Bridgeton pioneer., 1892-12-29

down the road to the house OF Locke,
!. and borrowed his breech loading gun
and five loaded SHELLS. He said be was
going after squirrels.
1 He then proceeded down the read
and it. was shown by his tracks in the
snow that he had turned off the road.
4 hid The gun in the woods and returned
to the town and gave bis son store
key which he had in his pocket.
I Clark then retraced his steps, and Sc
curing his gun went further up the
Irca1, and turned In the slab road as
indicated. At the spot where he XII led
himself, is large stump about three
feet high. Here he stopped, and tax
ing a thick piece of twine be tied one
end of 1t about the trigger OF the gun.
He tied knot in the other end, and
took q firm hold of it with his left
hand, having previously taken off his
glove and thrown it on the ground
beside it. The stock of the gun was
then rested upon the ground beside
him and he leaned over on the stump
so that the muzzle of the barrels rested
upon the left side of the head. Rails
ing his left foot he placed it upon the
rope, now held one end in his hand and
the other on the trigger, pressed down,
and the awful charge exploded and he
fell back, death ensuing before he
reached the ground. And this is the
way the searching party found him
Friday morning, twenty minutes of
two o'clock.
Coroner Robbins Friday morn
ing empanelled the following jury !:
Edw. w. Fleetwood, foreman; Jacob
W. Aud, E'dad Lore, William Coxier,
Albert Hickman, Samuel Campbell,
Richard Whitaker, Charles Allen,
Franklin Garrison, Fred. A. Garrison,
Samuel jenkins and Howard Mintz.
These gentlemen, surrounding the
dead body, in the woods, with the
snow falling flercely about them, took
the necessary oath, given by Justice
of the Peace Compton. The ground
was carefully looked over, and the
Coroner proceeded to search the body.
In the pockets were some tobacco,
sixty five cents in change, some
! papers relating to business matters.
In the left hand pocket of the yeet
was crumpled piece of paper upon
which was written, almost illegibiy,
some words in pencil It was handed
the PIONEER reporter for interpreta-
tiop. 1t was piece of paper, ragged
edges, discolored by being wet, and
was evidently picked up by the suicide
after he started from home, and was
written in the woods. After careful
studying, the following words were
brought out by the reporter:
societies pleas look after my
family"
can't stand it. et III
am to blame for it 81 one outside
| the family.
good-bY children & wife,"
The note caused genuine sensation
but no one could understand who lone
outside the family" was. In another
pocket of the mans clothing were
found three loaded shells for the gun.
The gun was examined. The left
hand shell was found to be exploded
and empty. The right hand shell was
still loaded. 1t was filled with No. 10
shot.
The body was brought to the town
and placed in the shop of Jacob Auld
to await the disposition of the under
taker.
The Coroner's Jury then assembled
at the hotel and after inquiring into
all the facts in the case returned the
following verdict, Ia writing:
SrAe oOnnnRKAsD On H1M sTa5o1i oo1srr, SIS.
An inquisition indented and taken
at Dividing Creek, in the County of
Cumberland, aforesaid, the twenty
third day of December. before me,
Gabriel Robbins, one of the coroners
of said county, upon the view of Will
liam Clark, then and thereslying dead,
upon the oath of the undersigned
jurors. good and lawful men of the
county aforesaid, who being sworn
and charged to inquire on the part of
the State of New Jersey. when and
after what manner the said William
Clark came to his death, do say upop
their oaths, aforesaid, that the said
William Clark. on the 21st day of De-
cember, 1899, himself voluntarily,
feloniously and of his own afore-
thought, did kill and murder by shoot
ing himself"
The return was signed by all the
jurors and the Coroner.
The reporter made diligent inquiry
as to the standing of the suicide in the
community. He was spoken of most
highly, as q man of industrious habits,
very reticent, and great reader. He
was never known to harm anyone, and