Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1898-01-28
A MORRlLLTOWN ROW.
Keehr Gang Precipitate q
General Fight Last
Friday Night.

Last Saturday evening County At
tOrney F. W. Lyon was summoned
to the door of his residence by tn
ringing of the door bell, and wheI
he opened the door he found a ,nal
standing Oh the steps. whose connte
nance was completely hidden behinC
bandages. and whose every appear
ance indicated that ne had been In
serious trouble of some kind. Behind
him stood another similarly band
aged, and behind the second stood q
third, who, looked as If he was in
even a worse condition than the
other two. These three the r"unty
attorney observed at the first glance,
and not having n full stock of sym.
pathy on hand he dared not risk
anotherlook or he might have found
that the file Of disfigured disconso-
lates extended out to the street.
At first the county attorney
thought that there had been a boiler
explosion, and that the victims had
mistaken his home for that of a
doctor. He admitted the three and
soon learned their story. They we're
the victims of u country dance held
in the town of Morrill, the night
previous, and were looking for him
to have warrants issued tor the ar
rest of their assailants.
Ledtke is the name of two OF tine
compliments and the others name
is Bogardis. Thoy were all In at
tendance at II dance given in Morrill,
town Friday night. They wer'' there
by invitation. and shortly after the
dance began the Keehr gang, which
is becoming somewhat notorious for
the many rows in which some Of its
members figure, came there without
an invitation and joined in the
festivities.
According to the story OF the com.
plainants the unlimited guest. were
treated well, and were not given the
slightest excuse to raise row. Not
content without fight of some kind,
the Keehr boys invited Stephen
Ledtke outside. and when he got out
of doors one of the Keehrs caught
and held him while another OF the
gang gave him an unmerciful pound
ing. This created general r,'w In
which the Keehr crowd is said to
have used steel knuckles, knives, and
even revolvcrs, ihtlicting severe in.
jurips to several men and terribly
frightening the ladies present. .
All Of the Young men who went to
the assistance OF Stephen Ledtke
were badly injured, one being stabbed
with a knife. and others badly cut
with steel knuckles. One of the
Keehrs fs said to have followed one
of the Ledtkes all over the premises
brandishing loaded revolver, and
threatening to kill him on sight.
Ledtke escaped by being let out OF
one If the windows in the rear of
the house.
One of the most atrocious acts of
the Keehrs was the brutal pounding
of one Of the Ledtke boys, who ia
not over 16 or u years Of age. He
had not taken any part in the row.
and after he supposed the row was
all over he went outside. He was
caught and held by one OF the Keehr
gang and pounded by another until
his face was completely covered with
cuts and bruises, and his face was 50
badly swollen that both eyes were
completely closed. During the row
one OF the Keehrs lost the steel
knuckles he wore. and they were
brought in by the complainants and
will be used in evidence at the trial.
Warrants were issued for the ar
rest of Fred, Edward and Albert
Keehr, and for Byron Edwards and
George Vail.
The officers started out Sunday
to make the arrests. hut as
they will have travelling to do it ia
probable that they will not return
before night.
The Keehrs have been very
crowd, being mixed up
in several disagreeable rows, and in
nearly every instance they were the
instigators, and were victorious by
having superior numbers with them
and having every other advantage
in their favor.
The charge against them is assault
in the second degree. and the author
tiles feel confident that some of them
will be landed on this charge where
they will not trouble their neighbors
for some time.
GOT THEM QUICK.
The officers who went after the
Keehrs and their associates in the
row returned Monday noon with
them. There are about q dozen wit
nesses and the five defendants. A. y.