La Junta tribune., 1907-03-02
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ceased, JACK Austin, came TO his
death from causes to the jury un-
known.
That was the verdict Of the coro-
ner's jury impannelled in this city
last Thursday morning by Coroner
Burr TO investigate the sudden death
Of Freeman Henry Austin. q SIX
year-old boy xho died in this city
last Tuesday night about IL o'elock.
and whose sudden and unAccount-
able taking OFF has caused various
and suniry yellow newspapers TO
circulate the report that the ''out-
rage had caused racial feeling" and
that La Junta was on the verge Of a
furious race war" Nothing could
have been farther from the truth.
Last Tuesday afternoon Freeman
Henry Austin. or Jack" Austin. as
he was Familiarity known at home.
six years Of age. was on his way
from school accompanied by his sis
ter. Susie Austin. aged seven years.
Their parents have lived in La Junta
about month. and make their home
in q tent in the east end Of the Brad
ish addition. A short distance east
Of the county jail Jack Austin got
into an alteration with two colored
boys. William Berry. aged II years.
and Charles Green. aged 10 years
Susie. the sister of the dead boy.
claims that Berry. the larger Of the
two boys. held her little brother.
while Green struck him twice with
q piece Of a brick. once on either
temple. She says that her brother
was not knocked down and Was able
to continue his journey home unas-
sisted. As soon As the boy reached
home he complained to his mother Of
having a severe headache. His moth
er bathed his temples with liniment
and put him TO bed. An hour or
two afterward he had spell Of vom-
iting and complained of pains in his
stomach. When the family retired
for the night. about 3 o'clock. the
boy was apparently sleeping sound
ly. Shortly before eleven o'clock.
however. his parents were awakened
by strange sounds emanatinR from
the boys bed. rs though he were
choking. His father went to the
boys bedside. picked him up and
carried him to his mother. and two
minutes later he died in her arms.
On Wednesday morning Wnl16n
Berry and Charles Green. whom
Susie Austin charged with making
an assault upon her brother. were
taken to the sheriff's Office and held
for few hours pending an investi-
cation. In the afternoon Drs. F.
Finney. A. l.. Stubbs. w. f. Don
lon, W. NJ. Moore and H. &.
Hall held an autopsy. They exam
ined the body carefully and could
not find an abrasion Of the skin any,
where. also the brain. heart. lungs.
liver. spleen and abdominal organs
and found all of them in a perfectly
healthy and normal condition. There
was absolutely nothing to Indicate
the cause of death.
At the coroner's inquest. held in
the district court room Thursday
morning. Drs. Finney. Stubs and
Moore testified as to the results Of
the autopsy and recited the facts re-
lated above. and that they had been
unable to determine the cause of
death. The dead boys mother and
his sister also testified. The two
young colored boys denied on the
witness stand that they had ever had
any trouble with the deceased, and
denied striking him at any time. al
though young Green admitted on
Wednesday morning that he had Civ
en- the dead boz a gentle tap with
his bare fist.
The cause Of the boys death is al
mystery. Ii may have been from
fright. but there was nothing to in
dicate that the boy had at any time
been badly frightened. When the
result Of the autopsy was learned By
the officers they allowed the two
colored boys to 60 home. as there
was nothing to implicate them in the
affair.
| The funeral of the deceased took
place Thursday from the Baptist
church services hain.x s.ond,,a4oI H..