St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-30
CLUBBED TO DEATH.
q Minneapolis Boy Of Sixteen
Is Killed in an Iron
Foundry.
He Is Struck Down With a
Bludgeon for Calling a
Man Names.
Allowed to Lie Senseless on
the Foundry Floor Over
an Hour.
Conflicting Stories as to the
Cause Of the Sad Trag-
edy.


cell in the central police station, Mime
Rpolis. The charge of murder hangs
over his head. Over on the East side,
in little house at 119 Fourth street
southeast, lies the dead body of Howard
Nj. Myrick. On his young head is the
mark of a club, the club that took his
life. Charles Bergman killed him. In
and out of the room where the cold
form of the boy lies wanders mis- wild
owed mother, well nigh craZed with
grief. Her little home is now twice des-
olate. Howard was her only child. His
father died several years ago, but he
was left to comfort her. Now he has
gone, too. And he was cut off in his
youth, all through a trivial dispute.
Howard Myrick
WAS But a Boy
Of sixteen. He worked in the shops of
the Herzog-Gillette Manufacturing com
pany as patter nmaker. Charles Berg
man, the murderer, worked there, too.
He is moulder. Yonng Myrick, like
most boys working among large num-
bers Of their elders, was inclined to be
too playful. His playfuness took
the form Of casting at his fellow work
man insulting expressions. That was
what started the trouble between him
and Bergman. He called Bergman
names. The sluggish Northern blood of
the latter was aroused. He attempted
to chastise young Myrick Now the boy
is dead. Bergman says the boy hit him
with brick first
II was attending to my work." says
Bergman, ''when the boy began to call
me those names. | started for him. He
threw a brick and struck me- Then |
picked up piece of wood and struck at
him. meant to strike him on the legs.
As | struck he stopped down and l
Struck Him OH the Head.
He fell over and we picked him up
and carried him to his home. Then |
went back to work and worked all the
afternoon. In the evening [ went to
his house to see how he was. |
thought he was better. That was
all knew about it until the
officer came for me little after II
O'Clock tonight. 1t was about O'Clock
this afternoon that it happened. No,
we had had no quarrel until the boy be-
gan TO call me names"
That is Bergman's story. 1t does not
tally with the stories told by other peo-
pie. Mrs. Myrick, between sobs, told
GLOBE reporter that the men let the
wounded, senseless boy lie on the foun-
dry floor an hour and half before they
brought him home. All accounts say
that the boy was struck at
O'Clock, or shortly after.
Mrs. Myrick Says
he was not brought home till almost
o'clock. Then Bergman, if stories other
than his be true, did not work the re
mainder of the day after killing the
boy, but left the foundry and went
home. Nor did he go I'D to
the Myrick home in the evening to in
quire after the boys condition. When
Officer Gonyea went to arrest him he
was i'll bed and showed fight till he saw
gun. The first place the officer took
him was to the Myrlck house.
AS soon as Mrs. Myrick saw him
she rushed to strangle him. Being a
large woman, she might have succeed
ed but for the officer. That was the
first she had seen Of Bergman, so he
did not go there. Here is the most i'm
portant disagreement. Bergman saws
he struck the boy with a stick. Be-
yond slight mark on the head the
by a stick, but his throat bears
the imprint of muscular fingers, and his
body is
Covered with Bruises
and Commissions. Just before the boy
died he recovered sufficiently to say
that Bergman had choked and
kicked him to death. His
body gives evidence corroborative of
his words. He seems to have died from
internal injuries. The boot that Berg
man wore has been found. 1t is torn.
and bears the appearance of hav-
ing been used for kicking. Only
few of the men who
worked with Bergman could
be found last night. He claimed to not
know where any of them lived. Most
of the evidence of Bergman's untruth-
fulnesS comes from Mrs. Myrick and
the boys body. Bergman is a
Swede, is a married man, and
lived with his wife and child
at 2fS Second street northeast. An in
quest will be held to-day. 1t cannot be
learned whether the boy had any med
ical attendance before he died, although
1t is thought that one doctor was called.
Who he was cannot be learned. Berg
man says that he has worked under his
present foreman, Theodore Neubert,
four years in Louisville and Chicago be-
fore coming to Minneapolis. He has been
in Minneapolis with the Herzog- Gil
lette company nearly year. Bergman
says the stick he threw at the boy was
A stGate Sticlk''
not over foot long and soft white
wood. He maintains that he cid not
kick or strike the boy. Theodore Neu-
bert, the foreman, WAS found
at 723 Third sheet southeast early
this morning.. He saw the whole &C.
currerce. IN the main his story cor
roborates Rergman'S-t is, relating
to the quarrel. The throwing of the brick
and the stick. The boy recovered
consciousness, NeGbert says. few min
utes after being struck and claimed that
he was al right, telling Neubert that
the quarrel was all his own fault.
Then he swGoned ami was taken
home. with the exception Of few
minutes he was unconscious from then
until a few mirOtts before he