The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-11-15
A MANIAC INCENDIARf.

MANIAC INCENDIAkIs
IIe Fights the EsOIIee and Bremen With
Revolver SEsst Cutlass.
About a quarter past nine O'C.cck last
night a fire was discovered In a twO-stOry
house on Third street, between CarOn-
delet and Baronne. The hremen and
police hastened upon the scene and found
the house With closed doors, burning IN
side. 1t appears that the fire was set 5y
a man known by the narne Of Lonis GUS
ter, better known as Crazy Joe. when
the police approached the front door, Joe
made his appearance on the scene and
told them that he would kill the first one
that dared to enter the house. The
officers then ran to the ire-slarm box and
turned IN an alarms
These officers were Flanagan and DonO-
van, and before they could get into t! g
house several other policemen and large
portion of the fire department had ap-
peared on the scene. Then it became
necessary to enter the premises at all
hazard Such being the case, officers
Donovan and Flanagan broke open the
front door, and as they did SO they were
received with three shots fired in rapid
succession from a Colts revolver, which
Crazy Joe held in his hand, standing at
the head of the stairs.
As the first three shots sped wide of
their intended mark, the officers never
faltered, but tried to gain the top of the
stairs, as the fire was in the second story
/ of the building The two officers we're
| followed bv the firemen and several others
of their brother policemen. AS Crazy
| Joe saw that he was about to be over
| powered, he discharged the other two
! chambers of his pistol point blank at the
crowd, but from some unexplained
reason the balls failed to do their desired
work.
After Joe had emptied the contents of
his revolver he retreated into one Of the
rooms which was on fire, regardless of the
volumes of smoke he had to encounter,
and fastened the door. Officers Donovan
and Flanagan, who seem always to have
been in the lead, with giant strength
forced open this door, and as it swung
back on its hinges they could just see
Crazy Joe through the binding Wreaths
of smoke, armed with an artillery cUtlass,
waiting for them to approach. The
officers well knew that Joe had to be
treated with despatch, or he would put
! a mark upon them that they would carry
to their graves, for he keld a weapon in
his hand that would make just such a
mark.
On pressed the officers, aud when they
were in arms length of Joe, the latter
made plunge at officer Donovan, which
took effect in the officers body and forced
him to falter. His brother officer stood
by him nObly, and when he saw him fall ,
advanced upon his opponent (JOe), and
as he did so Joe used the sword upon
him with murderOUs effect. This officer
was Flanagan, and before the crazy man
was done with him he had stabbed him
seven times, giving him four slight
wounds in the back, one slight one in
the breast, one in the right leg, which
severed the muscles, and enc in the head
which is considered the most dangerous,
as it is supposed to have fractured the
skull.
When the two officers, after desperate
fight to hold their ground, had been
vanquished, they were taken from the
room by the fremen, and as they were
being conveyed from the scene of blood,
the chief of the fire department called on
Sergeant Hamilton to go and shoot the
man, but the sergeant declined on the
! ground that he was afraid of shooting an
innocent party.
Chief O'COnnor then borrowed pistol
from an officer, and entering the room
levelled the weapon at Crazy Joe and
pulled the trigger five times, but it failed
to go of. This caused Joe to retreat out
of the room on to the back gallery.
He had no sooner gotten on the gallery
than the firemen turned the hose on him
the water from which, together with th'
acid from the hose of the BabcOck, haC
/. almost smothered and drowned him out
Officer Davis, seeing Joe on the gallery
= rushed upon him and secured him. Ser
D geant Hamilton and Mr. Fred KUhns, O
e No. y, came to his assistance, and wer
q bringing Joe down stairs when he drop
q ped from their grasp a cOrpes. 1t wa
e then thought he had been shot, as severa
q shots had been fred by the police ant
IS firemen at him when he opened the fgh
b at first on the head of the steps bu
d upon examining his body no woun
i could be found, and it IS supposed tina
b he died from excitement and from tn
n acid from the Babcocks.
It Joe was about forty years Ofage and tn
a proprietor of junk store. He leaves
g wife and son somewhere in this city
r They used TO live with him, but he "a
E, them out of the house. The death {
7. this man will be hailed with ioy by A
u his neighbOrs, as they stood in mOrti
40 fear of him. He IS the same partv VIII
le somo menths ago shot at Officers Mill,
n and Ober with a shotgun, and at IL
as same time stabbed officer Barringer
e, the arm while they were trying to eX
d cute a warrant on him. Singular to sa
as that regardless of the number of persO
O. present last night at the FIRE, and Il
T. number of shots fred not a single pers,
II II was wounded by a pistol ball.-Ai
e IN leans Democrat.