Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-28
GAMBLED AND LOST.
4 Victim of Stock Fluctuations Kills
His Broker.
NO CAUSE FOB THE MANAGES DEED.
Charles Henry Page, One Of the Ablest
Dealers, the Victim.
BOTH DIED IN ALMOST THE SAME BREATH

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO TIE DISPATCH.l
PHILADELPHIA, July 27. - Charles
Henry Page, one of the youngest and
counted among the ablest brokers in the
local stock markets, was shot dead in his
office on Fourth street this morning by an
irresponsible man who had lost his mind
along with his money in stock gambling.
The murderer's name was Rensld Ken
nedy, So years Of age, and he was known
among brokers as an eccentric but harmless
loser.
He died almost to a breath with his vic
tim, for he turned the smoking revolver to
his own head and pulled the trigger the
moment Page fell. The shots which killed
the two men were fred at twenty minutes
past II o'clock in the morning in the back
room Of. the Office of E D. Page & Brother.
at 132 South Fourth street.
Charles H. Page was the Junior member.
of the firm, and in the absence of his two
brothers was in charge of the brokerage
business. He came up from Cape May,
where his wife and baby daughter are liv-
ing early in the day, and reached the office
shortly before 10 O'Clock. Kennedy entered
the front door at II o'clock or shortly after
ward, the clerks cannot remembsr more
closely. He went into the back room, clos
ing the door behind him, and was seen to
move toward the stock quotation ticker in
None of the conversation between the two
men, if there was any, was overheard.
Shots Broke the Silence of the Office.
The scratching of pens on paper in the
front room was interrupted by two pistol
h1fc hi 80 H. 14l>
the startled clerks rushed to the back room
as a body fell heavily on the foot The
body of Page, with the breast heaving. lay
near the door to the hall, so near that the
head touched the Threshold. Blood was
running in q stream from bullet hole in
his side, just above his waist, and the car
pet beneath him was already stained. He
was IN his shirt sleeves, showing how his
murderer had met him unawares, and
pipe which he had been. smoking lay
smouldering foot away. He died in less
than three minutes after the bullet struck
him. ......-...
Kennedy shot himself in the head and
fell close beside the ticker. The bullet en-
tered the brain. causing almost instant
death, and the revolver lay near his out
stretched right arm.
News of the tragedy flew through all the
offices and exchanges in the vicinity, where
Page was very well known, in magic time.
Desks and tickers and blackboards were de-
serted, ana from every point people focked
to the office, neglecting everything, for the
in an effort to verify the startling
rumors.
A Victim OF the Stock Exchange.
So great was the crowd which congregated |
in front that an ambulance called by Pol |
iceman Forsythe on the corner, could with |
difficulty be brought to the door. Many |
who knew the dead broker intimately were |
fairly dazed by the tragedy, and others who |
we're willing to talk could assign no reason |
for Kennedy's terrible net.
Quite a number of men on Third and |
Fourth streets knew the man in a casual |
way. He was quite a frequent visitor to
among the largest brokerage houses good |
1eal. He has lived in Philadelphia for six |
years, at the boarding house of Mrs Rachel |
ustin, ITO North Eleventh street. but he
lad no friends and few acquaintancea It |
was due to this fact that some time elapsed /!
liter the discovery of his body that identii-
,ation took place. Beyond a small sum of
money, a bunch of keys and pair of gold
'immed eye glasses, nothing was found on
he body.
The mans connection with E. D. Page
~ |
Page, dates back two years, when he was
customer of the firm. He came from New
orleans, he once said, and he appeared to
AVE considerable ready cash.
Investments That Ruined Him.
The investments he made with Page &
Brother were not profitable, and he lost, at
rst, several thousand dollars. Then, in
February of 1890. he began to buy Atchi-
on securities on a pretty narrow margin,
nd in a couple of months made $22, 900. In
S much time afterward he lost it all
gain.
He bought and sold also through Drexel
, Co., Sailer & Stevenson, Dick Brothers
nd Keen & Co. Within the past few
lonths he had lost more and more, until it
as believed among those who knew the
ian at all that he had "gone broke
Page & Brother closed their account with
i'm nearly year ago. and the balance
leet did not please Kennedy, but he ac-
opted it and has been a frequent visitor to
le office of the firm since.
Pages brother Robert was on his wav
ON Homestead with the City Troop
hen the murder was committed. He took
large of affairs upon his arrival and tele-
aphed to the senior member of the firm,
dward D. Page, who was in New York, .
ID cablegrammed to his aged father,
,seph f. Page, the well-known builder,
no with third brother is now in Switzer- =
nd. The residence of the dead broker at
81 Locust street has been closed ever
ice the family moved to Cape May, but it
II be opened again tomorrow when Mrs.