Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-31
Stabbed in the Breaet with Knife by
Charles Mallan.
0UARRELED OVER A PAIR OF GLOVES
Crime Committed I'm the saloon nt
Metz Hail, 81 score of Men Being
Present, None of whom
Witnessed 1t.


ribs, just over the heart, death following
almost instantly. The murderer surrendered
himself to Detective Savage about an hour
| later.
There was dance at Metz's hall last night
which attracted quite crowd of visitors in
| the saloon, yet no one could be found among
them all who saw the murder committed A
scorc testified that they saw the parties in
the saloon standing near the bar talking,
but that the first they knew that any trouble
existed was when they heard a man fall to
tho floor and saw another man run out of
| the door.
DR.. Breuer. who lives near the scene of the
| crime, was summoned Immediately after the
| affair occurred but he said Collins was
| dead when he arrived. Death was almost in
| Simultaneous, and 1t Is presumed that the
knife blade entered the heart. Collins was
| not heard to say anything aside from the
words quoted in the following, as having
came from him Immediately after he was as
| saulted.
j. w. Hroch bartender in the saloon,
| says the parties came and stood at the far
| end of the bar talking. He said there was
no loud or boisterous conversation, and
| nothing to lead one to believe that a quarrel
was brewing. He says they had been there
but very few minutes until he heard Col
| Inns saw you've fixed me right this time
and saw Collins fall to the floor and another
man run out of the door. He says they had
not bought anything at the bar, and did not
act as though they had been drinking.
STARTED OVER PAIR OF GLOVES.
James Collins, brother of the murdered
man. furnished The Bee reporter with the
following story of the affair:
about o'clock my brother, myself, Pete
Murphy and Mallan were in Daniel Hedgrt n 5
saloon at Thirteenth and Leavenworth
streets. During the time were there Nal
| Ian charged my brother with having stolen
a pair of gloves from Mallan My brother
denied it. and some words followed. Shortly
afterward Mallan left the saloon with the re-
mark that he would get even The rest OF
us then left that saloon and came down here
| We were standing out on the sidewalk when
some enc invited the crowd in to have
drink. / didn't go in but the rest of the
| party did. In a short time one of the boys
came running out and told me Joe had been
stabbed. / came in and found him lying
upon the floor, where he died in few mo-
ments."
Mike Hncher, a young man who was in
the party, said:
II was with Joe Collins most of the even
ing. We were standing out on the walk
in front of the saloon when we were In
vited to go in and have drink. Mallan was
not with us and l did mot know he waa
around. When we got into the saloon l saw
Mallan standing near one of the posts, near
! the emu OF lUe Ddl ClOSeSl ~ tHe uOOl' W.
went up to the bar ! did not know that
Mallan and Collins had met before during
tho evening. / heard no dispute or quarre!
between them while in the saloon. In few
moments | heard Collins say, You've fixed
me right" and supposed some one had
struck him. l saw Mailan start for the
door and Collins made a couple of jumps
toward him and than fe'! to the floor After
he fell we examined him and found he had
been stabbed"
ice Voksa. a Bohemian, who could not talk
English, said through an interpreter that he
was sitting at one OF the tables in the saloon
at the time the murder waJ committed. He
| was attracted by something Collins said,
and saw him make an effort to catch some
one who was running toward the door. He
then saw Collins fall
1t was reported that Collins first struck
Mallan, but enc could be found who
would say they saw anything before Collins
made his remark about having been fixed
all right. Another man said the men had
been friends for some time. All united.
however in the statement that there wa;
nothing about the conduct Of the members
of the party to indicate that quarrel was
in progress and that the crime had been
committed before any one knew what was
going on.
SISTERS OF COLLINS ARRIVE.
Shortly before 10 o'clock Mary and Katie
Collins, sisters OF the murdered man. came
into the saloon in response to a summons
announcing the crime, and the scene when
they removed the cloth from the face of their
brother was very affecting. They kneeled on
the floor at the eide CT the body, surrounded
by about fifty men, caressing the face and
hands of the unfortunate man, where they
remained till the arrival of the coroner.
Coroner Burket removed the body to his
undertaking rooms, where he will keep it
till tomorrow afternoon, when he VIII hold
an inquest at O'Clock.
Hugh Mallan, father of the murderer, who
lives at Twelfth and Briggs street, came
to the scene of the crime about the time the
body of Collins taken away by the
coroner. He was for number of years in
charge of the grounds at the High school
Speaking of his boy he said: "He was an
unlucky son for his father" He said his
boy had good position at Alliance few
years ago, but gave 1t up and returned to
Omaha against his fathers advice. He said
his boy came home after the trouble with
Collins and remained there TIL a friend
came and told him Collins was dead. Then
at the suggestion of his father he went and
gave himself up.
MALLAN SURRENDERS HIMSELF.
Charles Mallan calmly walked into the po-
lice STATEN shortly before midnight and stood
outside the jail office railing. He was in
yited in and as soon as he had taken a seat
in the Office the jaier said, where is the
knife you killed him wth?" Mallan reached
into his coat pocket and took out an ordinary
jackknife with the small blade still open.
He handed it to the jaller and said, There
| |
! tain Haze then took the prisoner in hand,
and in calm manner he gave the following
version of the killing
81 left the house after supper which was
about o'clock. / live with my parents at
I'LL Briggs street. ! walked uptown to the
Milard hotel and talked en- the way with
a number of my friends. l thought | would
go over to the policy shop across the street
, from the hotel, but aftei a while concluded
/ would not.
~ then went to the saloon at Thirteenth
and I.eavenworth streets kept by a man
named Daniel Hedgren. l stood over near
tho stove and while ] was getting warm a
fellow named Pete Murphy, and Jim, Joe
| and Tom Collins came over close to whore
| waa standing. l had pair OF gloves and
had put one in each of the side pockets Of
my coat, | stood there few minutes and
Just before l started to go out felt for
them They were gone. thought 1t was
, Joe Collins who had taken them. | told
him so, but he denied It, Then | left the
saloon and walked on down Thirteenth
street toward the hall.
HE DEMANDED HIS GLOVES.
II did not 20 into the hall until about 10
o'clock. Joe Collins ana several other fell
lows were standing against the wall near
the bar l said to Joe, i want my gloves
! He said, Il haven't got any gloves of yours,
Go away from here and don't talk to me any
more l told him that he did have the
gloves, and then he reached for me and
| On faW IA do mad