New-York tribune., 1903-04-30
OFFICER OVER BRIDGE.
JUMPS TO SPEEDWAY.
Clark, focused Of Beating HIS Child,
q Suicide.

q Suicide.
Accused with his wife Mary of gross cruelty
to their three -haif-year-old child Thomas,
Patrolman William A. Clark. attached to the
West One-hundred-and- -ifty-second-st. station.
jumped from Washington Bridge yesterday af-
ternoon TO the Speedway and expired two min
| utes after his horribly mangled body had been
picked up by Mounted Policeman Weiner- Half
| an hour before Clark had been released from
| the Harlem court prison on $1,000 cash bail
furnished by friends, he and his wife being held
| in that sum on Tuesday for trial in Court of
! Special Sessions by Magistrate FlamTner.
When he was released his oldest son. William.
was with him They boarded an Amsterdam
ave. car together and started for home. One
| block below the house, in ATnsterdam-ave-,
| Clark handed his overcoat to his and said:
Here, Willie. You jump off here and go
home. 1 am going up little further. as 1 want
to see man will buy something for supper
before I get back"
Willie. who is employed a messenger boy
by the Postal Telegraph Company. jumped from
| the car and FASTENED to tell his brothers and
sisters and his grandmother of his fathers re-
! lease The father continued and rode to
! Washington Bridge. He walked out on the
north promenade to a semi-circular stone seat
| in the break at the first arch and stepped up
I on the seat Extending above the seat about
/ two feet is the parapet wall Clark hesitated
a minute, then, resting his left hand on the
wall be vaulted clear of the bridge and lis body
shot downward. Several men on the bridge. a
/ large crowd of people on the pathway bordering
! the Speedway on the west and a number of
! horsemen on the Speedway saw him He struck
! the ground, 130 feet below with thud that
made a deep rut in the soft roadway. After
! striking the ground face downward he turned
! over on one side and lay motionless. He struck
! near the curb on the west side of the speed
way.
Elmer Stevens, member of the Riders and
Drivers Club, who lives at Morris-ave and
One-hundred- -and-seventy-sevent was driv-
ing north on the Speedway at the time Clark
Jumped Just as he was passing under the
bridge he saw what appeared to be a shadow
above him, and thought part of the bridge was
giving way. He urged his horse forward. and
then seeing that the object was near him,
pulled UP short Clark fell within foot of the
horse
Weiner was Just south of the bridge, and was
riding north. when he saw the fall He
FASTENED to the spot at once, and, picking UP
the nangled form carried it to the sidewalk
Clark still alive. but was unconscious HIS
skull had been fractured, his right arm and
both legs were broken, and the body was so
limp that it almost doubled up when Welner
picked it up The policeman went at once 70
telephone and sent in hurry call for an amou-
lance. When one arrived from the j. HOOD
Wright Hospital, with DR.. Fahnestock, Clark
was dead The body removed at once to the
West Observation-Disclosures -second-st. station
to await the action of the coroner
Clark had been on the police force for nine
teen wears six of that time being attached TO
the West One-hundred- and -fifty-second-st. sta
ton The men with whom he was associated
say that he was quiet and always kept 10 hiIH-
self He was inclined to be melancholy at times.
They did not appear TO be surprised at the deed-
Clark was not in uniform, having been suspehu-
ed Yesterday by General Greene
About ten minutes before the body was taken
to the station Sergeant Robinson was INFORMED
~, +e1Anbone that Clark had been suspended
.o-bat's a shame" remarked one OF the men,
hes nearly crazy now with MS CrouoleS' anu
this may drive him to suicide
The man who spoke the words standing in
tho doorway of the station when he saw an am
buIance approach ten minutes later. Weiner
was riding alongside. He jumped from his horse
whom the station was reached. and ran up the
steps.
ITS Clark, and he's dead" said Weiner.
.eyvasbington BRIDGE" asked the policeman
who had foretold the suicide
That's right" said Weiner; he was driven
to it."
His comrades say that Clark was not RESPONSE
hle for his child's condition. Since his arrest ne
seemed to lose all interest in life
Mrs William A. Clark, his aged mother. DID
not know of her sons end and no one had the
heart to tell her of It last night She thought
be had met with accident.
william was always good boy. said Mrs
Clark. land had it not been for his wife. he
would have been a happy father About two
wears ago he had TO break up housekeeping on
account Of his wife's habits, and had her sent
to the House of the Good Shepherd. The chill
aren all but William, were sent to the Protec-
tory Then he took pity on the woman and
brought her home. But she nearly as bad
as before and pawned everything to get money
for whiskey. She even paWned the children's
shoes This home well furnished once. but
look at it now She pawned all but these few
things"
The floors were bare. There were two beds,
one table few broken dishes. three chairs
and a stove The woman sobbed a minute, and
then spoke again
William never beat that child" she said. He
was good father. He loved his children, but
he couldn't help what his wife did"
When William. the son. reached the station, ne
was told the truth. He kissed his fathers dead
face and cried out:
oh papa, why did you leave children all
alone! We only had you TO love usr'
TO BEGIN FOUR BIG BUILDINGS.