People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1894 — SLAIN IN A RIOT. [ARTICLE]

SLAIN IN A RIOT.

Result of a Bitter Religious War In Kansas City. Catholics and Member* of tbe Americas Protective Association Fight at the Polls-Two Men Killed and Several Others Wounded. BLOOD IS SHED. Kansas City, Mo., April s.—The bitter animosities that have existed here between the American Protective association and the Catholics culminated Tuesday in a pitched battle in w hich two men were killed, two fatally ini jured and two others wounded, as folj lows: Killed—Con Brosnahan, shot through the : kidneys. Michael Callahan, shot through right j side. Fatally injured—Perry Fowler, shot through j the back; Jerry Pate, shot in the face, j Seriously wounded—Patrick Fleming, shot ' in the left shoulder; John McGovern, shat | through right arm It cannot be definitely said which is responsible for the unfortunate affair, as the partisans of each loudly charged the other with being the full cause of all the trouble. More than 100 shots were exchanged between the combatants in less than that many seconds, and when the firing ceased the men named were lying dead, dying or injured on the pavement. I The two antagonistic elments were solidly divided in their choice of candidates for mayor. The strong and aggresive support that each side gave to its candidate during one of the hottest campaigns ever known in this city engendered a strong sentiment of bigotry. It was, therefore, in no amiable mood that the workers of the respective factions came together at the different polling places throughout the city, and that these workers came expecting trouble to occur before the day was over was apparent from the number of deadly weapons that were drawn when the first pistol shot was fired.

This riot took place on the Southwest boulevard in the Fifth ward, close to police station No. 3, and those who took part in it had been heated to the fighting temper by reports that had been hourly arriving at the station of brawls at other polling places. Only one hour before it was known that John Gooley, a stonemason, was shot in the back and forehead by William Henry Walker at a voting place at the corner of Fifth and Campbell streets and that the row was directly due to a fiery debate between the men regarding the principles of the American Protective association to which Gooley was violently opposed. It is claimed that Michael Callahan fired the first shot He was a member of a gang of men working under the lead of James Prior, a politician antagonistic to the A. P. A., and in support of Frank Johnson, the labor and independent democratic candidate for mayor. Callahan was killed.

Then the battle began. The deputy j constables at the polling booth and the | workers of all the political factions j crowded together in a solid mass anout ! 100 strong, and every one of them j seemed to be armed. For a minute or two the discharge of weapons sounded ! like a discharge of musketry by a regi- ! merit. Hundreds of citizens gathered ! at every point of vantage to witness j the battle, which, however, was of short duration. I In less than five minutes from the ! time the first shot was fired the police from station No. 3 appeared upon the scene and quieted the disturbance. With their approach the fighting political workers eeased hostilities and made a quick effort to hide their weapons. While the riot was in progress it is said that members of the American Protective association telephoned to Armourdale and Argentine, strongholds, of that order, for 1,000 men, and that the assurance was given that the men would shortly be on the way. Members of the A. P. A. in this city and Armourdale deny the truth of this story. Pryor's men are claiming that Callahan was an innocent victim. They assert that it was Jerry N. Pate, an A. P. A. man, who first shot, and that was the shot that killed Callahan. Pate was serving as a constable, having been ; appointed especially by a Westport ofj ficial to serve a warrant for the arrest of Jim Pryor, John Pryor, his son, and ! Bert Pryor for an alleged felonious as- | sault upon a citizen earlier in the day. | He and Callahan met, had words, and either one or the other fired the shot i that brought on the conflict.