Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-08
ST, LOUIS CLUBMAN
MYSTER|0USLY SLAIN
Hirschberg, Prominent Catho-
Tic, Murdered or a Suicide.
BURGLAR, SAYS FAMILY
Police, However, Contend That
Wound Was inflicted.
NO KNOWN CAUSE FOR DEED
Dead Man Distinguished by Birth
and ircumstances-Close Friend
Of Archbishop Glennon.

ST. LOUIS, December S.-Francis D.
Hirschberg. prominent in the Roman
Catholic Church and a personal friend Of
Archbishop Glennon, also we'll known in
club and business circles and as a director
of the Louisiana purchase exposition, was
shot and killed at his home, 3s1S Lindell
boulevard, early today.
Whether his death was the result OF
murder or suicide has not been deter
mined :
Members Of the family aver that he was
shot by a burglar. Police who are in
vestigating the case declare however,
that there is no evidence of the presence
of intruders In the Hirschberg nome
A trail Of bloodstains on the stairway
leading from the reception hall on the
first floor indicate that Mr. Hirschberg
was shot at the foot of the stairs, and
then turned and walked back to his bed
room, on the second floor. From there he
crossed a hallway and passed through
his wife's room to the bathroom.
He returned and staggered into his
wife's room. Mrs. Hirschberg says she
woke just in time to see him sink to the
floor unconscious.
I1HSCuDcTS ldu neT husband car
ried to his bedroom. He died soon after
ward, without making a statement as to
how he was shot.
AS far as the police can learn no mem
Der of the household was on the lower
floor OF the house at the time of the
shooting Mrs Hirschberg is deaf and
therefore she did not hear the report of
the revolver.
Third Mysterious Tragedy.
The Hirschberg tragedy. following close
upon the suicides yesterday of Charles
A. Eckstromer. Swedish vice consul, and
Charles w. Blow. prominent business
and club man, both friends Of Mr..
Hirschberg. has caused sensation
The Hirschberg residence. in the heart
or st. Louis fashionable quarter, was
oeslesed by friends of the dead man.
Only those intimately connected with
the family were admitted
The police investigation revealed several
Battling circumstances. The blood stains
On the stairs Indicated thu. Mr. Hirsch-
berg stood on the third step from the
pottom when he was shot. Immediately
below him there was an antique chair
which bears deep dent as though it
had been struck by the revolver which
was found beside it.
me weapon was of type used thirty
years ago. Members of the family told
the police that they had never seen il
before The bullet which caused death
was not found
Physicians who examined the corpse diff.
tered as to the probable course of the
Dullet. 1heTe were wounds last below The
point or the left jaw and in the right TEN.
pie
One physician asserted that the bulle.
had entered the jaw and ranged upward
The other declared that it had taken th.
opposite course.
Conflict of Statements.
Friends of the family assert that Mr.
Hirschberg had been in ill-health for three
years. This was denied by his business
associates, who said that he had been
only slightly indisposed lately.
The possibility OF financial or domestic
troubles was secuted by intimates of the
dead man. Some casual acQuantances
however. say he had been complaining
that business was not what ii should
be-
\ Minute search OF the premises by the
police failed to reveal any signs OF the
entrance of an intruder. All locks anG
bolts We're found secure and unmarked.
If an assassin entered the residence
they assert. he mnst have used skeleton
key and then carefully locked the door or
departure after diSposing of the revolver
in the manner in which it was found.
1t was largely through the instruner-
tality Of Mr.. Hirsch berg that the site fol
the arcilcpiscopal residence, adjoining the
Hirschberg home. was purchased. He Was
Archbishop G1ennon's closest persona
friend among the laity.
A descendant OF tie ChaEVin. Papin and
Choteau Families and having for wife
daughter of the late Gen. ID. NJ. Frost
the social position o. Mr.. HirschberG was
high. He was u son of Nine. Lucille
Hirschberg, who, before her marriage
was Mss Lucille Chauvin. member oi
one of the o dest and most exclusive
French families in the city.
Mrs. HirschberG is sister of Lady
NOblesWorth wife OF an English peer
There are no. children.
Authority on Insurance.
The dead man was fifty-four years old
For many years he had been leader in
the insurance business.
He was the first to introduce in Amer
lea the system of insur.ng employers
against accidents TO their workmen. He
was one of the organizers of the st. Louis
Fire Underwriters Association, which latel
was succeeded by the present organiZI-
tion. the tire Prevention Bureau of St
Louis.
He was q member of the St. Louis
Club, the Country Club, the tlorissant
Valley Country Club and the MONDAY
Club. He was chairman Of the commit
tee that had charge of the entertainment
of all distinguished guests who came to
st. Louis at the time of the wor DIS fair.