Terrible Tragedy in Wellington

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 40, 20 September 1892, Page 2

Terrible Tragedy in Wellington

(per phess association.) - Wellington, September 18. A shocking murder was committed last Sunday morning shortly after 11 o'clock on Waterloo quay, a sailor named Charles Greenrose, a Russian Finn, belonging to the barque Doris Eckhoff (which recently ' arrived from New Yorkj, being shot through the heart by the first mate of the vessel, Henry William Finley by name, who also attempted to shoot another man, a sailor named Wm. Lynch, belonging to the New Zealand Shipping Company's ship Waimate. The perpetration of such a crime cansed a great amount of excitement in the city. On Saturday night Finley and Seel (mate of another vessel) met Lynch, the deceased (Greenrose), and two or three other seamen belonging to^the- Doris Eckhoff, at one of the hotels in the city and a quarrel took place. Blows were struck, but no serious damage was caused to either side. There was considerable ill-feeling and the breach had not been healed when the parties separated that evening. ' Opposite Cable's Foundry, Lynch and Greenrose met the two mates Seel and Finley, on Sunday morning, who were coming from the opposite direction; Lynch bid them ' Good morning' to which Seel replied, ' You are the I have been looking for* Lynch then answered, 1 Well, if you want me here I am." ' All right,' responded Seel, and he accompanied the words with a shoye. •As he shoved me,' states Lynch, ' I struck him somewhere about the breast,' The mate of the Doris Eckhoff then, it seems, interfered, not with the intention of separating the men, but for the purpose of assisting Seel, ' I thought he was going to doublebank me,' Lynch stated. The deceased then took Lynch 's part, and said to Finley, ' Don't you interfere.' Finley then struck Greenrose, who returned the blow. Up till this time the affair did not appear anything 1 more serious than a fourhanded fistic encounter, but Lynch states that no sooner did Greenrose return Finley'o blow than Seel said, 'Pull out your shooter and fire.' Finley drew a fivei chambered revolver; from his right hand hip pocket, and Lynch heard Seel urging Finley to use his 'shooter.* Greenrose remained close to the mates, who wer6 standing within ' arm's "'.length of , 'each other. On drawing the revolver, Finley took aim at Lynch and fired, hut the shot missed him. The deceased then ran at Finley, apparently with the object of preventing him firing again. Finley turned round and fired at him. Lynch thinks the shot must have struck Greenrose in the head, as he staggered, but did not fall. Lynch was now about a dozen yards away, and Finley fired at him again but the shot again missed him. Lynch still remained standing about 10 or 12 yards away"' from Finley, and al^ lowed himself to be made a target of. Twice more, he says, Finley pointed the weapon at him and pulled the trigger, but the revolver did not go off. The next shot was fired at the unfortunate Greenrose, and with fatal effect, for' this time he fell never to rise again, shot through the heart. When he saw his mate fall, Lynch took to his heels and ruu down the wool wharf and got aboard his ship as quickly as . possible. He then stood on the forecastle head and watched the pair (Finley and Seel) come down the wharf. Finley was apparently determined to put an end to Lynch, and he went on to the wharf again, and fired once more at 'Lynch, and for the third time missed him. - Lynch ran round the deckhouse, up to the forecastle, and seizing a handspike, hurled it over the vessel's , side at Finley. Finley after firing the fifth shot returned to his ship. McDonald was struck in the groin by one of the shots intended for Lynch. After receiving the wound, which caused him considerable pain, McDonald made his way , to the ship Waimate as best he could and remained there. The other men Stoke. Johanson, and Peterson were considerably alarmed at the serious aspect of affairs. ', Both the mates, Finley and Seel, were shortly afterwards arrested by the police. The body of the unfortunate man Greenrose was removed to the Morgue, 'and McDonald, the wounded sailor, was taken to the Hospital with a bullet in his thigh. September 19. The two prisoners, Finley and Seel, . were brought up at the Court this morning on a charge of murder. A large crowd was present in the Court. The hearing of the case was adjourned till Friday next.