The San Francisco call., 1899-10-17
Oakland Office San Francisco Call
one ProodWav Oct 16

IN an encounter with burglars at his
home, 1861 Jackson street, early this morn
ing Just by one inch did the young man
miss death.
For several minutes after young Harrles
discovered the burglars were in the house
there was violent scuffiing and heavy
discharge of firearms, resulting in the
shooting of Harries and. ii is believed, the
wounding Of one Of the burglars, who ex-
claimed "Oh, God" as he was disappear
ing through the door of the conservatory.
1t was nearly o'clock when Harries
heard some one in the dining room. He at
once got out Of bed and soon satisfied
himself that burglars were in the house.
He took his Winchester rifle from closet
and proceeded to investigate. Although
there was no light in the hall he detected
two shadows of persons moving toward
the stairway. He went downstairs ana
his first thought was to press the electric
button and light UP the house. but In MS
eagerness to get close to the burglars he
passed the place on the wall where the
buttons were located. He was retraclng
his steps toward the buttons when he was
evidently seen by the burglar. and in
stantly there was report of pistol ana
a bullet passed close to the side or his
head, burying itself in mirror. Harries
was about to shoot with his rife in the di-
rection of the flash when he was seized
from behind by another burglar
Then ensued a desperate duel IN the
dark. Harries is an athlete and the burg
lar who grabbed him from behind was
also powerful. The two men struggled for
severaI minutes, each trying TO dlsarm tne
other. The burglar attempted 10 wrench
the Winchester from HarrieS but without
success. The two men wrestled along the
hall into the library and must have ere
ated a terrible noise, for they broke two
big piano lamps, pushed two chalrS
through windows, knocked down a bust of
Psyche, overturned screens and furniture,
and shattered much valuable bric-a-brac
that had taken years to collect.
All this noise did not rouse the elder
Harries, who was asleep upstairs Young
Harries succeeded in shaking off his an
tagonist but he had no sooner done SO
than there came a flash and a report ana
the bullet struck Harries within an lnch
of the heart. The weapon was nred so
close that it burned hole in Harries
dressing gown.
At this Stage of the desperate encounter
the fusillade commenced in earnest. Har-
rtes as soon as he was shotsralsed his rlne
and shot at his antagonist. In response
another bullet whizzed past darrles
head Once again Harries hred IN the dl-
rection in which he had seen the, revolver
flash, and Immediately it was followed by
another bullet from the burglar
In about as many secona5 ones Ten zen sboIs no
ing nothing to guide him but the flash OF
his antagonists gun. 1t was after tarrles
had fired his fifth shot that the burglar
exclaimed, "Oh, God!'' and fired no more
Young HarrieS was looking on the moor
in the dark, expecting to see a dead bur
glar, but both had mad made their their eSGGaPg 5G Pc
. Harries, the father, and, armed Win a
Japanese saber, he ran downstairs He
at once turned on the electric nghts ana
marked that there had been burglars in
+ the house and that he was shot.
The open door from the dintng-room 70
the conservatory showed plainly how the
burglars had entered and gone. Young
Harries was put to bed and DR.. Crowley
was examining him a Few minutes later
He found that the young man had been
shot on the seventh rib and that the bail
had plowed through the flesh for about
two inches to the left and had come out
The wound of itself was not necessarily
dangerous but for two or three days 1t
viii be impossible to tell whether 1t may
result seriously.
After the victim of the burglars bullet
was attended to an inspection was made
of the house. The wreck that was found
might have resulted from an earthquake
or a cyclone or genuine bOmbardment,
or all three. In the dining-room and in
rhe library everything was either broken
or thrown down. Bullets had crashed
through china CLOSETS had nisfns splintered r.
made holes in the piano and had gone
through valuable pictures. This was,
however but a small part of the damage.
The violent combat between young Har-
ries and the burglar he found in the hall
and which extended through dining-room
and library, had resulted in complete
had passed. A piano leg was kicked out
of plumb, lamps were dashed to the floor,
chairs were broken. bookcases pushed
around and upset and all the little orna-
ments on the top shelves were reduced to
The most interesting scene of all, per-
hans. was in the dning-room, where,
partly on the table and partly on the
floor. were some of the most valuable
articles in the Harries household These
consisted of all the silver and gold plate
and ornaments that the burglars could
find. Drawers, cabinets and sideboards
had been ransacked and their contents
were scattered around. In their flight
the burglars had not thought, so far as
is known, of taking anything with them
The fusillade from young Harries' gun
evidently put thought OF plunder out Of
their heads. Judging from the systematic
manner in which they had gone through
the lower floor. It IS believed the burglars
must have been en- at least disnovaped apuT In
In the conservatory were found an old
lantern which had been struck by one Of
Young Harries' shots, showing how near
+, he came to ending the burglars career
and several other burglars. tools. Prob
ably when the burglar uttered the excla-
nation heard by young Harries he was
plowed through his hand.
The damage done to the furniture and
bric-a-brac by, the shooting IS probably
which the burglars would have taken off
had they not been discovered.
william H. HarrleS is the manager or
the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank of San
francisco, and his son is clerk In the
institution.
made a thorough search of the premises
as soon as the burglary was reported.
Tbev found enough evidence to convince
them that the burglars were trained
thieves who had taken no chances. Be-
Sides the lantern, a partially burned cam
dIe was found. At another place on the
aoor lot of white powder had been
sniiied, 1t was strychnine. intended for
opv dogs that might be found. Harries
also saws that he believed the burglar
with whom he struggled had creased his
clnthes as 1t was impossible to get a
GOOD grip during their wrestling match.
One of the burglars had evidently re-
1onded during the combat, for three
emnfy cartridges and one not exploded
wera found on the floor.
II is very apparent that young Harries
showed marked bravery throughout his
, two combats with the burglars. His Win
chester did good work. as IS shown by
the course OF the bullets. He could at
times neither see nor hear the burglars.
e their feet were encased in felt
81 do not know why the noise did not
rouse me-" said Mr.. Harries this morn
ing, "for 1t must have been something
terrific When 1 came downstairs the
place looked like a wreck. Lamps had
been overturned. the glass in the win
doWs and over the pictures had been shat
tered by the flying bullets. and destruc-
tton was everywhere. Hurriedly my boy
+oI5 tho story and 7 n1t him n he'd