:
MAD, mad; forgive me, dear wife, and
owe the boy"
1t is not signed, but it is in the hand
writing of Judge Reid. 1t is a singular
act that no one heard the report of the
istol. The weapon used by Judge Reid
Tas one he kept at his house, but never
arried, and appeared to have just been
1aded.
THE GRIEF-sTRICKEN WIFE.
The family can hardly stand up under
his blow. His wife is at home sick, and
eceived the sad news with almost un-
earable grief. The people stand in
roups and wonder why man so bright !
nd well beloved should resort to this de-
torable act.
He had been out on an electioneerino ,
)ur over the district and returned only .
lree days ago. His friends met him !
ere, and after a consultation and the !,
ying out of work, he started out among :
lose with whom he had been raised :
it'll bright hopes inspiring the thought I
at he would be the nominee of the
lrty. This morning early he could be {
en- mixing with his fellow men, shaking I
!nds and urging them to come to the t
Ills and give him their support. His Y
ind was clear, and he used convincing
asons why they should give him their r
ties.
soRROWING FRIENDS. a
Colonel H. L. Stone, his law partner, q
tered the Inflated room, fell on his S
ices by the side of Judge Reid, and a
ept bitterly. His aged mother, who S
S stood up under many sorrows. a
me to the room and broke down a
tn grief. Friends and foes to his il
ndidacy all alike gathered about the a
trance of the room where lay the d
dy of Judge Reid, pale with excite 4
INT and sick with the scene that a
7 ON the floor. Business Is sus- y
nded and men are congregated every -
lere with this only topic before them. .
The cowhiding occurred on April Is,
q the public is familiar with the details. =,
e newspaper controversy over the af- u
r has continued since that time, and q
i'd was urged by many to kill the man
10 had so outrageously insulted him. n
perplexing was his situation, and so d.
the position in which c.
was placed, that it is the opinion Ell
many that the disgrace preyed ri
on his mind. The tragic W
ult of the unfortunate controversy has Ia
npletely dazed the public. There are a,
ny loud expressions of condemnation 90
Corneilson, and his position is thor NJ
ghly unenviable one. Judge Richard ~ ~
Id was one of the most popular poll 1 s'
Ians in the eastern part of the State. ~ III
was elected to the Superior Court last % %
r, and at the time of his death was al
king a race for the Court of Appeals, Sc
succeed HargiS IN