The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-09-30

The case of Christopher Eilers. who
endeavored TO kill his wife and then
himself at Carolina Beach one night
during August, was disposed Of yesteE~
cay. There were two charSes
against Eilers, assault with al
a, ndIy weapon and carrying concea ed
In the first case he
submitted and in the secono
the Jury returned a verdict OF mott
guilty.
The crime which Eilers committec
was brutal in the extreme. He weEel
to the hanover seaside Club. Of which,
his wife had charge, in an intoxicated
| condition, and he had no sooner reach
ed the club than he began to quartet
with his wife. He became angry at an
answer she gave him and startadI
| after her. The frightened woman
| knew that when under the influence OF
| whiskev that Eilers was a perfect devil
( and she fled from the room. Hanging
in the hall was d pistol N EileIsl
grabbed this and started in pursuit OF
his wife. When thirty or forty yards
from the club her husband overlook
L neT, INSTANTLY ulSN liz piStOl Jill
fired. the ball entering Mrs. Eilers
head just below the left ear. passed e.
tirelv through her head and lodged UNI
der the skin on the opposite side. H.
then turned the pistol upon himself and
fired twice. one ball entering his neck,
and has never been move and the
other grazed his check.
Captain Harper made an extra TRIP
Il - C~o~oE~. Dooah thot NIGHT and If
was an awful night being dark n
rainy, and brought the injured woman
and her brutal husband to Wilmington.
Both of them were carried to the nos
pital and for some lays it was thought
tina Mrs. EilerS could not recover. She
has now almost entirely recovered. AS
soon as EilerS was well enough he
was removed from the hospital to tie
Jail.
The maximum penalty for assault
with a deadly Weapon is two years or
the county roads. Eilers was given
one year on the county roads and he
may consider himself as getting off OK
tremely light. This was not the frs
time EilerS a ever his wife.
Not more than a month before the
Carolina Beach affair he was before
Justice Bornemann for ~aSsaulting his
wife and was fined S25 and the cost but
his wife interceded in his behalf ami
the fine was RENTED.
Eilers remained perfectly mum with
downcaSt eyes. during the proceedings.
but when the judge asked him a feM
questions just before he passed sea-
tence on him he answered promptly
but his answers were far from a cor
rect statement of facts. Eilers had no
attorney and in the case in which he
was charged with carrying a concealed
weapon he plead not guilty. but intf2-
duced no witnesses and the jury re-
turned a verdict of not guilty from the
testimony of the states witnesses. Mr..
Marsden Bellamy a been employer
by Mr.. Louis Friemuth, a s0n-in-law OF
Mr.. Eilers, to assist the solicitor IN
in prosecuting the case
When court adjourned for the day
Tuesday the last states witness in the
case in which Phonie- Kermon and
Loftin Garrison were being tried for
larceny had been examined. When
court convened yesterday mornin the
case was resumed and went to the iucy
q few minutes after II O'Clock. After
being out about an hour the jury re-
turned the following verdict:
The jury finds both defendants
guilty of receiving stolen goods. konw
ing the same to be stolen, as charged
in the second count of the bill of in
dictment. That the value of the watch
is SO. Jury asks the mercy of tn
court on account of youth Of defen
dantS."
| Both boyS were under a 500 bond
each n they were released under this
bond until this morning when sentence
will be passed.
Garrison is the older of the two boys
and he does not appear to be over SIX
tteen years Of age. They were charged
with stealing a watch from the resi-
n of Mr.. Herbert Smith. This is
a. case where a house of correction is
needed. The case is not one in which
the young men can be fined, and a fine
would be really no punishment to then:
for their relatives would have the fine
to pay. a sentence on the county roads
would punish them, but when released
they would feel very degraded and
what pride they might Ia once had
would be crushed out OF them. 1t is
n Of those cases which confronts al
judges, n dt is extremely hard &c
:. know what III to pursue.
= Joseph Thomas, the negro who shor
into &C crowd at the Carolina Beacf
pier on Labor Day and wounded tive
negroes, came into court and sub
mitted to carrying a concealed weapon
: and assault with a deadly weapon. H,
5 will be sentenced today.
: In excusing Mr.. d. L. Gore from tn,
! jury yesterday, the fare was brough
u out that although Mr.. Gore is an ex
L tremely busy man and has large bust
ness interests to look after, yesterda.
was the first time he had ever request
Q ed to be excused from jury duty and h,
8 did so then because he mad some bust
ness Of the utmost importance in an
ri other town that he had to attend to