The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-02-22
MISS BURTON
CONSOLED BY
HER FRIENDS
Her Sacrifice Brings
Sympathy.
THE ASSAILANT NOT FOUND
JOSEPH ALExAKIS ALSO SAW
THE TRAGEDY.
The Story That Tarry Owens Told to
. the PoIice-Looking for a
- Rounder of the
Tenderloin.
THE ASSAILANT NOT FOUND
JOSEPH ALEXAKIS ALSO SAW
THE TRAGEDY.

. There were very few developments yes
'terday in the investigation of the murder
of Charles NJ Hawley. Interest conferred
more upon the unfortunate woman, Alma
. E. Burton, who, from her sense of duty
TO principle, sacrificed herself in an eff
fort to save a drunkard from a lower
depth of degradation and death. Friends
gathered at Miss Burtons home yester-
day TO console her and to assure her that
they condoned the terrible step she had
taken. Every effort was made to soften
the sting of her shame and she was left far
more encouraged than she had been since
the tragedy which revealed so much that
was bitter to her. In a few days she will
resume her work at the Pencil Mission
on Montgomery avenue and Kearny
street.
The detectives are now convinced that
Hawley owed his death, not to the jeal-
Gus rage of a rival or to the wrath of an
injured relative, but to the chance blow
of a tenderloin rounder, who resented
Hawley's drunken familiarity Two new
witnesses who are able to add elements to
the story of Hawley's death were dis
covered yesterday. Both complete the Sc
RES Of facts which prove that the assail-
ant who put out Hawley's life had no pre-
meditated malice in his blow.
On Sunday night two hours before he
received his death blow Hawley was seen
in company with a man at Kearny and
Sacramento streets. 1t was thought that
this man might be able to throw some
light on the murder, or might have been
q party to ii. An investigation shows
that he was neither implicated nor knew
anything of the crime. The man is Har-
~ Owens, who is connected with the
Peniel Mission, which Miss Burton con-
Quoted and which Hawley attended.
Owens met Hawley on kearny street,
near Jackson, shortly before Z O'Clock.
The two men, known to each other
through their associations at the mission,
continued their walk together down Kear-
ny street toward Market.
AT the corner of Sacramento they
parted, Owens TO go back to the Mission
and Hawley TO proceed toward Market,
with the remark that he intended 10 go
TO his room and retire. He delayed on
the way, taking enough liquor to tntoX1-
cate him. Before he reached Grant ave
nue.. near Geary, where he was assaulted,
il was almost o'clock
Another man also saw the encounter
between Hawley and the stranger. The
story Of this new witness, in its essentia!
details, is COrTOborated by that of Paul
Mamogni and the three boys. The new
witness is Joseph AleXakis, an itinerant
peddler Of fruits, who frequently places
hts stand on Grant avenue, near Geary.
On Sunday night Alexakis was at this
place and noticed Hawley staggering up
Grant avenue from Geary. Within a few
feet the peddler saw Hawley jostle a
stranger and again stagger until he fell
headlong to the pavement. This account
of the murder agrees substantially with
the story of the other witnesses.
II shows beyond doubt that there was
no .premeditated malice in the blow of the
= stranger, and even if he were caught it
is doubtful If he would be held for an
offense more serious than manslaughter.
An autopsy performed on the body of the
dead man showed that his physical condi-
q ton. before death had been such that he
could not have lived very long before the
natural end would have come. The i'm
mediate cause of death was a fracture of
the frontal bone Of the skull received in
the fall to the sidewalk. The detectives
will continue their search for the I'M
known assailant, but there is little hope
of finding him, he is probably some
hardened denizen of the Tenderloin, who
knows the virtue of silence.