The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-01-25
PAST THE
LAW.
|E. c. Kaufman
Took His Own
Life.
KILLS HIMSELF
IN THE BARRACKS
Territorial Bandsman, Fearing Ar
rest, Fires the Fatal
Bullet.
he Leaves Letter for Captain Berger
Giving His Reasons for
Rash Act.

1ToRTURED with remorse. and pre-
/ I ferring death to arrest, e. C.
= Kaufman, member OF the Terri
torial band, committed suicide about 8
o'clock last evening.
! Selecting the place where he had Of
ten spent many hours at band practice,
Kaufman went to the music room of
the old barracks on Hotel street., and
holding the muZzle of a pistol in his
mouth, pulled the trigger. The bullet
] passed through the skull, penetrating
the brain, and lodged in the ceiling
overhead.
| Death must have resulted instantly,
and from the position of the body it is
evident that the unfortunate man was
standing upright when he fired the
fatal shot.
r. L. Coswell, night watchman at
F, the drillshed was the first person to
view the body after the rash act had
been committed. National Guardsmen
were engaged at drill during the even
! ing, and Coswell noticing that the door
of the music room was unlocked. and
/. the paddock missing, feared that some
| one had entered into the room, for a
wrong purpose.
| The door was closed, but yielded
readily to the touch. Coswen was
| forced to obtain light in order that he
might view the interior, and as the
dim light of torch shed a ghostly
! shadow about the room, a gruesome
| sight met his gaze.
Lying on the floor in one corner Of
the small room, was the body, the
head and face covered with blood, and
little rivulets of the life fluid flowing
over the floor. The head was resting
on the arm of an overturned chair,
evidently upset as he fell.
Under the right knee the handle of
the revolver could be seen protruding,
and upon examination it was discover
ed to be of the Smith & Wesson type,
and of 39-calibre. Only one shell had
been fired, the remaining shells being
in their position in the cylinder.
That Kaufman set about the full
filln1ent of the last act is evident, for
he left a note addressed to Captain
Berger requesting him to call at the
postoffice for a letter which would ex-
plain everything. The note as is the
letter, is written in a firm hand that
shows no evidence of fear.
For the last time Kaufman per-
formed his part in the band practice
during the afternoon, and listened to
several musical selections by his fell
low musicians in the evening
The causes leading up to his final act
were published in yesterdays Adver-
tiser, after careful investigation, at
the request of the mothers of several
of the children. Fully conversant with
the facts, Deputy Sheriff Chillingworth
was looking for Kaufman all yester-
day Chillingworth called at the lodg-
ing house several times during the day,
but was unable to find his man. Chill
ingworth's presence was noticed in the
lodging house, and undoubtedly Kauf-
mann was informed of it. J. G.. Cohen,
manager of the lodging house, told
Chillingworth yesterday that it was
common talk about the place that the
police were inquiring for Kaufman.
Despite the fact that Chillingworth
had diligently sought Kaufman, he
was not aware until after the man had
killed himself, that High Sheriff Brown
had yesterday afternoon sworn to a
warrant for Kaufmann's arrest, on the
charge of "lascivious conduct" Brown
had sworn to the warrant after a thor
ough investigation, and Kaufman was
to have been arrested today. Owing to
Chillingworth being unusually busy
yesterday Brown had not informed
him of the issuance of the warrant.
Deputy Sheriff Chillingworth was
notified of the suicide, and hastily
i summoning a jury, took them in the
patrol wagon to the scene of the death.
The following jurors will serve: Sam
Lyle, Charles Spencer, Louis Berendt,
I Captain Cluning, Fred Smith and w.
Davis.
An Advertiser reporter called at Cap
tain Bergers residence on Miller street
at midnight. When asked whether he
had heard anything about Kaufmann's
death he was dumbfounded. Told the
deed had been committed in the band
barracks, he wondered how he could
have gained entrance and at once went
to the lattice work on his porch to look
! for his key. It was gone.
| HE was not with the band tonight
when we played at the Hawaiian Hotel,
and I presumed it was because of the
newspaper story about him." he said.
Mrs. Berger heard the name Kaufman
pronounced by the reporter and came in
to the parlor to inquire what had hap
pened. When told he was dead she was
greatly agftated and said:
'Why that is strange. Mr.. Kaufman
came here about half past o'clock to-
night while Captain Berger and his band
were at the Hotel. / heard somebody
fCaptin1Ied on Papa 31