The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-04-20
He DIED SUNDAY NIGHT
NOT KNOWN IN RALEIGH UNTIL
YESTERDAY.
BALL ENTERED THE BACK OF HIS HEAD
He Lived at Wake Forest and Has Been in the
Asylum for Year, Taken Out Friday
Afternoon by His Wife. Buried
tuesday afternoon.

A strange suicide has come to light.
1t occurred Sunday night ut Pilot Cot
ton Mills, but nothing was heard of il.
in the city until yesterday morning.
In fact many of those living within
n stones throw of the, house whore it
occurred did not know of 1t until Tues
day. when the dead man was buried.
And some of them did not learn of il
until yesterday.
That is one of the peculiar features
of the tragedy The other is that the
man shot himself IF he really did
shoot HIMSELF in the back of the head.
The bali went in a little TO the right
passed through the brain and came out
over the left eye.
Another strange thing is that no
physician seems ever to have been sum-
moned: no sort of inquest or official in
curry into the matter was ever held.
and Tuesday afternoon a county convict
was sent with a wagon and a coffin
much too small, report says, to take
the body away for interment, at county
expense.
These are the circumstances connected
WIFI the ueutH ~ dul 1diutl thdt
have set all the people to wondering and
all the tongues a-wagglng In that Pilot
Cotton Mill neighborhood. There has
as yet been no charge of foul play. but
the above are things that the people do
not understand, and hence they talk
about them.
The suicide occurred, if suicide it was.
mt the house of j. w. Allen. a hundred
AZ.
story of the tragedy was related to
me yesterday by Mrs. Allen, as fol-
lows:
Paul Garden was my brother-in-law.
that is he married my sister. He<was
63 years old and lived at Wake Forest
until March It'll. 1898. little more than
year ago. Then he was taken to the
asylum.
There he seemed TO get along pretty
WELL About seven or eight months ago
his wife, who is my sister, went to the
asylum and DIR. Kirby told her she
could take Paul out in three or four
months. She waited double that time
and Friday she went back to the asy-
lum and Dr. Kirby told her she could
bring him home. She brought him here.
We soon saw he was not right. Some
times he would talk sensibly, but he
would usually end up by saying that
Dr. Kirby had given him a house and
lot. hut hadn't told him where if was,
and he wanted to go back and have
an understanding with DIR. Kirby about
it.
..Then he had an idea that he was
being pursued that somebody was try
ing to kill him would finally sue
ceed in doing so. Before that crowd
of men shall kill me I'll kill myself he
would say We tried to reason with
him and calm his fears, but he kept
saying he'd kill himself. Though we
didn't believe he'd ever do so we hid
all the knives and watched him con-
stantly.
"On Sunday night Paul was in this
middle room with his wife and my chill
dren. This was about $40 o'clock. Paul
was addressed and sitting on the side
of the bed He stood up and said to his
wife:
France, I'm bound to go to the
door
.She thought he wanted water. He
opened the door. took hold of the facing
and leaned out.
Uncle Paul's got a knife said a
child.
No, said France, Eve got his
knife.
well he's got something persisted
the child hearing the click of the PTS
tol.
France started toward him. the PTS
tol fired and Paul fell backward.
Nobody knew he had the pistol. He
took il ont Of the front room and no
body knew it. 1t belonged to my old
man."
AT this point in the story Mrs. Garden