Wichita eagle., 1889-09-04
WAS TT MURDER?
THE BODY OF L. L. CLAWS0N FOUND
NEAR PINE STREET.
The Manner in Which the Deceased
Met His Death Not Clear-No Evil
dence Upon Which to Base
An Opinion,


home from work by way of the Riverside
& Suburban railway track, he noticed the
PROSTATE body Of man lying Eear the
track just before reaching the Pine street
bridge coming east. At a glance he saw
that life was gone from the body. and at
once called to Renspear and Mlnnick, who
have boats to hire in the vicinity, to come
to his assistance. The officers were at
once sent for and Officers Wood. McNa-
mara and Alexander hurriedly repaired to
the spot. They found the body lying
about twenty-five feet north of
the track of the Riverside &
Suburban railway line just beyond
the Pine street bridge. Near it lay bull
dog pistol with five chambers, four Of
which were empty, Justice Mosley as
acting coroner impanneled a jury as fol-
lows: G. A. Foye, John Hoenscheidt, Will
lam johnson, w. NJ. Bernard, w. 3. Bar
rows and T. NJ. Cross and had the body
removed to Dunbar's undertaking estab-
ishment on Main streat. Here an exam
ination was made of the body and clothing
by DR.. WhiJlock and others. Some of the
underclothing was marked with the
initials al. L. c." and a memorandum
book with some letters and papers were
found in the pockets together with 1929
in cash, two dollar bill, two dimes, one
nickel and four cents. The papers were
Immediately taken in charge by the
coroner and no one was allowed to ex-
anime them. DR.. Whitlock found
from a casual investigation that there
were two bullet holes in the stomach about
an inch and half apart, and two more in
the head just behind the ear on the right
side. The doctor was unable to tell in the
hurried examination whether the two
wounds in the head were made by two
bullets or whether the one bullet had en-
tered and glanced out again, making the
two holes. 1t was evident that the man
was about middle aged, and that his death
had occurred but a short time before the
body was discovered. His clothing anG
general appearance indicated that he was
not day laborer and that he was not in
the best of circumstances, although he
was respectfully clad. With this informa-
ton and the papers found on his person
Justice Mosely and the jury retired to
consult excluding everyone else, reporters
as well. Up 20 this time no one was able
to identify the body, but shortly
afterwards it was learned that
J. w. Gibbs, living at 126 South
Fourth avenue, recognized the remains
as one of his boarders. About one half
hour later the coroner and jury returned
and it was learned that they had discover
ed by the memorandums that the name Of
the deceased was Louis c. Clawson but
none of the documents threw any further
light on the subject.
LOT l,,,cf Lot
tiers and the memoranda were such as
any real estate man might have in his
pocket. No one seemed willing to express
an opinion as to the motive i'll the case
and no good reason could be found TO sus-
pect foul play. The number of the wounds
indicate that it could not have been sui
eide yet the place and time of the deed did
not indicate foul play. In fact motive
to subStanlate any conclusion was want
ing. The coroner notified the jury to
meet at 10 o'clock this morning in order to
hold the inquest and all further attempt
to unravel the matter was deferred. No
one could be found who had heard any pis- !
tol shots although several people must
have been in the vicinity at the time One
of the car drivers had noticed the body
before the alarm was given and supposed
from the exposed place it was in that it
must be some one under the influence OF
liquor.
GIBBS STORY.
Mr. W J. Gibbs stated that he had
known the deceased for nearly two years
but could tell very little of his history be-
fore that time. He had been in Wichita,
he thought, several months before he
came to his house to board and was recon- |
mended to his wife as an honest man,
capable and willing to pay his bills. He
had always found him straight forward
and truthful and although at times his
board bill would run up to nearly q hun
dred dollars he had always paid in full
according to promise. At present he owed
quite little bill and had promised to
settle yesterday or today. The deceased
was in the real estate business and made
his headquarters in the real estate offices
on the corner OF Douglas and South
Market. Mr.. Gibbs had learned
from his conversation that the deceased
was born in Pennsylvania where he owned
some mining interests but that his father
lived in Ohio. Beyond this the deceased
had talked but little of his family or
friends and nothing of sufficient interest |
to be remembered The deceased did not !
seem to have any secrets but was natural /
ly of quiet and retiring disposition. In |
answer to the question Mr.. Gibbs said he |
was at a loss TO understand how harm !
could nave befallen him or what could |
have induced him to take his own life. He |
had no reason to think that the deceased !
had any serious trouble upon his mind /
and did not think his financial embarrass-
ment sufficient to account for anything. /
He thought the deceased had good credit |
and could have readily taken care of any /,
pressing indebtedness had any existed.
WICHITA LIGHT INFANTRY.