The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-04
DEATH IN A SHOT AT A DANCE.
THE IDENTITY OF THE MURDERER
A MYSTERY.

The wounded Man Dies in Hack
while En- Route 10 Augusta From
the scene of the shoOtinE-A Man
Suspected Of the shooting Proves
InnOcent-The InvestigatiOn sun
in Progress.
Augusta. Ca. Jan. s.-Augusta has a
mysterious murder sensation The killing
did not occur in the city. but the muir
dered man was a citizen Of Augusta and
his murderer is unknown.
This morning about 3 o'clock hack
drove up 10 police headquarters. In il
were the negro driver. a young white
man named J. II. Gaddis and the dead
body OF Garvin Allen. a popular and
weIl-known young fellow. Gaddis had
been drinking and could give no coher-
ent story, and the hackman was drunk.
Robert Wilson. another young white
man. had been one Of the party. and II
was supposed that he had done the kill
ing.
This morning. however, Wilson went 70
Headquarters and declared his innocence
and his readiness to give himself up.
The killing occurred in South Carolina
about four miles from Augusta. There
and a number of young men from Au-
gusta went over. Among others were
Wilson. Gaddis and Allen in a hack with
a negro driver. Before leaving town they
laid in a supply Of liquor. and it seems
the whole party were drunk when they
reached the dance. They were not among
the invited guests and being intoxicated
were persona non gratia.
There were some talk on the outside
and Wilson seems to have been the bois-
ferrous one of the party. Young Allen
was at some distance from him when
there was a pistol shot and Allen fell 10
the ground. The dying man, and one OF
his companions, We're hustled back into
the hack and sent to town. Wilson had
disappeared and Gaddis got the impress
sion that he must have done the shoot
ing and he so reported when he came 10
town. This morning, however, Wilson
made II plain that he had nothing TO do
with the shooting, but had run away
There is no clue 10 who did the killing.
The face of the dead man shows that
he received several severe blows before
he was shot The indications are that
some Of the party already at the dance
resented the coming of the unlimited
guests, who were drinking, and Allen, the
eoberest and quietest man in the party,
was the victim Of their attack.
Garvin Allen was only 20 years old
and was a clerk in the grocery store of
J. o. Bench in this city.
Coroner Cranch of Aiken county. South
Carolina, arrived in the city this after
noon and is conducting an inquest, but
up TO the present time no evidence has
been brought out that points to the muir
derer more definitely than this: Glen l..
CaStleberry says he was standing some
distance from the dancing hall talking
with Allen, while his brother was
with Wilson upon the platform
He asked Allen IL he was armed, and Al
len replied no" pulling his coat aside and
inviting him to search him. At this mo-
ment the shot rang out and Allen sank to
the ground. Glenn Castleberry says some
one was sitting on the fence some dis
lance off and that the shot came from
that direction. He doesn't know who the
party on the fence was, but believes he
was the slayer of Allen. This statement
is borne out by David Castleberry. The
inquest will be continued tomorrow.