St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-02

had shown the letters to one OF two
women, had discussed them, and had
stated to a woman with whom he was
out riding Thursday afternoon that he
had armed himself, and proposed to
take care that no one did him any in
jury. He further admitted that he had
told this woman that he expected to be
shot that night or the day following
yesterday.
The case is certainly one of the
strangest which has ever come up in
Minneapolis, and for a time bothered
the police. They are now certain that
Smith shot himself, but for what pur-
pose no one can tell. Theories of all
kinds were numerous yesterday, but
none seem very plausible. A year Or
so ago Smith became acquainted with
lady employed in a. public Office, and
soon developed a mad passion for her.
He and his mother rented her house.
and took the lady, her mother and little
son to board. Smith was intensely jeal-
GUS of her, and this eventually caused
breaking up. A week or so ago this
lady was married and went to California
with her husband. 1t is asserted that
this made him desperate, and hence
he shot himself, but why he wrote the
letter remains to be explained.
Thursday afternoon Smith went to
h.
went to Kennedy'S gun store and got
the revolver, which he had left there to
be repaired. From there he went to
Ronner's livery stable and engaged a
horse and buggy. Then he went to his
office, where he met a woman whom he
introduced to the men in the Office as
Miss Hill. With her he took supper at
TaylOr's restaurant, and then, going to
the livery stable. he drove the woman
home. 1t was stated yesterday morning
that this woman resided on Monroe
street northeast, and the name of a we'll
known business man was connected un-
pleasantly with the affair. Last even
ing Mr.. Smith denied that he knew
either of the people mentioned, and
they themselves denied ever hearing of
Mr.. Smith until they read an account of
the shooting in the morning papers. On
being pressed to tell
WHO THE WOMAN
he was with late Thursday afternoon
was, Smith endeaYored to eYade the
the question, but finally stated that her
name was Mrs. Mollie Moore, and that
she was the wife of farmer living
about mile northeast of the city limits.
He admitted that he was quite intimate
with her, that she came to his Office
under the name OF Miss Hill frequently,
and had full run of his private
affairs. She knew all about the
letters he had received, he said,
for he had told her, and had also
Informed her that he expected to be
shot on March L, or even sooner. Smith
also stated that well-known broker Oh
NicOllet avenue had been with ''Miss
Hip more or less, andmight have been
jealous of him for having been out rid.
ing with her. Mrs. Moore had come
into Minneapolis Wednesday, he con-
tinued, and had remained over night
with her cousin, furniture dealer on
Monroe street northeast. He became
acquainted with her, he stated, as the
exposition last fall, and had been in her
company more or less ever since.
If this statement be true, and there is
every reason to believe that it is, it
might furnish some clue to the man who
did the shooting, if Smith was really
shot by any one except himself. But
still the letters cannot be explained, and
the men in the Office declare that Smith
was really wounded over them. The
only thing that now
PUZZLES THE POLICE
is what the letters were written for.
and who wrote them if Smith did not.
The other man who is said to have been
waiting on .'NIiSS Hip does not an
Swer the description furnished by Smith
of the man who did the shooting, and,
as for the husband, no one knows any
hing about him.
Smith is doing well, and but for q
small patch over his ear and a bunch of
cotton over the wound on his head, no
one would know that he was the ''herO''
of the most sensational story which has
been told in Minneapolis for many a
day. He did not appear at all worried,
and seemed particularly anxious to have
the papers state emphatically that he
knew nothing about the case.
The latest theory is that Smith did
the shooting to draw public sympathy
to himself, in order to work up a better
business for his paper, and only meant
to send bullet through his ear, but his
aim was not good, and the small leaden
pellet passed through the ear and lodged
in the scalp just back of that useful
organ.