The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-04-28
1T APPEARED MYSTERIOUS,
Later all Made Clear and Those Responsible
for the affair make clean breast to the
Jury--The story serves as a fair illus
tration of the danger of the Pistol
Carrying Habit.


today to sndeavor to ascertain the
circumstances of the mysterious sboot-
ing of George Dell about 500 yester-
day afternoon in the hallway on Main
street just south of the First National
Bank
People in the vlciuitg We're Startled
at the time designated by the report
of gun or pistol. They tocked to
the place where the zeport occurred
and found Geo. Deli, the fourteen
year-old sen of Mr.. and Mrs John
Dell, lying on the fio@r with a gaping
wound in Ais breast, and breathing
his last. A few moments bebore the
shot was fred, George Dell and Al
bert Williams had been playing ball
in the street just opposite where the
sad tragedy took plaee. George was
on the sidewalk in front of the,entrance
to the he'll. and Albert was on the
other side of the street in front OF
Wilson's drug store where he is en-
pleyed. AT the SAM time a negro
boy naEEed Lawrence Mcclure. and
Charley Sutton, Western Union
Messeng.1' boy, were standing in the
door of che hallway talking The
other tive boys stopped their game,
Williams being callei to the store to
wait on "a customer. Dell walked
into the hall and had not disappeared
from view until the persons on the
outside heard the report of pistol,
Dell was seen to sGagger and fall,
and McGnire caught him. From all
the information whicsi can be obtain
ed. there we're but three persons in
the hall, Dell, Suttor and Mes iulre.
1t would seem to be al easy mater to
locate the person vino did the shoot
ing, but the ,cOroner's jury has not
found it so. Poor George Dell who
yesterday afternoon WAS alive an9 en-
joying himself with his young friends
is corpse, asad the only persons who
were present v hen he Was shot eE-her
can't tell or won't tell just how it
ha appened.
There is a mysterious atmosphere
surrounding the case, and the atmes-
phere il so thick and deEse that the
most careful and painstaking invest
CATION by the authorities will be nee
essary to unfathon the mystery. Who
fired the fatal shot? What were the
circumstances under whick it was
fired? The Coroner is endeaGor to !
reach a satisfactory solution of these
two questions. The people who heard
the evidence given this morEing at
the inc uest, can form but one eonclu-
sion, and that is that Mcclure and |
Sutton could clear up the mystery if
they would. There is only one reas-
onabh solution of the trouble and |
that is that the boys in the hall were |
playing with pistol which was car
ried by one of them, it went off acci-
dentally and killed Geo. Dell. See
ing how matters stand, and being |
fearful of consequences, the boys fear
TO come out and tell the whole truth.
This supposiion may be an entirely
erroneous one, but it is the only one
a reasoning person of ordinary in
telligence can reach. But, some of
the evidence in the case will prove of
interest The evidence of the witness
ses quoted is not given verbatim.
only the substance of it. The examina-
tion was continued until II o'clock to-
day when an adjournment was taken
until 1:30. Here is what the witness
ses say.
Thomas Clark: Was standing on
Main street talking to a man, and
watching Albert Williams and Geo.
Dell, the boy who was killed, playing
ball. Sam Williams threw the ball
across the street to Dell, it missed
him, struck the door at the entrance
to the telegraph office and rolled in
the gutter. Dell picked up the ball
and started to throw it back to