Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1910-09-23
KILLS TO SAVE WIFE
FROM WORSE DEATH
HUSBAND, ExoNERATED, TELLS
STORY OF ACT COMMITTED
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO.
Wife ON MULE GOES OVER pRECIpICE
Woman's Body Is Terribly Mangled
and When She Begs Husband to
Shoot and End Her Suffering
the Man obeys.

New York City.-Fourteen years
ago James Mcdowell, then a pros
pector in the Canadian northwest,
shot his wife who was mortally in
jured and miles from help to save her
from worse death. For IL years
after he had been exonerated by
jury of his fellow men his mind was
in such condition that he did not real
lie what he had DONE Two years ago,
however, his brain cleared, but the
remembrance of that awful experience
has shattered his nerves until he Is
now hardly more than the wreck of
man. Mcdowell is now living with
old friends in the Bronx. He Is 58
years old, six feet tall and gaunt
reminder of what was once
physically perfect man. He is averse
to talking of the experience ID years
ago, but now consents to tell his story.
MY wife was Fanny Crawford,
native of Alberta province" he said.
Her father was John Crawford, who
had been miner and prospector in
California and Canada for years. He
and / had been close friends and are
yet. Fanny was only %, half my age,
when we were married. l had a
rich claim near Castle mountain,
which is in the British Columbia ex-
tension of the Cascade range, and
nine months after we were married l
decided to visit it. Fanny begged me
to take her with me. l demurred, as
1t was no place for woman, but she
persisted and finally consented. We
visited friends in Calgary for few
days while | was purchasing supplies
and then started for the mine, a five
days journey by mules. We had three
mules, one for my wife, one for my
self and the third for pack animal.
"The trails on Castle mountain are
very narrow and steep, so much so
that it is difficult for even a mule to
pass over them. On July 6, 1896, we
were going along one of these trails.
My wife was some yards ahead of me
and l was lounging in the saddle half
asleep. 1t was about ten o'clock and
we had been riding about three hours.
Suddenly my wife's mule brayed as If
in pain and / looked up to see him
rearing on the very edge of the preci-
pice. l have always thought he was
stung by hornet. l tried to reach
my wifes side, but before l could do
so the mule plunged over the preci-
pice, carrying Fanny with him.
threw myself on the ground and
peered over the edge. l could hear
the mules body crashing through the
trees and among the rocks to the bot.
tom, fully 1000 feet.
ut was almost "a hours later before
found the carcass of the mule.
left the dead mule and crawled on
Fifty yards away l found a shapeless
mass lying among the rocks. 1t was
my wife, alive but mercifully uncon.
scious. i think every bone in her
body must have been broken. There
was great cash on her forehead but
she was breathing family. / mixed
some brandy with water from my can
teen and forced it down her throat
When she revived a few minutes later
her suffering was intense. She begged
me to shoot her and end the agony
There was not human being within
hundred miles, so far as l knew
The nearest medical help was at Cal
gary, 120 miles away. 1t would have
taken me ten days at least to go and
return and wolves would have de
voured her before had gone one day
There was nothing else to- do.
placed the muzzle of my revolver
against her head and fired. Then
tainted. When / recovered conscious
ness hours later / covered her body
with rocks, glass and boughs to keeI
away the wolves. l buried her later.