FATAL GAMBLE FOR BRIDE.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9151, 21 May 1908, Page 6

FATAL GAMBLE FOR BRIDE.

WINNER SHOT DEAD BY GIRL HE HAD WON. A RIVAL’S ATTACK. New York, March 31. A game of poker, for which a beautiful young girl was the prize, was played "by two wealthy planters at Oolumba, Mississippi, under exceptionally thrilling circumstances last night. The game had an unexpectedly tragic ending, for the winner, who was the suitor favored by the girl, was accidentally killed by her when she went to his rescue during a desperate fight with his rival. The latter had accused him of cheating, and tried to strangle him, whereupon the girl seized a rifle and fired point blank at his assailant. The bullet hit the'wrong man. The players were Mr Charles Wesley and Mr P. F. Coombs, both large land-owflprs and cotton planters. The girl fox' wh ?|® they played is Miss Eunice the 19-year-old daughter of another* planter, living on a large estate 10 miles from Columba. JEALOUS SUITORS. Both men had been courting Miss Spencer for months, and were constant visitors at her heme. The girl apparently treated them impartially, and the rivalry between them aroused keen interest in the neighbourhood. Last night both men called on Miss Spencer, and at her suggestion the trio played cards- Finally, after several games of “seven up," Coombs proposed to his| rival that they settle the question of the right to court Miss Spencer by playing five hands of poker, the loser agreeing to discontinue his visits. Wesley assented, and Miss Spencer, who says she regarded the contest as' a joke, watched the game, Wesley won the first two hands, and Ooomhs the second two. When the cards were dealt for the fifth and deciding baud both men were, to use Miss Spencer’s expression, “as white as a sheet of notepaper." She admits that she had no desire to stop the game, because she hoped that Ooomhs would win. Coombs did win, hut as he laid down his cards triumphantly, Wesley leaned across the table and caught him by the throat, exclaiming, “You cheated, you cur." TRAGIC FIGHT. The men fought savagely, and Wesley, who is large and powerfullybuilt , finally threw the Other down and knelt on his chest, apparently for the purpose of strangling him. _ Miss Spencer screamed for assistance, and was about to “run out of the room when Coombs, who managed to free himself, called out to her, “Stop him; he’s killing me. ”

The girl picked up a loaded rifle belonging to her father, and fired point-blank at Wesley. At that moment, however, Coombs, by a superhuman effort, threw off his assailant, and half rose. The bullet struck him in the heart and he fell back dead.

Wesley rushed out of the house, and drove at break-neck pace to the nearest railway station, where he boarded a train for Vicksburg.

Miss Spencer declares that Coombs “played fair,” and that she would have married him anyway, whether he won or lost. The authorities have decided not to prosecute her. Miss Spencer is prostrate with grief, and it is feared that she will lose her reason.