The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-28

tim of an Accident or Foul Play
Would Seem to Have Been Ac-
cidental, Except That DIR. Darling
Says the Wound Was Caused by
Blunt Instrument.
Was Private Andrew Mccain, Of
| Company A, Third United States in
fantry, whose dead body lies at the
hospital at Fort Smelling, killed, or did
ne meet death accidentally? Both
theories are held by the authorities
the fort, who are endeavoring to sift
the matter to the bottom, but the more
generally accepted belief is that Nc
Ganns death was due to accident and
the facts in the case. so far as investi-
ea.eu, seem to uphold this theory.
s,S acHahn was found lying Just out
cue the rear door of the companv
Tuarters shortly before II O'Clock on
~ uesuay night, with an ugly cash over
ne ne llght temple. He was dead, but
Sier yoy was yet warm. The dead SOL
80 Jay prone upon his face, with both
fa pressed closely to his body. His
tha aS lay IN his campaign hat which
ndu shpped from his head when he
i ana a peculiar phase of the case
Is that this fact was the Immediate
Sause OF his death and not the wound
a. ms mead The hat filled with blood
from the blow or fall, Mccain waS S,'f
Iocated by drawing the blood into his
nos.rl1S and lungs. If he was feIIed Nv
d dow OF hidden assailant howeye,
the person who struck him is held nona
ene less responsible for his death. and
will be made. - 'Ae case
Aside from tho .4o4..
Darling, the post surgeon, to the effect
INA. the wound in McGann's head
could not have been the result of a. fail
| Tue INDICATIONS seem to point to acct
dental death. The place where Mo
Gahn rel is at the foot of a stairway
SIX feet high. leading onto the back
| porch OF the company quarters. His
! body lay within a few inches Of the
pottom step, stretched out at full
| length as though he rolled down the
stairs. The ground under where his
mead rested is very hard, containing
IN the exact spot two small projecting
stones either of which might have
| maze the cash in his head Close be-
side the body was a cigar which NC
Gam carried unlighted when seen half
an hour before his death. On the
| porch was found bottle of beer. which
McGann had purchased at the post ex-
| change earlier in the evening. Resting
across the small of his back, partly
tipped over, was a stool, such as the
soldiers use In sitting about the porch
McGann had been drinking during
the evening, and those who believe his
death was accidental relate that he
probably went from the canteen to the
quarters, where he sat down and fell
asleep on the porch. near the edge of
the steps, and awakening suddenly, or
even in his sleep, fell headlong to the
a y6 TNoi~,
sc1ous. While lying thus. with the hat
over his face, it Is believed the hat
filled with blood from the wound in his
head and strangled him.
The wound is an inch and three
quarters long and penetrated to the
skull. The skull was slightly effected
by the conclusion, but nothing in the
wound itself would, according to DR..
Darling, have caused death, and a post
mortem examination showed no other
marks or bruises on the body When
the body was discovered the general
belief of Capt. Gerlach, who Is in
charge at the fort, and of the COM
panions Of the dead man, was that he
| had fallen from the porch. When DR..
| Darling examined the wound however.
| he declared positively that 1t had not
| resulted from fall, but had been made
| by hard blow with some blunt Weap-
| on, probably stone.
| Acting upon the physicians state
ment, an investigation was commenced
| which developed some suspicious cir
| cumstances. 1t was learned that Nc
| Gam had recently quarreled with two
soldiers at the post, one of whom lie
| is said to have challenged to a fist
| fight Monday evening. Both Of these
men claim to have been away from
| the fort Tuesday evening and disclaim
any knowledge of McGann's death. One
of the men, however. is said to have
| been caught trying to get by the
| guard an hour after McGann's body
as found. The other one claims to
| have spent the entire night down town,
| and gave the address where he says
| he stayed. His story will be investi-
| gated
Mccain spent most of Tuesday even
| ing at the .canteen, about 200 yards
from where his body was found. Those
| who talked with him in the canteen
| say he was drinking, but that he did
| not appear to be drunk Supt Helhake
| says Mccain was the last one to leave
| the place, and that he went away
| alone. This was about fifteen minutes
after 10 o'clock, about half an hour
| before the body was found.
| When the men who sleep upstairs in
| the company quarters were questioned
| as to whether they had heard any dis
| turbance during the night Private Fra
| Zier told a story which aroused more
| suspicion He says he retired shortly
| before 10 o'clock, almost immediately
| falling asleep. Sometime later he does
| not recall how long, he says he was
| awakened by noise sounding like
| scuff1e on the porch down stairs. He
| listened intently and says the noise
| continued but short time, when ev-
| erything was still. He thought moth
| ing of the incident, believing, if there
| was a scuff1e going on, that it was a
| friendly bout between some of his COM
| panions, and soon went to sleep again,
| Private Frazier says he heard no
| voices or calls for help. His story
| is called to support Of the murder the
| Dry by some, while on the other hand
| 1t Is said by those who think Mccain
| fell down the steps to merely confirm
| this belief as the noise heard by Fra
| zier was probably McGann tumbling
| down.
Private Charles Wright found the
| body. He walked from Harris nlaco
| to quarters with Private Hans Dahl
Dahl entered the front door, while
| Wright went around to 40 in by the
| rear entrance. When he saw the body
| he thought Mccain was under the in.
| f1uence of liquor, and called Dahl Both
| men thought McGann was lying in
| awkward position and turned him over
| when they discovered that he was
dead. No weapon of any kind was
| found, nor were there any marks or
| blood stains on the porch or the steps.
| McGam had been in the army near
| ly five years. He enlisted at Newark
i 41~s