The Irish standard., 1908-04-25

upon investigation turned out to be
only too true. During the evening, the
appointment Of DR.. Tupper as commits
sioner to England had been under dis
cussion in the house and the honorable
gentleman had addressed the Com
mons at length on the subject. After
the adjournment he must have left the
parliament buildings almost immedi-
ately, as the house had not risen more
than twenty minutes before he was
found lying murdered on the sidewalk
i'll pool of blood in front of the
Toronto House, where he resided. 1t
appears that a servant in the boarding
house heard someone at the door and
a shot fired. Going to the door at once,
she discovered the body Of the mur-
dered man lying on the planks, and at
once gave the alarm. From the nature
of the wound and the position in which
the body lay there can be no doubt
but that the murder was cJolly done,
and that instantaneous death ensued.
The deceased was found lying on his
back, his hat not displaced and his
walking cane under his arm. 1t is
evident that the honorable gentleman
must have been in the act of opening
the door, STOPPING to find the keyhole
with his head close to it, and his cane
under his arm, and that the assassin
must have approached him cautiously,
and putting the pistol to his head be-
hind his ear, discharged it and fled.
"The fearful news soon spread
among the members of the legislature,
few of whom had retired to rest, and
ere long the place was filled with his
sorrowing friends and admirers, whose
deeply expressed detestation of the
cowardly crime will find an echo in
every honest breast. The Premier and
the Premier Of Ontario. with many
others. fastened to the spot, and every
effort was at once set on foot to dis
cover the perpetrator Of the crime.
which for audacity and cold d-blooded-
ness stands unequaled in our history"
The old files Of the Citizen convey in
their faded pages good idea Of the
tremendous sensation caused in the lit
tie city Of Ottawa by the awful crime.
Many are yet living who remember the
stirring events that followed when the
police, during the next few days, be-
gan their investigations which resulted
in the arrest of P. Buckley and ].
Buckley, messengers Of the house; P.
A. Egleson and P. j. Egleson, clothiers.
of Sussex street; Ralph Slattery, a
school master; a, young carpenter
named White and printer named
McKenna. The latter was arrested for
a chance remark in which he expressed
the opinion that MCGEE got only his
deserts. but it threw a strong light on
the state of public feeling. In the
meantime $4,000 reward had been Of
fered by the privy council and the cab
inets of Ontario and Quebec. Event
ually all the prisoners were released
and a new arrest made. The latter
proved to be a traitor employed in
the Egleson firm, named Patrick Jas
Whelan. The latter. who was about
80 years of age, was former Dublin
man and turned up first in America
at Quebec in 1865. He was a member
of the volunteer cavalry in the ancient
capital and a splendid horseman, but
his outspoken Fenian opinions caused
his expulsion from the regiment. He
went to. Buffalo, N. Y, but subsequent
ly returned to Montreal, where he
worked at his trade. He came of
strong Fenian family and had been
heard in Montreal to threaten McGee's
life on several occasions.
Whelan, curiously enough, was de-
Tended in the trial that followed by
Hon. John HilIyard Cameron. Grand
Master of the Orange Order. who was
"a celebrated lawyer, and with whom