The Red Cloud chief., 1884-10-03
The RED CLouD CHIEF
FRIDAY. OCT. 3. 1854
The Barr OAK Tragedy.

ole. All went we'll except for III feeling
OF some toward the gang of thieves and
sharpers, who piled their business Wig
~orously, both within the tents and out.
At. or rather after, the evening por-
formance, however, a disturbance took
place which viii long be remembered
by cur citizens. The particulars in
the case arc rs follows:
Duringthe concert in the evening
one Clint Elliot, Of 3ankato, who was
drunk, made a good deal OF noise by
snecring at the thiuncss Of the enter
tainment, and in consequence 50; into
an alteration with Claude Powers.
adopted son of Miles Orton, tie propri-
0 Officer L. Lacey came up in
time to prevent blows, and ordered
Elliot TO be quiet, which order he
obeycd, but not tillAhc Snowman had
told him that he was spotted" and
would be attended 10 after the per
formance." True 10 the thre@is made.
a. soon rs the performance Wa ended,
Orton's men began hurrying the audi.
cnce from the tent, telling them that
there would be "a fuss. Just - Elliot,
still in the charge of Lacey, emerged
from the tent, he was struck ON the
head with a tent stake in the hands Of
II OF the shoWrnen, and as Lacey Was
STOPPING to help him mp, lac, too, WAS
Lit twice in the back with a sand bag.
Thinking it was going to be pretty hot
for him Mr.. Lacey made tracks for
town 10 procure help. Upon his IT,
turn he was greeted with oaths and
threats from the showmen, but it is
probable 40 open fight would have
taken place, had not two or three I'M
authorized persons, among them George
Evans, our half crazy ex-rcstaurant
keeper, commenced 70 rail back AZ the
circus men, threatening 10 cut the
ropes. This appeared to enrage Or
tons roughs beyond all bounds, and
with the circus cry of "Hey Rcubc p"
they grabbed tent stakes and proceed
ed to deal about them RIGHT and left.
Several hystanders, in all about twenty,
were knocked down, and Evans WAS
pretty badly pounded, a punishment
he well deserved. As the showmen
were in the majority they succeeded in
making the crowd outside the tents
bctake themselves to distance ofsafe-
t.. They however followed the circus
men to the depot, where they were
loading their wagons and tents on the
cars, and another war of words and
clubs followed. in which Lew Hawlev,
who should have b9en in the Jug for
drunkenness, was pretty roughly
handled. Mayor Mann was sent for
20 use his influence TO quiet the crowd,
and had succeeded in doing so, but
just As the train started Evans, who
had been home an got his shot gun. ar
rived on the spot and fired n shot at
the train. At this the showmen be-
gan shooting at the crowd about the
depot, most of whom were spectators
attracted by the disturbance. at the
first volley Zig Longnccker, q hard
working blacksmith. and q man Who'll
ly innocent ~oftaking any part in the
disturbance, was shot through the
brain and fell unconcious upon the
platform. At the second volley Mayor
Mann was shot in the back, and n
young man named O'Neal, from the
country, vas shot IN the heel. The
firing 10y the shownnen was kept no as
long as they thought they could hit
ANY one 1T the depot. The circus train
stopped for the regular train to side
track, but when they started on they
resumed firing and kept it up till they
were fully half Il mile from the depot.
There are parties here who say they
heard Orion order his men to get their
gums" and fire low, just as he stepped
aboard the train. Upon examination
Il was found that Longnecker was shot
through the brain, the ball entering
the right temple and coming out Just
above the cheek bone on the left side
lie died in less than an hour. being
wholly nnconcious after his fall.
Young O'Neal received only a flesh
wound in the heel, and is doing rs well
as could be expected. a. w. Mann
WAS shot in the back, the bail entering
just below the shoulder, close to the
back bone, and lodging within the
body. He is now in a critical condi-
ton, only his extra strong constitution
being IN his favor. His physicians say
that should he recover, his lower
extremeties will always be paralyzed,
making him a helpless cripple.
Sheriff Johnson started on Saturday
mornings train for Washington, Kan.
width er the show had gone, to arrest
the OUTFIT. Sixteen were arrested and
brought to Mankato. The rest were
allowed to &c their way 10 Sedalia, Mo.
where the show was billed to appear.
The parties arrested are no undergoing
preliminary examination. 1t is prob
able that W or more among them
took part In the shooting.-Blar Oak