The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-23

stopped. not by the game he was pur-
I suing. but by a stout fellow taking aim 90
! him with a gun The gun was fired 40 a
I distance Of fifteen PAGES, ana fortunately
] missed its object. Not entirely a novice
/ in these things, the guardsman quickly
! returned the compliment, ana with sue
/ cess. Sauier. although severely wounded,
attempted 10 escape by runuing, but was
| soon overtaken, and died under his bl ows.
| we understand that a detachment %
! the guard will be despatched 10 find the
body"
This announcement was received with
| pleasure by some, with incredibly by
others. Cunning and desperate as Bras
| Coupe was known TO be, II was generally
believed that he had succeeded with his
| usual luck in eifecting his escape. not
! withstanding the severe blows that he
| had received. The sequel proved the cor
rectness of this conjecture. On the fol-
lowing day an armed posse repaired to
! the spot, accompanied by the police on
GERS. but despite the most diligent search
through the devious paths Of the "cypri-
ere" no trace of the criminal could be
| detected, although the spot was searched
| where the conflict had taken place A trail
| of blood, soon lost in the Shiny waters of
the marsh, fusnished the only evidence
| of his pres umed fate.
The matter for some tiWe was wrapped
in mystery Scouting parties
| form ed from time, to time with the view
of discovering his retreat, had been sent
out but invariably returned, disappointed
and worn out with fatigue. Week follow
ed week without any additional disclos-
| ure, until the public mind, diverted to
other subjects, had begun to forget the
hero and his Odyssey, when positive
news of his death unexpectedly reached
| the city. 1t would be amusing to relate
in detail the Excitement which the event
! produced. Not only on Change or at
Hewlett's, and in the workshops, mark
cts but even in domestic circles was the
subject discussed. A stranger to our
city and customs, judging from the ami
nation everywhere manifesting'
itself, would have Opined that
| some unusually important
| event had just occurred. The daring,
the insolence, and the utter contempt for
! law which Bras Coupe ever exhibited
We're freely commented upon. His wound
and the incidents of his capture his con
finement and his escape from the hos
pital became common subjects of gossip.
! IL was remembered now, when lying
PROSTATE after the surgical operation,
which had bereft him of a limb, and when
reduced by an attack of dysentcry to the
very verge of death, he had eluded the
| vigilance of the nurses by tiinging himself
out of an open window. 1t was also re-
lated how, on another occasion, he had
| captured a negress who, on effeCting her
escape from his camp, reported an act of
| ferocity of which she was made an un-
| willing witness. The story concerned
the fate of an Irish woman whom he had
| forcibly carried into the woods. detained
for several days tied to a tree, and finally
shot to death.
1t was on a Monday, July II, 1887, that
one Francisco Garcia, while fishing at the
mouth of Little river, on Lake POntchart-
rain, met the black desperate. The
| former had got out of his piTOgue to OBJ
tain fish car, which he had temporarily
! left on the shore, when just as he had
| landed and was about to take hold of the
box he heard the detOnation of a fulmi-
mating cap. Happening, fortunately to
be holding an iron handspike, to which he
was in the habit of fastening his boat, he
| rushed forward about seven PAGES and
| came upon man concealed behind the
| trunk of a fallen tree, in the act of reset
ting fresh cap with his right hand and
teeth. Losing no time, the Spaniard
| struck him three times with his pom
derous bar and felled him dead to the
! ground.
Such was the account given by Garcia,
although there were many persons who,
| converSant with the character of the
slayer, affirmed that Bras Coupe's death
was the result of treachery-G Garcia be-
ing his usual purveyor and friend. The
impression was that Garcia, seduced by
the hope of reward, had murdered the
man he had promised to protect.
Be this as it may, the Spaniard, on
accomplishing the deed, dumped his valu-
able freight into the boat and proceeded
with it 10 New Orleans Reaching
Milneburg, the body was thence conveyed
to the front of the mayors office, where
Denis Prieur the then chief executive of
the city, ordered it to be exposed to public
view on the Place d'Armes. That thou
sands rushed to that historic square to
view the CHASTITY remains is a matter of
notoriety. No Mardi Gras procession
no special pageant that 1 know Of ever
attracted such surging crowds as were
witnessed under that sostitial
sun. Men, women and children
whites and blacks, freedmen and
slaves, professional men and laborers in
their working blouses-all seemed to
have gathered there to satisfy their
morbid curiosity, The body remained
exposed in that condition from / o'clock
in the evening until the darkness of the
night commanded its removal to the
potter's field. The still unhealed and
| gaping wounds inflicted by the city guard,
who had believed him dead, made the
| spectacle still more hideous.
1t was generally believed that the diff
| ferent municipalities had offered liberal
rewards for Bras COupe's capture, dead
or alive, and Garcia was much congratu-
lated upon his good luck : but when the
day of reckoning came il was ascertaned
that only the section below Esplanade
street had made any provisions for the
event, whereupon the sum of $3.50 was
Immediately paid the claimant, as prom