The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-04-06


| 1 hit him with my fist and ther an officer
came up and l turned him over
The next witnesses were c. B. Bennett
| and T. p. Bone, and they practically
knew nothing beyond the mere fact O;
/ hearing the shots fired and seeing Me-
Mahon when he was prostrate on the
/ floor.
The evidence Of most importance was
| that Of Mr.. John y. Pratt, because of the
fact that he was with Mr.. Mcmahon ard
! Cunningham during the quarrel, and had
no statement published heretofore In
substance his testimony was as follows:
Il live at Abilene, Texas. Have been
here SIX months. l am in the grain bus
! mess. L reside at the Manhattan hotel.
l was there on IN 2nd day Of April. l
was acquainted with Mr. McMahan l
saw him at the hotel that day. Mr.. Gun
ningham was with him. Cunningham
! and AIcMahan were talking, apparently
friendly. They were talking about this
man Purdy. McMahan asked Cunning
ham what his position was in this mat
ter. He said he had nothing to do with
IL; that the requisition papers would be
Q
d lie. Cunningham said, under
stand my business, and I want you 10
leave me alone.
Mr.. McMahan said: Z have done
some telegraphing, and l think you are
fraud Then he made a motion to-
ward Cunningham and said: DO you
know what I think of you? I think you
are a - As he said that he
threw his hand behind him under his
coat. Mr. Cunningham jumped back,
and as he jumped back he said, What?
and went for his gun. 1 said, For God 5
sake. don't shoot" but they did shoot.
After the shooting I ran around by
the cigar stand. I could not tell whether
both shot or not. l knew Mr.. Gun
ningham did. When I came back from
the cigar stand, Mr. McMahan was lay
ing on the floor, calling for some one 20
take his gun and shoot him, meaning
Cunningham. There was some one
stopped over with the gun in their hand.
Mr.. Cunningham standing over him,
saying. don't want 10 hurt you, but
will have to If you raise that gun 1
said: For Gods sake. John. don't shoot
ton then. and gave his gun up TO
policeman. who came in at that time.
The policeman pushed him out Of the
door and came back and took another
gun away from a man who wasa try
ing to get ont of the door"
In answer 10 questions by juror. Mr..
Pratt said that Cunningham did not
have his sun stuck under the waist of
his trousers. but had II in MS hip pocket
and in a scabbard. He did not shoot
through the scabbard but pulled IL off.
Carl Allen, the treasurer Of the circus,
could not be found and the inquest
closed After being in the room few
minutes the jury returned the following
verdict which seems 70 be very silent
about the guilt or innocense Of Mr.. Cum
n'ngnam:
State Of Kansas. Sedgwick county. IS.
~ inquestion holden az Wichita,
Kan. IN c0roner's office. court house, on
the Sri and 5th days OF April, 1897. BE-
fn-e me. w. L. Rose, corner OF Sedg-
wick county. on the dead body Of ]. r.
McMahan. there lying dead. by the
Jurors whose names are hereunto sub
scrreed The said jurors. upon their
oaths. do say that from the testimony
given. the deceased came 70 his death
from pistol shot fired from revolver
held in the hands of one John V. Gun
ninghem on the 2nd day of April, 1897.
- the county Of Sedgwick and state OF
Kansas.
" 2. PARR H II. STARK.
7 c. FOSTER. O. T. WILDER.
7. n WFSTG ATE. r. a. HUSE.
In testimony whereof, the said jurors
have hereunto set their hanads the day
and year above written.
Attest: ". l. ROSE, Coroner.
Although Mr. Comfy. the assistant
county attorney. did not participate in
the inauisition he sat next 70 John
Bockley. the travelling attorney for the
circus. who did participate in the case
a little and had a scrap with the coron-
or. The coroner informed John that he
wanted no interruption from him. but
John proceeded all the the same and the
coroner. after awhile. felt better TO-
wards him. A least he d.d not fine him
for contempt Of court.
The remains Of Mr.. McMahan were
laid 10 rest Sunday and were followed 70
.ha cemetery by enc Of the larges;
funerals ever seen in this city. TIE
sarv,,ss were held in the Masonic cathe-
d-al and were under the auspices the
s,7t-ish Rite bodies and the Episcopal
c1u~ch. some fifty or sixty Members Of
tha \. q. I. ". marched al the head ot
-, r-r - ,ra5a = nice zposs-znCe
TIE ceremonies at the cathedral we're