The record-union., 1892-07-18
INNOCENT CHICKENS.
They Were the Cause of a Desperate
and Bloody ARRAY.
4 Drunken Freak of registering Bar
bers Comes Near Ending in q
Bloody Tragedy.

hereafter.
Three bloodier men than VIII Morton,
Edmund Burkhardt and G. II. Hayes
were after they got through with "Bob''
Hellman, his wife, two sons and a lot of
low-roosting chickens, last evening,
never graced the precincts of the Receiv-
ing Hospital.
The three worthless named are all
colored, and are employees of Frank
Buffers barber-shop, in the Golden Eagle
Hotel. Yesterday afternoon they were
off duty, and procuring a buggy they
drove about the city, visiting the various
suburban resorts, and brought up at the
Receiving Hospital in very badly dam
aged condition little before 10 O'Clock at
night. If they did not paint the town
red during their outing they at least sue
ceeded in covering themselves, Holman
and his chicken yard with very lurid
coating.
Persons who rode out to Oak Park on
the cars yesterday evening had their at
tention attracted to a lot Of nice, Juicy
spring chickens roosting all over pyra-
mid of chairs piled up against the house
of Robert Hellman near the track and
flake Park.
The supposition is that the yellow
legs' also attracted the attention of the
three gay BARRIERS when they rode past
there in the dusk OF the evening, before
the shades ofnight had obscured them
from view. at all events, something
happened there about O'Clock. in which
Hellman, his wife and two boys and the
registering BARRIERS were all concerned
and which Hellman describes thus:
Hellman who is q Deputy Sheriff. says
he heard a noise in his chicken-yard, and
then heard his chickens squawking. He
ran out and saw man with a chicken in
his hand in the act of wringing its neck.
lie called upon him to stop, and said he
was an officer.
The fellow said to have been Morton)
started to escape, but Hellman caught
hold of him, when the man turned and
attacked him with knife or razor, at the
same time calling upon his companion,
Hayes-whom Hellman had not seen-to
come and help him.
Hayes came, and the two got Hellman
down and were beating him, when he
cried out to his wife to come to his aid
with pistol.
Hellntan's fifteen-year-old boy came
out with his fathers weapon, and Mrs
Hellman showed up with billet OF wood,
and both turned loose on Hellman's as
sailants. About this time Burkhardt,
who had been sitting in buggy in front
of the house, hastened to help Hellman's
assailants, but the boy put them all to
fight.
He handled the pistol to good advan-
tage, as subsequent sdevelopemnts
proved. AS soon as he had fired several
shots at his fathers assailants they fed to
the buggy, into which they clambered as
rapidly as their wounds and drunken
condition would allow, and drove off
down town, while Hellman, who was
badly cut and bruised, was taken into his
house.
A little later the three men drove up to
Phillips drug store at Sixth and K streets
and sought the services Of a surgeon
whose office was upstairs. The men
were covered with blood from head to
foot, and two Of them-Morton and Hayes
were groaning with pain.
Their CORY appearance attracted q large
crowd of people, and presently Police
Captain Bradley and Special officer Is
ham arrived, placed the trio under arrest
and took them to the Receiving Hospital
Burkhardt, not being wounded, was
locked up in a cell.
In the meantime Hellman came down
to relate his experience to the police and
have his wounds dressed, and it was then
he told the story given above.
Hellman was found to have frightful
cash across his right hand, another in the
right thigh, another and worse one in the
calf of the leg, and very bad confusion
which enveloped one of his eyes, prob
ably resulting from kick.
But If he was badly used up, two of his
assailants were even worse off. Morton's
left forearm was nearly severed by a hor-
Tible, gaping wound that was probably
made by his own weapon during the
struggle with Hellman. The cash was
right across the inner side of the larger
part of the forearm, about three inches
below the elbow. 1t apparently reached
the bone, severing all the muscles and
tendons on that side of the arm
Hayes was shot by Hellman's boy
through the left arm, just above the elbow
joint, the bullet fracturing the bone and
putting him hOrS du combat in short
order.
The City Physician was called to attend
Morton and Hayes, but was himself i'll
and could not leave home. 1t was about
an hour afterward before L. r. Dole sue
ceeded in getting surgeon to dress the
mems wounds.
Hellman in the meantime returned to
his home. where he received surgical at
tendance. While none of the men are
probably dangerously injured, yet their
wounds are all Of the most painful char
acter. Morton is greatly weakened from
loss of blood, which, combined with the
effects of the liquor he had drank during
the evening, left him in a sort of halt
stupor.
The whole thing apparently grew out
of drunken freak. The three men con-
cerned in the scrape have all borne good
characters, and are not, Of course, given
to chicllen-stealing. They were out on a
spree yesterday, saw the chickens in pro-
vokingly close proximity to the public
highway, and-well. somehow they
couldn't resist the temptation to seize a
broiler or two for their break fasts.
Whisky was at the bottom of the whole
of it.
Burkhardt declares that he had no
knowledge of Morton's purpose in Ieav-
ing the buggy at Hellman's, but he soou
realized that fight was going on. he
says he did not participate in the melee.
having all he wanted to do to hold the
horse.
The affair viii require reconstruction
of Butler's barber shop, as three of his