Evening star., 1901-06-27
THE TRAGEDY AT SEATTLE
DETAILS REGARDING THE KILLING
OF w. L. MEREDITH.
Autopsy Shows His Head Was Frac-
tured by Blows With Club
bed Revolver.

AlILE, WaSn., June Zf--Furtner IN
vestigation into the shooting of ex-Chief
of Police Meredith by John w. Considine
has brought to light few new details. 1t
seems however, that the wounds inflicted
upon Meredith's head by Tom Considine
during the hand-to-hand combat between
the two brothers and Meredith were more
serious than at first supposed. An au-
topsy revealed that Merediths skull was
fractured in two places by blows from a
dubbed revolver. The coroner says In
sensibility would have followed either blow
In an ordinary man; also that the fractures
| might have caused death had Meredith not
been shot. The coroner will have an in
quest.
Thousands OF persons have visited the
morgue to view the body. The room
where 1t lies is fairly filled with cut flow-
ers and floral offerings The funeral will
be held Sunday afternoon interment being
made here. There is a growing belief
that Meredith was not far from insane at
the time Of the shooting. He had brooded
| over his grudge against Considine for many
days, and his friends who talked with him
| on the day of the tragedy say that he was
undoubtedly mentally irresponsible.
A previous dispatch from Seattle, Wash,
says: John w. Considine, one Of the promo
tors Of the Standard gambling house and the
Peoples Theater, shot and killed ex-Chief
of Police w. L. Meredith Tuesday. The
heart of the city. Considine was also
slightly wounded in the head by a ball
from a double-barreled shotgun in Mere
dith's hands.
The stories of the shooting are conflict
ing, and 1t cannot be said who was the
aggressor. The men had threatened to
shoot on sight. and both were prepared
for trouble. The drug store at the time
OF the shooting was crowded with people,
and one bystander was shot through the
arm by stray bullet. Meredith was killed
while struggling with John Considine and
Tom Considine. who had come to his
sidine's revolver, fired at short range,
pierced Merediths body, one in the head,
another in the chest and another in the
abdomen.
Cudihee and two police officers, who were
in the drug store when the fatal shots were
fired. He was taken to police headquarters
and from there transferred to the county
jail in a closed carriage, there being some
talk Of lynching in the great crowd which
gathered about the scene Of the shooting.
Considne and Meredith had been enemies
for about three years, although they We're
prior to that time, warm personal friends
and associates together in the theatrical
business in Spokane. Meredith. who re-
signed his office last Saturday on account
of pressure brought to bear upon him by
Mayor Humes, was a city detective before
being made chief. While in the subordi-
-~ate position he and Considine never spoke
but avoided open battle. After Meredith
was made chief however, he served notice
on Considine that the latter could not re-
main in the city and do business, and fol-
lowed the threat by making several police
orders which affected Considine's business.
In retaliation Considine publicly made
charges of corruption in office against
Meredith, and reiterated them until the
Law and Order League took the matter
up and called for a council investigation
of the police department. A council COM
mittee Investigated, and last Friday night
made a report to Mayor Humes advising
the removal of Meredith and one of his
detectives, c. w. Wappenstein. Mayor
Humes thereupon requested Meredith's res
ignation. With his resignation Meredith
sent a protest against the methods of the
investigation. saying that he had no oppor-
tunity of seeing the charges or of refuting
them, and claiming that he was innocent
of wrong doing.
Ex-Chief Meredith was a son of w. NJ.
Meredith of Chicago, chief of the national
bureau of engraving and printing. Consi-
dine belongs to a family well known IN
eastern sporting circles, and has wide
acquaintance throughout the United States.
He was formerly a member of the Chicago
police department, and took part in the
raid on the Haymarket meeting that led to
the anarchist bomb throwing.