Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1906-05-16
KILLED ONE MAN;
WOUNDED 3 OTHERS
Telegraph Operator at Chamblee
Ca, Turns Desperate.
1T is BELIEVED HE WAS CRAZY

After Shooting Wildly at Citizens, He
Placed Gun at Forehead of Another
Operator and Compelled Him to Get
Another Loaded Pistol For Him.
Atlanta. May 15.-Although a sher-
IN s posse of DeKalb county and arm
ed men of Chamblee and Dunwoody.
nave been searching the woods around
DunWoody since early Tuesday morn
ing, they have not yet found James H.
Clark, the night operator at Chamblee,
VINO killed one man, wounded three
others and dubbed the fourth Tues.
day morning
Both Dunwoody and Chamblee are
IN intense excitement, and it is believ-
ed that If Clark is captured he will
nave to be killed first. AS at last ac.
counts he was armed with two revol-
Vers, shotgun and plenty of ammuni-
ton, and is believed to be mad, it is
feared that he may do other injury
before he is caught.
The dead and injured, as announced
are:
VIII Cheek, a rural mail carrier and
merchant of Dunwoody, shot through
The heart.
Those injured are S. Purcell, SO
years old, farmer of chamblee, shot
In the neck.
W. j. Purcell, his son, rural mail
carrier, also shot in the neck.
w. 8. Mask, day operator at Cham
blee, and boarder at the elder Pur-
cells home, shot in the thigh.
w. ]. Coker, of Dunwoody, was Sc
verely dubbed on the head by Clark
after the latter had killed Cheek.
None Of the wounded men, however,
are seriously hurt.
No more amazing act of frenzy has
been reported in this section in years
than that which led Clark Monday
evening and early Tuesday morning
to run wild and kill and wound with
revolver and gun. 1t is believed that
the night operator was crazy, and that
his condition was accentuated by IL
quor
After he had gone to the house of
S. Purcell and set fire to it, having
been denied admission because he had
threatened members of the family. he
set fire to the kitchen. He then broke
in the door with an ak, and immediate.
ly afterward, purcell responding, he
shot him with his shotgun. He also
shot Mask, the day operator, board
er, and then turned his revolver upon
W. J. Purcell, who lived next door,
and who had come to his fathers aid.
This was shortly after midnight. Not
$ satisfied, Clark went to the depot and
compelled r. P. Rudicill, the agent at
the point of pistol, to go to his home
and give Clark another pistol.
Thus armed-with two revolvers and
his shotgun-Clark set out for Dun.
woody. There, about o'clock Tues.
day morning, he went into the store of
Nash & Cheek and demanded car
tridges. People at Chamblee, how
ever, had telephoned a warning to
Dunwoody, and Nash was told by Mr..
Cheek, when Clark asked for ammuni
ton, not to let the operator have it.
Cheek was killed for his pains, and a
pocket knife in his vest pocket was
all that saved Nash.
Clnrly Rhou vnr1y ooNI1xy 10 Il
the counter, the rest Of the people
having fed, and got box of shells.
He threw rs cents on the counter in
payment
Going out he told some one Of the
payment, and without proYocation,
clubbed w. J. Coker, whom he met on
the street, with his gun. He then dis.
appeared in a railroad cut.
Later the alarm was given, and arm.
ed men, with Deputy Sheriffs w. T.
Buchanon and Ed Reagin, of Decatur,
responded. They are now searching
the woods around Dunwoody
Great sympathy is felt in Dunwoody
for Mrs. Cheek and the two children OF
the slain man. 1t is reared that Clark
may do more mischief before the day
is over.
DR.. E. J. Flowers, Of Doraville, says
that Clark recently had something like
meningitis, and that this may have
unbalanced his mind. 1t is said, too,
that he was in love.
Clark, alredy crazy, it is believed.
aggravated his condition Monday night
by drinking. He is night operator fol
the Southern railroad at Chamblee, 13
miles north of Atlanta. He went to
the Office Monday evening at dusk, and
reported that he was not we'll, and
.o1,od 30 bo ro1ioyod for +bC Di1ht