The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-04-04
TRAGIC DEATH
Young Negro Man Died Su.. asen,x Yes.
terday Afternoon In the Cuara uouse
Death Thought to be ' 4. out.orne of
a Fracas, but Autops 9 Otsproyaa =,

death Thought TO be = =. on,nou.
a Fracas, but Autops y Dt.proved IT
A burly young . .egro man, who is
known oy the Ii" ne of Bill Chestnut,
came to a lrasio death yesterday after
moon. ABOUT y .nirty minutes before he
die ne hao a fracas with two young
white men. but he came out of h
scrimmaP,e apparently uninjured. He
was ar .ested, and while a prisoner in
the & lard house he suddenly dropped
no Inc floor and a few minutes after
Wards breathed his last.
About 3 o'clock Chestnut and an
other negro got into a fight with two
young white men, John McEntee and
Henry Barr, at the intersection OF
Front and Num- streets. The fracas
was a sort of rough and tumble affair,
and from appearances to outsiders the
only one hurt was Barr, who was cut
on the head from a blow from a rock
and bled profusely. Policeman Win
ner to arrest Chestnut and
turned him over to Mr.. II. T. Herman,
and made an effort to capture the 9TH
er combatants. Mr.. herman took
Chestnut, who was in good spirits and
apparently uninjured, to the city nall,
where he was searched and placed in
the guard house. Janitor Benson and
Mr.. Herman had just turned away
from the prison door when they heard
a fall, and on looking around saw the
negro lying on his back on the floor.
Janitor Benson Immediately brought
the negro out into the ante room Of the
prison and then went post-haste after
a physician. Within a few minutes af-
forwards DR.. w. D. Mcmillan, superin-
tendent of health, was at the side Of
the negro, who died a few minutes Ia.
ter.
The coroner was notified Of the
death, and, as the case was a mysteri-
Gus one, police were at once dispatched
to arrest McEntee and Barr. A short
while afterwards Policeman Watson
captured McEntee and carried him to
the station house, but Barr managed
to elude capture until last night at s
o'clock, when he surrendered to Mr.. j.
w. Branch, who carried him to the
sheriff, who committed him to Jail.
The death of the u negro looked
decidedly suspicious at the time, but
the result Of the autopsy, which was
concluded at 1:30 o'clock this morning,
allays all suspicion that the negro came
to his death in consequence of being
one of the participants in the fight.
The physicians found no marks of vio-
lence and give it as their opinion that
$500 w CAAJ - ~ ~ NCAooS0s
Yesterday afternoon the coroner, DR.:
r j. Price, summoned a jury and went
into an investigation. The jury, COM
posed of Messrs. Harry Hill, foreman,
c. D. Jacobs, secretary, E. G.. Yopp, J..
w. Price, R. Shaw and J. M. Chestnut,
was impanelled in the ante-room of
h guard house, where they viewed
h dead body and then adjourned to
the court house, where the inquest was
commenced.
Janitor r. A. Benson was the first
witness and testified to what is given
above.
Mr.Kerman was the next witness and
testified that he was some distance
from the scene of the fight when it
started, and saw McEntee strike at
Chestnut, but failed to hit him.. He
a to the scene, but when he arrived
the fight was yer and the participants
were running off. He pursued Ches-
mutt until Policeman Winner arrested
him (Chesnutt.) While on the way to
h guard house Chestnut informed
him that the white men had struck him
twice in the face with rocks, but he
did not complain of or appear to be
hurt.
Mr.. J. c. Meier, the lex witness,
saw the fight from Front and Orange
streets, but owing to the distance,
could not recognize h participants.
The other witnesses were four of the
cfty's cart drivers, Clarence H. Bon
ham, j. A. Matthews, J. w. Matthews
and j. F. Matthews. All four saw the
fight, but the nearest one to the scene
was half a block away. He gave a
good and the only clear description of
it, and as follows:
The fight started between Barr and
Chestnut. Another negro interfered
and then McEnte vent to Bars as
~sistance. Barr was struck and blood
commenced to flow from a cut on the
~~l 10000
a couple of blows, when McEntee pick
ed up a brick and told the unknown
negro he would give him three minutes
to get away. About this time Herman
came up and said something to Ches-
mutt, who ran off with Herman after
him.
Upon the conclusion of this testimony
the jury ordered a post mortem held
and adjourned until IL o'clock tomor-
row morning.
The only outside mark Of violence
about the body of the negro was a
small Knot on the back of his = head,
probably caused by his head coming in
contact with the floor when he fell. The
negro was not drunk when arrested.
THE POST MORTEM.
The autopsy was performed by DR..
T. S. Burbank, DR.. w. d. Mcmillan
and DR.. r. j. Price, who began the OPP
GRAFTON at 10 o'clock last night and
finished at 1:30 o'clock this morning.
The brain, heart, lungs, liver and kid
neys were removed and a thorough in
v~estigation as to the cause of death
was made. The brain, heart and lungs
were found in an unexceptionally
healthy condition, but there was evil
dence of liver and kidney trouble. The
surgeons came to the conclusion that
death did not result from injury, but
was from natural causes. After the
autopsy the body was removed to
the dead mans home and the funeral
will take place today.
First Strawberries, Beets and Cauli-
flower