Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-11

did not kill the boy and never saw him;
that he gave the keys to the shop to
another man. and that he was not in the
neighborhoods again until the next morn
ing.
eft is cloaldy today" he said to his
uuesfioners from detective headquarters
but the sun will shine some day.
He admits himself that he is subject to
fits of terrible rage and also 10 naiiuclna-
lions. The loss of finger from one OF
his hands he accounts for by saying that
once. about two years ago. he was strug-
Cling to fasten his collar, when every
thing went wrong. and in frenzy ne
dashed his fist thFoush the WINDOW grass.
since that tine, he says, whenever ne
has not been well or when he has been
drinking his sleep Is disturbed by WIS.,
IONS terrible and frtghtful.
That he was in an excited frame or
mind SATURDAY afternoon he admits.
lie saws that his wife was to have Wis
red him in the afternoon. but as II
started to rain she sent their little
daughter. Maggie Melano. alone The
child. he saws he sent to the store TOT
:, cents worth OF kerosene OIL which
she purchased for him at the grocery
store at Attn street and Massac hnsetts
avenue. where little Harry smith mao
only an hour previously asked for
yhanEe 81 quarter
NeIano's predecessor as tenant OF the
srop where he repaired shoes was a
Robert Kelly. Melanos DESCRIPTION OF
q rcd haired Irishman to whom ne gave
the KEYS. 50 that he might have a place
to spend the night. fitted Kelly, nut
when the police brought Kelly TO con-
front Melano the Italian toto them 'ney
Lad the wrong man. and varied MS oe-
scription. saving that the man "ahteo
hal a scar on his race. ;,
When Melano's clothing was searched
al the police station small purse con
tanning a quarter was found In MS pock-
cts, II was al first supposed tnat inc re
coin was the quarter that the victim OF
the tragedy had wanted to have changed.
but a quarter was found upon the corpse
OF the boy.
The Mothers Story.
Mrs Smith. the bereaved mother. In her
home this morning tried to tell the news
paper men all her knowledge Of the
movements of her son. She explained
how she had given the boy a dime all
the small change she had at the time.
and had agreed to meet him later. down
town. and give him money to come home
again
The boy did not show up at the ap-
pointed time but she felt no alarm at
thar as he was old enough to care for
himself and often had to do so, as
her duties carried her from home great
deal She told what a good son he had
been and declared that he was always
auick to serve her and show his affec-
ton.
As she was telling her story little
white hearse, heading funeral cor
tege, passed the house.
Mrs Smith burst into tears. and
sohbed out:
GIVE me back my Harry! oh. that he
should have to come home to me this
way
Both Mrs Smith and her daughter.
Myrtle Smith. fell into a condition OF
hysteria, and it was many minutes De
fore they could subdue their emotions
The funeral was in no way connected
with the tragedy
Harry Smith, father or the oeao boy,
who is employed as a life guard at
Atlantic City; w. X. McClarfn OF Nash
Vile Tenn, a brother of Mrs. Smith. and
Mrs Bradley Maddox of Buffalo Valley.
Tenn, a sister have been notified OF the
tragedy by the police.
Five Fractures of the Skull.
Five fractures Of the skull any one SUI
fcient to have caused death. were found
this afternoon by DIR. Charles w. White.
deputy coroner. who made an autopsy
upon the body of the boy. All the
wounds were made with heavy metal
instrument. possibly a shoemakers ham,
mer.
Two wounds seemed to have been made
from in front. One of these Is to the
left of the left ear. and the other on the
right side. more toward the top OF the
head. The three other wounds are In the
back of the head, two at the base Of the
skull and the third higher up.
~ Co.. w.
boy had evidently been dead before the
fire started, that was intended to con-
ceal the crime. Tomorrow morning at
II 30 o'clock the inquest. presided over
by Coroner hewitt will be held at the
morgue.
The coroner's Jury. already sworn in.
consists of E. r. Brooks 531 10Th street:
Henry r. King, Metropolitan Hotel;
Henry Newman. 9th and X streets;
Charles w. Blakeney, 9th and X streets;
Charles Wolf. 7th and M streets, and
Henry Saur. D near 7th streets.
Scene of the Tragedy.
The little shop where Melano mended
shoes consists of two rooms on the
ground floor. one fronting on Massa-
chusetts avenue and the other on H
street. where the door to the shop is
located. A partition with an open door
way cut through divides the rooms.
Oil is scattered over the floor about
the shoemaker's bench in the III street
room, where Melano worked at his
trade Under the bench is burned
paper, indicating that fire was start
ed here that failed to gain Roadway
In the back room are the more numer-
our evidences of the crime and the efforts
to conceal ii BY setting fire TO the place
An old sofa, saturated with OIL is half
consumed by fire. The flames have eaten
OFT the side wooden wall and part of the
partition in the dark corner where the
body OF the DO was discovered Near
the window where the shutters are nailed
UP are blood stains on the floor Here
evidently the boy lay for some time be-
fore he was dragged to the hidden cor
ner. where the sofa was piled upon him
and the fire was set that was intended to
hide trace of his end.
One of three oil lamps in the shop.
found by the police. had been emptied
been removed. and had not been re-
placed.
The apron of the shoemaker was
picked up by the police in the shop this
morning. 1t has no trace of blood as
far can be determined On the
clothes of MelanO, however, there are
stains which the police believe are
blood stains. These Melano accounts
for. admitting it is blood, as the flow
from a cut in his finger inflicted ac-
cidentally by glass during the day. The
police discredit the explanation. as they
believe that the shoemaker, working at
have got blood stains upon the apron.
Mrs. Radeloff's Story.