The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-27
M'DOW PUT ON THE STAND
HE CoOLY TELLS THE STORY OF
THE KILLING.

NN4e18O Va = ANCPCA eCA 40 @AAAAAA~
sion That He Applied an opprobrious
Epithet to Capt. Dawson Before the
Latter Struck Him-The Cold Blooded
Attempt to Bury the Body.
CHARLESTON, s. c., June 26.-The hor-
rible story of the murder of Capt. Dawson
was told on the stand to-day by the only
living eyewitness of the tragedy-r. B.
Mellow. his slayer. The court convened at
10 o'clock, the state having closed its testi-
mony the day before. The defense first put
up G. w. Harper, a negro coach driver,
whose testimony was TO the effect that he
had seen the deceased enter McDow's office
and four or five minutes thereafter heard a
pistol shot. This was followed by two
awful groans and by the voice Of a
man saying, (meaning McDow) ''as you
said you would take my life, now I've taken
yours" On the cross-examination he ad-
mitted that he heard no scufiling before the
pistol shot Three or four minutes after
the shot Mellow appeared on the piazza Of
his residence and looked over to the outside
Of his office He also saw an old ground
nut cake woman peeping into McDow's
Oi1Oc. Aobo w dS run OtA Dl 1ACOOW OOOhs
A moment after McDow's coachman ran
back In the yard, got his hat and coat and
went down the street.
M'Dow ON THE STAND.
Judge Magrath put up Mellow on the
stand to testify. After giving the details
Of his age, etc, he proceeded to relate the
horrible details of the tragedy. His counsel
would not permit him to give a connected
narrative but led him on gently with ques-
tions, allowing him TO answer only one at a
time. Following is McDow's statement: 81
was sitting in my sitting room when heard
the Office gong ring and went downstairs
and opened the office door. Capt. Dawson
asked il this was Dr. Mellow. | replied
Capt Dawson said: DIR. Mellow. have
just been informed that you have been
guilty of ungentlemanly conduct TO
one of my servants l replied 1T is untrue
Capt. Dawson said, Il give you to under
stand that am responsible for that girl,
and you must not speak to her again.
replied that would speak to her as often as
| desired until was convinced that he had
authority to prevent me- 'Then, said
Capt Dawson, If you do l will publish
your conduct in the papers, And If you
do replied, you internal scoundrel I'll
hold you personally responsible. Get out Of
my office
THE FATAL STRUGGLE.
sat that time Capt. Dawson struck my
hat Off with hi cane and hit me with his
hand, knocking me down to the lounge.
The two blows were almost simultaneous
He followed me up and struck me again.
drew my pistol and, rising, fired at him.
had my pistol in my hip pocket. .abitu-
ally carry pistol l have done SO ever
since entered the practice of my profess
sion.n
The counsel tried to get DIR. Mellow to
state that when he shot Capt. Dawson the
latter was facing him, but the witness
either didn't understand the object Of the
question or didn't hear it. He said all
he knew was that Capt. Dawson was in
front of him when he fred. He fired the
shot, he said, because he didn't know but
that the next blow would hurt him seri-
ously. After hesitating awhile he added
that he thought that his life was in jeop-
ardy. Immediately after he shot him
Capt. Dawson turned and began to stagger,
saying in broken language and an almost
inaudibe voice, "You have killed me. y
The witness replied: "You tried to take
my life, now I've taken yours" These are
the identical words that Harper is supposed
TO have overheard l25 yards away. Capt.
Dawson, he said, fell with the back Of his
head to the ground.
ALONE WITH THE CORPSE.
stood for moment, then stopped down
and felt his pulse, next ] dragged him by
the feet SO as to get his body in a recum-
bent position, and thought of calling for
medical assistance, but saw death approach
ing, and wondered If / could do anything
to resusitate him. He was dead, however.
The witness characterized Capt. Dawsons
manner in addressing him as arrogant and
domineering. The story of the attempt to
conceal the body, its burial and disinter-
ment was brought out'in startling and APP
| palling reality on cross-examination. During
| its recital the slayer sat as cool and collected
as If he was telling fairy tale. He denied
| the statement made by him just after the
| tragedy that his victim had lived for half
or three-quarters of an hour. He said he
did not leave the room while his victim was
alive. He did not remember how long he
remained there after Capt. Dawson's death.
| He professed to have q most indistinct recol-
| lection of what took place after the shoot
ing. He remembers seeing Policeman
Gordon when he rung the gong The body
was at that time in the closet. He had re-
moved it. He had no difficulty in getting
| the body into the closet. He broke the
nails off and tore open the door.
THE ATTEMPT TO BURY THE BODY.
AS soon as life had left the body he
| ClOEGQ bflo WluuOWS VI nAs OIuC6,
and taking the dead mans
hat and cane threw them into the privy,
got a spade and returned to the office. He
picked the body up under the arms and
| dragged it out of the office through the
hallway to the closet and put it in the
grave. There were no abrasions on the
dead mans face when he put it in the hole
Then he tried to take the body out
again, but it was too heavy. Then he lay
down in his sitting room to rest awhile.
Later he went out and bought candles, and
then returning succeeded in getting the
| body out. He raised the body up, dragged
| it back, brushed the dust from tho clothes,
wiped the blood from the face Of the corpse
and lasd it out Then he wentand fshed the
cane out of the vault, washed it off and
put it on the sofa. He hunted for the hat,
but could not find ii. When he had ar
ranged everything he went out to surrender
| himself. He gave as a reason for removing
the body from its grave that he wanted the
benefit Of giving up the corpse at the same
| time.
QUEER PIECE OF JOURNALISM.
Here rather queer journalistic feat was
brought to light on the stand. Mellow
swore that he had the pistol in his nip
pocket, had it there all day and always
carried it there. He was confronted with
an interview with him, published in the
| Charleston World In which he told the re-
porter, f. w. Miller, that "while trying to
recover myself and seeing him Dawson) in
| the act of aiming another blow at me
with his cane / managed to go aronnd TO