New-York tribune., 1903-06-02
SHOOTS TWO; ONE DIES.
RECLTSE LAUGHS At ACT.
Naghbors Objected to Noise He
Made-His Room an arsenal.

Charles A Prescott. = recluse who was &c
centric 10 the point % insanity. and whose
spsrtuent on the third floor OF No. $50 Court
ST. Brooklyn. veritabIe arsenal, killed
Patrick whslen and wounded the latter's son,
Martin whalen. after enptying three revolvers
81 the family in the hall outside the whalen
APARTMENTS, on the second floor. last night The
elder Whalen. who forty-nins years old,
died almost instantly. Martin. who is twenty
one years old. received only a flesh wound IN
the right arm which was dressed by an arnbu-
lsuce surgeon.
IN the Rutler-st. police station the murderer
leaned oarelessly against the rail and said:
How many slugs did I put in that old man.
suyway?"
ABOUT SIX responded the sergeant.
is that soc' said Prescott. That's good
work 7 didn't know could do so we'll"
Prescott was known in the Court-st- mouse as
James Dunn Little else was known about him.
So he lived alone. and never had any visitors.
The other occupants of the house did know,
ho-reve- that Prescott made a lot OF noise at all
hours Of the Gay and night Efforts had been
-7a de 70 have the landlord put him out, but they
were not successful
The whalen family. which consisted Of father
srs mother and seven children. lived just be
meath the noisy tenant. and were often kept
awake by him. Yesterday morning between i
z-6 : o'clock Prescott made everybody niser-
sble ny beating OF tin cans. Later in the morn
ing Mrs. whalen went UP 10 Prescotts room
and asked him # he could not manage 10 make
less noise The man drew a gun, pointed II IN
her faoe. and told her 10 shut UP and get out
usinE an oath and a vile name, or he would
shoot her head OF. She beat q hasty retreat.
All the members of the family were at home,
.hoDt < O'Clock in the evening. when Prescott
was heard coming up the stairs. Martin Whalen
-s- INTO the hall and demanded apology for
Prescotts language TO Mrs. Whalen.
Here's your apology, YOU, shouted
Prescott. as he drew revolver and began nrlrs
81 the Young man. At the sound Of the first shot
Patrick whalen and several other members ol
-he family rushed into the hall Prescott started
barking III the stairs, holding a revolver In each
hand and shooting as fast as he could pun lhe
trigger -
All The shots seemed TO be aimed at the fathef
z4+e- he appeared, and when an ambulance sur
,s,r sftarvard examined the dead man he found
-h-ee wounds in the region Of the heart. one IN
-Le 1e<, cheek one n the right arm and an
other in the shoulder
When he had ern2tied the two revolVers Pres
-o4t threw them away. went into his room ana
3, another minute started running downstairs
firing at random from new pistol
.Jinrie' Canjani. a bootblack. tried TO stop tfl'
<renzied murderer as he reached the SII3ee- ~
-e fugitive choked him in a grip like a wise anc
hurled him into the street Patrolnlan James
F5ickev Of the Butler-st- station, caught Pres
~,+- a Court and Douglass sts. and in a rough
and tumble fight was so injured that he had tc
"a home later in the evening But after knock
ing the man down three times with his olll'
ne got him TO the station. a block away
There Prescott ouieted down for d few minutes
and said that he was twenty'-nine years old l alo
Rad no regular occupation He had had SoVoC
in the Bowery Savings Bank, he said. and was
living on that. Of that amount s4'oo Was
LEFT +5e refused 10 tell how he occupied his
time and began TO get violent and abusive Wher
asked why he shot the Whalens, so he was no
questioned closely on that point. After he had
bAen taken 10 his cell he wrote partially inco'
herent notes which plainly showed that his
mind was affected
When the police searched Prescotts foul
-,.,r,s they were amazed They were filthy anc
sosntily furnished. over the door, on frame
zxtendtng out from the wall. were hfteer
tomato cans and about fifty more were sus-
pended from other parts OF the room In ths
--s-fc,,s rooms we're six hundred cartridges
There was also four quart can OF sunPo"oe'
and three loaded Colts revolvers which were
IN addition 10 the three that Prescott hao useC
earlier in the evening.
IN = cornAr fD 2 bag were six pieces OF iror
plpe each having had paper pasted around IL
These pipes were about two inches in diameter
snd from five 10 ten inches long, just such al
might be used in making bombs Hundreds o.
cIfppings from magazines and papers telling nov
10 shoot were found
The police are deeply interested in the pms
onar. and are making every effort TO mo ou
what his associations were He ADMITTED DuS
inF cartridges worth SD several Gays ago. pU
--af,,se5 70 explain why he had turned his room
!uto an arsenal