Shots fired after angry words over yacht deal

Though acquainted, mariner Henry Jones and yacht broker Max Schultz had not conducted business together.

However, it was over a potential deal that Jones accused Schultz of skulduggery and, arming himself with a revolver, set out for him with near-fatal consequances.

That evening, June 29, 1909, the broker had been talking with a friend at the crowded Pier Hotel at the bottom of the High Street when Jones walked in and approached him over the transaction of a yacht.

But suddenly, to onlookers’ astonishment, Jones shouted: “You are a liar and a fraud. I will have you hounded out of Southampton.”

Angry words then turned to violence, with Jones pushing Schultz in the chest. The broker went to retaliate but the landlord swiftly intervened. However, Jones would not be placated, hurling a bottle which struck Schultz over the head.

As Schultz lay dazed on the barroom floor, the publican threw Jones out and bystanders thought that the fracas was done and dusted – but not so. Jones abruptly went to his lodgings on the second floor of the Southampton Restaurant to arm himself with a five-chambered revolver.

Still incandescent with rage, he headed directly for the Pier Hotel but could not find his quarry and surmised that he had gone to his home in nearby Oxford Street.

“Never mind,” he sneered to all and sundry. “I will shoot the beast, I know where he lives.”

But Schultz was not there – instead, for reasons unknown, he had taken a room at the hotel.

Increasingly frustrated at still not locating Schultz, Jones bizarrely scoured the area in search of a police officer and eventually found one in Sergeant Shepherd.

“Have you heard of a man called Schultz,” he demanded.

“Why?” the sergeant asked.

Jones pointed to a bruise on his head.

“He has assaulted me tonight. He told me a lie yesterday and I met him in the Pier Hotel and told him he was a liar. I know where he lives. He will go on his knees for this.”

Realising that Jones was under the influence of drink but not drunk, the sergeant suggested that he should forget about the perceived insult and sleep it off at home.

Jones, however, refused to listen and returned to the hotel, repeatedly banging on the front door so loudly that a friend of Schultz eventually came out.

Unfortunately, a few seconds later, so did Schultz.

“I saw Mr Jones and went to shake his hand after what had taken place,” he recalled. “I heard him say ‘Take that, take that’, and I heard two shots. I could not tell where he had shot me but I felt a sudden weakness.

“In fact, I had been shot in the hand but I could not feel the shot in the leg. I fell to the ground and Dr O’Mara attended me. I had not had anything to drink until 10pm but I was perfectly sober.”

The victim was taken to the infirmary, where he was detained for 36 hours while doctors tended the wounds to his right hand and right leg.

His evening round had taken Sgt Shepherd to Holyrood Church, which stood virtually opposite the hotel, and he was chatting to the beat bobby PC Curly when they heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire.

They ran across the road and heard Schultz gasp: “Goodbye Jones, you have shot me.”

Jones immediately confessed: “I did it.”

The sergeant realised that Jones had fired the shots from inside his jacket and, dipping his hand into its right hand pocket, he removed the revolver.

Jones was taken to the Bargate police station and charged with shooting with intent to murder.

Asked if he had anything to say, he protested: “I did not intend to murder him. I did it in self-defence. He has been knocking me about and threatened to break my neck.”

The same morning, he appeared before the town magistrates and despite a firm application for bail, was remanded in custody to await trial at the Assizes.

There in November, Jones pleaded not guilty but admitted wounding, which the prosecution accepted.

Much of the Hampshire Independent’s report concerned itself with a series of witnesses testifying to the defendant’s excellent character.

Chief among them was the owner and editor of Yachting World, who said: “I have always found him a peaceful and quiet man.”

Despite entreaties from witnesses and the defence barrister, the judge, Mr Justice Phillimore, jailed Jones for 12 months.

He said: “It is painful a man of your character should be in this position.

“Whether you were drunk, in a temper or angry, I do not know. A slight deflection of the weapon and you might have been in grave peril of murder.”