A Shooting Affair.

Hastings Standard, Issue 123, 17 September 1896, Page 4

A Shooting Affair.

ATTEMPT TO KILL A MILLIONAIRE. Whilst the suit brought by Lilian Ashley against E. J. Baldwin for seduction was going forward in the law courts of San Francisco on July 2, Emma Ashley, a sister of the plaintiff, tried to shoot the millionaire defendant. When certain important and interesting evidence was given by the plaintiff, her sister Emma rose from her seat in the body of the court, and, walking behind the chair on which Baldwin was sitting, took from her handbag a small revolver. This she levelled -at Baldwin's head, with the muzzle about two inches from his skull. She tried to pull the trigger, but it did not move. Then she used both hands. The pistol went off, but the bullet had missed the intended victim, and when the startled occupants of the court looked to the spot they saw the young woman trying to fire again. Baldwin's business manager rushed over, struck the woman a violent blow on the waist, and tore the pistol from her grasp. It was subsequently discovered tha;t Balwin's hair had been singed by the powder and that the bullet must have passed within an inch of his head. The bullet was found in the wall of the court, fifteen feet from Judge Slack's chair. According to the Honolulu Evening Bulletin's San Francisco correspondent, Miss Emma Ashley, in speaking of her attempt to kill Balwin said—" It would not have been murder, it would have been retribution. I tried to kill that man because I believe it my duty before God to rid the world of the wretch who dragged my innocent sister down to the lowest depths. I believed it to be God's will that he should die by my hand, but it was not to be, and I accept His will. My act was inspired by what I considered to be my duty to God and humanity." It is a general opinion that the woman has become crazed by excessive religious devotion and brooding over her sister's wrongs. The shooting so upset everybody that the ease stow ©Yet for a fow days,