The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-03-18
a FATAL SHOT.
Wesley spid,c, the Victim of Oncer Irish's
Bullet Died At the Hospital Yes
terdsy No ling.

\
Bullet Died at the Hospital Yes
tcrdsy No ling.
Wesley Spidle, who was shot night be
fore last by Officer Irish of the Metropoli
tan police force, died yesterday morning
the wound received.
The death is very much to be regretted
in view Of the sad circumstances that at.
tend it. The fac: of the matter is, Spidle
received his death wound while in the act
Of taking some coal from the Santa Fe
! raiiwa; TO warm the house where his bed
ridden wife and four children lived.
He was a poor man and proba
| bly, an honest man, for stealing
coal for such a purpose by DO means DEM
onstrate5 dishonesty. Very few men
Gould be found who would not do precise.
~ the same thing under like circumstances
that IS, of course. after giving the charity
Of the world fair and sincere test.
| OF course men should not be encouraged
to steal coal or anything else. Some men
are too mean to earn an honest living. but
| try to live like Parasites on the commun-
that this man was one of that kind as he
has been diligently Looking for job all
winter and only succeeded 10 getting one
| about week ago, with gardener north
of town. His two boys also worked with
him, but they did not have any money in
the house nor would they have any till
next week
THEY NEED FRIENDS
A reporter for the EAGLE called on the
family last night to ascertain their cir
cumstances, and they are truly destitute.
They I'VE no money, and no provisions
except few things brought in yesterday
by Mrs. Cone and Miss Burd. The widow
and mother is Frustrated with grief and
sickness, and is unable to leave her bed to
perform any ofthe household duties.
They are truly an object of the atten-
lions of the charitable people of the city,
and it is TO be hoped that every
generous man and woman will do some
thing for them. The mother has been
sick for nearly eight years, which facr, no
doubt, is the cause OF the family's destitu-
ton. The oldest boy is Is but not we'll
matured, the next II, the third nice
little girl, about II, and the fourth a
chubby little fellow of 5. This little fell
low was. in himself an appeal for COM
passion. Traces of tears could be seen on
his cheeks, while his blue eyes had far
away look III them, indicating that he
knew that there WAS some terrible calam-
ity overhanging the family, but that he
only half understood it. The little fellow
was very restless, and when the reporter
knocked at the door he ran anxiously
towards it as il spring of
hope started suddenly in his little
innocent heart; but alas he was
doomed to disappointment and he relapsed
back into his half-hoping and half-dispair
ing mood again. The poor little fellow
was melancholy study. What will his
future be without father and practically
without n mother? for the shock of Thurs
day nights tragedy will doubtless in
crease her Affections and hasten her end.
The more one thinks Of the matter the
sadder it becomes. 1t is bad enough to be
deprived of the pleasures and associations
of father without being thrown
helpless and hopeless and destitute
on the cold world. The husband and
father cannot be restored and the only
thing that can be done is to mitigate their
grief by consolation and give them some
thing more substantial for their destitu-
ton. The ladies of Wichita are always
equal to the occasion when they under
stand the situation, and it is to be hoped
that their noble generous impulses will
prompt them TO visit the destitute home
today 1880 North Mosely) and carry cheer
and comfort to their unfortunate and
afflicted sister and her orphaned children.
At 10 o'clock yesterday morning the corr
oner impareled jury to inquire into
the case, and, after viewing the body an
was taken till 2 O'clock. |
When that hour arrived r. NJ. Sankey and
Edwin White Moore were present to rep |
resent Irish and County Attorney Boone
to represent the state. The attorneys for
Irish objected to Charlie Burrows, and I
man named Hovey. on the grounds that
the former was the exchief of police aud
the latter was in the habit of holding po
ltical controversies with Irish. Both o.
them were excused by the coroner. When
the impaneling of the jury was completed
it consisted of the following men: r. w.
Van Zant, j. V. Jones, o. D. Draper,
o. Rogers, Joseph Slower and A. |
H. Reed Judge Bnckner was the |
first witness examined and although |
the examination was quite lengthy, he
was unable to give any evidence tending
to show whether Irish killed the man by |
accident or intent, which is the material |
point in the case. He only testified as to |
how many shots he heard fired how the !
man was removed from the scene of the
the questions that were asked, |
when the doctors arrived, aud such other |
details as occurred from the time he heard |
the shots while sitting in his room Till |
Spidle was removed to the city hospital. |
He said there were two shots fired, and |
that they were fred in quick succession.
Judge Buckner WAS followed by Dr. |
Fordyce, one OF the physicians who at
tended him and extracted the bullet. |
The doctor stated that the ball entered |
the back below the lower angle OF the |
shoulder blades aud ranged upwards, |
coming ont few inches below the right |
nipple He said he died from the effects !
of the wound, the immediate cause being |
lie stated That he heard |
between Irish and the de- |
ceased while dressing the wound. The |
deceased said: Il know / was doug /
wrong in taking the coal, but | ought not |
to be shot for it." whereupon Irish said /
Il did not mean to shoot you; it was an /
accident" The deceased then said, "g-
i-you, you did mean to shoot me, AS I I
WAS only 10 feet away from you" This I
was about the gist OF the doctor 5 evidence I
The next witness was William Mitchell I
he man who was with Spidle at DE time /
Of the shooting. He stated where /
they were az and what they /
were doing when the officers came /