Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-09-12
MET DEATH AT A S

49,. Body of samuel Lavner, of Chicago
5hs ,nd Dead Under a Bridge Near pat
Fonnmn n. IA Man Whose BODY Vas !.
SeIsst. of Rubber Pipes THROUGH
which Life Was sustained-End of =
nnamnrkable Career.
JEFFERSON, N. j., Aug. GA mvste,
- tragedy took place at Little Fall.
l .o".erday morning. which may be either .
ysraer or a suicide. The body of n mar
Il"nt twenty-five years old, and well
used, Used was found under the Morris Cana
nrsJre. and near by marks of a struggle
y! ei1 the road, and evidence of the BODY
, ~ been dragged under the bridge
10 y" . :, tree near the spot was found hanging
:" y" the branches u five .chambered revolver
vi an the ground a coat and waistcoat. a
s ~ hole was discovered in the stomacf
" the man, and, when extracted, CORE.
ononded exactly with the caliber of the re,
Silver. one chamber of which was empty.
w the pocket of the coat was found tht
tollowm letter:
August - My name is Sam Lavner. ]
,ust ran away from murders. II l will dide,
} Ps yl S. Canal st to Mr. L L%apkowich.
sam Lavner.
lam Il hebrew.
N Mir [. Lapkowtch.
The deceased had a rubber tube in his
throat through which he hreathed. On his
head and under his arms were found cubes
nhich contained the holy scroll. The
cubes are those worn by orthodox Jews. A
theory in regard to the case is that he com.
mitted suicide, and threw the pistol away
after lie shot himself. On the other hand
if is believed that he was pursued by some
one who wanted to take his life and that the
letter was short as it was too dark for him
to write. A pistol shot was heard at 1886
Yesterday morning by residents near the
scene of the tragedy.
CHICAGO, Aug. 22.-Samuel Lavner was
a Roumanian Jew, the story of whose es.
cape from death at the hands of the brig.
ands of his country has occasioned mucl
wonder among the medical fraternity ano
brought him great notoriety in the news
papers of this country about two years ago.
lie was shot and stabbed a number of times
sud lis throat cut from ear to ear, severing
the windpipe. He was then hanged to
a tree where he remained two DAYS.
When found life was rot yet extinct, and
lie was taken to a hospital, where he lay
seven years. While IN this helpless condi-
ton one Of his people, who claimed that his
/ daughter had been secretly married to Lay
uer, took possession of a valuable wine.
garden belonging to him. The fatller-in
law refused to give up possession of the
property, claiming that he had kept it in
repair and had held it long enough to give
to this country about nineteen
mon.ls ago, and exhibited himself
to medical colleges and societies, from
which he derived quite a sun of money,
which he claimed amounted to S2S, 800.
When he landed in this country he had
twenty-siX tubes in his body where he had
been wounded. His wife refused to come
to America, and legal proceedings were in.
stitrted by him at Washington for a sepa-
ration. Some sort of a settlement was had
by which the property was divided and a
divorce granted, the father-in-law being re-
quired to give bonds for Sl13, 900.
Lavner came to Chicago about three
months ago, and stopped with L. Lapko.
witch, 531 Canal street, nearly nine weeks.
Two weeks ago last Sunday he started for
New York to get the S113, 900, he said,
which the Roulnanian Consul at that city
had for him. The $2s,300 had been de-
posted in a savings bank at Erie Pa.
The bank had failed, but Lavner Sc
cured all but $1,000 by compromise
with the stockholders on his journey
to New York. His friends in this city
Bay lie WrOCo Una no na0 Docn ASSAULTED at
Waverly, N. Y, and he had become pos
sessed Of the idea that his father-in-law was
seeking his life, and that murderers were
pursuing him. Letters from unknown par.
ties stated that he was in a hospital from
this assault. but his letters said he was a
captive i'll the hands of his enemies. A dis
patch was received by the daughter of Mr..
~Lapkowich yesterday from one f. G. New
comb, stating that Lavner had been stabbed,
but saying nothing about his death.
The lady never heard of the sender of
the dispatch, and regarded it as bogus. She
said he was perfectly sane while here, but
the remarkable nature of his statements in.
dictate insanity. Whether he had received
the large SUMS of money he claimed to have
received or in expectation, his friends do
not know, or whether they We're the imag-
inings of a diSordered mind. This is the
story as related by Mr.. Lapkowich's daugh-
Ter from statements made by Lavner while
at her fathers house. His friends incline to
the theory of murder by the Roumanian faith.
er-in-law or his emissaries. Lavner wrote
that he had seen his father-in- law, who had
come to New York about Il week before.
Lavner was but twenty-seven years old, and
expected soon to return to Chicago, where
he believed skillful medical attention would
lead to his entire recovery. With the pros
pect OF a life of ease and physical health
before him, his friends think he can moi
have taken his own life.