Los Angeles herald., 1890-03-28
G. Gordon Adam Meets With
a Sudden Death.
He Was Engaged in Cleaning
His Pistol.
1t Went Off and the Bullet Pene-
trated His Brain.
The Coroner's Jury Did Not Know
Whether it Was a Suicide OF the
Result of an Accident.

Ns d
of the bar of this city, met bis death un-
der peculiarly distressing circumstances,
in his office, room No. 16 in the Jones
block, No. IS North Spring street. At
IL O'Clock Mr.. Adam, while on his way
up to his office, fell in with Judge J. g.
Bearden on the stairway of the Jones
block, and after exchanging compi
ments the latter was about to turn into his
Office, which is in the same part of the
building as that of his brother attorney,
when Mr., Adam asked him to step into
his room, as he wished to show him
something. Entering the Office Mr..
Adam went to drawer in his desk, and
producing a bulldog revolver of Al cali
bre said that it was duplicate of the one
with which Guiteau killed President
Garfield. He expressed his surprise
that Guiteau could have perpetrated the
deed with such weapon, at such dis
tance as was said to have intervened be-
tween him and his victim, and stated that
he had shot at trees with the pistol he
held in his hand, but could never be GER
tain of hitting them. He then produced
bottle of gum oil and a swab, and made
preparations to clean the weapon, but as
Judge Bearden was absorbed in his own
business affairs at the time, he excused
himself and left for his own office.
A few minutes afterwards the attor-
neys and physicians who occupy rooms
in the vicinity were startled by the report
of a pistol, followed almost Immediately
by the sound of a heavy body falling,
which emanated from room 16, and a
party consisting Of DIR. r. Wernigk, j..
d. Bethune, d. M. Mcdonald and Leo
Longley rushed to the end of the hall to-
investigate. The door of room 16 being
closed, DR.. Wernigk opened it, and on
entering found Mr.. Adam stretched upon
the floor, face downwards, in the center
of the room. "A hasty examination as
sured the doctor that life was practically
extinct, although the patients pulse
still beat feebly, and the body was not
disturbed.
The unfortunate gentleman lay close
to table, upon which stood the bottle
Of: oil and the swab, and chair, half
turned from the table, showed conclu-
sively that he had been sitting there
while cleaning the weapon prior to it's
discharge. ys,
A CHASTITY wound in the right temple,
surrounded for a circumference OF about
four inches by powder burns, from which
a stream of blood and brains was oozing
slowly to the carpeted floor, where a
dark pool had already formed, disclosed
the cause of Mr.. Adams sudden decease.
He had evidently been standing at the
table looking down the barrel OF the
weapon at the time of it's discharge, as
a clot of blood and brains was found upon
the wall nearest to the table, about ten
feet from the floor. Two contusiOns,
one upon the forehead and the other
over the right eyebrow, showed how he
had fallen, head-foremost, to the ground.
The Coroner having been notified OF
the occurrence, the body was removed
to the parlors of Messrs. Orr d Sutch to
await the inquest. On lifting the body
from the floor it was found that the
pistol which had caused Mr.. Adams
death was under his chest, and that one
chamber was empty. The hands OF the
dead man were greasy and begrimed
with the dirt removed from the barrel
and chambers, while his eyeglasses,
slightly dislodged from his nose, and a
cigar, still alight, which lay close to his
mouth, showed that the accident was
unexpected and the result unlocked for.
The news of her husbands sad death
was broken gently to Mrs. Adam, who
resides on the corner Of Fifth and Olive
streets, after the body had been removed,
and she was horror-stricken on receiving
the intelligence, as Mr.. Adam left home
in the morning for the Office in un-
usually high spirits.
The occurrence was universally COM
mented UPON Yesterday among the legal
fraternity to most of whom Mr. Adam was
familiar. and there seemed to be oil
yersity of opinion at first, as to whether
his death was attributable to accident OF
suicide, but all who knew him init
mately were unanimous in their de-
nouncement of the latter theory, as
there was not the slightest cause which
could be attributed for such an act on
the part of their deceased friend. :,
AT 7 80 O'Clock Coroner Meredith helo
an inquest upon the body OF the de-
ceased at the parlors Of Orr y Sutcn, on
Spring street. A large number OF the
legal fraternity were on hand to learn
the result of the investigation, and man J
of them seemed anxious to testify as u
the improbability of the suicidal theory
as Judged from his demeanor. DIR. II
Wernigk, and Attorney d. M. Mcdonald
testified as to hearing the shot and sub
seauent discovery Of the body as above
recorded. They were fully corroborateo
by r. HI. Farquhar, reporter on the
Times, who was i'm DR.. Wernigk's office
at the time of the occurrence.
Judge Alexander Campbell stateo
that he had known the deceased for thu
past six years his name was G. Gordo1
Adam, and he was native of Calcutta
81 years of age, and married. Though
not in the immediate vicinity at tn
time of Adams death, the witness stated
that he knew the deceased intimatel.
and saw him almost daily. He had beer
troubled financially on several occasions
and week or so ago was trying to rals
money with which to pay his premium
on a life insurance policy which is com
ing due. Two days ago, however, n
called at the witnesses Office in excellen
spirits, and announced that he had sue
ceeded in his efforts to raise the none
and that his premium was paid up
Knowing him as well as he did, the wit
ness was confident that the deceased ha
met with an accident.
Owen McCan, an intimate friend c
the deceased, stated that he was wit
him and discussed private matter,
10 O'Clock yesterday morning in M
Office. He was then in excellent spirits
The jury, after an hours deliberatior
II