The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-03-06
Killed By
Pistol Shot
In bisbee
FORMER ELY MINER Is SHOT IN
DISPUTE ABOUT A CGAI.--
STORY OF AFFAIR Is NOT YET
ALL! CLEAR.

Word has been received in the dis
trict of the killing of Charles Bell at
Risbee by H. Gill. Bell left this camp
f0r Bisbee about the first of the year.
The following account of the tragedy
il taken frol1 the Bisbee i2ey'e Y.
Charles Bell. miner. 80 years old,
was shot and fatally wounded ay II.
Gill. a carpenter, aged 81, at the Cas-
tie Rock Lodging house where they
were room mates. at 1880 O'Clock last
evening. Gill, who is In Jail, claims
self defense.
The stories told by The principals
in the affair differ So widely as 10
the cause of Gill's cash act that it
is hard to decide just how the affair
came up. Gill. however, is very ner-
vous over the shooting and told three
different stories of how it OCCURRED
while his victim sticks to one account.
Both men had good regulations, al
though Gill is said To be Il socialistic
crank.
Gill and Bell were alone in the
room at the time of the shooting and
there arc no other witnesses. The
story told ~ Bell in making n dying
statement in the presence of half a
dozen witnesses is as follows:
He had been ill for several days,
having a severe cold and slight at
tack of the grip, but had been work
ing as usual at the Sacramento shaft.
Last night Gill was smoking a strong
cigar and he asked him to refrain,
| saying that he was i'll and it made
L;-, C;I n,r,a5 I;,, onl
told him to go to the Copper Queen
hospital if he was sick. He, Bell,
started to open the door. rising from
his bed to do so. Gill evidently mis-
taking his motive for rising. jerked
out a revolver and fired at him. He
| had not even a pin in his clothing to
serve as a weapon, he stated. Gill
was lying on his bed smoking and
pulled the pistol from somewhere
about the bed or his clothing to
shoot. He then ran out. Bell stated
that the real reason Gill shot him
/ was because he had made fun of his
socialistic tendencies in the past.
\ Bell has been here two months work
ing as a miner prior to the shooting.
Gill's story was very different. He
declared that Bell, after cursing him,
\ rose from his bed and started after
| him with a knife. He shot in self de-
tense, he declares. Further than this
\ and to say that Bell is mentally un-
balanced, he would make no state
ment. Gill came to Bisbee January
20, and has since been working here
as d carpenter. During that time he
I has roomed with Bell.
One fact which serves to render
| Gill's story doubtful is the claim of
foomers who rushed into the hall
| upon hearing the noise of a shot in
room 10, that as he walked calmly
past them he setted that Bell
had tried to kill him with a knife.
At the outer door, he told Mr.. Frick,
a roomer, that a man had committed
suicide In that Oom Gill is acne
mic and is troubled with kidney dis
ease. Immediately after the shoot
ing Gill went to the home of Frank
stated that he had shot a man in self
defense. Wilson notified Constable
Twomey and Deputy White who ar
rested Gill and placed him in jail.
1.-THE weapon used was a SO caliber
Smith and Wesson.
Immediately after the shooting
Bell vas removed to the Copper
Queen hospital where he was i'm
mediately operated on by Drs. Miner
and Watkins. in the hope of saving
hts life. The wound was found to
start on the upper left breast, the
ball penetrating the top of the right
lung as 1t ranged downward and
lodging in the tissue beneath the
right shoulder blade at the back. 1t
could not be located. The physicians
declare there is no chance for his re-
covery.