The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-03-22
THE DAWSON TRAGEDY.
WHAT WAS DEVELOPED AT THE con0SEh IN
QUEST.

March 14.-The inquest On or
:. hodv of Captain Dawson was hsld to,usy
dr.nching rain and wind storm ws'on n ao
.sva;led since tho night of tho mu1aer, pr I'M
.n,ed the gathering Of q CROWD anu ptG;u va va
!. soved the murderer from iynchihS VI
y sa, hro,gbt out of the jail about III o. m, d.
"a nI.ced in police patrol wagon. th
'a,d ~ of four policemen and three spec.s. hi
,",,,S sber;ffs accompanied him. Az hs u
r'a:, bo was first driven TO the omoe VI b
squs ':e1Srs,i .x.Gozsrner "A. @. Magra'h. f
I;s Counsel, however, did not accompany },
MIN TO the inquest. ,,b;po |,
Tbe inouest did not develop anys",ns !
.tar,liug. Only three witnesses "e.o G,aon
smiped. The first was !oheemHmn toi,
WIZ. WIZ He had been detailed to watch LOT
n",ro ,o" who has been for nearly . monsn
IiIt;no about the Western portion OF .no
- ;nsultipu ladies and girls by an
80 oS,re of his person. On the afternoon y.
- ,nurder he wau in the vicinity o, 'no
80 of the murder. A negro mack uIN.'
Ia him that he had heard apistoi sno' ~
McDow's Office. He went there enu %ar
Mrs McDsw leaving her house WIZ WIN I'D
child. Then he rang the o"o1 onIy far
NcDov opened the door, but oh'y 49,.
vUh to enable him to see who was at tho
III ue a,ked McDsw if anything was the
a.,.r md was answered in the negatiTs.
mellow shut and lock ed the door, ana inc
W, him moving something III
WI! MN Tor minute or two. t"' rI;s = go. @
hoan rs 10 lnought, is the woman vbs boa
paranonre re n mellow. house !aDd Mas hir
supposed to have been the cause of Mrs Nc
Dow leaving the house.
McDew refused to make any statement
The jury rendered the following verdict ::
THAT the deceased came to his death by o
gunshot wound inflicted by Il. B. Mellow,
and that Moses Jonson (the negro coachman)
was an accessory after the fact"
The prisoners were then remanded to iail.
In explanation of the verdict it is said
that thsre is evidence, not yet published,
which will show that Mellow used his
coachmnn TO carry notes to numerous women
with whom he had been carrying on in
trigues.
1t is now probable that tho body of the
murdered man will bc cxhumcI for the pur-
pose OF holding post mortcm examinations
1t is noticed that the physician who examin-
cd tho body did net make n post morten,. but
only probed for the ball, which he failed TO
find.
In view Of Mellow S statement that his vic
tim lived for three-quarters of an hour after
he had shot him, and that he Ind 81 ent part
OF that time trying TO revive HIM, the theory
IS now advanced that the woInd yht net
have proved fatal, and the murderer in or
der to seal the lips of his victim, might have
ADMINISTERED morphine or some ether
deadly drug. All the circumstances sur
rounding the case give color to this theory.
Mellow admits that his victim lived for
over half an hour after he was shot and
that he remained with him, with his victims
head in his lap until he died, while the
murdered mans wife and child were within
the sound Of his Voice.
Mellow in n statement to n reporter of n
city paper, admits that his fcndne.s for
women wns his one sim
The French maid who was the moving
cause of the tragedy, is still at Capt Daw-
SON 9 house Her statement has not yet
been gwen to the police or the public. She
was brought from Lausanne, Switzerland
by Mrs Dawson several years ago, and is
said TO be the daughter of Swiss parents and |
mat McDow made her acquaintance and |
tried to persuade her to elcpe with him af- |
ter he had obtained divorce from his wife.
Mr. Z. ID. Ahrens. the father of Mrs. Nc ]
Dow, had lived with his daughter and her
hnsbnnd until last Christmas when he sud
denly left aud went to n hotel, where he has
SINCE resided. lie refuses to speak about
the matter. 1t is rumored that tho cause OF
his leaving was that he had been informed
that his sen-iu-law had intended TO do avny
with him, so as to get possession of his cs
tate. Mr. Ahrens is n rich merchant and
highly esteemed. Having made fortune
AT the grocery business, he retired after his
daughters marriage. 1t is said that after
leaving his daughters hsase he had changed
his Will, and had willed all his properly to
his daughter, revoking the provision which
made Mellow his executor.
The report of the policeman who shadow
ell Dr. Mellow and the girl i. looked for
with interest. 1t is still in tho possession
OF the Chief of Police, who declines to give
it up until the trial. J.A.s
SENSATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS.
CHARLESTON, March l4-The murder of
Capt Dawson excited such intense interest
followed so soon as it was by his funeral
that the public generally lost sight of the
details OF the shocking tragedy, while they
hastened to the house aud the church to nav
last tribute ofrespect to his memory. In
every quarter from friend and foe alike,
comes the sentiment THE pity OF the
taking oil of such man by such creature -
The police and the Coroner however have
not been idle. The details of the tragedy
are simply sickening. Here are some Of
them as given by the WorM this morning
There Is now no questioning the fact that
Dr. Mellow attempted to bury the BODY OF v
Captain Dawson after the shooting on ines {
day night. The tragcdy-so terrible in !,
that it was sudden shock to the communi
ty in the taking away of one of the
most prominent figures in the politics and "
commercial enterprise Of the South-is made n
more shocking by the fact that an attempt o
was made to hide the body away in A. berri-
bic little ho!e in the ground
The office in which the shooting occurred y
Il ems into hallway. In this hall there i. o.
\ stairway to the floor above, which i. in
wo sections. Under these stair, there ;s
;loset, the door Of which is little more than
hrcc feet high. 'r
There are many facts which point ndis- III
fn'a6ly to the conclusion that DR.. Mellow fn
,itempted to dig grave for his victim un- ;r
Ter the stairway in this little closet. Th.r. -,
. spade, which was found eaked with iusi HI
he kind OF soil as that which is found b. of
'"th this floor There is in the closet un- co
sr the floor, a hole which shows sign. Of
a'ing been recently dug.