New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-23

district left for the training camp. In
the old courthouse was set the hrst
scene in the most battling mystery that
ever has disturbed this quiet town
the coroner's inquest on the death OF
Mrs. Maude A. King, for whose murder
near here on August 20 CASTOR Bullock
Means has been arrested.
The stage has been set again for re-
opening the inquest that decided Mrs.
Kings death was accidental when the
arrest Of Means made that unnecessary
Means will be taken 20 Troy where on
Monday morning he will appear Defoy'
Police Justice Palmer. 1851.
John T. Dooling, Assistant Dlstrict
Attorney of New York; many de-
tectives and attorneys from New
York, Chicago, Asheville, y. C.; Char
lotte, n. c., and the several other
cities in which the tragedy is echoing'
and experts and witnesses by the score
will be present to prove that the
wealthy New York widow was not
killed "by the accidental discharge OF
a pistol in her own hand" as the pre-
vious verdict read, but that she was
murdered.
And CASTOR Bullock Means, detective.
cotton salesman, Spectator, self-con-
fessed intimate of discredited German
diplomats, compiler of war factory sta
tistics, and business manager for the
dead woman, will take the stand and,
backed by another imposing array OF
legal talent, endeavor 70 show that
the death was accidental.
n;,II 81
Concord, a somnolent cotton-spinning
town Of elm bordered streets and To-
900 population, has found in the King
mystery a stimulus never encountered
before. The tragedy is discussed with
bated breath and whispered theories
are exchanged on every street corner
Every .middle-aged resident of Con-
cord remembers bud" Means as a boy.
He attend the wistaria covered school
which stands at the beginning OF the
road to Blackwelders Spring, the road
over which Means and his friends car
ried the body of Mrs. King back 70
town. Bud" was the eldest Of
the four sons of Colonel W. q. Means,
then one of the leading lawyers here.
He was named CASTOR after Judge
Vivien Castor, who sat on the Supreme
Court bench of North Carolina some
forty or fifty years ago.
The Means family has a record Of
which any would be proud. They set
tied and grew prosperous in Fairfield
County, South Carolina, and one hun
dred years ago the name of Means was
one to conjure with in the Tar Heel
State. John Means, a great-grand-
uncle of Bud" was Governor of South
Carolina for several terms some fifty
years before the Civil War, and the
histories of the state are sprinkled
through with the achievements of other
Meanses in politics, law and industry.
The Bullocks of Georgia, from whom
Means derives his middle name, are kin
10 the Roosevelts.
Became Successful Business Men
After graduation from the local high
school bud" attended the University
Of North Carolina, from which he was
graduated. Returning, he went TO work
at the Cannon Cotton Mills here. He
lose from clerk to travelling salesman,
and after he left home with his sample
cases Concord heard of him only at in
tervals. 1t learned that he was sue
cessful, that his salary was $4,000 a
year and that he made $4,000 a year
additional from his side lines
A few years ago he came home for
Christmas, blew" his old friends to a
sumptuous Christmas dinner and dis
tributed gifts with free hand. On his
way North the chain supporting the
upper Pullman berth in which he was
sleeping snapped and he was thrown TO
the car floor. He sued the Pullman
company for $4,000 damages and pro-
duced medical testimony that his skull
had been fractured. With his head
supported by "A brace and leaning
heavily on a cane, he returned 10 his
fathers home and awaited the outcome
of his suit, which eventually was set
tied out of court He severed connec-
tions with the Cannon Mills and retired
to his home. And since his accident"
any one in Concord will tell you, Bud
Means hasn't been the same man"
After a few months at home Means
went North, and Concord heard little
or nothing about him until about six
weeks ago, when he suddenly reap
peared. A few days later Mrs. King
arrived and took up her residence az
the Means home. Then came Mrs.
Maize Melvin, Mrs. Kings sister. The
party, Means said, had been staying at
Asheville, n. c., and he had brought
them here TO meet his family. Soon
after his arrival Means went to local
automobile dealer, selected a seven
passenger car and paid for il out OF a
roll of $1,000 bills, ostentatiously dis
played. Concord gasped.
Buys Revolver and Rifle
A week passed, and one day Means
went 70 the leading hardware store
and asked for a 32-calibre Colt auto
matte revolver. The dealer did not
have one in stock, and Means asked
that he search for one in Charlotte.
This he did in vain, and finally bud"
compromised on .25-calibre weapon
IL was blue-steel affair, stubby and
toylike in appearance, but deadly
enough, as time showed, for il was a
bullet from this weapon which killed
Mrs. King. Bud" also bought a rifle,
another pistol and a quantity of am
munition.
The next day CASTOR Means, his
brother Alton, Mrs. King and her sis
ter, Mrs. Melvin, went target shooting
In the gittering car they drove out to
Blackwelder's Spring and staked OUT
the range. The spring lies about four
miles northeast Of the town, in the
woods, about 300 yards from the main
road. II is reached from the main
highway by narrow, winding lane
just wide enough for an automobile to
pass between the bushes u~lich skirt
the trail. The target vas the trunk Of
an old elm tree which rises TO a height
OF five feet and then divides into TWO
forks.
Returned After Dinner
On the afternoon Of August % the
party went to the spring and shot for
several hours, returning 10 the Means
home for dinner. Some time after dim