The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1894-04-06
A BLOOD ELECTION
A Bloody Conflict Between Political
Workers at the Polls.
More than One Hundred Shots Fired...
One Killed and Five Wounded.
The Trouble Caused by a Feud Between
Catholics and the A. P. A.

CaInOflcS ana IH6 A. r As
KANSAS Cry, April 4.-The American
! Protective association and the Catholics
came together in bloody conflict at the
polls here Tuesday. It cannot be stated
which side is responsible for the ARRAY,
as the partisans of each loudly charge
the other with being the full cause of all
the trouble. More than 100 shots were
exchanged between the combatants in
less than that many seconds. and when
the firing ceased the following named
were lying dead, dying or injured on the
pavement:
MIKE CALLAHAN, city sidewalk inspec-
| tor, shot through the right side.
Fatally Injured.
Harry Fowler, laborer, shot through the
back.
Con Brosnahan, contractor, shot through
the kidneys.
Jerry Pate, deputy constable, shot in
the face.
Slightly Wounded.
Patrick Fleming, shot in left shoulder.
John McGovern, laborer, shot through
the right arm.
The riot was the elimination of bitter
feeling, which had been manifested by
action and words ever since the polls
opened in the morning. The two antag-
onistic elements were solidly divided in
their choice of candidates for mayor.
The aggressive support that each side
gave to its candidate during one of the
hottest campaigns ever known in this
| city, engendered strong sentiment of
bigotry.
Came Expecting Trouble.
! It was therefore i'll no amiable mood
that the workers of the respective fac
tons came together at the different poll
ing places throughout the city and that
these workers came expecting trouble to
occur before the day wore away is APP
parent from the number of deadly weap-
ons that were drawn VIXEN the first pi,tol
shot was fired.
! The riot that resulted SO fatally was
| the climax of a series of smaller riots
that took place at other points earlier in
the day between the same opposing re-
Iigious factions. The riot took place on
the Southwest boulevard very close to
police station No. 3, and those who took
part in it had been heated to the fighting
temper by reports that had been hourly
arriving at the station of brawIs at other
polling places. Only an hour before it
was known that John Cooley, stone
mason. was shot III the back and fore
head by William Henry Walker at
voting place at the corner of Fifth and
Campbell streets, and the row was re-
garding the principles of the American
Protective association, to which Cooley
was violently opposed. That Cooley
was not instantly killed was due simply
to the fact that the pistol used was
mere toy of % caibre.
Loud Threats Of NIObbing.
The American Protective Association,
which supported Webster Davis, the
Republican candidate for mayor, had
their workers at the different polling
places and they distributed in some pre-
cincts their own tickets, bearing their
candidates name and decorated with the
American flag. Jim Pryor, a Fifth
ward politician, antagonistic to the
American Protective Association, who
supported Frank johnson, the labor
fractional Democratic candidate, was ac-
live at the head of so constables which
he got Justice Latshaw to appoint Mon
! day night. It was said by some that
these constables were, many of them, ir-
responsible characters and were solely
the cause of the trouble. Consequently
there were loud threats of mobbing
them before they were got to headquar-
tiers after the bloody riot was over.
Battle Was of Short Duration.
It is claimed that one of Pryor's fol-
lowers fred the first shot The one was
! Mike Callahan and he was dead man
! Then fho h.1fI1o
began. the deputy constables at this poll
ing booth and the workers of all the
political factions crowded together in
solid mass about 100 strong and every
one seemed to be armed. For minute
or two the discharge of weapons sounded
like a volley of musketry by a regiment.
Hundreds of citizens gathered at every
point of vantage to witness the battle,
which, however, was of short duration.
The onlookers trembled with excitement.
Many of the residents along the bOule-
ward added TO. the general feeling of
terror by leaning from their windows,
shouting and gesticulating wildly. In
less than five minutes from the time the
first shot was fired, however, the blue
coats from station No. 8 had appeared
upon the scene and quieted the disturb
ance. With their first approach the
fighting political workers ceased HOSTILE
ties and made quick effort to hide thier
weapons.
Claim Callahan an Innocent Victim.
Pryor's men are claiming that Gala
han was an innocent victim. They as
Lsert that it was Jerry N. Pate, an A. P.
A. man, who fred the first shot and that
that was the shot that killed Callahan.
Pate was serving as a constable, having
been appointed especially by Westport
official to serve warrant for the arrest
of Jim Pryor, John Pryor, his son, and
Bert Pryor for an alleged felOnious as
Eault upon a citize1 earlier in the day.
Anyway, he and Callahan met, had
some words, and either one OF the other
fired the shot that commenced the not.
Pryor's side of the story gets some color
from the fact that Harry Arthur, who Is
however, one of Pryor's followers, says
he himself Is the man that shot Pate "a
the face.
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