The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-09-12
BOLD BURGLARY

WHITE MAN BREAKS ISru THE
NEW OCEAN VIE w HOTEL
He Entered the Room OF q Lady Guess
and Was Discovered hut Not Caps.r.
ed-Three Well Known white Ne,
Arrested BY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Tomorrow Morning
Three well known white men of this
city, Tony Swain, Peter Flynn and Joe
! Shepard. are in jail charged with a
i serious crime, one Of the four capital
! offences which are punishable BY death.
1t is alleged that they, or one Of them.
broke into the new Ocean View Hotel.
Wrightsville Beach, shortly after mid
| nighs Friday and started to rob the
! room Of n OF the lady guests. Mrs.
/ Lotto O'Neal, who awoke as the in
truder entered and he, seeing he was
| discovered, made his escape.
Mrs. ONeai and children, two sons
| and a daughter, have a suit OF rooms
| on the second floor of the hotel, and the
bedroom of her two boys adjoins the
| one occupied by her and daughter.
Friday night the family retired about
the usual hour. Shortly past midnight
Mrs. O,Neal awoke with a start, caused
! by a Eigte being flashed in her face,
n she Jaw. standing in the doorway
between d w DON a white man,
with a light, the blaze resembling
in size that Of a match. Upon see
ing that he was discovered the man
turned around and ran to a window Of
the boys room, through which he had
entered, and which opens upon a bal
cony, and quickly leaped through to
the balcony n jumped from there to
the ground, making his escape.
The hotel was at once alarmed and
a fruitlesS search made for the robber.
1t was suspected that Swain, Flynn
and Shepard, who were seer lettering
around the hotel during the early part
of the night, knew something about the
burglary. So yesterday morning JUS
tice MCGOWAN issued warrants for their
arrest and placed them in the hands of
Detectives Terry and Flynn to serve.
The two detectives with their usual
sagacity, learned that the three men
would nO come to the city on the train,
but had left Wrightsville TO walk I'D.
They procured a horse and buggy and
went in search of their prey. Near the
second toll house they came upon the
trio and brought them to the city and
Jailed them.
Detective Terry brought two of the
prisoners, Flynn and Shepard, to the
city in the buggy, while Detective
Flynn accompanied Swain On foot. The
former officer says that on the way to
the city both Flynn and Shepard stated
to him that Swain broke into the hotel
in search of whiskey, and that he OBJ
tanned a demijohn. However, yester-
day afternoon both Flynn and Shepard
denied this story, but when confronted
by Detective Terry idulged in consider
able hemmnig and having, and finally
Flynn old Justice MCGOWAN that Swain
and Shepard left him to go to the
hotel.
Mrs. O'Neal has failed. so far. to
positively identify either of the three
men as the rObber, but states that he
was OF tn same build as Swain and
wore a hat similar to the one worn by
him, although she says she thought
the burglar had a beard, which Swain
mas not. She came up TO the city yes
oerday afternoon and the three men
were brought before her in the sheriff's
Office at the cour house for the purpose
OF Identification. FLYNN and Shepard
she pronounced not the burglar, but
appeared doubtful as to Swain, making
the statement already given.
AS the burglar was making his es-
cape one of Mrs. O'Nears sons awoke
n saw him leap out Of the window.
The little fellow was present at the
identification court, but, Of course. it
was impossible for him to pass upon
the identity of any one as he only OBJ ,
tanned a view of the mans back. .
Justice MCGOWAN set the preliminary
hearing for tomorrow morning at II
O'Clock.
The burglar obtained an entrance to
the hotel by forcing the lock of one of
the down stairs hall doors. He then p,
made his way to the hall of the second
floor and went from there through a
window to a balcony, upon which the
window of the chamber occupied by the
boys opened. From the balcony he en-
tered the bed room and would nave
robbed the inmates of this and the adj
joining room had he not been discov-
cred. The light which he carried was.
it is thought, Judging from the blaze,
wax taper. :
The presence of the three men at the
was due to the fact that they
sailed a yacht around from this port
for a gentleman. Swain is an employe
of the city, being one of the street