Huntsville gazette., 1881-10-22
from going into the hands of the rebels and
Democrats was to quietly remove the Presi.

Democrats was to quietly remove the Presi.
dent.
PREPARING FOR THE CRIME.
1.-Two weeks after | conceived the idea
my mind was thoroughly settled on the in
tention to remove the President. l then
prepared myself. i sent to Boston for q
copy OF my book, THE Truth and l spent
week III preparing that. / cut out para
graph and line and word here and there,
and added one or two new chapters, put
some new ideas in it, and / greatly i'm
proved it. knew that it would probably
have large sale on account Of the notoriety
that the act of removing the President
would give me, and | wished the book to
60 out to the public in proper shape. That
was one preparation for it. Another prep
aratlon was to think the matter all out in
detail and to buy revolver and to prepare
myself for executing the idea."
PURCHASE OF THE REVOLVER.
Guiteau bought the revolver before the
President went to Long Branch. II called
at O'Meara's, corner Of Fifteenth and +
streets, opposite the Treasury, about two or
three weeks before the removal. / stepped
out to the showcase and said: Let me look
at that / saw it was large bore, and he
pulled it out, saw it marked British Bull
Dog and saw that it was an unusual re-
yolver, and he said, That viii kill horse,'
or something to that effect. There were
two just alike, except one had an ivory ham
die, for ten dollars, and the other plain
wooden handle for nine dollars. 1 got the
best one for ten dollars. was very timid in
holding it. | knew nothing about weapons
at all; looked at it in an unsophisticated
way, snapped it, and / said: THAT will
make good noise,' and he said: 'Oh, yes,
that will kill a horse;' he said: Il never
want q bullet like that in me- said: Per
haps l may get that some OF these days.
Three or four days afterward l stepped in
thpra and snlpptpI rpynlVnr with the
ivory handle, and got a box of cart
ridges and little penknife, and he
said he would give me the entire
purchase for ten dollars. j did not have
the money when / first wentin, i got it from
a gentleman in the interim. He loaded
the revolver, and said: Put that right
into your pocket Said L: is there any
law here against carrying a revolver? He
said Yes, there is, but they don't enforce
it except against drunken people. Where
can l shoot this?' says l. He says: Well,
you can 60 down to the foot Of seventeenth
street and fire it off into the river In the
course Of two or three days U remember it
was the Saturday night after l bought it) L
went down about seven O'Clock in the even
ing and shot it off twice-that is, l shot off
ten cartridges. At the first shot | was
about ten feet from saplng three inches
in diameter, that was stuck into the mud,
and | pulled and struck the sapling, and it
hollow; l was terribly excited at the noise
and power Of the weapon; thought l: that
is a terrible Weapon;' it sounded like lit
tie cannon; it startled me. l fired ten
shots, and they went off with tremendous ef-
feet every time; it made terrific noise.
One or TWO men came around. hearing the
report, and on the way back i! noticed n
colored woman and several other people.
'Did you hear that noisef' They said:
'Oh, yes; it made IA terrible noise
" 1 went down again the Saturday morn.
ing hat l intended TO remove the President
when he went to Long Branch and Mrs.
Garfield deferred me. L got up about 4:30
that morning and | went right down to the
same place. / got down there about five
O'Clock. 1t was a bright, splendid morning,
/ remember, and l shot it off twice, using
ten cartridges. 1t made a terrible noise, rs
usual. Those are the only times that have
practiced with revolver. i then took it to
the house, wiped it nicely and took the
cartridges and rubbed them oil, and
loaded 1t and put it into my drawer in my
room, and it was in that condition
when | used it on the President. L took
great pains; put it in my coat and wrapped
it up nicely, SO that no moisture could get TO
the powder, in order that it would be in
nice condition when wanted TO use 1t.
took it out several times and carried it in my
hip pocket; but it was not fired off after that
until used it on the President on Saturday
morning. July 2"
HOW THE PRESIDENT FELL.
There was quite large crowd OF ticket
purchasers at the gentleman ticket office
in the adjoining room; the depot seemed to
be quite full of people. There was quite a
crowd and commotion around, and the
President was in the act of passing from the
ladies' room to the main entrance through
the door. | should say he was about four
H. 1..zx. 41a nl- OF
office, in the act Of passing through the door
to get through the depot to the cars. lie
was about three or four feet from the door.
/ stood five or six feet behind him, right in
the middle of the room, and as he Was In
the act OF walking away from me l pulled
out the revolver and fired. He Strengthened
I'D and threw his head back and seemed to
to know what struck him. looked at him;
he did not drop; thereupon pulled again:
He dropped his head, seemed to reel, and
fell over. | do not know where the first
shot hit; Iaimed at the hollow of his back;
did not aim for any particular place, but
kne if | got those two bullets in his back
he would certainly go. was in diagonal
direction from the President, to the north
west, and supposed both shots struck.
THE ARREST.
Guiteau then gives a detailed account OF
his arrest after the shooting, and adds: i
told him Mr.. McEl1reSn) III DTiel WIZ
was and why / did it; that | had some
papers at the news stand that wished him
to get those papers and take them up to
Byron Andrews and his co-journalists; that
the papers would explain all about the
matter. | also told him that wished to go
to Jail at once, and he came in and put the
handouts on me. There were five or SIX
policemen and detectives with him when ne
came in to see me, and he went away and he
came back in few minutes and said that
they had decided to take me right to jail.
and said: ''That is just what L want
And he and his brother officers took me
right out into the room and down the stairs
and into carriage, and he and three other
policemen got in and drove me rapidly to
the Jail. l met Mr.. Russ, the deputy war
den. McElfresh told him that l had shot
the President of the United States, and he
assigned me to cell No. 2, and have been
there ever since, except when have been to
the Warden's room to be interviewed by q
correspondent OF the New York Hsratd. ("
Mr.. Conkling he saw one day in the Vice.
Presidents room at the Capitol. The ex-
Senator was in conversation with gentle
man. 81 sat within a few feet OF him."
SAYS Guiteau, "on the sofa. eyed him and
he eyed me, and when he got through with
his friend I stepped up to him and said:
Good morning, SENATOR and he said good
morning. / said: Il hope to get an ap-
nointment Senator, and / hope when the