The Forrest City times., 1895-01-11
AN AWFUL TRAGEDY.

one a Bride of a week-A Rejected
 sG',,or G the Perpetrator, Who Declares It
 M.s an Accidental Shotgun the Weapon M Used.
 # NEWPORT, Ark, Jan. 7.-Saturday
 ;rbt on the Martin plantation, miles
 sast of Newport, was enacted most # .arr;ble tragedy. Two innocent women # r.ore the victims. One was a bride of a week and the other was her widowed 5=nother.
 |B The coroner'ssinquest developed the Following particulars:
 VI Samuel Swims and James Fields ,rore rivals for the hand of Alice, the
 5anpbter of Mrs. Mary Cooper, an old
 md respected citizen of Jackson county. $Tields won, and week ago Sunday
 nicbt he and Alice were married,
 swims, apparently happy, being among
 the wedding guests.
 # Sv;ms and Fields had a slight mis-
 understanding over some wearing ap- Enarel during the last week, which had, #bowever, to all appearances, been ex-
 plained away, and Swims appeared apain friendly toward Fields.
 
 # Saturday night, about o'clock,
 swims, armed with shotgun, ap- Ineared at the home of Fields and his
 bride. where also lived Mrs. Cooper and Xanother daughter. Swims called to Fields to let him in, as he was cold
 and wished to get warm, but, becom- Zinc impatient at the delay, he burst
 open the door. and, standing on the # threshold. leveled his gun at Fields, at
 the same time commanding him to #throw up his hands.
 Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Fields, the
 young wife, sprang between the gun # and the object of its aim and each re- # ceived the contents of one barrel.
 Mrs. Cooper's right arm was shot off near the shoulder and the left arm of 3 Mrs. Fields was shattered nearly at the same point.
 Mrs. Cooper died almost instantly. q Mrs Fields lived about six hours. & The victims were highly esteemed by T all their neighbors. Swims is ne'er- Il do-well about 23 years old. His par ents, who are respectable people, live
 in Jackson county.
 AFTER THE TRAGEDY.
 His conduct after the tragedy shows
 him to be either hardened or mentally
 unbalanced. After the shooting he X Immediately left the house and came
 to Newport. The next morning, after
 walking about the streets several
 hours he voluntarily surrendered to
 the authorities, bringing the gun that q did the murderous work with him. T The sheriff and deputies passed him on his way to Newport. They did not
 know him, but he recognized them, but says that he wished to come to jail alone and did not tell the sheriff # who he was.
 Swims asserts that the gun was ac- cidentally discharged: that Fields had drawn pistol on him at the time he z brought down his gun, and that the hammer of the gun would not stand and that as he leveled it Mrs. Cooper seized the barrel and in trying to I wrench it from him the hammer fell and the gun was discharged. Swims has not exhibited any symptoms of in- < sanity since he surrendered. THE LAW WILL TAKE ITS COURSE. While the community is aroused at the atrocity, the people are disposed to let the law take it's course. and, as the grand jury convenes to-day, all are satisfied that the crime will be speedily avenged.
 Swims said:
 Jim Fields and me have been chums Tor some time. He claimed that I owed nm and took my clothes. Fields mar red Alice Cooper and he and his wife, the mother and two daughter were iivlng on the Martin farm. I went over to get my clothes and took my snotgun with me. l found Fields sit nng on the bed, with a pistol. I pointed the gun at him and demanded my clothes. Old Lady Cooper grabbed the gun and it went off in the scuffie. never meant to harm anyone"