Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-12-18
He SHOT TO KILL.
Desperate Deed Of a Council Bluffs
Bank. Clerk.
PUT AN END 70 HIMSELF.
One Of His Victims May Die of HIS
Wounds" Olese Call Of the
Other.

CoUNCILL BLUFFS, IOWA. Deem
Der r.-F. N. Hayden. OF Chicago. and
A. Cromwell. Of Minneapolis, the two
representatives OF the Fidelity and
Casualty Company OF New York who
were shot by John Huntington, collection
clerk of the Citlzeng Bank, yesterday.
are under the care OF physicians at the
Grand Hotel Hayden will recover, but
Cromwelrs condition is critical. He was
shot three times, one of the bullets shat
tering the bones Of his right arm and an
other penetrating his back at vital
point. An inquest was held to-day over
the remains of Huntington.
The officials Of the bank are still prose-
cutting an investigation into the shortage.
All that is unaccounted for is a sJOOcheck.
This cannot be found, and the theory ad-
vanced is that Huntington kept the check.
and either secreted IT or destroyed 1t,
fearing detection in case he got 1t cashed.
Mystery surrounds the disappearance or
the check, and the fact that 1t has never
been returned 70 the bank upon which
II was issued leads the bank officials to
believe that II was first taken with intent
to appropriate tho funds and that on Sc
cond thought, the fear OF detection
caused Huntington to destroy It,
Huntington stood high in public esteem,
and public sentiment regards him as inno-
cent
THE TRAGEDY.
At II o'clock yesterday the tragedy was
enacted in the private office of the Citi-
zens' State Bank of Council Bluffs. John
Huntington. assistant book-keeper and
collection clerk, shot c. A. Cromwell, of
Minneapolis and NJ. Il. Hayden, OF Chi
cago, representatives Of the Fidelity and
Casualty Company OF New York, and
then emptied his revolver into his own
breast. inflicting wound from which he
died two hours later.
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 the harder to ex-
plain. On the Goth of last July a check
Of $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 10 the
Union Stock Yards National bank, of
South Omaha, and from that day 20 this
nothing whatever has been seen or heard
OF 1t. The lay following Huntington left
Tor vacation trip Of several weeks TO
New York city, The bank officials kept
thinking the check would turn up sooner
or later. and deferred any action. AS
time passed on. and II became evident
that the bank was out $500, they sent a
message 10 the Fidelity and Casualty
Company, notifying IL 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 other employee OF the
bank. All Of their employees were bonded
in the Fidelity, and they preferie ed that
the Fidelity Company should make the
investigation, rather than make II them
selves. Messrs. Cromwell 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, Hunt
ington They claimed to have discovered
that he had been spending more money
than the salary Of $i5 a month which he
was receiving would warrant and on
this, togeteher 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 made
arrangements for another meeting at the
bank yesterday morning, when the inves-
tigation was 10 be resumed. 40 the hour
appointed they were together, and Crom-
well and Hayden commenced to put the
young man through running crOss-fire
of questions. President ]. ID. Edmundson
and Cashier 9. r. Hannah, OF the bank,
were present during most Of the inter
view. The conference had not been H..
progress more than fifteen minutes when
Huntington rose from his chair, pulled a
revolver, and commenced firing at the
representatives of the Fidelity Company.
THE DAMAGE DONE.
The revolver he used was l-calibre,
that belonged to the bank, and had been
kept In the desk of G. f. Spooner, the
raying-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 11O p. M.
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
was summoned. He found that one Of the
bullets had taken effect in Cromwelrs
back, just TO the right of the spine above
the waist-line. 1t was found about four
inches below the surface, and extracted
The second ball struck in the left side
of his cheek ploughed Its way around the
right side of his neck, and came to a stop.
after just 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 = hand. When
the ball was taken out Il was cut almost
in two from the pointed end down.
Hayden Jared better. The bullet struck
him in the neck, and, after passing around
about quarter OF the way, emerged and
imbedded itself in a panel of the door,
where II was afterwards found. The
variation 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 discoloration
of the lid. His having the weapon in his
possession showed he had planned 1t out
beforehand, and his coolness In the face
of the terrible deed he was meditating
Is surprising. all of the men who were
nresent at the interview testifying that
they had not the slightest idea anything
out OF the ordinary run OF things was
thought OF by the young man.