Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
THIRD KILLING THIS MONTH
Bartender Shoots Stranger Who
Flashes Gun in His Saloon.
DEAD MAN NOT IDENTIFIED
Pnwnbroker Snys the Revolver lie
Had Resemble One that Was
stolen from His show
case.

r. w. Burns. bartender in W. A. Atkins
saloon. l1sO Farnam street. who shot and
killed a stranger in the saloon at 1870
Friday night. is held at the police station
rending his preliminary hearing. His state
ment that he shot the man because he
flashed a revolver in his face is generally
accredited by the police. The victim has
not yet been Identified.
This was the third tragedy since Septem-
Der /, the other two being the death of DIR.
Fred T.. Rustin and the murder by Van
GoodelI Of Miss Edna Kenneth.
A clue which might lead to the identity of
the man was presented to the police by the
soldiers cap which was worn by the
stranger when he entered Atkins saloon.
The cap is the property of T. @. Riley, d
private of Company II, Sixteenth infantry,
stationed at Fort Crook. who was picked
up in a helplessly drunken condition by
Detectives Mitchell and Sullivan shortly
after 6 o'clock Friday night after he had
fallen down a stairway at the northwest
corner of Fifteenth and Capitol avenue.
When sent to the police station Riley was
wearing a high-crowned soft black hat
which answers the description of the hat
worn by the man who attempted to hold up
Levy's saloon and others. Riley cannot
recollect anything that occurred during the
latter part Of Friday afternoon, but the
dead man and the soldier were evidently
in each others company. Riley was taken
to the coroner's office, but could not iden-
tify the man who was killed by Burns.
Man who Was at Levy's.
The body of the dead man was identified
as that of the man who had entered A.
Levy's saloon at Eleventh and Capitol ave-
nue. shortly before the affair in Atkins sa-
loon. Levy, who made the Identification,
stated to the authorities that the dead man
had been in his saloon and had acted sus-
piciously, even showing the handle of a re-
volver sticking from a hip pocket. Levy
secured his revolver and held 1t in his
hand, whereupon the other had walked out
of his saloon without making any remark.
He evidently went Immediately to the At
kins' saloon.
From a description furnished the police
Friday by Jake Landroch, a saloonkeeper
at 1Z24 South Twentieth street, who was
confronted by a would-be holdup artist in
his saloon Thursday evening about II: 80
o'clock, it seems possible that the man shot
by Bartender Burns last night is the same
man who attempted to hold up Landroch.
So far the body lies unidentified at the
Davis undertaking parlors, where an in
quest will be held Monday afternoon. The
police are inclined to believe that Burns
shot in self-defense. Although a bartender
in a saloon where the toughest class of
trade is encountered, railroad laborers,
Burns does not drink intoxicants. He
could add but little to his story told imme-
diately after the shooting, with the eXcep-
ton of his ordering the stranger to put
away the gun that he flashed. The latter,
however, replied that he had pulled it to
use 1t, and~use it he would, whereupon
Burns secured his revolver from the work.
board under the bar and during the scuffle
that ensued Burns revolver was dis
charged.
Two Men Arrested.
When the killing occurred the patrol
wagon was out on another call and arrived
at Atkins saloon a few minutes after, the
bartender and Il. F. Holbrook, the porter,
being the only persons in the place with the
dying man. The latter was as white as a
sheet and only gasped for breath, saying
nothing.
Burns and Holbrook were arrested, the
former on the murder charge, by Patrolmen
Dillon and Bitter, and the latter as states
witness, by Detectives Ferris and Dunn.
What's the matter?" asked Patrol Con-
ductor Dillon when he arrived on the
scene, before seeing the dying man on the
floor.
In answer Burns pointed to his victim and
said: He came in here and flashed a gun,
so 1 shot him as 1 thought he was going
to hold us up"
At the police station, where the man was
taken in the patrol wagon, Drs. Harris and
Fitzgibbon examined the wound and said
that an internal hemorrhage caused by the
cutting of the aorta would bring
death in a few minutes, and the man died
at IL o'clock, about thirty minutes after he
was shot.
Assistant Coroner Hulse took charge of
the body. removing it to the Davis under
taking parlors on South Sixteenth street.
In an interview Burns, the man who did
the shooting, said that there were no men
aside from himself and the supposed robber
in the saloon at the time the shot was
fired, but that a crowd soon gathered after
hearing the report of the gun.
Had Just Left.
"Ex-Officer Steve o'Donnell had just left
the place before l shot the man." said
Burns.
1.-THE fellow. who did not appear to be
drunk, entered through the front door and
had reached for his hip pocket and drawn
his gun when l grabbed the pocket .SS pistol
which keep under the bar and fired one
bullet into his stomach.
He sank to the floor, gasping for breath,
and calling George Dwyer from a nearby
saloon 1 attempted to revive the man l
had shot, applying ice and bandages to his
wound. A crowd gathered and l sent for
the police, who arrived in what seemed to
be a wonderfully short time.
while the patrol wagon was on it's way
we tried to find out the mans name and
where he lived, but he said nothing and
seemed TO be in a bad way.
Il shot the man, but l only did it because
l thought he was going to hold me up or
kill me-"
No Such Number.
The poorly written inscription, &C. f.
Lawrence, l2OS Harvey street" was dis
covered on a badly defaced book cover
taken from the body at the police station
before the coroner took charge of 1t. How
ever, no person of that name and initials
is listed in the city directory, and that To-
cation il the present home of the Marks
ssddlery firm.
Corduroy trousers, a black sateen shirt,
a gray vest, black stockings and white
canvass shoes were worn by the dead man,
whose only belongings aside from his hat,