The morning call., 1894-12-17
BLOOD AT A BANK.
Two Surety Inspectors
Shot
BY A THIEVING BooKKEEPER,
Who Put an End to His Own
Miserable Life.
" A THIEVING BooKKEEPER,
AROUSED BY THE INVESTIGATORS
An Examination in the Private Office
Stopped in a Most Sensa-
tional Manner.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa, Dec 16.-At II
o'clock to-day tragedy was enacted in
the private office of the Citizens State
Bank Of Council Bluffs which NAV result
fatally for three persons. John Hunting
ton, assistant boOkkeeper a d collection
clerk. shot G. A. Cromwell of Minneapulis
and F. n. Hayden of Chicago, Ferresenta-
tives OF the Fidelity and Casualty Com
pany of New York. aud then emptied his
revolver int his own brain, inficting a
wound from which he died two hours
later. Cromwell and Hayden, it is
thought, will recover.
Huntington was one of the best known
men in Council Bluffs. and numbered his
friends by the hundred. So far as can be
learned he had no bad habits, and this is
what makes his act harder to explain. On
the 20tn of las July check OF $500 was
turned over to him by Ira F. Hendricks,
one OF the employees of the bank. Hunt
ington charged up the check to the Union
Stock National Bank of South Omaha,
and from that day to this nothing what
ever has been seen or heard of il. The
day following Huntington left for a vaca-
tion trip of several weeks to New York
city. The bank officials kept thinking the
deferred any action. As tine passed and
it became evident that the bank was out
$780, and a message was sent to the
Fidelity and Casualty Company notifying
it of the fact and suggesting tnat iuspec-
tors come on at once and make an inves-
tigatlon.
The bank officials claim that at the time
they had no charges to make aesinS; Hun
tington or any emp!oye of the bank il par
ticular. All of their employees were bonded
in the Fidelity. and they preferred that
the Fidelity Company should MAKE tie in
Vestigation rather than make it them
selves Messrs. Crom welI and Hayden ar
rived in the city last Friday and took
oms at the Grand Hotel. They cross
examined each of the bank employees
through whose hands the missing check
had passed and among the rest Honung-
ton. They claimed to have discovered hat
he bad been spending more money than
ne salary OF $45 month waieh he was re-
| ceiving would warrant and on this fact,
together with the fact that the check had
been last seen in bis hands. they based
their suspicious.
Huntington and the represen tauves of
the Fidelity Company met Saturday night
aud arranged for another meeting at the
bank Sunday morning, when the investiga-
tiOu was to be resumed. AT the bnur ap-
pointed they were together, and Cromwell
and Hayden commenced to put the young
man through running ernss-fre of uues-
tions. President j. ID. Edmondson and
Cashier c. H. Hsnnon of the bank were
present during most of the interview. The
col ference had not been in progress m re
than fifteen minutes when Huntington rose
from his chair. pulled a revolver ana COM
menced firing at the representatives of the
Fidelity Company.
The revolver he used was 44-caiber,
that belonged to the bank ana had been
kept in the desS of 6. F. Spooner, the
nayisg teller. The first three shots were
fred a Cromwell. who had taken the lead
in the inteTr cation, and AL three took
effect The fourth struck Hayden and
then Huntington raised the weapon to his
own head and fred.
He fell to the floor unconscious and re-
mained 81 until his death, al / 10 P. NJ
The Two wounded men ran out of the
bank, down First avenue and into the
Grand Hotel, blood dripping from them at
every step. They were taken to their
rooms and DR. Donald McRae Jr. was