The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-11-27

Blows His Wlfe's Brains Out with a
SHOTGUN.
A wIFE's MYSTERIOUS FATE.
OMAHA, Neb., Nov. 23.-About two
o'clock Saturday morning Miss Lauer, who
is visiting at the residence of her brother.
John w. Lauer, was awakened by pistol
shot so loud that she fancled for while it
was fired by some one in her room. In fear
and trembling she at length arose and
descended to the apartment of her brother
and wife. As she approached nearer
sobs and means were heard. Upon enter
ing the horror of tragedy confronted her.
PROSTATE on the carpeted floor lay Mrs.
Lauer, her night-dress mettled with blood.
Bending over her was Mr.. Lauer, vainlv
endeayoring to stanch the flow of blood
from wound near the left nostril. He
seemed half-crazed "My God" he
exclaimed, 'Pve shot Sallie
took her for burglar" The neigh
borhood was aroused and ply
stefan was swiftly summoned, but his min
istrations were futile. The wound had
proved instantly fatal, the bullet having
penetrated Mrs. Lauer's brain. Mr.. Lauer
tells conflicting story of the tragedy
by few people who are familiar
with the family. The charge is broadly
made that the killing was the result Of III
tention rather than Academia theory
based upon Mr.. Lauer's proneness to pas
sionate outbursts of temper and the past
infelicities of the family. Mrs. Lauer, by
virtue of her manifold personal charms and
attainmentS, assumed a leading place in So
ciety in this city. Her amiabiity and graces
made her popular wherever she became
known. Whether the attention and adula.
tions of the social throng irritated Mr..
Lauer's jealousy is not known, but it is GER
tain that before the honeymoon had grown
cold he was grossly misusiug her. His cru
elites were for a long time the scandal OF
the town.
When the former troubles were remenl-
bered, though, the suspicion that the trag-
edy was murder-perhaps committed i'll
fit of passion-at once found Judgement in
the public mind. All the relatives believe
i'll Lauers innocence, as do his business as
sociates, who can not believe that a man of
his well-known probity and honor could
commit such cold blooded crime. His
story of the tragedy is discredited He
says:
was awakened by noise Or shock, as If
somebody had bumped up against the bed.
| awoke in fright, and my first thought was
| that burglar had gained an entrance into
| the house. Instinctiyely l reached for my
| pistol, which always keep beneath my pill
low. AT the foot of the bed l saw the
dim outline Of what ] supposed was the
form of the intruder took quick aim and
fired. The figure fell to the floor without sc
much as groan. Then turned to reassure
my wife, fully expecting that the shot had
awakened her and that she was badly fright
| ened. She was not there. You can imagine
the horror of the suspicion which dawne6
| upon me. l could barely muster sufficient
| courage to get out of bed, and when did my
worst fears confirmed T had shot
| own wife.
The Coroner's Jury considered the evil
dence of former troubles sufficient to just-
fly All investigation of the affair. Accord
ingly Mr.. Lauer was held to the
District Court in $4,000 bonds.
Bail was promptly secured. There
was some talk of lynching, bu;
no attempt has been made. 1t has been de-
| veloped that Mrs. Lauer was engaged to a
Chicago newspaper man named Tilden.
| The engagement was broken off only
short time previous to Lauer's suit. He
heard of it shortly after marriage, and it is
said, the reflection that he was the second
| in his wife's affections made him insanely
| jealous.
| MI. Lauer is leader among the success
full merchants anu capitalists of Omaha. He
| is the general manager of the nail-WorkS.
Mrs. Lauer was in maidenhoOd Miss Sallie
| Goelschins, one of the most beautiful and
accomplished bellies of Cleveland, 0. She
was married to Mr.. Lauer three years ago.
Soon after the couple came to Omaha.
wIFE-MURDE2 IN CHICAGO
| CHICAGO, Nov. g. Samuel Il. Smith
| shot and killed his supposed wife, Emma
| Smith, at 80 West Monroe street, at about
eight o'clock Saturday evening The
| shooting was not discovered until eleven
O'clock yesterday forenoon. Smith has not
been found. Smith and his wife occu-
| pied the front room of the third floor
of the above number. At about eight
o'clock Saturday evening everybody in the
house was startled by report which
| shook the building and ratified the windows.
| 1t sounded like rife shot, and Mrs. De-
Long went into the hall to see what was
the matter. Smith opened his door
about foot. 1t was dark in his
room. Were you scared, Mrs De-
''what was that?" Smith said: ''Nothing,
only my gun went off," The landlady
asked if it hurt anybody, and he said: "Oh,
no." Smith closed the door, and Mrs.
| belong retired. In about ten minutes
she said to her husband that he ought
to go up and see if any damage had
| been done to the room or the furniture.
Mr.. belong knocked at Smiths door. The
| room was still dark. ''Yes," said Smith,
what is wanted?' De Long asked if any
| thing had been broken or injured by the eX-
plosion. Smith answered: ooh, no; it did
no damage. Every thing is all right" Half
an hour later the De Longs heard Smith
| leave the house.
During Sunday forenoon no sounds were
heard in the front room. At about 1880
| O'Clock Mrs. belong raped four or five
| times on the door, without receiving any re-
| ply. She became suspicious, procured a
|. key to the door, and unlocked it. On the
| floor lay the dead body of Mrs. Smith
| Over her face was napkin. and OH top of
that a pillow. A shawl covered her
| body. The top of her head had been
blown open by the shot, which seemed
| to have entered above and behind the right
ear The head lay in a terrible clot of
brains and blood. Her right hand, which
lay by her side, was blown to pieces The
appearance of the room indicated that the
woman had been killed while eating her
supper. On sofa lay double barreled
breech-loading shotgun holding two No. 10
brass Shells
The authorities were notified and search
for the murderer was begun, which so far
has been unsuccessful, no trace having
been discovered. 1t is said that Smith was
insanely jealous of his wife, who is SAID to
have been somewhat giddy, and very fond
Of attention. The couple were married in
Buffalo nearly three years ago, the girl
having run away from her homo in Cleye-
land with Smith.
"A Minnesota correspondent writer
of hail-storm experienced over a mar
row district in that State, where the hail
stones falling reached size of nine to
liz inches in circumference. On being
broken open, the interior was like
frozen snow, but surrounded by differ
ent rings of clear ice, as though they
had, in formation, been suspended
some time in the upper air, and during
this period had passed through the
clouds of greatly varying temperature
Boston Budget.
A wise man in Missouri says that
"when hornets build their nests high
it will be mild winter; but when they
build them close to the ground, the
winter will be intensely cold" Then
is the Missouri hornet very different