Evening journal., 1891-08-27
INCIPIENT SENSATION.
A MECHANIC ACCUSED OF MURDER
BY AN ANONYMOUS WRITER.

q
identity of n f. Williams, the brother
of the man who committed suicide on the
New Castle causeway last Friday morn
ing, is regarded by all acquainted with
the fscts as the most silly and ridiculous
attempt at sensationallsm ever known In
this city. The fact that the most con
elusive proof OF the mans identity Is ex.
istent, Is notorious" said Undertaken
Palmer to-day, ''and might have been as
certained by "a little careful investigation
on the part OF the Morning News re.
porter
Mr.. Williams when he came to this
city was not prepared to see the dead
body OF his brother, but on the contrary
had hoped TO arrive in time to prevent
him from taking his own life. Under the
circumstances he did not come supplied
with money to defrRy the funeral ex
| penses OF his brother But when he ar
rived at the morgue and found that his
hopes were blasted, and that the dead
body of his brother lay before him he AZ
once telegraphed to the cashier of the
National Bank, Chicago Illinois. for a
| guarantee that the undertaker's expen
ses would be paid
| Undertaken Palmer received the fol
lowing despatch ia reply;
CHICAGO, III.
"Undertaker L. w. Palmer:
We guarantee undertakers expenses
as ordered by a. F Williams.
wv A hammond,
Cashier National Bank of Illinois"
| had Mr.. Williams not been known to
the cashier Of the Chicago bank, and had
ne not had an account with that bank.
prompt reply guaranteeing expenses
would not have been furnished as 1t was.
But Undertaken Palmer has even more
conclusive proof of the identity, well
known integrity, and solid, substantial
worth OF Mr. Williams 1t is a letter
from 4 W. Barker, one OF the
"eaitale and best known fu
neral directors in Washington. a
personal friend Of Mr.. Palmer's and a
member of the same lodge On the arri
val Of the body in Washington IL was
taken charge by Mr.. Barker. who also
sent letter TO Mr.. Palmer, asking him
to send bill for the funeral expenses Of
Mr. williams to him-Mr. Barker. The
Williams's." Mr. Palmer said. sswere
born IN Washington and lived there for
time, although the home OF q. f. Will
liams is now in Chicago Mr.. Barker
knew the brother and had no objection
10 bear the expenses.
Undertaken Palmer also said: with
such proofs as those In my possession
tnere can be no question about the
Identity or Mr.. Williams Besides. what
motive could he have in coming from
Chicago to take charge Of the bodyY Had
the Morning News reporter been less
i'm pudent and more civil and taken the
pains to investigate the matter he would
have found that the identity Of Williams
bad been established beyond doubt.
De came here the other night and gave
me such impudence that had been dow
stairs would have kicked him off the
pavement
It was also stated In the News that the
coroner's jury had not been aware Of the
existence o. the letter signed by - r
WILSON and charging a sandy haired
blacksmith indicating Owen Houqh-
ton OF Front and Orange streets, with be-
lug the murderer That is incorrect.
Inc coroners jury met on Monday night
ana tha evening papers of Monday
had mentioned the existence of the viii
son letter. One Of the Jurors was a re-
porter Of an evening paper. and be had
written the story about the existence Of
the letter for his paper, so that IL "the
eoroner's jury never saw the letter" il
was the fault of the jurors. Every Juror
who read the papers chat evening knew
that the letter was In existence
owen J. Houghton, the ''tall black
smith with sandy hair" indicated in the
Wilson letter, was seen by an EVENING
JOURNAL reporter this morning Re
said: when the letter was first re-.
eeived by Coroner Sparks he put the
matter in the hands Of Detec ives Nc.
Vey and Witsil They came to me and /
proved to their satisfaction that the
letter was lie and forgery. never
nred shot from a revolver in my life.
and never owned gun, but for two
weeks, and being unable TO use il sold
1t. have very strong suspicion of
who the writer of the letter is and have |
offered $50 reward to the man who brings
him to justice He is an enemy OF mine.
big coward, who unable to CRAFTY his /
desire for revenge in manly way, has
had recourse to vile and cowsrdly 1
methods to iDiure my reputation. have
the most conclusive proof to substantiate
all that have said
II regard the action Of the coroner in
making known the contents Of this letter
after the detective had investigated the
matter and reported the result Of their
Investigations to him, as grossly i'm
proper and entitledto strong condemna-
tIon.
Detective Bernard j. Mcvey was alfo
seen by an EVENING JOURNAL reporter
to day. he said: The Morning News is
of its base, and the coroner had no right
to have the letter published after Mr..
Witsil and had proved to him that the
letter was a baseless fabrication. Mr..
Hougton is well known and respected in
this community. he has never owned a
pistol In his life, and that letter was
written by an enemy Of his, whom we
expect TO bring to justice shortly.
After had secured the proofs of the
falsity Of the letter, / took them with
me to Coroner Sparks and satisfied him
upon that point. We agreed that that
portion of the letter indicating Mr..
Houghton's identity should be suppressed,
and cannot express my surprise that he
should have thought ct after the matter
had been cleared up to give the letter to
the public
The following is the Wilson letter:
1.-TWO MILES EAST OF STANTON,
August 20, 1891.
TO the Coroner of the City of vii
mington:
DEAR SIR I saw the shooting done
was waiting behind the three men and
BEARD them discuss the merits and
iemerits of bulldog that the tall man
rad chain or strap on when the
nan that was shot said the dog did
lot look well bred. Then the tall man
laid what do you know about a dog.
lad the man said he knew all about il
Then the tall man called him a s. OF
-. They had some words, when he,