The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-13

her. The next moment she was in eter-
nifty, her husband having sent bullet
crashing through her brain. The MUIR
derer stepped back about ten feet, put the
muzzle of the pistol behind his right ear
and he also fell ifeless. The two bodies
weltering in their lhe-blood, one beside the
open window and the other beside the bed,
presented a CHASTITY appearance when re-
moved bv the Coroner yesterday.
The story of the tragic affair as far as is
known is best told by N. Nelson, partner
of the deceased, who saw both HIM and his
wife half an hour before the shooting.
Brown and l." said he, "had the contract
to supply the steam-whaler Jeanette with
a crew and when we parted on Monday
night the understanding was that was to
find the steward and Brown the carpenter
and get them aboard first thing this morn
ing. l kept my part of the agreement and
called for Brown about O'Clock Monday
morning to assist him in hunting up the
carpenter. l saw Brown in his room and
at that time he was fully dressed and his
wife was standing in front of the window.
She told me that her husband had at
tempted to asphyxiate them both during
the night. After she was in bed, according
to her, he turned the gas out and then
turned it on again. Sufficient oxygen,
however, got into the room through an
open window to save them, but two
canaries that were hanging in cages in the
room were killed.
'When Mrs. Brown told me this story 1
thought she had been drinking. | saw the
dead birds, but came to the conclusion
! that they died from natural causes. Brown
remarked in an aside, Don't pay any at
tention to her; she's crazy and then told
me to go ahead and find the carpenter and
he would follow me.
"At this Mrs. Brown got excited and
asket me take the pistol from under the
| pillow. | advanced toward the bed, but
Brown got there first, and securing the
weapon put it in his hip pocket. What
| the - is the matter with you? Are
you crazyP' he asked his wife, and then
turning to me said, Come along, Nelson;
we'll put that carpenter aboard.
1--WE went downstairs and got into my
! buggy, but we had not driven block when
he told me to stop. He was very much agi-
| tated, and the cold perspiration stood out
on his forehead. I'll have to go back,
Nelson he said, 4 can't leave my wife that
way. You noticed how worked up she
was, didn't your The woman is crazy
81 had to admit that Mrs. Brown had
acted queerly, so l said that I would take
the carpenter down to the boat. Brown
got out of the buggy, trembling in every
fiber, and without saying another word
hurried back to his house. 1 went on to
|
drove back to Lombard street. | met Jack
Borrill, who was Browns bartender for
twenty years, and he told me that Brown
had killed himself. L asked him how Mrs
Brown was, and he told me that she was
all right. He meant that she was dead,
too, but | did not know that until later in
the day. Without waiting to go upstairs
l drove to Harris store on Kearny street
and told him about the death of Brown
Harris then got into my buggy and drove
! to the house.
81 don't know how Brown was fixed
financially, but he had been respondent
for some time. Wien we went out driv-
ing he used to say to me: There's moth
ing In the business any more, Nelson. A
man might as well be dead as to live in
these times The shutting up of the
cribs on Kearny street, between Pacific
street and Broadway was big loss to him:
Another thing that preyed on his mind
was the marriage OF his daughter, who ran
off with plumber named Burwick The
couple now live in San Leandro.
Brown once had the reputation of be-
ing very wealthy, but think he was going
down hill lately. / know that he had sew
eral notes outstanding"
Brown came here in 1867 in company
with Captain Jack Borrill and he married
the woman he yesterday murdered about
twenty-five years ago. While at work in
Sacramento he murdered "a woman who
| was SdIu W nave Oeen his mistress. lnuu-
ence was brought to bear and he got off
with sentence of ten years in San Quen-
tin. After serving three years he was par
doned out by Governor Booth. He then
made several voyages on the coast, and
finally branched out into the sailor board
ing-house business. He made money rap
| idly and at one time was reputed to be
worth $4,000. He was the owner of a
number of valuable horses, and last Sun
day he and his wife were out driving in
the park behind the finest span of horses
seen out that day.
About year ago his only daughter ran
away with man named Burwick, and
they are now living in San Leandro. The
young woman was about to become a
mother, and when the news of the tragedy
was conveyed to her she was compelled to
take to her bed and is now dangerously ILL.,
For years Brown kept the old Horseshoe
saloon on Kearny street and almost every
] person connected with the shipping of the