The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1907-01-31
]. Gerbovitz, a Hungarian, Fired
Three Shots at His Wife Then
Turns Revolver on Himself
WIFE ESCAPES MAN DYING
Sad Tragedy Marks the Close of a Mar.
ried Life of Only Few Months
Wife Had Asked for Divorce
and Husband Was Enraged

kenosha had tragedy just before
seven O'Clock Tuesday morning, when
Jacob Gerbovitz, twenty-seven years
old, Hungarian, fired four shots at
his wife Emma Gerbovitz, and then
turning the revolver upon himself in
/ flicted wound which it is feared will
prove fatal. In some miraculous
manner Mrs. Gerbovitz and the two
1 young women with her escaped unin-
Ijured.
| The shooting occurred at the corner
of Park aud Newell streets, and the
conditions seem to indicate that it
had been carefully planned by Ger
bovitz. The shooting ARRAY was
most spectacular one and was wit
messed by hundreds of workmen and
women who were on their way to work
ia the factories in the neighborhood
and these people aided in carrying
the would-be murderer into a saloon
at the corner and later he was re
moved to the hospital in an ambu-
lance
It was found by an examination by
DR.. FL. A. Robinson that the man had
shot himself in the neck, the bullet
from thirty-eight revolver having
entered just to the left of the jugular
vein. It lodged near the spinal
column at the back of the mans neck.
Gerbovitz was unconscious when re-
moved to the hos pital, and he re-
gained consciousness later in the
morning, but the wound had caused a
swelling Of the neck which made it
impossible for him to speak and he
could not tell his side Of the story of
the tragedy. The condition of the
man is exceedingly critical, and it is
feared that he will die before another
day is over.
The trouble between Gerbovitz and
his wife came as the climax of series
of domestic quarrels which had re-
suited in the woman bringing an
action for divorce, and at the time of
the shooting Gerbovitz had in his
pocket copy of the summons and
complaint in the divorce suit.
Gerbovitz had lived in a boarding
house on Market street, while his wife
who is little more than a girl, had re-
sided with her mother at the corner of
Newell and Market streets. The
woman had been working at the Chi
cago-Kenosha Hosiery Works and she
was on her way to work when the
tragedy occurred.
With the wife we're her sister, Miss
Minnie Gimpel, and Hickey Senne, all
Of whom were employed at the stock
ing making plant. Mrs. Gerbovitz
had feared trouble with her husband,
and for this reason she had asked the
girls to accompany her on the way to
work. Gerbovitz had left his board
ing house just after 6 O'Clock and had
been standing about the corner await
ing the coming of his wife. Just as
the three women started to pass him
at the corner the man walked up to
the wife and said: "Will you come
and be my wife againY' Miss Gimpel
caught hold of her sisters arm and
started to lead her away, when Ger
bovitz pulled the revolver from under
his coat and pointed it directly at the
wife. Mrs. Gerbovitz was very close
to the man and she threw out her arm
and pushed the revolver away just as
the husband fired. Three shots were
fired in rapid succession and then the
fellow turned the revolver as if on
Miss Gin pei and fired another shot.
By this time Mrs. Ger bovitz had fallen
to the street in a faint, and Gerbovitz,
seemingly believing the woman dead,
turned the revolver upon himself and
fired. BY this time great crowd had
gathered and the fallen form of the
woman was picked up and carried to
a place of safety and Gerbovitz was
carried to saloon. Chief of Police
.O'Hare and Sheriff Pfennig were on
the scene of the trouble before Ger
bovitz was removed to the hospital
and he was placed under arrest.
Later in the morning Mrs. Ger
bovitz was seen at the home of her
mother and she told the entire story
of the tragedy. She stated that she
was just eighteen years of age and
that she and Gerbovitz had been mar
ried on the 9th of last October. On
account of the fact that the wife was
under age her mother had given her
consent to the marriage. Mrs. Ger
bovitz stated that a few days after |
the wedding he had leveled a revolver
at her and had threatened to kill her.
The couple we're living at the home
Of the brides mother and Gerbovitz
seemed to have an especial grudge |
against his mother-in-1aw. Just a /
week after the marriage Gerbovitz is
alleged to have deserted his wife and