Iron County register., 1893-03-02
J. y. MAckAY SHOT.

H. w. MAMMA
me Bonanza Kiag the Target Tor n 49,. 80
saasinss Bullet--Eiis Assaiiane Ccl 49,
Suicide. ~. alackayss Woup@ 49, ~.
Necessarily Fatal. Bat the Passens -
Means Out OF DAnger--AnteceooA
the Assassin.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. q. The lie q
John W. Maclxay was attempteo
teraay by w. G. Ripley, an Ola man
who was undoubtedly insane, and Wnos
after attempting Mr.. Mackay's assas-
sirat:on, turned the weapon upon nun
self and inflicted mortal wound.
Shortly after noon two men, one q
them an old man. were seen waiKlng
through Lick alley. a passage through
the Lick house from Sutter to POST
streets. Those who noticed the two
men paid no particular atten-
tion to them until suddenly two snots
in RAJ pid succession were fred and the
man who had fired them, the elder, was
seen to fall near the end of the alley.
The other, who seemed to be wounoeds
was at once helped into a buggy ana
driven rapidly away, while the otner
lay bleeding and unconscious on the
street. An immense crowd at once as
sem bled and the police soon arrived
The patrol wagon was called and tne
wounded man was hurried to the re-
ceiving hospital, where the doctor
found that the bullet had penetrated
above the heart and passed through 70.
the back under the skin, whence it was
extracted. At the time OF the opera
ton the man was unconscious ana
pulseless. The wound was pronounced
fatal. There yas little on the dying
mans person to indicate who he was.
He had in his pocket q letter addressed
to morning paper in which the
writer stated that he was 73 years OK
age and signed w. c. Ripley.
There was also found upon him. an
envelope bearing the name of DIR. L. Il.
Lincoln. On the back Of the envelope
were the words, 'sthe end is not yet. "
Upon sheet of paper under the head
ing Food for Reflection" were the
words: 'Paid hundred fift y thousand
dollars for one sapphire to place on the
forehead of his wife, n sufficient amount
to have saved at least 500 of his victims
from suicidal graves. Just think OF itt
Inscribe it upon his tomb"
When Mr.. Mackay reached his room
at the hotel he removed his garments
without assistance and awaited for q
physician. DR.. Kenny and Dr. John F.
Morse arrived about the same time.
After brief examination they stated
that the wound was not fatal.
The bullet had entered under the
right shoulder blade, and glanced to-
ward the right. It was suggested that
the physicians should delay probing
for the bullet until Mr.. Mackay be-
came more composed. but the wounded
man insisted that the operation should
be proceeded with Immediately.
Soon after 9 o'clock the physicians
extracted the bullet. DIR. Morse said
that the wound was not necessarily
fatal, but that his patient was by no.
means out of danger. He added that
in case of&gunshot wounds there was
always fear of blood poisoning or lock-
jaw. When closely questioned DIR.
Morse SAID that it was too soon after
extraction to foretell the termination
of the wound, but that Mr.. Mackay
was resting quietly.
Shortly before o'clock DR.. August
A. Drossel called at the receiving hos
pital and fully identified the dying
man as w. C. Ripley. He said: 81
know Ripley very we'll He used to
come to my place every day to read
the papers before he went down town.
He did not come in this morning as
usual, and he seemed very much dis
tressed over something as he passed,
about . o'clock. He was born In Gin
cinnati. and leaves a wife and family
there. At one time he was worth over
500 200, and made about $50, 900 out Of
the Comstock. He came to San Fran
cisco and began gambling in stocks.
His money soon began to go. and then
he opened a cash grocery story. The
venture failed, and about four years
ago he was running bar and dining.
room on q steamer which piled be-
tween San Francisco and Stockton.
The Assassin's Identity.
DENVER, Col. Feb. 25.-W. c. Ripley.
the assailant of Mr.. Macxay was we'll
known in this city in the '7Os. In 1878
he was proprietor of the fremont.
house. Later he was in the commits
sion business, and was also a stock
holder in the Exchange bank which
failed in 1880.
He had considerable property while
here and engaged in speculation a good
deal. He lost considerable money, but
was supposed to have some when he
went away. He stood well in the COM
munity, and aside from his tendencies