Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-10-12

Shot through the head with a re-
yolver in the hands of his own son,
crazed with pain and left for dead,
after having been robbed of all his
valuables, an old negro man named
Henry Harris was discovered by two
negro women lying beside the railroad
tracks near Sawyer and Austin's mill,
where he had painfully crawled in his
semicomatose condition, Thursday af-
ternoon. All the skin had been worn
off the old mans knees by his tedious
work of crawling from the woods,
where he had been shot, to the rail-
road clearing, where, although in a
half-crazed condition, he knew was his
only hope of rescue from death.
The old man still lies at the point
of death, and the charge against his
son may yet be that of murder. The
young man. whose name is James
Harris, is being held in the county Jail
pending the result of the old mans
wounds.
The horrible crime of which James
Harris stands accused was committed
Tuesday afternoon about o'clock.
The elder Harris had drawn some
money for services rendered to
Sawyer and Austin. and in company
with his two sons. James Harris, who
is grown man and married, and his
little seven-year-old son, known as
Little James, started to his home, just
beyond the Sawyer and Austin mill.
In order to reach home. they had to
traverse stretch of woods of con-
siderable extent. Whey they reach
ed the heart of the woods, the elder
boy sent the younger one off on some
slight pretext and as soon as he was
gone, turned and shot the old man
through the head with a revolver, the
ball entering the back of the head and
lodging somewhere in the old mans
head. He fell unconscious after the
first and only shot The young man
then proceeded to rife his pockets,
securing all the money and other
trinkets he had in his possession.
which included a pocket knife and
French harp. 1t is not known Just
how much money was secured. The
boy claims he got So. while the old
mans wife and others claim that he
had quantity of gold in his posses
sion
After the shooting the young man
made good his escape. no one suspect
ing him of having committed a crime.
The old man was left lying on the
grounds in the woods, bleeding and
unconscious. When he regained con-
sciOusness. he realized his condition.
and knew that unless he could get out
of the woods and on to the highway
somewhere he would probably lay
began heroic effort for life that finds
few parallels in the history of modern
tragedy. In his dazed condition, he
still had presence of mind enough to
comprehend his situation thoroughly.
and knew that if he could once reach
the open space trayersed by the rail-
road he would probably be found by
someone. He knew the stretch of
wood thoroughly and began to crawl
toward the tracks of the railroad. For
hours and hours he continued his
painful journey, intercepted frequent
ly by long pauses of unconsciousness
into which he relapsed through the
trying ordeal to which he was subject
ed. The exertion proved too much
for him, and several times he gave up
in despondency; but when he regain.
ed strength by rest he would perse-
we're, and finally reached his goal.
Here he lay for several hours before
help came; but it finally came In the
person of two negro women who live
In that portion of the city.
The spectacle that met the eyes Of
the negro women was a ghastly one,
and one that they will remember for
all timeto come. -"
Ha lay y: beside the railroad tracks.
paie and l.. .emaeiated and covered With
blood from head to foot. A great hole
was seen In the. rear: Of his head,
from which, when he exerted himself,
the blood continued to gush forth in
q sickening manner. They recognized
him, and one of them went for as
sistance. Help was soon secured. aud
the old fellow was taken to the near