The daily sentinel., 1903-05-11
ASSASSINATION
Samuel C.. MCMuIiin Says
Downing Meant to KiH.

fOr tne purpose OF gettlng the exact
truth of in the matter regarding the
shooting of District Attroney Samuel
G. McMullin, a Sentinel reporter call
ed at the home of Mr. McMullin this
view with him.
Mr.. McMullin stated that the shoot
ing was deliberate attempt to MUIR
der. and the man Downing knowing
| that he was una1med, it was nothing
more or less than an attempt at assas-
sination. without any provocation
whatever.
Mr.. McMullin was asked to give his
version of the part of the matter in
which he was concerned. He said in
part that sometime during the spring
Downing, Charles White. father of
Claude White and ]. S. Carnahan, at
torney for Mr.. White came to my office
and said that there had been an agree
ment entered into between Mr.. Down
ing and Mr.. White, whereby the son
of Mr.. White, Claude White, charged
with the seduction of Eula Downing.
was to come east from San Francisco
to marry the girl. They desired to
receive my assurance that if Claude
W hite should come east to HARRY Eula
Downing, that he should not be ar
rested while here.
heard their story and gave them
my assurance that so far as / was con-
cerned he should not be arrested.
had nothing whatever to do with
the agreement made between Downing
and White, the only connection l had
that if the boy, Claude White wanted
to do the honorable thing and come
home and marry the girl he had Sc
duced, that l would do all in my
power to protect the boy while he was
endeavoring to rectify his error The
boy White came home, and he. Sher-
iff Struthers and Attorney Carnahan
went to Whitewater to see that the
boy performed his part of the con-
| tract. 1 was asked to go also. but I
refused saying that / did not desire to
mix up in the matter.
tno ntRObldtlOus W6Tt peuu-
ing. Downing, who had seemed to be
perfectly satisfied that Claude White
was to come home and marry his
daughter, went to another attorney in
this city and had prepared for him a
bond, naming Mr.. and Mrs. White and
Georgia White Jones, as sureties,
guaranteeing that they should see
that $25 per month was paid to his
daughter and her prospective child
for the term of three years. When
the party arrived at the Downing
home. and the paper was presented,
he absolutely refused to sign the
bond.
AS the warrant that had been sworn
out for his arrest had been withdrawn,
he returned to the U. S. government
vessel from which he had technically
deserted to keep his promise to his
father and the girl, whose ruin had
been accomplished by him.
Demands were made on me by Down
ing time and again after that to ar
rest Claude White, before he had a
chance to return to San Francisco,
but my word had been given to both
Downing and White that the boy
should not be arrested until he should
again return to San Francisco and 1
proposed to keep it, as the boy had
done everything he had agreed to do,
and 1 thought 1 was doing favor to
the parents of both. when 1 was as
sisting them to secure the return of
Claude White to make what restitu-
tion he could to the girl.
For some time now, and in fact ever
since Claude White has been back in
the service again there has been war
rant sworn out for his arrest. Down
ing had made several demands on my
deputy for requiistion papers, but as
that is something l always attend to
myself, 1 left orders, and have always
done so, to my deputies in this dis
trict, not to issue requisition papers,
because those papers have to go
through the hands of two governors
and 1 much prefer to attend to such
matters myself.