HOTEL TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 293, 10 December 1910, Page 17

HOTEL TRAGEDY.

MTTRDSB AND ATTEMPTED HUICIDE. A FEARFUL CRIME. Truly shocking 1* the crime -which has been committed, at a hotel at. Fontalnebleau by a young man who had been employed there for about half a year to look after the cellar. As the landlord noticed that he took advantage of his visits to the cellar to sample its contents on his own account, and that he also persecuted the two servant maids with his attentions, he told him, on October 19, that he must leave In a week. In the small hours. of the morning of October 22 tiie landlord and his wife heard

I THE REPORT OF FIREARMS resounding from tbe attics, and, on going upstairs, they found one of the molds ln the passage with her face fractured, ahd 'on proceeding further they discovered her companion lying dead at the door'of her room. The landlord went off to the gend- : armerle, and soon' several police officials were at the hotel, the tenants of which had risen from their beds, and were ln a state of utter consternation. The landlady took the wounded girl to her own chamber, where she was examined by a doctor, who found that the lower part of the face had been fractured by a bullet, which had lodged in.her throat. As for the other poor : girl, death had been Instantaneous, as she had been struck ln the heart. The investigation which followed led to [the discovery that the cellarman, who occnIpled a room adjoining that of the two maids, had, about midnight, got up and knocked at their door, and, on receiving no reply, had broken a pane of glass which 'was ln the door. Then, turning the key in the lock Inside, he had entered the room, and, i without uttering a word had SHOT ONE OF THE MAIDS THROUGH THE HEART, and then had fired on the other, who was §creamlng for help, fracturing her face. Lying on the floor was a razor, which the miscreant had brought with him. to use if his revolver did not suffice for his purpose. His own door was locked, so it had to be broken in. but when the officials entered the room it proved to be empty. As, however, there were traces of blood about the : chamber, and as the man had cut his hand when breaking the glass in.the girls' door, it was evident that' he had returned to his room after committing the horrible crime. The judicial authorities having now arrived at the hotel, twelve gendarmes were posted round the block of buildings with which it is connected, it being believed that the man must have climbed on to the roof, with a view to escaping, and presently a captain perceived a figure crouching close to a chimney. The captain fired two blank shots as a warning, and Immediately afterwards two reports resounded. The miscreant had

LODGED A. BULLET IN HIS FOBSHEAD, and be then fell from that height on to a roof In the courtyard. He was taken to the hospital In a pitiable condition, and, when he had sufficiently recovered to be questioned by the judicial authorities, he jiald that be had been In love with one' ofthe maids, and had been nnable to bear the thought of parting from her. Later <m, when he learned that the poor girl was dead, and that it was impossible to extract the bullet which had lodged in the throat of her companion, he burst into tears, and cried, "I must hare been mad! I loved them both!" He had been through his term of military service; *md hafl done some ■work in Paris, where his mother Is settled, when he got the place at the Fontainebleau Hotel. MB. ASQUITH AND STUDENTS. Wit© HORSEPLAY AT ABERDEEN. CARRIAGE SUNK IN DOCK. The singular tradition among Scottish undergraduates to render almoet lnaudibte the address of their Lord Hector and to engage in destructive mischief wee again illustrated during Mr. Asquith's visit to Aberdeen University on October 20. So badly did the young men behave that he threatened to stop his address. At the clove the carriage In which he was to be draws was smashed and sunk in the harbour. The Lord Rector's Iβ practically an honorary post to which the students elect distinguished men. The only real duty is to deliver a lengthy address. In older days it was the' habit to interrupt that address not merely by "jokes," but by rough horseplay and even by stertorous Instruments such ac a ship's siren. Public halls were damaged, and once before at Aberdeen the carriage of a Lord Rector (the Marquis of Huntly) was smashed and tilted Into the harbour. When the students were entrusted with the discipline of the gathering a slight improvement wits noticeable, but October 20 witnessed a return to the olr practices, which were, however, confined to a email number of youths.

"PAJSSrNG-DT"' HOOUGACJLSai. Both before and during Mr. Asquith's address, which was delivered in the great hall of the university, there was much noise and boisterous behaviour, including the .practice of "passing-up." This consists In wrenching individual students from their seats, and passing them on outstn.ti_l.ed hands above the benches. At one stage Mr. Asquith threatened, "If you don't stop I will stop.*" The principal (the Key. George Adam Smith) intervened: "I am snre the bulk of the students want to hear the rector out," and this was loudly cheered. One student in a girl's dress sprang on a bench, unfurled a yellow flag, and blew a tin horn during Mr. Asquith's opening period. He was seized md expelled amid uproarious merriment. CARRIAGE WRECKED. But the worst followed the end of the aauress. There was a rush of students to •the quadrangle, where a landau was in waiting for Mr Asquith and the principal. •It had been arranged that the students, should drag the carriage from the univer-1 slty to the principal's residence, two miles away. The landau was Immediately seized 1 by the bolder spirits, who attached ropes and dragged it out into the street. Fully a score .jumped in and on to the box, but i were at' once subjected to a fusilade of! green peas by the other students. They retaliated by stripping the vehicle of its fit-, tings and using them as ammunition.

A HOWLING HORDE. In a melee the landau was upset but righted again. Amid a fusilade of peas and fittings the howling horde continued their journey. One of the wheels became detached, but the occupants still retained possession, and raised the hoods to shelter themselves from the missiles. Presently the hoods too were wrenched away and used as ammunition. • At this stage Mr Asquith and the principal appeared at the entrance to the university. The dilapidated carriage was brought into position for them, but they refused to take their seats, and a motor car was put at their disposal. They drove off amid enthusiastic cheering.

Left with the denuded carriage, the student! proceeded with tha work of dunoU-

tton. Mtaui » rear wheel. It was dragged into the street, where it was upeet In this Inverted position it, was hauled for some dtotance, till in an attempt to right it tho remaining rear wheel became detached. Headlong down a steep street leading to the harbour the, excited youths rushed, the occupants one by one dropping off. When the quayside was reached the carriage was a mass kit wreckage. With a wild whoop It was toppled Into; the dock, and although several attempts were made to recover it, the ropes gave way. The students wound up their escapade with a tug-of-wa__L f ' Later in the day the university aenatus held an Inquiry, and sixteen atudeirts were ordered to defray the cost of the carriage to the amount of about £80. '