, 1900-01-31
VIM. G0EbE[ SHOT
KENTUCKY'S DEMOCRATIC CUB
ERNAToRIAL CONTESTANT
SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
Harland Whitaker, a Mountaineer,
Arrested, but Protests Innocence
Wild Excitement Prevails-Mem-
bers of the Legislature Wire Their
Constituents and They Answer,
we Are Coming"

I'VE Are Coming"
Frankfort, Ky, Jan. 30.-William
Goebel was shot and very seriously in,
jured this morning at ten minutes at.
ter IL o'clock while passing through
the s~tatehouse yard on his way to the
capitol building. Five shots were fired
from a rifle, only one of them taking
effect. 1t struck Mr.. Goebel in the
right side. one-third of the distance
down from the armpit to the hip. The
ball passed entirely through the body,
coming out below the right shoulder
blade. 1t is not thought by the ply
sicians in charge that the wound will
prove fatal unless complications set in.
Harland Whitaker, a farmer from
Butler county, Kentucky, is under ar
rest, charged with having fired the
shots, but he denies that he had any
thing to do with it. Five revolvers
were found upon him when he was
taken into custody.
Mr.. Goebel, in company with Colonel
Jack Chinn and Warden Eph Lillard Of
the Frankfort penitentiary, was walk
ing up the sidewalk leading from the
street to the capitol building, Goebel
being on the right of the three. When
the three men were two-thirds of the
distance from the street to the capitol
a shot was fired from the third story
OF the building occupied by the offices
OF h governor, secretary of state and
other leading officers of the state. The
ball struck Mr.. Goebel in the side and
he instantly dropped to the pavement,
While Chinn was holding the wound,
ed 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.
A crowd Of men were around Mr..
Goebel in less than a minute, and he
was carried to the Office of DR.. E. L.
Hume, in the basement of the Capitol
hotel, about 1000 feet from the spot
where the shooting had occurred. DR.,
Hume made a superficial examination
Of the wound. He declared that the
ball had penetrated the right lung and
would, in all probability, prove fatal.
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 a
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 IN every side with drawn revol-
vers in their hands, and the slightest
attempt at resistance would have re-
suited in his instant death. He sub
mitted to arrest very quietly, claiming
again and again that he had nothing to
do with the shooting.
He gave his name as Harland Whit
taker 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 out to see what
was going on. He was searched at
once and three large revolvers
all fully loaded, were taken from
him. None OF the cartridges had been
exploded and there was no sign of the
weapons having been in use. 1t was at
first thought that he might have re-
placed the used cartridges with fresh
ones, but there was nc sign of pow
der smut upon any of the revolvers.
He was hurried to Jail, three blocks
away, with all possible speed, it be-
ing feared that an attempt might be
made to lynch him II the crowd was
able to secure him. He was very quiet
and did not lose his composure for an
instant, notwithstanding the excite
ment around him.
Il don't know no more about it than
any Of you ALL" he remarked. Il was
In there on the first floor. l heard the
shots and heard somebody say some
body was shot. 1 thought maybe that
all this trouble they have been talking
about had just commenced and l ran
down the steps to see what was going
On. A man grabbed me, and other men
got around me, and here I am, and
that's all I know, and that's a fact"
The republican officials acted with
the greatest promptItude. Adjutant
General Collier was sitting an his office
when the shots were fred. He was not
over 900 feet from Goebel when he fell.
He instantly rushed out Of the building
and learned that Goebel had been shot.
| He telephoned to the armory on the
hill, where all during the gubernatorial
contest the local company Of infantry
had been held In reserve, and within
Twenty minutes the company, thirty
strong, under command Of Captain
| Wolcott, was drawn up in front of the
capitol building. Guards wore paced
at every gate leading to the capitol