Iditarod pioneer., 1917-06-16
DETAILS OF SHOOTING
 AT BETHEL IN FEBRUARY

Some idea of the difficulty of communi- cation in Western Alaska may be gained from the following extract from the Valdez newspaper regarding the shooting affrey which occurred at Bethel, on the Kusko- kwm river, last February. This is the first detailed news of the occurrence that has reached here. It will be remembered that The Pioneer at the time printed the state ment of traveller to the effect that man had been killed in a drunken quarrel at Bethel but outside of the bare fact no de tails could be procured. The slayer had gone to Nushagak to give himself up, and as there IS no telegraph Tn that section, nothing more was learned. It appears that not until navigation was opened were the circumstances made known to the authorl ties at Valdez which is the headquarters of the court for the Third division. The fol lowing account is from the Valdez Miner:
 "Advices received by the clerk of the court from United States Commissioner J. S Heron of Bethel state that Axel Loving of Apokak wes shot and killed at that place on February 16 by Charles E. Jacobson and that Jacobson had been sent to Nushagak as a prisoner to appear before the grand jury here; and that Jack Boyd had also been sent to the same place to answer to the charge of attempting to kill, and John Ode had been sent as a detained witness.
 According to the stories told of the oc currence, Loving, Boyd and Ode went to the cabin occupied by Jacobson and his wife, taking with them can of home -brewed hootch. This was consumed and more was brought in. Some hootch was offered to Mrs Jacobson, to which Jacobson objected,
 d dispute arose, followed by a resort to force, in which Jacobson threw Boyd down. Jacobson was then attacked by Low ing and compelled to release Boyd, after which he was attacked by both Boyd and Loving.
 Jacobson finally secured shotgun, which he used as club to good advantage in driving off his assailants. Ode then pre- vailed upon Loving and Boyd to go home to their cabins, not far distant. He re mained at Jacobson's, while Mrs Jacobson started for the native village short dis tance away few minutes later Mrs. Ja- cobson was heard to scream, and looking out of the window, Jacobson and Ode saw Loving and Boyd, one armed with 8 re volver and the other with a .3030 rife, beating the woman.
 "They went out of doors, when Loving and Boyd left the woman and started to- ward them. When within few feet Boyd fired shot presumably at Ode, and the latter went up to him and took the gun away from him. Jacobson returned to the house and Loving followed him in. Jacob sen says when they got into the house Loving fired shot at him and he returned the fire with a shotgun. Loving staggered cut of the door and fell in the snow, dead. Both Ode and Boyd stated that they heard the two shots, but do not remember which was fired first Jacobson then went outside and Boyd again seized his rifle but Ode had ejected the cartridges. The body of Loving was then taken into the house and Ode took Boyd back to his own cabin.
 About two hours later, or after dark, while Jacobson. his wife and son and Ode were sitting within the cabin, a rifle shot was heard and bullet came through the cabin window burying itself in the opposite wall. Ode went outside, but in the darkness could see no one. He went over to Boyds cabin and found him sitting up ln bed. He asked him what he had been doing, and he said, Nothing The next morning tracks were found leading from the cabin to within few feet of Jacobsons residence. Boyd left that morning and went to Bethel 10 inform the authorities of the killing, after which he started to return. Jacobson also went to Bethel to give himself up, and after telling his story warrant was also issued for Boyd and he was brought back.
 Bethel is in the Second judicial division, and is the nearest town to the scene of the killing The place where the shooting oc- cured is in the Third division, and Jacob son and Boyd were held to the grand jury by the commissioner and sent to Nushagak, the nearest point in the Third division. Ode was also sent along as detained witness. The parties concerned are all fishermen.