Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-26

sullivan, a. Il. Flint, f. I. Bates, w: b.
eTTea +. J. NJ ay. =. l.. Byrnes, Max
81 10. A. g. henry Kuckuck.
INQUEST.
II prison s were brought in from the
ahd sat facing the jury during
..r c.dest. DEFINE : a man or slight
lata. about - wears 1f age, with narrow
ace and deep-set features, dark brown
hair. Dark ewes. ard 81 5y moustache
anf goates. As be an.ered the court his
fsce wore "A troubled look as though
he was labOriu. Under intense mental ex-
element. Is wore dark suit OF clothes
ana brown hat. O'Reilly is thicker set
mar than Devine, with dark hair and
eyss. and a short, stubbed moustache,
tie is evidently a man Of less intel
licepce. Both men remained in the
court room until the veFaiet@was rem
dered. Devine sat El9st of the time with
his head resting on his hand, and fire.
queutly ran his fingers through his nair,
as il to wake his thoughts. The room
was crowded long before the inquest
began. and the street was packed with
mass Of people. A detail Of police
was ordered on duty, end it was with the
greatest difficulty that the crowds could
be kept back.
Tue investigation began between u and
l o'clock. AS soon as the Coroner took
his seat the witnesses were brought for
and the hearing of testimony began. The
dispositions were taken by Justice Molina.
MOEssNER'S STORY.
The first witness sworn was Joseph
Moessner, proprietor of the saloon where
the ARRAY occurred. He testii I'd that
Pfluger, with four others, John Hong,
Charles Moehrke, Charles Helwig and
Peter OFT, came into his place few min
utes before midnight on Tuesday and sat
I r. A CHI Nfran
| afterwards Devine and O'Reilly came in
and stepped up to the bar to take drink.
They stood there few minutes and
then turned to Pfuger, with whom
| O'Reilly had some words, and struck
him in the face. A fight fol-
| lowed, in which Pfuger and O'Reilly
clinched and fell TO the floor. M0ehrke,
/ to separate them and was struck in the
| face. The fight was finally stopped, and
| the crowd, all except Devine and OReillv,
| left. Moessner went out TO put up the
shutters and.clOse for the night, and upon
his return found the two men struggling
/ and O'Reilly trying to get from Deyine
| the pistol which Pfuger before the ARRAY
began had put behind the bar. Both men
| hurried into the street, AMI absut five
minutes afterward he heard the shooting.
| He did not 90 to see what the trouble was
/ and did not know that any one had been
| shot until officer Bender raped on his
| door after he had locked up and wanted
| to use his telephone. He then went out
/ and accompanied the officers with the
| prisoners to the barracks.
The testimony of Charles MOehrke, who
| was one of Phuger's friends and entered
/ the saloon with him, was in the main cor
rObOrative of that given by MOessner. At
| the conclusion of MOahrke's testimony
recess was taken until 4 O'Clock. The
prisoners were placed in the charge of
/ Deputy Sheriff Franklin and Constable
| Kaufman, and kept under guard in the
| Magistrates private office until the in
quest was resumed. Dinner was brought
| to them, but they were unable to eat.
| Outside the court room where the inquest
! was held the excitement was intense, and
| crowds blocked until it was almost i'm
| passable.
The investigation was resumed few
minutes after 4 O'Clock. Among the wit
nesses sworn were Charles Helwig and
John HOnig, who were with Pfiuger When
he went into the saloon. Honig, with
OFT and Helwig, were at the Theatre.
About IL O'clock they were joined in
| Schwarz's saloon, on Broughton street, by
Pfuger ami MOehTke. barkeeper in
! Wehrenberg's garden, opposite the Mar
| shall House. After leaving SchwarZ'S
the party went to Moessner's to play
cards. and while there the trouble began
between Pfiuger and O'Reilly. The testi-
mOny Of Edward Fisher, bus driver
in Feeley's transfer line, was the most
important Of any brought before the
jury. Fisher with two other men Went
into the saloon where Pfuger and his
friends were sitting a few minutes before
II O'Clock. They had been there but
short time when the row between Pluger
and O'Reilly began. The first that Fisher
saw of Pfiuger was when he went behind
the bar to put up the pistol. He saw him
put it on the bar shelf, and when he came
out O'Reiily met him and they clinched.
Devine grabbed a chair and raised it 20
strike, but before he could DO so Fisher
seized him and put him up on table out
of the crowd and told him to let them
fight it out. He then went outside.
few minutes later. while he was standing
| on the sidewalk, Deyine came out OF the
door and said,
Il HAVE PISTOL Now"
and walked across towards the curb
stone, moment later Fisher heard the
click of a pistol and started on run
| across the street towards the stables,
where he was employed, to get out of the
way. Before he had crossed the street
the firing began. Two shots were fred in
quick succession followed by a third.
He saw the flashes, which were from
the direction in which Devine went
when he came out of the saloon.
A minute later one of the men who
were with him said: There's man
| lying over there" He then hurried back
| across the street, and found Phuger
/ breathing heavily, and with pistol
| wound in his head. He shouted 'sPOllce"
/ and started in the direction of AbbOtt's
| drug store for a doctor, but could lind
none, and went back TO the stable. The
remainder of the evidence was OorrObora-
| Of boF olraahv- orfynr onA of nfNinRk
| last night the testimony was closed, and
The case was given to the jury.
THE VERDICT.
After being out about twenty minutes
/ they returned a verdict finding that
/ Emil Pfiuger came to his death from a
| pistol wound at the hands of Frank De-
| vine, and James O'Rielly accessory be-
| fore the fact, and they considered it MUIR
| der. The verdict was signed by eight of
the jury finding for murder and four for
manslaughter. The prisoners sat facing
/ the Coroner as the verdict was read. De-
vine watched the jury with an anxious
| look as it came into the court room, and
| listened unmoYed to the reading of the
! judgment.
A short time was given the prisoners
| for consultation with their counsel while
! o commitment was being made out. They
| were immediately afterward turned over
Jail to await the action of the grand jury,
which will meet early next week.
A number of witnesses were required to
/ give bond for their appearance at the
| trial, and the case, from the prominence
of the parties, promises to develop some
interesting features.
HOW THE TROUBLE BEGAN.
| The trouble which began in the saloon
between O'Reilly and the murdered man
| grew out of an old grudge. Some time
| ago Devine and O'Reilly were in the
same place engaged in game of cards.
In the course of the game Pfuger, who
| was present, became involved in a
quarrel with the men, and harsh words
passed, but no blows. The matter was
| finally settled, and it was thought was
| forgotten. When O'Reilly saw Pfuger
again he remembered the old quarrel,
and, in behalf Of Devine, took it up.
Deyine is about SO years of age and
| came to Savannah as architect in charge
of the Central Railroad grain elevator
some years ago. His ability was re-
cOgnized and he was retained by the rail-
road as Master Car Builder. He was the
builder of the two steamship models for
the Trades Display at the SesquI-Cen-
tennial two years ago, and now on exhibit
tion at the New Orleans Exposition.
He was regarded as generally
sober and industrious man, of excellent
ability, an efficient and capable work.
man, and a valuable employee of the rail-
road company. He has wife and two
children, one of whom was born a
few days ago. The terrible news OF the
husband and fathers crime has driven
her almost wild, and last night she was
living in a critical condition almost at the
Mount Of death.