Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-03-07
4 BANK cAsHIER'S SUICIDE.
A msrssS RsIssisss Fs.siss sad sss Fsss's.
sisn sbe Cause.

An Albion telegram says; Since
the failure Of the First National Bank oi
Albion and the absconding Of Warner,
its president, the people Of this village
and the surrounding country have been
extremely susceptible to the slightest
breath of suspicion against any
other moneyed institution, and con
sequently the news Of the probably sue
cessful attempt OF Charles A. King,
teller and acting cashier Of the Orleans
County National Bank, to commit sui
eide this morning, threw the whole viii
lage into fever Of excitement. The
supposition was that the suicide was
the fatal consequence Of another OF the
already long list Of bank defalcations,
but careful investigation proves this not
to be the case.
At 10 o'clock this morning Mr.. King
entered the Office Of DIR. W. c. Bailey,
who has been for some days in attend
ance upon Mrs. King, who has been i'll
with nervous prostration. Mr.. King
was asked as to his own health, TO
which he responded that no medicine
the doctor had could cure him, and
added: When nothing can help a
man. what can he dof" The doctor
left him to attend to the wants OF an
other patient. King walked nervously
up and down the private office. A few
moments later the report Of pistol
was heard by the doctor. who. fastening
into his inner office, saw King stagger
and fall upon couch with bullet
wound in his right temple. The doctor,
finding no evidence Of life after hur-
ried examination, ran to the bank and
notified the president, j. NJ. Cornell,
and the cashier. L. X. Hart. Of the at
attempt at suicide. They returned with
him to his Office and found that King
had regained consciousness. To inqui-
ries as to how he felt he responded /:
II don't want to live. have lived
long enough. Don't probe for the bull
let" Asked the motives whichprompted
the act. he said to President Cornell ::
- 1t is not the bank. Mr.. Cornell; no.
thing is wrong with the bank
King was removed to the house of his
father, where he now lies awaiting
death. DR.. Moore was summoned from
Rochester to aid the local physicians.
The bullet was not extracted last night,
and all hopes of his living are given up.
His survival for so many hours puzzles
the physicians. The shot was fired
into the right temple. passed entirely
through the brain, and was then de-
iiected from the skull and thrown back
to and lodged in the duramater. The
patient has been trephined and the
probe has been repeatedly passed
through the head without finding a
trace of the ball.
To all inquirerS Mr.. King refuses to
assign reason for his sell-murder,
Some assign a probable deficiency in
his accounts. others think il due to
overwork, and others again to anxiety
regarding the Illness of his wife. Those
most intimately acquainted with him
and his affairs give ibis as the proba-
bic truth. Mr.. King is a victim of a
morbid religious spirit, which has
often impellcd him to say that no
businessman could be a Christian.
Depending upon his salary for live
lihood, and finding that the require
ments Of a business life pressed upon
hi, pceuliar sense Of what WAS right,
he sacrificed his life rather than his con-
science. That his act was meditated is
proved by the fact that he borrowed the
revolver used--a four-chambered, old
fashioned revolver-only fifteen min
utes before he used it. A week ago he
borrowed pistol of the same gentle
man from whom he obtained the one
used to-day, but returned il with
the remark that he would not
use it just then. The name
of Charles A. King was in this county
a synonym for all that was upright and
straightforward, and many kilograms of
sympathy from his business friends
were received by his family. King has
been connected with the Orleans Bank
for twenty-five years. His age is forty
one. and he has a wife and two chill
dren.