The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-11-28
SUICIDE ENDS ALL
TROUBLE WITH GUN
RI Nd, VA. Special.

r II N o. ID, VA. Special.
What prompted William Blu
ford Bell. the young bOokkeeper,
to take mis- own lie will not be
known until the arrival in this
city OF his brother, L. NJ. Bell, Jr.,
of New York, If then. The sui
eide IeIt a letter address II to his
relative, i'm which the police be-
heNe will be found a motive for
the act OF Seit-deStruC ton.
Before he enood his life Bell
thoroughly anu, apparently PAINS
taklngiy, seaIcd tine enN eIOpe. on
the OUTSIDE OF which he Denncd.
in clear, steady hand. these in
StructiOns: ITO be opened by no
one but Il. NJ. Be'l, DR., please"
Inc final plainuNe appeal,
p.ease, was written i'm letters
twice the size of the remainder
of the note and was heavily un-
derscorcd. This message TO the
brother is I'm the saiekeeping of
the police and viii be opened by
the brother On his arrival.
Arrangements for the funeral
OF the sTiciue had not been per-
lected AT noon today, nor will they
be until the arrival OF l.. Nj. Bell,
Jr.
Undertaken Christian, who has
charge Oi the body, stated this
morning that the body would be
lakt N 10 another pOint-probab
BeiI = Onc-tine Greensboro. Nv.
home-lor intcrment.
Disrobing, placing each gar
nSIt, carefully iOided, on the
ped or some oILcr article OF fur
a
upon the floor, William BuIord
BeI. twenty-cight years old, en-
ployed as boOkkeeper 10y the
Nhitlock branch Oh the Federal
Cigar Company, sometime be-
tween Tuesday evening at 6
o clock and the same hour yes
terday ended his life by sending
bullet into his heart in a room
in MurphY's Hotel.
The lilelcss body was discov-
cred yesterday evening about @
o clock by Wallace Payne. IA bell
boy. WHO, ut the instance oil a
houSemaid, forced the door OF a
room connecting with that occu-
pied by Bell.
The hall door TO Bells room
was locked from the inside. Re
peated efforts TO arouse the occu-
pant. all OF which we're unsuc-
cessruI, excited the suspicion of
the maid.
Bell was found stretched upon
the floor. his feet underneath
the bed and his head beneath a
WaShstand. An American bull
dog" revolver. of .32-caIibcr, with
which the young man took his
lie. was found lying beside him.
An empty carton, which had
contained the weapon, was lying
OH table nearby, and gave mute
evidence that &c had been but
recently bought-prObabIy Tues
day, tie day Bell Is believed to
have ended his life.
The hotel people are at a loss
to understand why the shot was
not heard by some one. Friends
of the dead man are equally I'M
able to advance motive for
Bells act. The suicide Is under
stood to have been I'm excellent
health, apparently satisfied with
his position and In good circum-
Stan( eS.
On a table in the room De-
tectiVe John +. Wiley, who was
called to the hotel, found the fol-
lowing note, penned in a steady
hand:
please notify f. p. Smith or
G. G. Griffith, at the Hanover
Apartments. Also please notify
T.. Nj. Bell, Jr., 500 West TNen-
tieth Street, New York city"
The note was signed wv. b.
Bell"
n sealed letter, addressed to T..
Nj. Bell, Jr.. brother Of the sui
eide. bore a notation, which re-
queSted that no one except his
brother open the envelope. The
envelope was placed in the safe
at police headquarters, and Will
be held for the relative, who was
notified last night of the death Of
his brother. The New Yorker
was expected TO arrive I'm Rich
mOnd a is morning.
On the bed was found a gold
watch, in the back of which was
picture of beautiful young
woman. said to reside on West
Franklin Street. IL was at first
thought that an affair of the
heart prompted Bell to take his
life. but inquiry at the residence
of the young woman elected the
reply from her mother that, so
far as she knew. the two were
not engaged; that Bell was
merely n friend of the family"
Contents of Bells pockets con-
sisted. among other things. of
$40 S3 in money and a bank
book, showing a balance of $50.
The revolver with which Bell
ended his life contained six
chambers, I'm four or which were
unused shells. One of the cham
bers was empty. From the sixth
was fired the bullet that snufTed
out the desperate mans exist
ence.
Messrs Smith and Griffith,
who roomed with Bell at the
Hanover Apartments, took charge
of the body. which was turned
over to Undertaken l.. T. Chris
tlan.
Coroner william III. Taylor
viewed the body and declared
shat an inquest would be un-
necessary. DIR. Taylor pronounce
ing Bells death a clear case OF
suicide.
Bell came originally from
Greensboro, Ky, although he
came to Richmond directly from