The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-01-30

6T6G
building occupied by the officers of the
governor, secretary of state and other
leading officials of the state. The ball
struck Mr.. Goebel in the side and he
Chinn and Lillard at once seized him,
Chinn saying as he did so, Il guess they
have got you, Goebel.'
Yes replied the wounded man, 81
guess they have got me for sure"
While Chinn was holding the
wounded man, supporting his head in
his arms, four shots more were fired at
both men. All of them struck close,
making the dust fly from the brick
pavement. Both Chinn and Iillard
stuck to their friend, neither of them
moving from his side until the firing
ceased, when Lillard ran for help He
had not far to go, for there is always
a crowd around the gates of the cap
ito1 building. A crowd of men were
around Mr.. Goebel in less than a min
ute and he was carried to the office of
DR.. E. E. Hume, in the basement of the
Capitol hotel, about 000 feet from the
spot where the shooting occurred. DR.
Hume made a superficial examination
of the wound He declared the ball
| had penetrated the right lung and
would in all probability prove fatal
Mr.. Goebel was then hastily taken from
the Office of DIR. Hume to his own room
on the second floor of the Capitol no.
/ of every staircase leading to the sec
ond floor and nobody, not even the
guests of the hotel were allowed to
pass A more extended eXamina ton
made by DR. Hume and several other
physicians who had been called re-
suited in the announcement that the
wound would not necessarily prove
fatal that the wounded man would in
all probability recover. The ball it was
found had inflicted wound which was
somewhat of CHANGING nature, and
had not gone through the lung in
direct line as DR. Hume had thought
Ia n a
ball struck the chest One-haf inch to
the right it would have caused GER
tain death.
/ The house was in session when the
| shooting occurred and the senate was
! to have met within twenty minutes. The
capitol building was therefore filled
with members of the legislature and the
! greatest excitement followed. From
i both halls men ran wildly down the
steps without hats or coats and one
member of the house came out carrying
in his hand bill on which he had been
| arguing when the shooting occurred.
| By the time the members of the leg
islature had reached the lower floor,
however, Goebel was on his way to the
| Office of DR.. Hume. The members
hastily rushed back to their room. The
| house adjourned with the most uncere-
| monious haste and poured down into
| the streets again.
| The news that Goebel had been shot
! spread through the streets with light
| ning-like rapidity, and in few min
utes crowds were fastening toward the
| capitol from every direction. Down St.
| Clair street which runs directly south
| from the sidewalk leading to the cap
| itol upon which Mr.. Goebel was walk
ing at the time ne was shot, came a
| dense crowd of wildly excited men,
| headed by two members of the city fire
| department. One of them carried
! winchester rife and the other was tell
ing him to put down that thing and
| go back" He finally agreed to do this
/ q leadership
| melted away. Within three minutes
| after the shooting a line of men was
! thrown around the building from which
the shots were fired, with the intention
of preventing the escape of anybody
| from the structure.
| John w. Miles, an aged citizen of
Frankfort, was standing at the foot OF
the stairway leading from the first floor
of the office building to the west,
when a man, evidently mountaineer,
came rushing down the steps. Miles
instantly threw his arms around the
man and held him, calling loudly for
help.
| Assistance was close at hand and no
/ escape was possible for the prisoner,
| even had he attempted to make the
effort. Men stood around him on every
/ side with drawn revolvers in their
| hands and the slightest attempt at re-
sistance would have resulted in his in
very quietly, claiming again and again
that he had nothing to do with the
/ shooting He gave his name as Harland
Whitaker and said that he was in the
state Office building when he heard the
shots and believing the long predicted
battle in the streets of Frankfort had
come at last FASTENED to see what was
! going on. He was searched at once
and three large revolverS, all fully load
ed were taken from him. None of the
cartridges had been exploded and there
| was no sign of any of the weapons hav-
ing been in use. It was first thought
that he might have replaced the used
| cartridges with fresh ones, but there
was no sign of powder smut upon any
; of the revolvers. He was hurried to
the Jail three blocks away with all pos
| sible speed, it being feared that an at
, tempt might be made to lynch him if
. | the crowd was able to secure him. He
) was very quiet and did not lose his COM
posture for an instant. Notwithstanding
| the excitement around him.
II don't know no more about it than
any of you ALL he remarked. IT was
in there on the first floor. 1 heard the
shots and heard somebody say some
body was shot. I thought may be that
all this trouble they have been talking
about had just commenced and 1 ran
| down the steps to see what was going
| on. A man grabbed me, and other men
| got around me and here am and that S
all know and that's fact
That the attempt to kill Mr.. Goebei
! was deliberate admits of no doubt
: whatever, and the only wonder is that
it failed. There was no reason why it
should have failed, except for poor
craftsmanship. The window from which
} the shots were fired was raised about
eight inches from the bottom and the
man who fired at him had a perfect
range of not over 500 feet with Goebel's
tall figure in a black overcoat in sharp
relief against the white snow covered
: | ground behind him. It is claimed by
| many judges of good shooting who
! abound in Frankfort at the present
; time that the would be assassin was
rnisled by the looseness of the overcoat
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