Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-08-14
The Late Mysterious Tragedy.
NO LIGHT ON IT'S AUTHOR-THE ARMED
MAN WHO WAS SEEN IN sTAUNTON.

NO LIGHT ON IT'S AUTHOR-THE ARMED
MAN WHO WAS SEEN IN STANTON.
/ No light has been shed on the mysterious
murder that took place on the Pullman
| sleeping car that passed through here at
"a Friday morning, July 31st. Thefun
al OF Mr.. d. F. Council, the victim, took
place at Portsmouth, Ohio, Saturday, and
was one of the largest that ever occurred
there. He seemed to have been man who
won upon all the people with whom he was
| thrown in contact, and the New Castle,
Craig county, Va, Record, published at the
townadjoining Craig City which he found
ed, comes to us with long proceedings of
meetings held by public bodies there and
resolutions praising his memory and
deploring his death.
The only thing that in the remotest way
could be connected with the affair is the
story of the wild looking man, pistol in
hand who was near the G. & 0. depot at
Staunton that night. He was seen by MI.
J. G. Scheffer, a member of the City Coun-
ell, who was standing on Augusta street
near the corner of New Court House street
talking. when the Cincinnati Express on
| which MI. Council was travelling pulled In.
He was a little over hundred yards from
the depot. The passengers for Staunton
who got off the train came down the EaS-
tern side Of the street as usual in groupes.
The first groupe that came down was Mrs.
Sallie Poague, the house keeper at the W.
L. Asylum, who had just arrived from WIS.,
iting her daughter in n Nebraska, and with
whom there were two OF three friends, en-
ployees of the Asylum, who had come to the
depot to meet her. AS this party got near
the telegraph post MI. Schetfer saw man
hurrying down that side of the street from
the depot looking at each groupe he passed.
when he got to the groupe in which Mrs.
Poague was he scanned them closely and then
crossed to the Western side of the street.
He had pistol in his hand and had on, MI.
Scheffer thinks, no hat. He was a young
man about twenty-five years of age with
hardly any mustache. He wore light
thin coat which hung loosely. His forehead
was low and his hair seemed dishevelled.
AS he crossed the street he stopped in front
Of John Burns place raised the pistol, I'M
cooked it and put it in his left hip pocket.
He threw up his head and MI. Scheffer who
saw him plainly under the electric light
thought he had the look of man laboring
under great mental disturbance. After
putting up his pistol he started back in a
run for the depot. MI. Scheffer and his
two friends followed him, so convinced
were they that something was wrong. The
one who followed him most closely says he
swung on the platform Of the rear sleeper
in which the murder afterwards occurred.
One of Mr.. Scheffer's friends thought the
man was holding his hat in his hand when
he knocked the pistol, but Mr.. s. saw no
hat.
The whole look and carriage of the man
impressed MI. Scheffer with the belief that
he was prepared to commit some violent
act. So strong was the impression, that
about 2 O'Clock when a telegram came from
Basic City saying man had been shot
Vl4OlO, NIL. Ne OstlQ. 1C1CSltbpll UtlCh W Ill
rest the man of that description; he did it,
sure.'
The conductor of the Pullman sleeper
claims that he was on the rear platform Of
the sleeper himself when it pulled out of
Staunton and that no one got on it.
The most plausible supposition if this
man was connected with the tragedy in any
way, would be that he leaped on the day cal
and when the train slowed up at Waynes-
boro got out and walking to the rear plat
form of the sleeper, went through the I'M
locked door of the car and committed the
deed.
The agent of the Pullman cars at Rich
mond claims that fol- some time past it has
been the rule to leave Pullman car doors
open, as in recent railroad accident pas
sengers were prevented escaping by the
doors being locked.
1t is stated that large rewards have been
offered by the e. & o.; by the Pullman Car
Co., and by the family of the murdered
man, but we have seen no offer OF any re-
ward promulgated by any one. The detec-
tives of the G. & 0. have been here and at
the locality where the tragedy occurred, but
we cannot learn that any clue to the identi-
ty of the assassin has been found.
Commonwealth Attorney White of
the county, has done all that is
within his power. He made an
Investigation Of all the facts at Waynes-
boro and Basic City, and went to Char
lottesville to talk with the wounded man,
but he was so low that his physician for
babe his having an interview with any one.
1t is a pity the county Supervisors of Au-
gusta have not fund out Of which
they are authorized to offer reward for