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Show McMURRIN'S SURPRISE PARTY. That "Fine, Stalwart Young- Man" Returns and Affectionately Beat Bis Wife. - The "fine, stalwart young man" has at last turned up, and in that turning up has destroyed the last vestage of sympathy sympa-thy and respect which his friends had still entertained for him. On Saturday night at a little after 9 o'clock, Joseph W. McMurrin was seen in disguise by several of the neighbors, stealthily moving around his residence on Sixth South street, peering in at the windows in a manner which caused the spectators to infer that he was endeavoring to discover who was on the inside' before venturing to enter. A few minutes after he had disappeared around the back of the house evidently having entered the"back door a prolonged series of awful screams and groans rent the night air and startled the neighbors for a considerable distance around, "and the cries for help were easily recognized as coming from a woman. One of the first persons who reached the house was Mrs. Smith, a sister of Mc-Murrin's Mc-Murrin's wife, living next door, and it is due to her prompt and vigorous interference interfer-ence that the "universally respected young man" is not at this moment in the custody of Marshal Ireland. Her presence pres-ence and well-known and antagonistic attitude towards McMurrin induced that party to leave the premises with much greater haste than characterized his coming, com-ing, so that when deputies Greenman and Franks arrived a half an hour later the hero of Social Hall alley was nowhere to be found. Mrs. Smith, while feeling the most pronounced antipathy for McMurrin, Mc-Murrin, refused, out of consideration for her sister (McMurrin's wife) and her mother, to disclose any of the facts relating relat-ing to the occurrence, either to the deputies depu-ties or to a Democrat reporter, and most of the particulars had therefor to be gathered gath-ered from other sources. 7 One of the neighbors heard a voice crying cry-ing "Joe McMurrin is beating his wife! For God's sake, go for help," and the angry and smothered reply, "Its a damn pity he didn't beat you." It was afterwards discovered that the appeal had been made by Mrs. Smith to her father, Mr. Stephen Hunter, who is also the father of McMurrin's wife. Hunter lives on the corner of Main and Sixth South streets, just three doors west of McMurrin's, and is as fanatically in sympathy sym-pathy with his fugitive son-in-law as he is violently and cruelly opposed to his daughter, Mrs. Smith. Those who appeared ap-peared first on the scene, saw McMurrin grab his wife by the throat and administer adminis-ter a number of good "stalwart" blows upon the head and shoulders of his prostrate pros-trate wife,whose shrieks were something terrible. The encounter,- on his part at,, least, was an angry and violent one, but the cause which led to it remains hidden in the utmost secrecy, which the persistent persist-ent efforts of the reporter failed to wn. I trate. For more than half an hour following fol-lowing the incident, McMurrin's children continued to shriek in chorus, positively refusing to be quieted by those who offered offer-ed pacification ; and this, added to what was seen and heard, establishes beyond a doubt or question that McMurrin was cruelly cru-elly violent in his merciless attack. It was surmised by some of the neighbors that his wife's testimony in the Collin examination, exami-nation, in which she stated that he had denied firing a shot at Collin, had superinduced super-induced the attack of Saturday night last; but this is only opinion, as is also another an-other theory that Mrs. McMurrin had been a little careless in speaking of her husband's whereabouts. Those who saw the pet of the News and Herald declare that his disguise was a very poor one, being mainly a coal black wig and beard. Those who witnessed the shocking affair were 60 well acquainted with his appearance that no false wig or whiskers could possibly deceive them, and several of those neighbors are as familiar with his brutish wite-hoif; custom as vrith the man himself. Word was communicated to Marshal Ireland's office within a very few minutes after McMurrin was discovered, and the two deputies, as stated, were on the premises prem-ises immediately afterwards. They were stubbornly refused all information by Mrs. McMurrin, and proceeded to search the house and afterwards several other residences in the neighborhood, but without success, and yesterday deputies kept a vigilant watch most of the day without learning anything of importance. It was thought at one time that a positive clue had been discovered, but the hopes which rose in the minds of the faithful deputies were dissipated after several hours of fruitless search. That McMurrin is in that vicinity there is no reason to doubt, but the wonderful unity of feeling among the residents of that locality to shield him baffles every effort, no matter how ingeniously put forth, and the strong probability is that many days will elapse before the pride of the people is brought before the bar of justice. |