The Savannah morning news., 1901-10-21
SLAYER UNKNOWN
NEGRO FIRED THE SHOT THAT
KILLED PIANO PLAYER.
SAILORS HAD BEEN FIGHTING.
DuT DID NOT TAKE VICTOR RIv-
Frs LIFE.

of the East Side Piano Player-Cor-
oner's Jury Called Crime VOlun-
tnry granddaughter and Grant Is
sin at Large-The Tragedy Oc-
CURED in n Blind Alley at the Side
of the Red Light, and Followed
Fight in the Dnrk-Ohcers Trying
to Clear Up the Case, but Have Not
Reen SuccessfuI-TWO People
Found Who Saw Grant Fire the
Shot.
Victor Rivers, the negro piano play
er for the RED Light" notorious
East Side resort, was killed by one of
his own color yesterday morning and
not by an English sailor as was at first
believed by the police, Two witnesses
saw Lennon Grant, alias Lump, fire the
shot that caused Rivers death, and
so testified at the inquest held last
night by Coroner Keller. The jury re-
turned a verdict of voluntary man
slaughter, but the man has not been
arrested.
For several hours after the tragedy
occurred the police and detectives
were at work on the theory that the
piano player had been killed by an
English sailor, because of a woman
named Emma Green. The woman and
Rivers were intimate, and it was said
that he had slapped her for talking
TO the sailor in the Red Light" short
IL before the place was closed. This
the police were informed caused the
shooting a short while later, and sail
or boarding houses and the wharves
were visited for the purpose of locat-
ing the Englishman.
Detectives Investigation.
County Detective Charlton secured
more reliable information and was
searching for Grant while some of The
police were looking for the seafaring
man, who appears TO have been in no
manner connected with the homicide.
A crowd of sailors had mixed it up"
pretty lively just before the shooting,
and this row was connected with the
shooting. Such disturbances, however,
occur almost nightly in the Gas House
Hill section of the East Side and cause
no comment from those who frequent
the dens in that section of the city.
Although it is known that Grant kill
ed Rivers, the homicide is still to a
very large extent shrouded in mystery.
The man and woman who testified be-
fore the coroner's jury could give no
reason for the shooting. which occur
red in a blind alley just at the side
of the RED Light" on Reynolds
street, The East Side is noted for its
hooks and dark corners, and it was
impossible for persons on the street
proper to see what was happening in
the alley just before the shot that en-
tered the piano players heart was fir
ed. There was some sort of row in
progress in the alley only a moment
before Grant used his deadly weapon
and there were probably several ne
groes in the dark recess when the fatal
shot was fired.
Saw the Shooting.
Maggie Harris, a negro woman we'll
known to the police and a frequenter
of East Side sailor dives, saw Grant
shoot Rivers, but could not give a
very lucid account of the tragedy. The
woman had been in the Red Light and
remained there until the hour for clos
ing. She walked a short distance away
with a man, and was followed by sew
was standing by a stoop talking to
the man when Rivers came up and be-
gan cursing her. The man and woman
quarreled for several minutes, when,
according to her statement. the piano
player went towards the alley.
A few minutes later some one said
that a fight was in progress in the
alley, and the woman heard the noise
of the scuff1ing combatants. The wo-
aC hn tn he
of the alley. but could not tell how
many were in the darker part of the
nook The piano player was cursing
but the woman could not see anything
in his hand. The woman saw Grant
with the revolver in his hand and
heard Rivers say with a foul oath,
LET him come" According to the
witness, Grant said, I've got him."
and at the same time fired. He went
close to Rivers before firing and the
shooting occurred in the alley within
a foot or two of Reynolds street. The
woman was quite sure that there were
Others in the alley when the shot was
fired, but was unable to tell VINO they
were.
Eugene Johnson, alias Kid saw Grant
fire the fatal shot and followed some
little distance. Johnson's story is
somewhat different from the one told
by the Harris woman, and is but lit
tie clearer. Johnson stated that there
was a crowd of women and sailors
around the place, and that it was al
most impossible to know just what
was going on. The witness heard the
row in the alley and went to within
a few feet of where the fight was go
ing on. Johnson says that Rivers went
almost into the street and had a brick
in his hand when shot by Grant.
Clue to the Murderer.
To johnson it appeared that some
one in the alley was trying to pull Riv-
ers back but the piano player seemed
bent on mischief. According to this
witness Rivers lifted the half brick
and was about to hurl II at Grant
when that individual fired. Grant
went up the hill and was followed by
Johnson. According to the witness
Grant warned him to go some other
way and brandished his revolver. The
murderer dropped his hat going UP the
hill, and il was turned over to the Of
f1cers by Johnson.
II appears that Rivers was not killed
instantly, and that after he was shot
he staggered to the house next to the
Red Light and broke in the door. II
was then that he fell dead. The piano
player had ben smoking his pipe and
that with the half brick which he is
alleged to have had when shot were
found by Detective Charlton at the
door of the house. Johnson said that
the brick looked like the one he saw
Rivers have and Detective Charlton
testified that II was the only one he
goild 0nd around tho uIaga apd too