The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-03-20

Nv no are you asked McNair.
II am stranger here, answered the man,
giving the name.
"A 4 right. Wait minute and IN bring
you a light" answered McNair.
a second later Il match flashed up in the
room and then in another second the door
began TO open slowly, The door opened, Int
AtcNair could see no one i'll front OF it.. Hold
ing the light high above his head lie asked:
''Wherc are you?'
"Here, answered a man.
The voice came from the road, and through,
the darkness McNair said saw some one in the
read. Lowering the light he stepped out of the
door and an instant later there was the report
of the gun. Simultaneous with the report
McNair dropped to the ground. The light
went out and when his wife, alarmed by the
shot came to the door no one was in sight. BY
the light OF match she discovered
her husband lying within few feet
of the door. His head was town half away
and the blood covered the ground. Mrs
McNair gave the alarm and ncighboIS came ill.,
The body was picked up and moved into the
house and the next day am inquest was held.
The lady told the story but could give moth
ing indicating the guilty parties and the murder
was the greatest mystery the county ever
had.
In McNar's tragic death the whole county
became Interested, His misdeeds were for
gotten and only his virtues remembered.
Everybody in the county wanted to find the
party who committed the murder, and the mat
ter was brought to the attention of Governor
Gordon. The governor offered a reward for the
murderers, and for time n number of detec-
tives tried to secure the reward by finding them
but without success, and i'll a short time the
killing was thing of the past.
But it was not forgotten.
a few days ago the Butts county grand Jury
was organized, and on yesterday evidence was
dropped before the body which caused ndict-
ments to be found against eight citizens of the
county. In the indictment the parties are
charged with numbering McNair. just what
the evidence before the grand Jury was no one
knows. The evidence, however, was voluntary
on the part of the witnesses and was entirely
new and surprise to the members of the Jury.
The story before the jury ran this way:
When McNair was up for trial on the burglary
charge, the witnesses against him were angry
because he was not convicted and that night
went to his house. While one called him out
another was standing beside the house with a
shotgun in hand ready to kill him. AS he
stepped out the fatal shot was fired.
The four men described are supnoscd to
have gotten wind of the indictment and
skipped.
Buford Phillips, a young man nineteen years
old, is lying at the point of death.
Yesterday evening about a quarter to s
DR.. BrocKttt was called for at his home No.
/ Baltimore building. Going down to the door
he found Buford Phillips, who said to him
quietly:
"Doctor, have taken lot of morphine
sixty grains of it. Ii you can do anything for
me, why you do so, and if you can't ii don't
matter. What Go you think can be done?''
Noticing strong odor of ether, the doctor
said: Are you sure it was morphine;
couldn't it have been ether?"
"Well, besides the morphine / had so cents,
WORTH of ether"
"What made you do that?" asked the doc
tor as he put on his hat and started off with
the young man.
II was just tired of living replied young
Phillips, "and that is the shortest way out of
trouble. Then, just now, had fight with
Zeph Barrett. | thought ] would get u gun
and kill him, but just thought that if L had
to kill any body | might as well kill mesef.
Then l have been sick of and on
for long time. / am not making
much money ri the telegraph office. couldn't
live without trying to Kill Barrett, and this
was the lest way | know Of"
"Whcre did you take the stuff?"
"Out at the bali ground, y he answered 81
sat down on one Of those benches in the park
all by myself. | drank the morphine and put
Barrett in a fair fight, ana the only way can
get even with him is TO kill him, / didn't
want 10 do that, and don't want to live ull-
less can take up an INSULT
An eyewitness of the difficulty at the tele-
graph Office gave the following account last
night:
II heard them talking, and think Barrett
asked Phillips to do something, and FhilIips
would moi do it. They were still talking.
when heard Phillips say: You are a liar!'
Instantly Barrett struck him 81 blow thar
Knocked him several feet into n corner. Young
Phillips is pluclly fellow, and as soon MS he
arose, went at Barrett with his knife omen.
Barrett wreMched the knife from his hard, and
before Phillips could do anything else thew
were separated. In little while Phillips,
who came on ut six o'clock, put on his coat
AID hat and walked out"
MIR. Barrett was asked about the trouble in
the office. lie said that he was suip,v irving
to put Phillips out for using indecent language
in the ONCE. lie tCoh from Phillips the knife
which he had drawn, and after the trouble
was all over returned it to Phillips with the
remark that there was 40 need for trouhle.
that the best thing he could do would be to
put away his knife and call everything square
81 made no effort to hurt Philips" said Mir
Barrett, "althoGGh | woulG have been justi-
fed i'll doing so after he had pulled a knife
with blade nearly six inches long and bad
tried to cut me :"
He was unconscious before he reached home
last night, and from the first his recovery was
extremely doubtful but at last accounts il is
thought that the young may live through it,
Elbcrton Gazette: Colonel A. o. Harper in
forms IFS that there is some Kind OF Il bug or
fly destroying the wheat in his neighborhood
and they have apparently destroyed about
near the ground, and leave but little if auv
sign Of wheat where they so. They are yory
small insect and can be seen lying ilp as Won
walk through the field, but he don't know
what they are, and has never seen anything
like them before.
Tie town Of Senoa was thrown into perfect
fever Of excitement Monday about 8 o cocl, by
tic rapid firing Of guns and pistols near the
business portion OF town. Soon almost the
entire male population WAS on the spot to find
one man--Mr, Norton, OF Crcswcll-sAot in
the hip and two others fleeing across an opon
field, closely pursued by two others. Inyesti-
CATION proved it to be a fight between burglars
and their puriuer3. Fer nearly two years bur-
glary in the smaller towns in this section have
been quite frequent and all efforts to find the
perpetrators have proven futile.
Last Monday night Tao store of Mr.. Norton,
at Crcswell, was entered and a quantity Of
WHISTLES, tobacco, cigars etc, carried away
When the gentleman discovered his loss he
determined 10 run down the thieves Sum
moning two OF his ncighbOrs he struck their
trail and followed it to Senoa where thew
overlook the burglars and recovered a pof-
ton of the booty. The burglars, one
white man and two negroes were well armed
with improved NJ. 4 Smith & Wesson pis-
tolls, and when oyertallcn used them for all
they wore worth AZ short range The pursucrs
had double barrel gun and pistols Both
sides fought to Kill and all stood until every
frearm was empty. Twelve or fifteen shots
were fred and IN such rapid succession that il
sounded like a picket skirmish The burglars
took fright and ran away, tearing MP the
ron and epatfcIjpV rityars ,,+b ie