The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1929-08-30

$3.50 o'clock thursday morning.
The bullet, 80 calibre, steel
jacketed, penetrated the left side of
the chest at the level of the second
rib, ploughing thru the left lung
and miraculously missing the heart
and the large blood vessels branch
ing from 1t. Besides penetrating the
second rib, it fractured other ribs
He was rushed 10 the Albemarle
Hospital, in this city, unconscious
and bleeding internally.
The bullet was removed and the
prognosis of DR.. John Saliba of this
city and DR.. Edgar Newly of Hert-
ford is that he has a fifty-fifty
chance to live, barring the possible
complication of pneumonia.
Why Joe Tucker attempted to end
his life Is a mystery that is puz-
zling Hertford. Men close to the
affairs of the Carolina Banking 81
Trust Co. say that there has never.
been a suspicion Of anything
wrong with the affairs of the Hert-
ford branch OF the bank and moth
ing irregular was found in a casual
examination of the affairs of the
bank following its closing on August
18th. .....
II anything Is wrong with Tuck
er's accounts, the discovery was not
made until Wednesday when audi
tors for the State went to work on
the banks books.
. But Joe Tucker has been very de-
spondent since the bank closed on
him on August 18th. He had been
cashier of the bank from its founda-
tion in 1922 and was the life of the
Hertford branch. Most depositors
of the Hertford branch of the Caro-
lima Bank did business with it be-
cause they liked Joe Tucker.
Young Tucker has wife and four
small children the eldest of Which is
only IL years old. His wife was
Miss Jessie Mcmillan, daughter
! of DIR. and Mrs. r. S. MCMILLAN Of
this city. The family life of MIR. and
Mrs. Tucker was generally regard
ed as happy and there is no suspi-
cion of domestic difficulties.
But q young married man on a
small salary, with four young chill
dren and prospects Of another, find
ing himself suddenly out of job
IN q year when jobs are scarce, could
not be very happy. Joe Tucker had
shown dependency for several days.
He had ceased to mix with young
people around the town. as had been
hts custom. And everywhere he
went he was bedeviled by depositors
in the defunct bank who wanted to
know when they could get their
, money. He couldn't tell them any
thing.
Wednesday morning Cashier
Tucker went to Raleigh. He return
ed home at II o'clock Wednesday
night, tireG and moody. Thursday
morning he complained of feeling
Ill when he awoke Mrs. Tucker
took his temperature but found no
signs of fever. Going to the kitchen
she prepared a dainty breakfast for
him and brought it to his room.
He said he didn't feel like eating.
While his wife stood near the foot
of the bed he reached under his
pillow and brought forth 80 cali
bre pistol that he had previously
kept at the bank. Without a word
of explanation or farewell, he placed
the muzzle of the gun to his chest,
pulled the trigger.
Mrs. Tucker, rooted with fear,
could not respond to an impulse to
grab the gun and prevent the shoot
ing. She collapsed in chair,
screamed.
She was admitted to his room at
the Albemarle Hospital shortly after
the operation Thursday morning.
She went to his side, kissed him
passionately; groggy from the effects
of an anaesthetic and the pain of
the operation, he looked yearningIy
at his wife as If desiring to speak.
Tears came to his eyes,; the doc
tors led her quickly from the room
lest the sufferer over exert himself
by attempting to talk. 1t will be
several days before he will be per-
mitted to talk. In the meantime.
behind locked doors and drawn
shades. auditors for the State are
going methodically over the affairs
of.the branch bank that Joe Tuck
or had managed for seven wears.