The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-04
WHEN THUGS CARVE THE MAN.
WILLIAM LA CHAPPEILE REGRETS
THAT HE WENT TO PATROL
MAN BOESEL'S AID.
RICE STREET MAY HAVE MURDER
Charged to Its Christmas Night At
fray Unless La ChappelIe Shows
Marked Recovery.

pany, was called upon by officer BOeSel,
of the Rondo- street station, Christmas
night to assist in making an arrest,
and though he and a companion saved
the patrolman from rough usage at the
hands of a gang of toughs, La Chap
pelle received a knife thrust which may
yet terminate the affair in a murder.
The wound is directly back of the left
ear and penetrates the bone. Infiam-
nation has already set in, and should
the physicians be unable to check its
advance and the brain be reached the
mans death is almost certainty. Not
Withstanding the fact that La Chap
! pelle was stabbed over a week ago
| while he was acting as civilian police
| officer, duly deputized by Officer Boesel,
! and the fact that nearly all of his as
! sailants are known and particularly the
! man who did the stabbing, no arrests
| have been made in connection with the
! case, and the authorities have not con-
! cerned themselves sufficiently to even
make an investigation, so far as can
! be learned. On the contrary, officer
| Boesel,> who stood by and saw La
! Chappelle wounded, and afterward left
! him bleeding on the sidewalk, While he
| left the dangerous neighbOrhoOd in the
! patrol wagon which had been sum-
| moned to the scene, has advised the
! injured man to allow the matter to
! drop. under a covert threat that La
! Chaprelle who works for the city a
! portion of the year, wound lose his po-
| sition if he sworO out a complaint
aoair~e the person thought to have
I0ne the cutting. Friends of La Chap
pelle have no hesitancy in saying that
/ ~
! quiet, as an investigation would reflect
| small credit upon the patrolman who
called upon the wounded man for his
| services.
La Chappelle is confined to his house,
108 Winnipeg avenue where he is being
attended by Drs. Eshelby and Leavitt,
who are doing all in their power to
keep the Inflammation which has at
tackled the wound from extending to
the brain. Owing to the porous nature
of the bone penetrated by the knife this
will be an uncertain task, and the
mans condition is regarded as extreme
ly critical AS it is, the hearing of the
left ear has been permanently de-
/ stroyed, and La Chappelle's body is
! bruised in a number of places where
he was kicked and struck by stones
!
| lower the jugular vein would have been
! severed, and death resulted almost in
stantly.
The fight in which La Chappelle re-
! ceived the injury occurred at the cor
/ ner of Rice and Front streets, about II
o'clock Christmas night. The injured
/ man and a friend named James Pen
gelly, living at 40 Manitoba avenue,
| had left Ackermann's saloon at Rice
nd ey+,r
toe corner of Rice and WalZata streets
for a few minutes conversation when
they were attacked by John Boyer who
runs meat stall in the market house
| Boyer had been in a fight earlier in
| the evening with several other men
and mistook La Chappelle and Pengelly
for his assailants. He had a long
knife, but, as he sprang at the two
men, slipped and fell, when Pengelly
| grabbed him and held him until Officer
! BOesel came up and placed him under
| arrest.
The patrol box on that beat is at
Rice and Front streets. and, as Boyer
resisted going with the officer, he de-
| manded that La Chappelle and PengelIy
assist him. They declared they would
not prosecute Beyers, and asked the
policeman to let him go, as the attack
grew cut case of mistaken identity
/ but the officer refused to do this, and
| giving La Chappelle his club, told him
to follow close behind and resist any
| effort which might be made to liberate
the prisoner by his friends, who were
collected in Askermann's saloon When
! the box was reached the gang came
out of the saloon and demanded thar
| Boyer be released. This was refused
and a man named Mike Mcdonald
struck La Chappelle blow in the face
| The prisoners also began to struggle
md in a Ia
gefly were being badly beaten and
stoned by the mob. Several of the
gang got Pengelly down in the gutter
and were kicking him in the face, wher
La Chappelle went to his assistance AS
he passed the officer he begged him
to let his prisoner go and help protect
himself, and Pengelly, telling the DO
liceman that he knew Boyer and where
! ne lived, so that he could be arrested
at any time, but the officer was badly
frightened and simply pulled his re-
! FoIver and fired into the air When
La Chappelle jumped on Mcdonald who
was astride Pengelly one of the gang
said to be Mike Coyne, leaned over
MN and struck him with the knife
-Ihe thrust was aimed at La ChappeIle's
race, but he turned his head and re-
| celved it behind the ear. La Chappella
fell over in a daZed condition and the
crowd took to flight He managed to
/ LAW olIlO TIE sidewalk and brace him
self against the walls of the street car
parn, where he was Joined by Pengelly
whose face was black and blue from
the kicking he had received. Tn tha
meantime, Officer BoeseI had nu1lad
the box and the patrol wagon arrived
! on the scene and Boyer was taken -
! the station. Officer Boesel also tyot j.,
the wagon and left the men. who had
| saved him from a severe beating and
! possibly something more serious, stand
ing alone to again become victims of
the gang, should they return to the
| scene of the fight
| La Cnappelle was so weakened from
| the loss OF blood and the handling he
| had received at the hands of tho
! toughs that he could scarcely stand
however, the pair struggled along in
| the direction of Dr. Leavitt's resi-
| dence a couple of blocks away to have
! tbeir wounds dressed and when. nearly
| there met Officer Boesel, who had re-
turned to his beat. Notwithstanding
that blood was flowing from La Chan.
pelies wound, and the tough expert
ence which the men had lust gone
through, the policeman failed to prof
Ter them any assistance, nor did he
even inquire how badly they were
hurt, leaving them to find the physi-
cans house alone All this time Ia
| Chappelle had retained possession Of
| the pol1cemans club, and when he
gave it back to the blue coat the lat
| ter even forgot to humble his thanks.
| Dr. Leav1tt dressed the injured mans
wound that night, and, while realizing
| the serious nature of the cut, feared
! no dangerous complications until the
| lnIamat1on set in. DR. EShelbv was