The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-02-16
IN DEFENSE or HIS HOME.
millionaire Smell, Of Chicago. Killed by .
Burglars Bullet - His Muldcrers Es-

Burglars Bullet = His sluldersrs Es-
cape.
CHICAGO, Feb. 9-Burgiars entered the
residence of Amos J. Smell, well-known
capitalist, living at 425 Washington Bonle-
ward, this city, about 2 o'clock yesterday
morning They pried open the Marvin"
safe in Mr. Smells private room. In the
basement aud Distracted thcrefrom Z
check for $5. 600 and various other valua-
BILE paperA No cash was secured, so far az
known Proceeding from the basement to
the fioor above, they burst open the doors
that opened from the front parlor into the
hall The noise OF the crashing doors
aroused Mr.. Smell. who was sleep
ing on the hoor above SEEKING
his revolver, he proceeded down the
stairs, and seeing the light In the parlor
shouted for the intruders TO leave Re
ceiving no answer, Mr.. Smell fired through
the nearly y-closed door The thieves in the
parlor returned the IRE, two bullets striking
him, one in the head and the other in the
left breast In the region Of the heart The
unfortunate man fell dead without word
and the murderers made good their escape.
The noise created by the fusilade of shots
awakened two female servants in the
hou.e They clam that Mr.. Smell was in
the habit Of talking and making consider
able noise in his sleep. and they came to
the conclusion that in his dreams he had
arisen and had perhaps fired several shots
from b . revolver. They returned to their
beds and resumed their slnmbers, making
no effort to investigate About 6 o'clock
in the morning, when the coachman came
in from the stable, where he slept. to build
tie fires as was customary, he dis
covered that the residence had been
entered during the night and hasten-
ing to arouse the inmates. stumbled
over the dead body of his employer. H0r.
rified, he gave the alarm. The police au-
thorities were notified, and have since been
hard at work endeayoring to discover
some clew to the perpetrators OF the
foul crime, but 30 TAR without
definite success. Several arrests have been
made, the most importlnt being that OF
young man captured last night on Clark
street carrying a lundle which was found
to contain six dark lanterns, six chilled
augers, one extension bit, six slung-shota,
six steel knuckles. two ounces of dynamite,
two ounces Of giant powder. three dirk
knives, three alarm whistles, four holsters.
four thirty-e;gh -ca!iber Colts reyolvers
four jimlnies, SIX boxes of fuse matches. .
lot OF mail-ponch ksys. large bunch OF
skeleton keys and several skeleton saws
The prisoner was turned over to Chief Of
Detectives Henshaw. He told that officer
that his name was Charles v
w. Benedict, that he was 10
years old, and his home was In MARSHALL
town, Ia. He said that Frank McCord is
Is years old; George Dunn, II years old;
Thaddeus Hall, - years old, and himself,
all residents of Marshalltown, had agreed
to form gang of burglars. and he had been
sent to this city to purchase the necessary
tools with which to begin work He was
closely questioned, but firmly denied nav
ing any thing to do with the Smell murder
It was rumored in polics circles last
night that Mr.. A. J. Smell. JE, intended
Offering q reward of $4,000 for the
capture of the murderer, or murderers
OF his father, but on being ques-
toned concerning the truth OF the re-
port he said that lie had not AZ yet decided
upon what course 20 pursue. However, he
did not deny that large reward would be
offered in case the city police made no dis
coveries. The Inquest has been postponed
for week. This crime is the elimination
OF the work of gang of burglars who have
been committing nightly depredations in
all parts of the city for the past three
months TO the co npiete discontinue OF the
police force
IAmos J. Smell was born in Little Falls, N.
Y, in 1924, and came to Chicago In 1887. He
went into the real estate business before the
fire. and had accumulated fortune estimated
ut f3, 10000. He owned large tracts OF land In
Jefferson, and also owned the Jefferson toll
road, from which he derived large income.
Mr.. Smell leaves a wife, two daughters and .
son. His children are all married. couple
OF years ago Mr.. Smell owned 400 houses on the
West side. He made his money first rs con-
Rrn railroad