The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-12-23

Killing OF Sam Hail. Jrs
n Colored BOy-FOund Dead, with a
3S CaifbreB ulIet Through HIS Brain.
Crap shooting Probably Responsabfe
for His Death

for His Death
Yesterday morning about 8 o'clock
William Walker, colored, who makes
a. business Of picking up rags, bones
and scrap iron about the city. went to
the SCRAP pile on the block between
Castle. Church, Thirteenth n Four
teenth streets, and discovered the dead
BODY of a. coIored boy about IL years'of
age lying near the dumping grounds.
He had been shot through the left eye
and had evidently been dead several
hours. The dead boy was subsequent
w identified as Sam Hall, Jr., son of
Samuel Lee Hall, a colored carpenter
who lives at COS South Tenth street De-
tween Castle and Queen.
When Walker discovered the dead
body Of the boy he thought he knew
who he was and after inquiring IL q
boy were missing and being informed
hat Sammy Halls father a Deen
hunting for him, he informed nan tna.
he had found a dead boy at the place
mentioned. Hall went to the trash pile
and identified the body as that or ms
how and t~elephoned to the city nan
about the killing of his son.
Sergeant F. T. Skipper notified the
orone who drove out to the trash
die ana dlItT CaSooliS
body and noticing that he had EVIL
IDENTIFY been shot, gave permission Tor
the body to be moved to the home or
the boys father.
KEPT BAD COMPANY.
San Lee Hall. father OF n deao
how states that his son left home yes
terday afternoon to play. When night
came on he did not return home and
the father got uneasy about him. he
-.z- 1,+ onl 1nnLn1 for the bow ana
was I'D most of the night searching
the ~neighborhood, making inquiry OF
all who knew the boy and at every
place where he thought the boy was
likely to have been during the day.
He finally gave up in despair.
The boy who was killed was a pupil
of the Williston school and though he
left home every day with his books to
go to school,, it has transpired that ne
has only been to school twice TINS
month and was last at school on the
18th instant. The boy, it seems, had
fallen into the habit of keeping a
and went into the woods with
a crowd Of boys who played craps. 1t
is reported hat a crowd of Boys was
seen in the woods Thursday afternoon
where they had built a fire and were
playing craps and it is believed that
Tt is believed that some of these boys
either shot young Hall accidently or
murdered him and carried his body
where it was found.
THE INQUEST.
DR.. r. J.. Price, the coroner, having
been notified, went out and viewed the
body, and summoned a jury of inquest
consisting of G.. w. BOrnemann, E.. w.
Hewlett, W.. L. Burkhimer, j. II. A.
Strauss, Jr, l.. w. Bates, and G. w.
Norwood, cOlored. They viewed the
body, and met yesterday afternoon at
1870 o'clock in the coroner's office at
the court house. Justice BOrnemann
was made foreman, but as there were
NJ witnesses, the jury adjourned until
3 p. m. to summon William Walker be-
fore them and to get such other wit
nesses as they could secure.
At 3 p. m. the jury again met at the
corOner's office.
William Walker, who found the dead
body was sworn and testified as fol-
lows:
After s o'clock I took my wheelbar-
row and went to the scrap pile about
Thirteenth and Castle streets, to pick
up rags and scraps. / went over the
trash pile, looking for old WOODEN coats,
and a short distance from the pile no
ticed what I thought was an old coat.
] went over to it and fOundt that it was
the dead body of a colored boy. 1 took
it to be the body of Sammy Jones, but
was not certain. / noticed blood over
his left eye, and that he was purging
at the mouth. 1 loOked arOun to see
if there were any rocks or bricks on the
ground, thinking somebody might have
struck him and killed him, but there
were none. and there was no evidence
of a struggle on the ground. The head
of the boy was turned to the left side,
and one hand was under him, as if he
had attempted to get up. No one was
there when I found the body. I went
10 thA ln,,cn Of n MON N nr,on1 Stny-ort
at Eleventh and Castle streets, and
saw some school children. I asked
them if they knew of any boy that was
missing. and they said Yes. Sammy
Jones is missing 1 then went to Sam
my's people and told them that I had
found the body of their son at the
trash pile. 1 went with them and show
ed them the body. There was no sign
of any scu1fling about the body and
I noticed no firearms"
1t was stated before the jury that
Fred. Jones. colored. had seen Nash
McRae and Charles Washington, alias
Charles Danger, both colored. in COM
pany with San1 Hall. in the woods on
Wednesday afternoon, so the coroner
issued summon ses for these boys 20
appear as with esses and placed them
in the hands OF Constable William
Sheehan to eXecl tie.
The jury then d ecided to have a post
norton prepared. and adjourned until
10 o'clock this mo- -ning
THE POSI- MORTEM.
Yesterday afternc Nn Drs. w. D. Nc
MILAN, superintend eTIt of health, and
DR.. Price, made a p Gst mortem exam
ination of the dead Toy. Ihe result
was h they found 50 calibre bullet
in the base of the boy = skull. just I'M
der the skin. 1t had entered the left
eye and passed through the brain.
Last night Constable Sheehan sue
ceeded in finding Nash, McRae. the
colored boy who was o ne of the last
ones seen with the deaCn boy, and he
was taken in custody and placed in
Jail so that he can appear before the
jury this morning. McRae is ABOUT 10
years OF age and stated to a Messen-
ger representative last night that he
was with the deceased in the morning
but had not been with him in the az
ternoon. He says ne left him on Castle
street between 18th and 18th streets
about 8 o'clock in the morning.
AT last OF Constable Sheehan
1a1 49, e,-l - A.xv ThorInc XNnch-