St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-14
WOMEN UNDER ARMS.
The Bloody County-Seat War
That Is Being Waged by
Two Kansas Towns.
Gen. Meyers. With the Second
Regiment, Takes Charge
at CimarrOn.
The People Ordered to Disarm
THE Church Made an
Arsenal.
Vaneouver's Mayor Orders
Hose Turned on Two VeS-
sells in the Harbop.
Special to the Globe.

TOPEKA, Kan, Jan. 13.-J. Q. ShOup,
chairman of the board of county COM
mlssloners of Gray county, came in this
afternoon from the scene of the fright
full county seat war to lay the matter
before Gov. Martin. Immediately upon
his arrival he had long conference
with the executive, who has been in tel
egraphic communication all day with
the officials of Cimalron. Shoup gave
thrilling account of his experience with
the attacking party. He was in his
office in the court house when the
leader of the mob from the rival
town of ingalls, opened the door
of his office, covered him with Win
chester and commanded him not to
move. All the county officers were
held up the same way, while the re-
mainder of the mob took possession of
the county records and fed from town
with them. The Cimarron people pur-
sued hotly. English and Bliss, who
were killed, were not participating IN
the fight, and Shoup claims that their
murder was deliberate and in cold
blood. He demands of the governor
that the murderers be brought to speedy
justice. He says that the attacking
party was headed by Watson, the new
ly-elected county clerk, and was made
up OF
NOTORIOUS ROUGHS
and cowboys who were brought for the
purpose of terrorizing the Cimarron
people while the county records were
being seized. One of the leaders of the
party was the notorious ''Killer'' Jim
Johnson, who, it is said, has openly
boasted that he has taken the lives of
twelve men and that no one dared touch
him. Gov. Martin to-day said that he
would put stop to the fight if it re-
quired the entire militia of the state.
He proposes to have thorough investi-
cation, and says the guilty ones will
be punished. Gen. Meyers, with the
Second regiment, reached Cimarron
early this morning. and the whole
town is in arms and expecting another
attack. No strangers were allowed to
enter the town without proving salts
factorily that they were not friends of
the rival town. No services were held
to-day in the church, but instead the
church was converted into an arsenal.
where the weapons of war were depos-
tied, and Gen. Meyers ordered the peo-
pie to diSarm themselves at once and
told them that unless they did so their
weapons would be taken from them by
force. To all outward appearances the
order was complied with. A Cimar-
ron man named Gage and Ed Robbins,
of ingalls,, met this morning few miles
from ingalls,, and
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER
ensued. They first exchanged pistol
shots, but afterwards had hand. to-
hand tussle, in which Gage received
frightful cash in the neck, which will
probably cause his death. This morn
ing the Ingalls, people received report
that mob from Cimarron was pre-
pairing to attack them with the inten-
tion of burning the town and killing the
leaders to revenge the murder of Eng
lish and Bliss. They Immediately called
a meeting and thoroughly organized
themselves. Sentinels were sent out to
watch for the approach of the enemy
and give warning. Fortifcations were
built. and every arrangement made to
defend themselves. Women were en-
listed and given arms and ammunition.
AS long as the militia is in the county,
there is not likely to be another con-
fiict. 1t is only by the presence of the
troops that serious trouble can be
averted, as the two rival towns are only
a few miles apart, and the feeling is so
bitter that the slightest provocation
would cause another outbreak. 1t is
life-and-death struggle between the
two towns, as the success Of one means
tho downfall of the nfhar