THE SHELBURNE TRAGEDY. now DID OLD JOHJJ SMITH COME TO HIS DEATH ? رHIS NEPeS:^ TEIED toe THfi CBllLE. STRONG CIECUMBTANTIAI, EVIDENCE. John Smithy a boy about 17 years old, is of a. delicate age to be charged with the commis- sion of the highest ciiine in the calendar, ^he victim, too, a near relative, his uncle. Vet lie is the chief living actor in the dread- ful trage.ly knovn as the Shelbume or Am- OTantli horror. THE cr.iiiE. The circumstances of tlio crime are as fel- : lows ر John Smitli, the of tliis mysterious tragedy, a quiet and high- ly respected bachelor farnter, aged 70. living alone with his nephew,.^aKcd 14, on the ;-cuth east half of the.^St^half of lot 27, 4th concession,t&wn5hip^|?"}Ctaaranth about 4 miles froin Shelbimie," .,'^s on Saturday night, the ,21*t.''of January last, sitting by jiis fireside after supper, when, according to the neohew's story, a shot was fired through tlio uncurtained window, and lie fell to tiie floor. His nephew, who v;as in the house at ihe time reading a newspaper, saw, he s^|^, t'lat the shot had been fired by a man out- .--iile with adark beardjand moustacheand dark f'o;bes. He ran out, but before he reached the door a bullet was fired through his cap. fie ran in and informad a neighbor, distant n mile and a half, of the deed. On looking l;:ick be saw tlie Lou?e en fiie. The body of tlie old man was found near the door, with j.iart of one leg burned off. He was reputed t" be well off, and was known to have consid- 'lable money in the house. Ui)on examiua- liju c'l tl;e body a scalp wound was found, two inches long. The parietal bone under tKe scalp and the bones on the right side of the he;اi and face were fractured. No aper- ture 'was found in the brain by which it was jc'ssibleforabullettoenterorescape. Un- der a mimite examination no indication of a '( ulletorotlierforeignbody-wasdiscovered. Tne moJital experts, therefore, en me to the eonclusiou tliat death was caused by a heavy i-'iow inilictod on the ri^ht side of t}io heail :'.i:d face. This evidence impeached tlie ver- Hjity of the boy stronglj-, and when a hard- ware merchant turned up who said chat a boy wa in Lc was reasonably suie was Smith, pirchasoi a revolver at his store before the i;inrder. the current of suspicion turned ;;yainst him. He was finaliy arrested and I'oiumitted for trial. A MYSTEKIOUS CASE. Ti:C tnul of the case was fixed for April I'.st, but po-tponed in order to give the Crowu ample time to endeavor to clear up wluil is undoubtedly one of the most mys- terious ca-^es that has ever non-plussed L'rowa attorneys in this country. Opinion is liiviJel as to whether the boy himself com- tnitted the crime of his own wickedness, or v.t the instigation, and under the direction of seme one else. Few doubt that one of these tiieories is correct, and doubtless the circum- stances preclude the exoneration of the pris- oner uulil, at all events, a jur\-'s verdict hav- ing the etic-ct is given. The strongest point Tijiiiinst him so far as is known is the fact that he is identified, so strongly it is tiue by Mr. Hannah, a hardware merchant in Shel- burne. as having purchased a revolver from him a few days prior to the murder. Mr, Fostftr, an assistant in the st-^re, appears to haye taken more notice of the purchaser,and he is positive as to the iaenti;y of young Smith. Tokeninconnectionwiththefacts that after the murJer the easa of the pistol was found near an old well, in the vicinity of the house, and also a namber of cartridges fitting to the weapon, found on the Rroond m the track of the boy's flight from the '^'tminghomesteai, the x>isk>I incident is hard to jiplain away. ¥ LATFB. The evidenae pro and con has been glTen which failed *o reveal ouythinc new, and on MoiiOtiy the Jnd^gaye the Jiuy their ^kuge, who, after an honi's conwdanUion Tetnmed a verdict ( imrا er-me to no oElisr aonalnaiHu -S^a tmdiBcharfaL" unfortunate victim