Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 103, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1901 — Page 6

PRESIDENT M'KINLEY SHOT

Chief Executive Victim of Assassin at the Buffalo Fair. President Extends His Hand to One of Throng and Receives Wounds. • ■ 1 v One Bullet Surgeons Fail to Find, but They Hope It May ,4 Not Prove Fatal. While Blood Stains His Clothing the Wonnded fflan Calmly Assures His Friends. Would-Be Murderer Is Quickly Taken Into Custody to Escape Fury of People. Tragedy Recalls the Slaying coln and Garfield —Whole Nation Expresses Sorrow. In the presence of thousands of people President McKinley was shot down by an assassin a few minutes after 4 o'clock Friday afternoon in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition grounds. One bullet struck the breastbone, glanced aside into the flesh and was easily removed by surgeons. The other entered the abdomen, pierced the front and rear walls of the stomach and buried itself in tome spot In the President’s body not readily reached by the probes of the Burgeon. This more serious wound was dressed and closed with several stitches and the physicians awaited results, declaring the President had a fair chance for recovery. The assailant, Leon Czolgosz, was arrested immediately. Subsequently he confessed he was an anarchist and a disciple of Emma Goldman. The startling attack on the Chief Executive took place while the President was exchanging pleasant greetings with visitors to the' exposition. Many hundred people had shaken hands with the President, one of the last being a burly colored man. He murmured his acknowledgments of the honor and moved on to make way for a heavily built young fellow about 28 years old who was slowly following him in the long line. There was nothing to mark him from the thousabds around him, except that he carried' a' handkerchief In his hand and even that, perhaps, was scarce worthy of note, for the building was small and crowded, the weather was sultry and thousands of handkerchiefs were in constant requisition. The young man moved rapidly to a position immediately in front of the President, so close that he could have shaken his hand. As he had done so many hundreds of times in the preceding half hour, Mr. McKinley bowed, smiled and extended his hand. Bnt the young man did not grasp it. So quickly that the watchful eyes of the President’s bodyguard had no hint of the menace in his movement, he raised the hand in which the handkerchief was held and tired two shots at the President. The handkerchief had covered a revolver, which he had carried thus openly through the crowd. At the sound of the shots Detective Ireland, of the secret service force, leaped upon tlie man like a tiger and close behind him came tLje colored man who had just shaken hands with the President. While they struggled with him on the floor President McKinley took a step backward and was instantly clasped in the arms of Detective

WHERE M’KINLEY WAS SHOT. Diagram showing points where the bullets catered the body of the President.

Gerry, another member of his bodypurd. The President <li<l not fall, nor dM be reel, although both bullets had ■truck him. Half turning his head to tbe officer, he asked: “Am I shot?" Evidently bo had been ■• stunned with surprise that he had ask felt the impact of tbe bullets. While vu speaking the officer and Secretary Oortelyou had been leading him backward to a chair and hatKdoru open

his vest. Blood was on his shirt front and Detective Gerry, answering his question, said: “1 fear you are, Mr. President.” Secretary Cortelyou sank on one knee beside the President’s chair and gazed anxiously into his face. ‘‘Do not be alarmed," said the President, "it is nothing.” His head sank forward into his bands a moment and then he Raised it briskly, while the stream of crimson welled from the wound in his breast and spread in an ever-widening circle on his white shirt front. “But you are wounded,” exclaimed Mr. Cortelyou, “let me examine.” “Nov no.” insisted the President, “I am not badly injured, I assure you.” With a bullet in his breast and another through his stomach, he did ljot lose consciousness. He sat almost as stanch and straight in his chair as though his assailant’s shots had missed and he seemed the calmest and least perturbed of the immense gathering. President Milburn and Secretary Cortelyou were almost frantic with alarm, but the wounded man continued to assure them that his injuries were trifling. This dramatic scene upon the little platform was enacted In the midst of a terrible tumult, which continued uninterruptedly for many minutes. When the secret service men and the colored man first threw themselves upon Czolgosz, the assailant of the President, and pinned him to the floor lest be should try to use the revolver again, twenty more men hurled themselves upon the scrambling quartette and buried Czolgosz from sight. Every man in that struggling, crazy throng was striving to get hold of Czolgosz, to strike him, to rend him, to wreak upon him in any way the mad fury which possessed them instantly they realized what he had done. The greater part of the crowd was stunned for an Instant by the enormity of the crime they witnessed, but when the reaction came they surged forward like wild beasts, the strongest tearing the weakest back out of the way and forcing themselves forward to where the prisoner was held by his captors. All the time a tumult of sound filled the place, a hollow roar at first, punctuated by the shrieks of women, swelling into a medley of yells and curses. Men said 'unintelligible things as they pushed and crowded toward the center of the swaying mob. They wanted to lynch Czolgosz, whoever he was. They wanted to see him and they shouted vainly at the police officers in front to drag him out. Mad Effort to Gain Revenge. A little force of exposition guards, penned in by the clamoring mob, fought desperately to hold their prisoner from the bloodthirsty crowd. They had Czolgosz safe and fast. His revolver had been wrenched from his hand In the instant that Detective Ireland fell upon him. and he was helpless, bruised and bleeding. His face was cut when he was thrown to the

VICE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. He would succeed to the Presidency in case of McKinley's death.

floor and a dozen eager, vicious hands had struck at him and reached him over the shoulders of the officers. Slowly, very slowly, the little force of police made way through the crowd, dragging the prisoner between them. They were determined there should be no lynching. Things were bad enough as it was, and a lynching would have been' the crowning horror of the day. From outside the building, where the news had spread from lip to lip, more thousands pushed and jostled and shouted in their eagerness to enter the building. Those inside were struggling in two directions—the more timorous to escape from the place before a stampede should crush out their lives and the hot-headed to reach Czolgosz —only to reach Czolgosz was their one Idea. President Keeps Calm. And thus the contest raged while the President sat, pale but calm, In the midst of the excited little group on the platform. It was impossible to take him away at the moment. Every doorway was jammed with a crazy, shouting mob moving in two directions, trying to escape aud trying to enter. Toward the main door the police were lighting their way with lists and billies to get Czolgosz out of the crowd and place him behind the bars. Upon the minutes which were speeding might depend the President’s life, for no medical aid could reach him In that maelstrom, and It was evident that he was sorely wounded. More police came plunging Into the crowd from headquarters, where the direful news had sped. They hurled themselves upon the swaying mob, they struck and pushed and shouted commands and it slowly gave Way Just enough so they could reach the little band struggling to save Czolgosz from a sudden and frightful death. They

dragged him out, hustled him away through the beautiful exposition grounds and threw him behind barred doors, where he was saved for the law to deal with him. Massing their men where they could best handle the excited crowd, the police cleared a passageway to one of the doors for the bearing away of the President, and on the stretcher of an ambulance which had come clanging to the door he was tenderly carried from the building and borne in the ambulance to the emergency near the service building, within the exposition grounds. Though this takes long in the telling, probably it was not more than five minutes from the time the shots were fired until the President was in the hospital and a hasty examination'was begun by the surgeons. Just twenty years after President Garfield fell before the bullets of the demented Guiteau another attempted assassination has been added to American history. For the third time since the nation began a man with murder in his heart has sought to remove the chief executive. NATION IS SHOCKED. Whole Country Grieve* Over the* Murderous Assault on Its Chief. The news of the attempt on the life of the President was received from one end of the country to the other first with hor-

M'KINLEY'S CANTON HOME.

rifled amazement and then with the deepest grief. In the clubs, hotels and theaters of every city in the United States men and women gathered aud waited for hours to get every scrap of information that came over tb wires. In thousands of small towns the whole population stood about the loci\,l telegraph offices and watched tearfully and anxiously for bulletins. Telegraph offices everywhere were swamped with business, messages of sympathy for the President and his wife from almost every man of prominence in the nation, and for hours after the shooting telephone trunk lines were so overburdened that only a small percentage of subscribers were able to secure service. Dispatches during Friday night from every State in the Union showed how widespread and intense was the feeling of dismay and the sense of personal affliction with which the news was received. Public men of all shades of political opinion and social status alike shared the

PRESIDENT WILLIAM M’KINLEY.

STATEMENT BY CORTELYOU.

George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President, Saturday morning gave out the following statement: “The President was shot about 4 o'clock. One bullet struck him on the upper portion of the breastbone, glancing and not penetrating; the second bullet penetrated the abdomen five inches below the left nipple and one and one-half inches to the left of the median line. “The abdomen was opened through the line of the bullet wound. It was found that the bullet had penetrated the stomach. “The opening in the front wall of the stomach was carefully closed with silk stitches, after which a search was made for a hole In the back wall of the stomach. This was found and also closed In the same way. "The further course of the bullet could not be discovered, although careful search was made. The abdominal wound was closed without drainage. No Injury to the Intestines or other abdominal organ was discovered. “The patient stood the operation well, pulse of good quality, rate of 130; condition at the conclusion of operation was gratifying. The result cannot he foretold. His condition at present justifies hope of recovery. * “GEORGE B. CORTELYOU, “Secretary to the President.

anxiety and found themselves grasping hands with one another and praying that Mr. McKinley’s life might be spared. All the details of the tragedy were sought for with trembling eagerness, and in all the large centers of population every effort was made to supply this demand by the newspapers, which issued extras at intervals till far into the night. CON FES jLS HIS GUILT. Leon Czolgosz Tells of His Attack on the President, Leon Czolgosz, the accused and selfconfessed assassin, signed a confession, in which he says that he is an anarchist, and that he decided on the act three days before and bought in Buffalo the revolver with which it was committed. He is unmarried. He claims to be a member of the Golden Eagles. Czolgosz has not appeased in the least uneasy or penitent for his action and shows no sign of insanity. The man’s name is Leon Czoigosz. He is of Polish-German extraction. His home is in Cleveland, where he has seven brothers and sisters. He is an avowed anarchist and an ardent disciple of Eiutma Goldman, whose teachings, he alleges, are responsible for his attack on the President. He denies steadfastly

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that he is the instrument of any body of anarchists or the tool of any coterie of plotters. He declares that he did not have,a confederate. His only reason for the deed, he declares, is that he believed the present form of government in the United States is unjust, and he cofacluded that the most effective way to remedy it was to kill the President. These conclusions, he declares, he reached through the teachings of Emma Goldman. ROOSEVELT INFORMED. Vice President Hurriedly Leaves Vermont for Knifalo. The news of the attempted assassination of President McKinley reached VicePresident Roosevelt at Isle La Motte, Vermont, at 5:30 p. m. When Col. Roosevelt finished his speech it was announced that he would give an informal reception. He had entered the home of ex-Lieut. Gov. Fiske and was resting when the news reached the island. Col. Roosevelt was greatly shocked by the news, and his evidences of grief were pronounced. After a brief consultation it was decided to announce the sad event. Senator Proc-

tor was requested to make the announcement. When usked for a statement Col. Roosevelt said: “I am so inexpressibly 1 grievpd, shocked and horrified that I can say nothing.” A special train was made up for the run to Buffalo. The VicePresident was accompanied to Buffalo by Senator Redfield Proctor. Bryan Deplore* the Deed. Following receipt of the news of the attempt on his life, W. J. Bryan sent a brief message to President McKinley expressing his concern. Mr. Bryan gave out a statement, in which he said: ‘‘ln a republic where the people elect their officials and can remove them, there can be no excuse for n resort to violence. If our President were inconstant fear of plots and conspiracies we would sdbn sink to the level of those nations in which force is the only weapon of the government, and the only weapon of the government's enemies." Cleveland Greatly Phocked. Ex-President Grover Cleveland was fishing at Darling Lake, in Tyrlngham, Mass., when he received the news. Mr, Cleveland was horrified at the news ana said: “I am greatly shocked. I canndt conceive of a motive. It must have beeh the act of a crazy man.”

DOCTORS GIVE HOPE

Express Opinion Tuesday that McKinley Will Live. ■ w THINK DANGER PAST. First Part of Critical Time Shows No Evidence of Complications. Watchers at the Patient’s Side Cheered by Chance in His Condition First Nourishment Given Since Tragedy Is Injected in Liquid Form —Final Medical Judgment Witbßeld for the Sake of Prudence, but Physicians Expect No Unfavorable Tnrn. “President McKinley will live.” This, according to a Buffalo dispatch early Tuesday morning, was the private opinion of the attending physicians, although for the sake *of prudence they decided to withhold this assertion from the public bulletins for several hours. While the doctors were evidently of the opinion that the chauces were all in favor of the President, medical experience with similar . wounds caused enough anxiety to make them extremely cautious in their public statements. The hazardous period of seventy-two hours immediately following the shooting and the operation was passed without the first sign of blood poisoning. The President late Tuesday afternoon seemed to he recovering rapidly. Monday his surgeons said if he could pass another twenty-four hours without complications lie would surely get well. The Ilwenty-four hours showed uothing.but improvement. Monday night’s official bulletin was of such tenor as to add confidence of the soundest and most rational soil to the hopefulness of tlie day. As yet the surgeons in charge of the ease did not feel that they were professionally warranted in officially declaring the President out of danger. It Is well understood that Drs. Mcßurney, Park, Mann and liixey are conservatism itself. They are not going to affix their signatures to a declaration that all danger has disappeared until they are doubly sure of It. At the same time they stated privately to the family of the President, to the members of the Cabinet and to immediate friends that the danger line had been crossed. 81eeps and Get* Nourishment. Sunday, for the first time since the shooting, the President enjoyed natural sleep. Between 9 and 4 o’clock he had the solace of natural slumber for about four hours, and the physicians stated unofficially that his sleep had been “quiet and reposeful,” and had helped the sufferer a great deal. Sunday, also for the first time, nourishment was administered. It was in liquid form and was given by injection, to avoid the possibility of irritating the walls of the stomach. The exterior wound was dressed during the morning and seemed progressing satisfactorily. The President dozen drowsily throughout the major portion of Saturday. Two physicians and two trained nurses were constantly at his bedside. He did not

LEON CZOLGOSZ.

quickly recover from the effects of the ether which was administered to him. He was under the influence of the powerful anaesthetic over an hour. Not a cabinet officer, mot even Secretary Cortelyou, was allowed in the sick chamber Saturday. With the exception of the physicians and attendants, Mrs. McKinley was. the only person who crossed the threshold. The President nsked to see her and his physicians did not have the heart to refuse his request. She was there but a few minutes. Mrs. McKinley had been warned not to talk and the President and his wife exchanged only a few words. It was only when he asked her to be brave for both their sakes that she faltered and almost broke down. With choking throat and brimming eyes she promised with a bow of her head. Almost immediately thereafter she was led from the room by Dr. Itixey. PHYSICIAN’S HOPEFUL VIEW. Dr. McHurney Says He May Be Well In » Four Weeks. Dr. Charles Mcßurney, the celebrnted N?ew York surgeon who was summoned kor consultation with tbe other physicians, said after the conference: “With no set-back, President McKinley will be able to resume his duties at the White House within three or four weeks, lie* has taken uo opiates since Saturday and. is being nourished by whisky, hot water and raw egg* administered by injection.”