Evening star., 1898-05-12
The Alleged Spanish Spy Takes His
Own Life.
GUARDFINDS him HANGINGI In HIS CELL
The Prisoner Had Become Dis
pirited and Melancholy.
EVIDENCE AGAINST HIM

will be tried by court-martial or not was
settled by himself this morning. He COM
mitted suicide by hanging himself from
the cell in which he was confined at the
Washington barracks. The prisoner took
towel, tore it in two, and knotted a silk
handkerchief to this. He had fixed the
Moose so well that the knot was under his
left ear when he was found, and life was
almost extinct. He was discovered by the
sergeant of the guard at 9:22 am. He had
been seen five minutes previously, sitting
on the edge of his bunk reading a maga-
zine, apparently calm and composed. No
papers were allowed him at the barracks,
SO he spent most of his time in reading
magazines
AS quickly as possible the sergeant of
the guard cut MIN down and the officer
of the day. Lieut.. Strong, was notified.
Immediately DR.. De Shon was called and,
assisted by members of the hospital corps,
ing, but he had performed his work we'll.
He died in few minutes after he was
taken down. The body was allowed to rest
in the cell until the customary red-tape
business was gone through with, when Cor
oner Carr was notified by the assistant sec
retary of war and it was removed to the
morgue.
In Nervous State.
AS previously stated in The Star, Down
ing has been exceedingly dispirited ever
since his confinement. He has been trou-
bled with insomnia and complained of be-
ing able to sleep but a few minutes each
night. Day before yesterday the charges
which had been preferred against him and
under which he would be tried We're given
to him. This seemed to have bad effect
upon him, for he was still more gloomy
and morose after this.
Only the commanding officer, Capt Sa ge
and the officer of the day We're allowed to
speak to him. Yesterday Battery c left
the barracks for North Carolina. AS the
troops marched past the guard house in
which Downing was confined the band
played a medley of national airs This
evidently brought up old-time remenl-
brances to the prisoner. He broke down
utterly and cried like child. Lieutenant
Strong. who was the officer of the day,
went to him and tried to brace him up.
Keep stiff upper lip, Downing" he told
the prisoner. ''There is no use giving
way"
Remembered His Mother.
Downing then became communicative
He told the officer that there was little
chance of his acquittal, as he had no
friends In this country and no relatives
He spoke of a mother in England, with
whom he wished to communicate He
asked Lieutenant Strong to furnish him
with pen, ink and paper with which to
write her letter today, and the officer
promised to comply, and TO see that the
letter reached his mother, if it &C entained
nothing out of the way. Downing appeared
to
the officer left him.
This morning Lieut.. Strong went to him
about O'clock. Downing said that he had
slept much better last night than he had
at any time since his confinement, and he
appeared to be In excellent spirits. He ate
hearty breakfast and seemed much more
reconciled to his position than before
Under the Watch of All.
All of the men detailed about the place
were instructed to watch him when they
were in the building in which his cell was
located. The guard passed by every fifteen
minutes and it was also the duty of each
one to keep watch over Downing. About
twenty minutes after . o'clock this morn
ing thu guard looked in at the cell and saw
the prisoner, as stated, quietly reading a
magazine which had been given him. Sus-
pectng nothing the guard went on his way.
When found Downing's feet were touch
ing the floor. His face was purple from
sufocation. Without losing an instant
Sergt Tharius cut him down and sent
word to Lieut. Strong. The suicide had
been planned carefully, and was carried out
most effectively, as can be seen from the
fact that only four or five minutes at the
most had intervened between the time he
firct md u,ha bo
hanging with life almost extinct.
AS has been indicated, the guard was not
kept over Downing continually, as 1t was
not deemed necessary. He had not been
tried. and was not under death sentence,
sity for constant surveillance. In fact,
there was but little idea that he would
commit suicide. He never ntimated that
he had any such design on himself and
this morning was so much more cheerful
than usual that his captors were thrown
off their guard.
The guard house in which he was con-
fined is on the east side of the walk lead
ing from the entrance to the barracks. 1t
contains only three or four cages, about
nine by eight feet in dimensions by about
seven feet in height, with bars all around
The prisoner occupied the first cell on the
right leading from the door. where he could
be best seen. 1t was an easy matter, after
he had arranged his moose. without being
observed. to stand on the bunk and attach
1t to one of the bars which form the roof
of the cage. So firmly was the moose at
tached to this that it was with the greatest
difficulty it was removed.
Downing had evidently slipped the moose
around his neck. stood on the bunk, which
is about eighteen inches above the floor
and stepped off. 1t would have been i'm
possible for him to break his neck, there
was such a slight fall. so death resulted
from strangulation. The knot which he
had arranged assisted in causing death
Left No Letters.
The man had left no note or message of
any kind. He had. no writing materials
but had he wanted to he could have scrtb-
bled something on the pages of the maga-
zine which he had borrowed. Nothing.
however, was found on this. He had re-
veaied no secrets and had taken his case
as one of the officers remarked, to a higher
tribunal. During all the time of his con-
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