The record-union., 1894-12-17
A Bank Clerk Shoots Two Assur-
ance Representatives.
THEN FIRES A BULLET INTO HIS
OWN BRAIN.
The Shooting Occurs During an In
vestigatfon Into the Whereabouts
OF a Missing Check Which Had
for Which No Accounting Had Been
Rendered His Employers.
Special to the RECORn-uNInN-

COUNCIL BLUFFS Iowa, Dec. 16.-AtI1l
O'Clock to-day tragedy was enacted in
the private Office of the Citizens State
Bank of Council Bluffs, which may re-
suit fatally for three persons. John Hun
tlngton. assistant bookkeeper and collec-
ton clerk, shot G. a. Cromwell OF Min
neapolis and f. y. Hayden of Chicago,
representing the Fidelity and Casualty
Company OF New York, and then placed
the pistol TO his brain, inflicting a wound
from which he died two hours later.
Cromwell and Hayden, it is thought, will
recover.
Huntington was ona of the best known
men III Council Bluffs, and numbered his
friends by the hundreds. So far as can
be learned, he had no bad habits, and this
is what makes his act harder to explain.
On the 9th of last July a check of 5000
was turned over to him by Ira L. uen-
bricks, one of the employees OF the bank.
huntington charged up the check to the
| Union Stock National Bank OF South
! Omaha, and from that day TO this nothing
! has ever been seen or heard of it. On the
1 following day Huntington left for yaca-
ton of several weeks to New York The
bank officials kept thinking the check
would turn up sooner or later and de-
! ferred any action. AS time passed, and
1t became evident that the bank was out
500, they sent message to the Fidelity
| Casualty Company. notifying it of the
| fact, and suggesting that inspectors come
/ on at once and make an Investigation.
The bank officials claim that at the
| time they had no charges to make
against Huntington or any employees of
the bank IN particular. All OF their em--
! ployes were bonded III the Fidelity, and
| fhox I'D r thnft tI,sal l. 1lo1,.
should make the investigation, rather
than make it themselves. Messrs. Crom-
we'll and Hayden arrived in the city last
! Friday, and took rooms at the Grand
/ Hotel. They crosS-eXamined each OF the
! bank employees through whose hands the
missing check had passed, and among
| the rest Huntington. They claimed to
have discovered that he had been spend
ing more than the salary of S45 month
which he was receiving would warrant
and on this TACT, together with the fact
! that the check had been last seen in his
hands, they based their suspicious.
| huntington and the representatives of
the Fidelity Company met Saturday
night and arranged for another NEE ing
at the bank Sunday morning, when the
Investigation was TO be resumed. At the
| hour appointed they were together. and
Cromwell and Hayden commenced to
put the young man through a running
mondson and Cashier Hannah of the
bank were present during most of the
interview.
The conference had not been in pro-
gress more than fifteen minutes, when
huntington rose from his chair, pulled a
revolver and commenced firing at the
representatives of the Fidelity Company.
The revolver he used was a 44-caIiber
that belonged to the bank, and had been
kept in the desk of G. +. Spooner, the
paying teller. The first three shots were
fired at Cromwell, who had taken the
lead in the Interrogation, and all three
took effect. The fourth struck HAYDEN.
| and then Huntington raised the weapon
to his own head and fired. He fell to the
| floor unconscious, and remained so until
his death at LILO p. NJ.
The wounded men ran out of the bank
down First avenue and into the Grand
Hotel, blood dripping from them at
every step. Ihey were taken to their
rooms, and DIR. Donald MacCrea was
summoned. He found that one of the
| bullets bad taken effect in Cromwell's
! back just to the right OF the spine, about
/ the waist line 1t was found about four
inches below the surface and extracted.
! The second bullet struck the lett side of
! his cheek, ploughing Its way around the
| right side of his neck, and came to a stop
| after missing the carotid artery. The
! third struck him in the right wrist, he
| having thrown up his hand to strike the
/ revolver out OF Huntington's hand. 1t
! broke one of the bones of the forearm
| clear in two, and imbedded itself in the
/ other bone, almost severing it. When
! the ball was taken out ii was cut almost
III two from the pointed end down
| Cromwell will probably lose the use OF
! his right hand on account of Stiffening
OF the wrist joint as result of the fracture
| of the bone.
far I,,l
him in the neck, and after passing around
d quarter of the way, emerged and i'm
! bedued itself In door, where it was
atterward found. His wound is not con-
| sldered OF serious nature, but Varia-
tion of half an inch would have killed
! him.
The bullet that took Huntington's life
| entered the skull just behind the ear and
lodged back OF the right eye, where its
! presence was shown by a discoloration
! OF the lid. His having the weapon in his
| possession shows that he had planned it
all out before hand, and his GOODNESS in
| The lace OF the terrible deed he was
nedltatlng Is surprising, all of the men
| who were present at the interview testi-
! lied that they had not the slightest idea
that anything out of the ordinary run of
| things was thought of by the young man.
The parents of Huntington were at
| once summoned. The aged mother was
= u
! their son was atf1iction enough, but the
honest old people appeared to be grieved
more that their son should have commit
J ted the two crimes o. robbery of his en-
ployers ana then attempting to murder,
| than over the mere fact of his death
That he is dead is bad enough" said tie
mother, "but that he should do such
| thing is TERRIBLE
}. u. Edmonson, the President of the
pank, was seen and asked for his version
OF the affair. He said: Huntington.
cromwell, Hayden and | were sitting N
| the private Office. Cromwell was in the
northwest corner of the room. and | in
the northeast, and Hayden about the CEN
ter and huntington between HAYDEN and
| myself. we were seated about a table
| that stands against the wall. Mr.. Ham
! nan, the cashier. had been sitting between
Hayden and huntington until few min
utes before the shooting took place. when
| he went out into the front part of the
| bank. Hayden and Cromwell had been
I questioning the man very closely about
+ his mode of living. On one occasion
! he had deposited $40 in the bank. and
Cromwell asked him where he got it.
Huntington said he borrowed it, but
when asked OF whom he borrow ed it he
could not remember, and said that it was
none OF their business, anyway. He was
also unable to say from whom he got the
money 10 pay back the loan.
~ to that time L had the most i'm
plicit confidence in Huntington's hon
| esty, but L must confess his evasiye an
swers made me doubtful. | saw that
something unpleasant was about to occur.