Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-12-11
DOMESTIC TRAGEDIES.

his Former Treatment, However,
Causes Suspicion, and He Is Held for
Murder-.A Jealous Husband in Chicago
Tuows His Wife's Brains Out with q
SHOTGUN.
| A wITE's MYSTERIOUS FATE.
OMAnA, 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 a pistol
shot so loud that she fancied for a 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 a tragedy confronted her.
PROSTATE on the carpeted floor lay Mrs.
Lauer, her night-dress mottlei with blood.
Bending over her was Mr.. Lauer, vainlv
endeavoring to stanch the flow of blood
from Il wound near the left nostril. He
seemed half-crazed. "My God" he
exclaimed, 'Tve shot Sallie. 1
took her for a burglar" The neigh
borhood was aroused and a 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. MI. Lauer
tells a conflicting story of the tragedy
a story, in fact, that is credited
by few people who are familiar
With the family. The charge is broadly
made that the killing was the result OF in
tention rather than accidental theory
based upon Mr.. Lauer's proneness to pas
sionate outburstS of temper and the past
intelicities Of the family. Mrs. Lauer, by
virtue of her manifold personal charms and
attainmcnts, assumed a leading place i'll So
ciety in thisc city. Her alniability and graces
made hnr nnnu1ar Whnrnvar Sia hppamc
known. Whether the attention and adula'
tions of the social throng irritateu MI.
Laucy's jealousy is not known, but it is GER
tain that before the honeymoon had grown
cold he was grossly misusing her. His cru
elites were for a long time the scandal OF
the town.
When the former troubles were remem.
bered, though, the suspicion that the trag-
edy was a neutrality-suspicious. committed in a
cit of passion-at once found Judgement il
the public mind. All the relatives believe
in Lauer's innocence, as do his business as
s%ociates, who can not believe that a man Of
his well-known probity and honor could
commit such a cold bloodcd crime. His
story of the tragedy is discredited. He
says:
was awakened by a noise or shock, as il
somebody had bumped up against the bed. ]
awoke i'll II fright, aud my first thought was
the house. Instinctivcly reached Tor my
pistol, Wh'e n ! aIw"ys keep &c be1e1th my n;l,
dim outline of what I supposed was the
form of the intruder. l took quick aim ana
fred. The figure fell to the floor without SC
much as Il groan. Then l turned to reassure
my wife, fully expecting that the shot haG.
awakened her and that She was badly fright.
n ihe hor Sns 9Hs the, hot 1 1nepe; WOW wh Gan ihM nwy"e
upon me. | could barely muster sufficient
courage to get out Of bed, and when I did my
worst fears were confirmed. 1 had shot my
own wife.
The Coroner's Jury considered the evil
dence of former troubles sufficient to justi-
ty an investigation Of the affair. Accord
ingly MI. l4auer was held to the
District Court in $4,000 bonds.
Bail was promptly secured. There
was some talk of lynching, bui
no attempt has been made. 1t mas been de-
veloped that Mrs. Lauer was engaged to q
Chicago newspaper man named Tilden.
The engagement was broken off only a
slrprt time previous to Lauer's suit. He
hard of it shortly after marriage, and, it is
S,id, the reflection that he was the second
IN his wife's affections made him insanely
jealous.
MI. Lauer is a leader among the success
full merchants and capitalists of Omaha. He
is the general manager Of the nail-wocks.
Mrs. Lauer was in maidenhood Miss Sallie
Goelschins, one of the most beautiful and
accomplished bellies of Cleveland, o. She
was married to MI. Lauer three years ago.
Soon after the couple came to Omaha.
wlFE-MURDEH IN CHICAGO.
CHICAGO, Nov. 23.-Samuel II. 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 a report which
shook the building and ratified the windows.
1t sounded like a rifle shot, and Mrs. De.
Long went into the hall to see what was
about a foot. 1t was dark in his
room. Were you scared, Mrs. DE.
Lons?' he asked. eyes, she replied;
'what was that?" Smith said: "Nothing,
only my gun went off," The landlady
asked il it hurt anybody, and he said: ooh,
no." Smith closed the door. and Mrs.
Delong retired. In about ten minutes
she said to her husband that he ough,
to go up and see if any damage had
been done to the room or the furniture.
Mi. belong knocked at Smiths door. The
ROOM NaS SUI OZARK. CS, Salu SMiLli,
'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. Everything is al right" Hall
an hour later the De Longs heard SlnitI
leave Tie house.
During Sunday forenoon no sounds were
heard in the front room. At about 1886
O'Clock Mrs. belong raped four OF five
times on the door, without receiving any re.
ply. She became suspicious. procured g
key to the door, and unlocked it. On The
floor lay the dead body OF Mrs. Smith
Over her face was a napkin. and on top Of
that a pillow. A shawl covered hel
body. The top OF her head had beer
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 hel
supper. On a sofa lay a double-barrelee
breech-loading shotgun holding two No. II
brass shells.
The authorities were notified and searcl
for the murderer was begun, which so ia
has been unsuccessful, no trace havin!
been discovered. 1t is said that Smith wa!