Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-05-31
MLANE A SUICIDE.
Mayor Of Baltimore Shot Him
self Dead Yesterday.
No KNOWN REASON, POSSIBLY INSANE
hnrried Secretly Two Weeks Ago to
the beautiful Mrs. Van Bibber.
Monumental City Is Dazed
by Tragedy.

the beautiful Mrs. Van Bibber.
Monumental city Is Dazed
by Tragedy.
BALTIMORE, May 31.-The mayor
Of Baltimore, Robert NJ. McLane, while
his bride of two weeks was asleep in
an adjoining room, shot himself last
evening in the head and died an hour
later. SO great is the excitement mt
the McLane home, 20 West Preston
street, that no information can be OBJ
tanned. Mrs. McLane is Frustrated.
Coroner IIaZen has taken charge of
affairs at the house.
Immediately after the shooting DR..
a. Trego IIertZcr. DR.. William ID.
| Green and DR.. Van Bibbcr, the latter il
brothcr-in-law of Mrs. McLanc, were
called in, but the wound was of such
IL nature that their services were of
no avail.
If the shooting was accidental. there
Is considerable mystery as to how the
wound was inflicted. The foreman of
the grand jury says that there is moth
ing to investigate.
The bullet entered the right temple
and. crashing through the head, es-
capped in the rear Of the left ear. Mrs.
McLane and other members of the
household rushed to the mayors as
%sistancc, bit lie did not regain CON
seriousness after he fell to the floor and
expired within an hour, Il number of
physicians who We're Immediately sum
,,A,,,1 1,,,t,,r OF Ay,nn n~NVnGGn1 fhn
opinion that the wound was neccs-
sarily fatal.
No cause can be assigned for the net
by the members of Mr.. McLanc's fam
lily. Since the fire of last February
he has beer kept assiduously at work
administering the affairs of the city,
besides cndcavoring to direct the re-
habilitation and rebuilding of the burn
ed district. This. together with criti-
cisms by his political opponents, is
thought by many to have caused Il
temporary alteration of mind.
The suicide is thought by some to
have beer caused by physical and
mental collapse Cue to excessive la
bors during and after the fire, adverse
criticism of some of his acts in rehabili-
tating the city, the defeat of his pet
project of widening Baltimore street
and family opposition to his elopement
with Mrs. Mary Van Bibber.
Mrs. McLane in her statement to the
coroner said that Il few minutes before
the shooting she and Mayor McLane
were in her apartment talking. He
appcarcd to be in good spirits, and they
were laughing over Il package lie was
tying.
Coroner Benjamin Il. Hayden has
signed a certificate giving suicide as
the cause of death.
Since the great fire which swept this
city Mayor McLane has been criticised
considerably for what some called his
lack of firmness in dealing with the
problem of rebuilding the fire swept
district.
Various interests have been at log
gcrheads as to what course should be
pursued in handling the situation, and
some held that the mayor failed to eX-
ercise the rights vested in him as the
city's chief executive.
Mayor McLane, who had been in of
flee Il little less than Il year, was about
thirty-siX years old.
The McLanes are prominent socially
in Baltimore. On May II the mayor
went away to Washington secretly
and was married to Mrs. Mary Van
Bihber, who is as well known i'll Mary
land society as her husband.
The ceremony was performed, with
the sexton and two workme1 as wit
ncsscs, in st. Andrews Protestant
Episcopal church.
When asked why he had been so Sc
cretive about his plans he explained
that he had gone away from his home
city to elude reporters, who for several
| weeks had beer ~"shadowing'' him.
For several years the mayor had
| been attentive to Mrs. Van Bibber,
who was about his own age, and while
| the manner of their marriage was Il
surprise their friends had predicted the
| event.
She is a very beautiful woman. She
entertained very much at her home in
Preston street, and she was well
known at Narragansett Pier, where she
spent several seasons.
During the great fire Mayor McLane
took personal charge of the fire fight
Ing and afterward of the relief work.
When offers of money were made
after the first great shock to the city
had passed he sent out word that Bal
timore did not need the contributions
ana was able to care for herself.
Peculiar Accident Fatal.
EAST JAFFRBY, n. H., May 81
Charles II. kittredge. treasurer of the
| NInnnJnoo1y CnVinuc hnpl- of thic tnvun