The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-12-22
A MISSING CHECK.
It Leads to q Terrible Tragedy In Q
Bank.
a Clerk In . Hank 1t CouncH Bia6s Sheets
Two Men snd Pats Ballet In his
DIVA Brsin-story ofa
Check.


DeoU0fote bsonk Ctork.
COuNcIL BLUFrs, Ia, Dec. l7.-At IL
o'clock yesterday . tragedy was enact-
ed in the private Office of the Citizens
State bank of Council Bluffs which
may result fatally to three persons
John Huntington, assistant bookkeeper
and collection clerk, shot c. A.
Cromwell, of Minneapolis, and F.
N. Hayden, of Chicago, repre-
sentstives Of the Fidelity and
Casualty Co, Of New York, and
then emptied bis revolver into his own
brain, irfiicting wound from which
he died two hours later. Cromwell
and Hayden. It il thought. will recover.
Huntington was one of the hest known
men in Council Bluffs and numbered
his friends by the hundred.
On July 90 last . check Of $500 was
turned over to him by Ira r. Hendricks,
one Of the employees Of the bank, in the
regular routine of business. Hunting-
ton charged mp the check to the Union
Stock Yard National bank of South
Omaha, and from that day to this moth
ing whstever has been seen or
heard Of IL. The day follow
ing Huntington left for . vacs-
tion trip Of several weeks 10 New York
city. The bsnk oficials kept thinking
the check would turn mp sooner or
later and deferred any action. A
time passed ON and Il became evident
that the bank was out $500 they sent Q
message to the Fidelity 4 Casualty
Co. notifying II of the fact and sug-
gesting the inspectors come ON at once
and make IN investigation. The bank
officials claim that 1t the time they
had no charges to make against Hunt
ington or any employe Of the bank in
particular. All Of their employees were
bonded in the, Fidelity and they pre-
ferred that the Fidelity company
should make the investigation rather
than make 1t themselves
Messrs- Cromwell end Hayden arrived
in the city last Friday and took rooms
1t the Grand hotel. They cross-sxam.
ined each of the bank employees through
whose hands the missing check had
passed, and among the rest Hunting.
ton They claimed to have discovered
that he had been spending more money
than the salary of Sss = month,
which he was receiving, would warrant
and on this fact, and the fact that the
check had been last seen In his hands,
they based their suspicious. Hunting.
ton and the representatives Of the
Fidelity company met Saturday night
and made arrangements for another
meeting At the bank Sunday morning
when the investigation was TO be re
sumed.
At the hour appointed they were TO-
gether and Cromwell and Hayden com.
menced to put the young man through
= running cross-dre of questions Pres
ident J. d. Edmundson and Cashier C. r.
Hannah Of the bank were present dur.
ing most of the interview. Tho confer
ence had not been in progress more
than fifteen minutes whea Huntington
rose from his chair, pulled . revolver
and comneuced' firing st the repre-
sentatives Of the Fidelity company. Tn,
revolver he used wAs 44-cslibsr tha'
belonged to the bank and had beeI
kept in the deal. Of G. b. Spooner, tn,
paying teller. The first three shot
were Hred at Cromwell, who had takes
the lead in the Interrogation, and n
three took effect. The fourth stsucl
Hayden, and then Huntington rsiset
the weapon to his own head and fred
He fell to the door unconscious, AM
remained so until his death, at Ill
p IN.