The herald., 1896-09-02

| llC ldiillly TeCclNcu q lclteT lTOIn ItTCy
| Beck, son of the deceased, in which the
| recipient was requested to tell Beck to
return to Los Angeles Immediately. as
| his wife was i'll. What Beck's purpose
was in making the trip to Fresno Is not
as yet known, though it is supposed he
intended to take up his residence here
again, and there is equal ignorance as
to the motive that prompted him to
take his life.
His preparations for self destruction
were made in the most deliberate man.
ner. Driving to the side of the road, he
unhitched his horse and tied it to the
rear of the wagon. After giving the ami
NAL plenty of hay he took off his hat,
coat and shoes. This done. Beck got
his double -barreled shotgun and tied
IL to the side of the wagon. He fastened
string cord to one of the triggers,
placing the muzzle against his heart
and pulled the string.
OF course death was instantaneous. He
fell on his back, the upper part of his
arms being close to the body while the
forearms stood out at right angles. The
flash of the powder ignited his clothes
and the garments smouldered all night.
Strangely enough the fire crept under
instead of over him. passing to the right
side. His arms, back and shoulders were
burned to a crisp, but there were no
burns on his breasH
The corpse was discovered at o'clock
yesterday morning by H. L. Hansen and
l.. c.. Clother, who were driving along
the road. The clothing was still on fire,
and the siclDling odor of burning flesh
was waited toward them. They ex-
tinguished the fire with some water
from a can in Beck's wagon, and after
examining the body hastily and con-
cluding that a crime had been commit
ted, they hurried to town to notify the
authorities. On their way to town they
noticed man skulking in the vicinity,
who made off hastily as soon as he saw
that he was observed, and this aroused
suspicion that Beck had been murdered.
Deputy Sheriff Scott Deputy Consta-
BILE Pickford. Coroner Long, L. o. Steph-
ems and others repaired to where the
corpse was and it required only a brief
investigation to convince them that 1t
was case of suicide. Mr. Stephens, who
was well acquainted with Beck when
he lived here, recognized him immedi-
ately. A search of the clothing disclosed
SO gold piece and 90 cents in change.
There was also an expressman's Ii
cense to r. A. Beck. and other papers.
The number of the wagon and the
number given in the license correspond.
Nothing was found however, that would
throw light on the motive that actuated
Beck to destroy himself. The contents
of the wagon had not been disturbed.
and this, together with the fact of the
money being found on him. disposes
of the murder theory. 1t is said that
to some campers who travelled part OF
the way with him on Friday evening he
expressed fear that he might be at
tackled that night by some tramps to
whom he had refused to give food, but
this is slender thread on which to
hang a charge of murder. AS for the
H.. Ac1I .e,%
with the purpose of creating an impress
sion on those who should find his body
that he had been murdered it is indig-
nantly secuted by his friends.
The body was taken to the undertake
ing establishment of Stephens & Bean,
and the horse and wagon We're brought
to town. Beck's papers were handed
over to the public administrator The
inquest was held last evening by Coro-
ner Long, but no new material facts
were elected. One of the witnesses was
disposed to think Beck had been the vic
tim of foul play, and expressed the opin-
ion that the wound had been made by a
rifle ball, but Mr.. Stephens produced
a number of shot which he had taken
from the wound
The verdict of the coroner's jury was
that Beck came to. his death from a
gunshot wound seemingly inflicted by
himself, which would indicate that the
jurors were not altoge ther satisfied thai
he was not victim Of violence.
Mrs. Beck was telegraphed to by Mr..
Stephens yesterday afternoon, and an
answer was received last evening stat
ing that she would arrive in Fresno
this morning. She may be able to throw
some light on the tragedy.
Beck was about so years old, and the
examination Of his body yesterday in
dicated that he had been in good health.
He was tn father of Amos Beck, who
died in this city three years ago last
February. Young Beck was very pop
u!ar and his death was heavy blow on
his friends. Mrs. Beck while here fol-
lowed the voca ton of dressmaker, while
Beck was an expressman.