Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-10
|STILL A MYSTERY
Although Coroner's Jury Acts on viii
Clements Death.
Evidence Mt Inquest and the Verdict
That notwithstanding Weup-
ons to Small Boys.

Gross Clements, who WAS accidentally shot
and killed at his residence, 1745 18th street,
Tuesday afternoon. The inquest lasted for
several hours. but developed nothing ma
terial beyond what was contained in The
Star yesterday afternoon. Yet, in the opin-
ion of the jury which Investigated the case,
sufficient evidence was brought. out to war
rant them in bringing in verdict to the
effect that the pistol by which the unfortu-
nate lad was killed was held in the hand
Of Frederick Arthur Bryan. one of the
twin sons of Mr.. s. NJ. Bryan.
Members of the jury who oficiated at the
inquest yesterday afternoon were NJ. r.
Caughlin, Daniel Sweeny, George H. De-
monet, JohE r. Grove and John NJ. Buck
ley. After the evidence was all in they
deliberated for over an hour over their
verdict and finally brought in the follow
I'VE. the undersigned Jurors, find, acc ord
ing to the best of our knowledge and be-
lief, after hearing all the evidence in this
case, that William Clements came to his
death from gun or pistol shot wound,
at 80 pm, caused by its accidental dis
charge in the hand of Frederick Bryan, at
HAS 18th street northwest, January 8, 1898.
We the undersigned jurors, do exonerate
Frederick Bryan from all blame.
Method of Reasoning.
Just why they should have decided upon
verdict which held one of the boys re-
sponsible and not the other was a matter
of considerable doubt to all the others who
heard the testimony given at the inquest.
There was no direct testimony, or indirect,
which made it certain1tfrat the pistol was
in the hand of either one of the boys, and
certainly nothing to show that 1t was more
likely &c have been in the hand of one than
the other. The physicians who attended
Will Clements after he was shot testified
as to the character of the wound, and DIT.
+. l.. Tompkins, who made the autopsy,
expressed the opinion that the wound could
not have been made from a pistol held in
the hand of the unfortunate boy himself.
This evidently made the jury think that,
as it must have been held in somebody
hand, they might as we'll pick out one of
the Bryan boys as the other. Edgar Bryan
denied absolutely that he fired the fatal
shot, but the question whether he had or
not for some reason or other was not put
to Fred. Bryan, as the general trend of the
testimony seemed to show that he knew no
more about the accident than he told in
his story in The Star yesterday afternoon.
The jury decided that no blame at all rest
ed on the'shoulders Of young Bryan.
Witnesses Examined.
The witnesses examined by Coroner Ham
NETT were DIR. J. r. L. Hardesty, DR.. c.
E. Hagner, both of whom attended the de-
ceased: Mrs. ]. Florence Manning. a neigh
Dor of the Clements family; Mrs. Clements.
mother Of the dead boy: Alfred Edgar
Bryan and Frederick Arthur Bryan, twin
sons of Mr.. Samuel Bryan; Keith Reeves,
Guy Clements, twelve years of age, a
brother and C. c. Clements, 'fa Thereof the
dead boy; DR.. e. l.. Tompkins, who per-
formed the autopsy. and Sergt. Robert w.
Montgomery of the police force.
Mrs. Clements. who was the first wit
ness, described the incidents that imIne-
told Of the death Of her son, a few sec
onds after she reached his side, after hear
ing the report of the pistol and the noise
Of fall. The only other witnesses who
could throw any direct light on the occur,
renee were Fred and Edgar Bryan, and
they adhered stoutly to the version of the
affair which they had given from the be-
ginning; that is tc say, they testified In
straightforward manner that they were IN
the adjoining room when their playmate
was shot, and that when they ran into the
room he was already PROSTATE on the
floor.
Selling Weapons.
While the cloud OF doubt which hung
over the accident in the beginning has not
been altogether cleared away. the accident
itself Is likely to result in a more stringent
enforcement of the law with reference to
the sale of deadly weapons in this city.
Thu Bryan boys, on the stand yesterday,
described how the three pistols were
bought, just as 1t was told in Tie Star yes
terday, and their story showed apparently
that the clerk in the sporting goods store
where the pistols were bought had lived
up only ITO the letter, and not by any
means to the spirit of the law when he
permitted three pistols to get into the pos
session of three small boys. Their action
in getting an old colored man to go in and
buy the pistols for them was so transpa-
rent that it Is hard to see how a dealer
could have taken it upon himself to sell
the pistols under the circumstances. Ac-
cording to the statement of the boys. they
went into the store with the colored man
and took an active part in the selection Of
the revolvers, which were Of the cheapest
sort, and without any safety appliances
whatever. The two Bryan boys are greatly
distressed by the sad affair, and both fam
lilies that are concerned have the sympathy
of all their friends and the community
oaporal1v