The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-11
ACTRESS SHOT AT ALEXANDRIA.
.pON ACCIDENTALLY DIS
CHARGED IN HER HAND.

e.. was In a Box With COrpI. Pfeifer
- the Provost Guard, Who Was
no only witness of the Shooting.
u. Wns Facing Opposite Direction
when She Is Supposed to Have Ac-
otdentaIIy Discharged the Gun.
coroner GOette viii Further In
s,ipate Case This Morning.
o5ortlv after IL O'Clock this morning,
,.rra .dortimer, an actress at the Alham-
80 Music Hall, on Broughton street, was
-.of and instantly killed. The shooting
as in one of the boxes, and the only per-
.,n with the woman at the time was
c,rpI. c. E. Pfeifer of the provost guard.
NAM all accounts. however, it seems it
mas accidental, though there will be a
more thorough investigation of the facts
by coroner Goette this morning.
rorpl Pfeifer is detailed as one of the
r,ovost guard at the Alhambra and aft
., rbe performance last night was making
Trim through the place to see that all the
Soldiers were out. He met the woman in
che hallway, aud, after few moments
conversation, they entered a box. Within
q short time afterwards the shooting oc-
cnrred 1t seems to have been an acct
dental discharge of the corporars pistol,
which the woman was apparently handling
al the time.
Corpl. Pfeifer stated he was looking
from the box opening into the hall when
the shot was fired, and for that reason
did not see whether the gun was acct
dentally discharged, or whether the wo-
man did it with suicidal intent.
Coroner Goette appeared in a few mo-
ments after the shooting, and as it was
TOO late 10 have an investigation, it was
postponed until this morning. He order
ed that Corpl. Pfeifer be arrested, and he
was taken in charge by Policeman Muir
ply and lodged in the police barracks.
John P Burke, property man at the
Ahambra, was the first to reach the box
after the shooting. He was in the hall
way at the time, and after hearing the
shot. said it was but moment until Corpl.
Pfeifer rushed toward the front entrance,
crying:
Come quick, come quick, she's shot her
selfr
Burke entered the box and found the
woman sitting in a chair, her face resting
on a table, and the revolver cllnched tight
" in her left hand. Not knowing the ex-
tent of the injury he raised her head but
the blood was gushing from her ears and
nostrils, and her brains oozing from the
bullet hole in the left temple. He had
previously taken the weapon from her
hand, and seeing nothing could be done
for her, he released the body, leaving it In
the position he found It.
By this time other attaches of the house,
who had been alarmed by the shot. anu
were running through the hallway to find
out the trouble. There was no I'M
usual excitement, however, as everybody
had had time to clear the hail. and there
were not more than ten persons inside be-
sides those connected with the place.
CorpL Pfeifer was seen at the police sta
ton by representative of the Morning
News, shortly after being taken there, and
gave the following account of the shoot
Ing
las did not see the accident, cannot
say just how it happened" he said. 1.-THE
woman had my pistol, however, and my
belief is she fired it accidentally, not know
Ing it was self-acting.
when we entered the box, ordered oys-
tiers for her. I did not order anything for
myself Before the order was served, my
belt was uncomfortable on account of be-
Ing tightly fastened. and on taking ii off,
I placed it on a chair, which was between
myself and the woman. l was sitting in
corner of the box, next to the opening,
while the woman was in the opposite cor
ner, facing a table. After the oysters were
brought up, she had not commenced eat
ing, when l heard a noise down in the
hail, and thinking it might be soldiers,
arose and pulled the curtains aside. While
looking in the hail the shot was
fred, and turning, l saw the woman lean
ing forward with my pistol in her left
hand I rushed out and reported the shoot
irg My theory is it must have been an ac-
cident. had never seen the woman before,
had had no words with her, and she had
not been talking in respondent way. She
Was not intoxicated either"
The others who gave accounts of the
shooting, told about the same story. The
only strange feature of the case is that
there are no powder burns on the wo-
mans face, and as the box is very small,
1t seems there would have been slight
burns
Manager Trueheart of the Alhambra
stated the woman had only been here
three days. She was a singing soubrette
and fancy toe dancer. She had been en-
gagged for several weeks, and came to Sa-
Vanrah from New York
FEDERATION OF wOMEN's CLUBS.