Omaha daily bee., 1906-07-12
ieaveS Letter to Wife and Daughter
Taking All Blame Himself.
,EPLoHEs EVER GOING INTO POLITICS
Accounts as Public Official Straight and
Has Some Private Resources
GETS TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND LEGACY
Has Income from Investments and
Good Business, and Apparently
No Heavy Financial ObIi-
cations Pressing.

OMAHA, Neb.. July 10. lsoe.-peare.,
wife and best OF daughters There was
no way out Of my trouble. | tried hari
SSnOGigh q you know, IT, What mis-
You will get along better without me /
was a Milestone around your neck---I am
know what you signed The 50O.-wftb
5O.-interest must be redemmed before 60
days 4 from Sigbert Kahn. The house
MY debts you cannot pay.--You will see
better days. Can write no more. Your
unhappy husband & father, AUGUST
August II. Hennings. city treasurer OF
Omaha from 1900 to 1905, treasurer of the
state republican committee and unsuccess-
ful candidate for the republican nomina-
tion for mayor last spring. shot and killed
himself in the bath room of his home 1904
Davenport street. Wednesday at 7:35 A.
IN. He gave no warning whatever that he
contemplated ending his life.
The letter which appears above was
found in Mr.. Hennlngs coat pocket. II
was written on Paxton hotel stationery,
dated July TO- and sealed in a Paxton ho-
tel envelope and addressed " to Anna Hen
nings, my wife"
Until the finding of this letter there
was no definite clue to cause for the sui
eide, nor any intimation that the deed
was ptemeditated. This letter bears out
the theory of some friends that financial
difficulties preyed on Mr. Hennings' mind
until he took his life. The first theory
assigned was constant worrying over hia
defeat for the nomination for mayor m
the spring and some of his friends yet be-
lieve this had much to do with Mr.. Hen
nings' action.
Siegbert Kahn mentioned in the letter
is manager OF the Western Loan company,
a chattel mortgage money loan concern
i'm the Neville block at Sixteenth and Har-
ney streets,
| Extremely Sensitive Nature.
Friends who attributed disappointment
over political failure as the cause of Che
deed recall the keen disappointment which
Mr.. Hennings sustained by his defeat for
the mayoralty nomination. His nature was
| extremely sensitive. and up 10 short
time before the primaries April 3, hs
fully expected to win. Outwardly he bora
his defeat cheerfully. and after retiring
from the Office of city treasurer he en-
tered into a merchandise and household
goods storage and mercandise brokerage
business with his former chief clerk.
Harry q. Counsman. The affairs of this
company were prosperous. Some informa-
| tlOn lenutu 70 bHOW llldl lhsNtdu VI btAnfs
in financial straits Mr.. Hennings was In
excellent financial condition, having per-
sonal income of $4,000 a year from in
vestments, and was the beneficiary of a
$22, 900 legacy from a Holland estate, OF
which he had received $4,000 His health
was fairly good and his domestic relations
perfect.
No Flaw in Omcial Records.
Repeated examinations OF the books and
accounts by his bonding companies OF the
city treasurer's office. from which Mr.
Hennings retired actively in April, showed
no discrepancies, but, to the contrary, tha
the funds of the office had been handled
with scrupulous fidelity. City and County
Treasurer Fink, who received tho once b,
reason of the charter consolidation, say,
that II was turned over in perfect condi
tion and he cannot believe any dcspond
ency was caused from this source which
reflected nothing but credit upon the pre-
vious incumbent.
1t was known that Mr.. Hennlngs tool
his defeat at the republican city primaric
by e. A. Benson much 20 heart Later
when Mr. Benson lost in the contest witt
, the democratic nominee, Mr.. Hennings ex
pressed his conviction that the resul
, would have been entirely different II h
! had been the nominee against Mayor Dahl
man. At the same time he appeared 4
! have disposed of concern in the matter
2 Tuesday ne was soliciting business with hi
, usual energy. AS late as 1880 In the even
! ing he had a conversation about the bust
ness Of his firm for the following day wit
his partner.
P Eats Breakfast with Family.
? The family, consisting of Mr. ana Mr.,
q Hennings and their only child, Miss Har
e riet Hennings, breakfasted as usual. Be
8 fore the meal was quite finished Mr. Hen
o nings left the table and went upstairs (
E the bathroom. He locked the door, anc
fully dressed, except his coat. stood abou
eight feet from a mirror. pressed a re
volver muzzle TO his right temple an
fired. The bullet, a 3s-caliber, passe
, clear through the front part of his hea,
from right to left. and he fell face down
ward on the tiled floor. the hand clasu
ing the weapon being doubled under hin
There was a profuse hemorrhage and tn
T. floor was covered with blood.
p The shot was heard by Mrs. and Mis-
= Hennings, who when Mr.. Hennings LEI
: the table, had no cause to believe he cor
> templated suicide. After the shot the
q heard him fall. Miss Hennings ran i'm
medately TO ths-hOme of w. %. Graham
b, across Thirty-third street, at 3Ol nortl
n and appeared at the window of the dinins
room, where the family was gathered !
a breakfast. She exclaimed hurriedly whs
had happened. Mrs. Hennings became hyi
terical and the commotion aroused Alvi
|. Metzler, who lives in the house north {
N the Hennings home. lie, Mr. Graham an
e, b. W. Hart Of 43O4 Burdette street, VIII
was driving a passing buggy. entered II
house and found the bathroom door locke,
N Hart kicked I'm the panel, they opened n
door and beheld the dead body of a
Hennings lying In great quantity {
m blood. The revolver used was an Ordinar
one, which Mr Hennings had used for
{; long time.
Coroner Takes Charge.
~ Coroner Bradley. H. q. Counsman an
l. L. Beisel, deputy city treasurer, and o
m cupying that position under Mr.. Hennine
n, for three years, with others. were sun
': moned. A search made by the coron,
found nothing IN the nature OF a I'M
o. communication 0F exact explanation {,