The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1894-12-22
John Huntington, Bank Clerk,
Fires on His Inquistors.
A LOST CHECK THE CAUSE
Two Agents of the Fidelity and Cas-
ualty Company Receive Sc
we're Wounds.

OOuuSll DAuilSB iowa, Dec. lb.-At IL
O'Clock today tragedy was enacted in
the private Office of the Citizens State
bank of Council Bluffs which may result
fatally for three persons. John Hunt
ington, assistant book-keeper and col
lection clerk, shot c. A. Cromwell of
Minneapolis and F. N. Hayden of Chi
cago, representatives of the Fidelity &
Casualty Company of New York, and
then emptied his revolver into his own
brain, infiicting 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 hundreds. So far as can
be learned. he had no bad habits. and
this is what makes his act harder to
explain. On the goth. OF last July
check for $500 was turned over to him by
Ira F. Hendricks, one of the employees
of the bank, in the regular routine of
business. Huntington charged up the
check to the Stock National bank of
South Omaha, and to this day nothing
has been seen or heard of it, The day
following Huntington left for a vaca-
ton trip of several weeks to New York.
The bank officials kept thinking the
check would turn up sooner or later,
and deferred action AS time passed on
and it became evident that the bank was
out $500, they sent a message to the
Fidelity e Casualty Company, notify
ing it of the fact and suggesting that
the inspectors come and make an inves-
tigatiOn. The bank officials claim that
at the time they had no charges to
make against Huntington, or any en-
plOye of the bank in particular. All of
their employees were bonded in the FL
deity, and they preferred that the FL
deity company should make the inves-
tigation, rather than make it them
selves.
Messrs. Cromwell and Hayden arrived
in the city last Friday and took rooms
at the Grand hotel. They cross exam
med each of the bank employees through
whose hands the missing check passed
and among the rest, Huntington. They
claimed to have discovered that he had
been spending more money than his
salary Of $45 month, which he was re-
ceiving, would warrant, and on this
fact, together with the fact that the
),
they based their suspicious on Hunting
ton, and the Representatives of the FL
deity company met Saturday night and
made arrangements for another meet
ing at the bank Sunday morning, when
the investigation was to be resumed.
GOADED TO MADNESS.
At the hour appointed they were to-
gether and Cromwell and Hayden com
menced to put the young man through
a running cross fire of questions. Pres
ident ]. d. Edmonson and Cashier c.
A. Hannah of the bank were there dur
ing most of the interview. The confer
ence had not been in progress more
than five minutes when Huntington
rose from his chair, pulled a gun and
commenced firing at the representa-
tives of the Fidelity company. The !
revolver was of 44-calibre and belonged !
to the bank and had been kept in the !
desk of 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 head and |
fired. He fell to the floor unconscious
and remained so until his death at 1920. |
TERRIBLY WOUNDED.
The two wounded men ran out of the
bank and into the Grand hotel the
blood dripping from them at every step.
They were taken to their rooms and
DR.. McRae Jr.. summoned He found
that one of the bullets took effect in
Cromwelrs back, just to the right of
the spine about the waist line. 1t was
found about four inches below the sur
face and extracted. The second bullet
struck in the left side of his cheek,
ploughed it's way around to the right
side of his neck and came to a stop after
Just missing the carotoid artery. The
third struck him in the right wrist, he
having thrown up his hand to strike
the revolver out of Huntington's hand.
It broke one of the bones of the fore
arm clear in two and imbedded itself
n the other bone, almost severing it.
Cromwell will probably lose the use of
his right hand on account of the stiff
ening of the wrist joint as a result Of
he fracture of the bone.
Hayden Jared better. The bullet
struck him in the neck and after
passing around a quarter of the way,
and imbedded itself in the
panel of the door, where it was after
yards found. His wound is not consid-
ered of a dangerous nature, but the
of half an inch would have
killed him. The bullet that took Hunt
ngton's life entered the skull just be-
hind the ear and lodged back of the
light eye, where it's presence was
shown by the discoloration of the lid.
His having the weapon in his posses
sion, showed that he had planned it all