The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-09-08
DUE TO CROSSED WIRES.
Two St. Louis Policemen Killed and
Thirteen Others More or Less
Seriously Shocked.
MEN STRICKEN At THEIR TELEPHONES.
The Police Telephone Wires Had, in
Some Way, Come In Contact with
a Heavily Charged Power Wire
Panic ReiEned While a search
for the Cause Went On.


GERS were instantly killed and 13 9th
er attaches and officers of the police
department were more or less serious.
ly shocked, Monday night, by the
crossing of the police telephone wires
of the northern part of the city with
a wire of a powerful electric light OF
power circuit. The deadly work OF
the invisible current was done as the
officers called up from patrol boxes
in various parts of the district to re-
port TO their stations. The first in
timation of the horrible state of af-
fairs came when Officer John Dineen
wen to the patrol box at Twelfth and
Morgan streets to call up the Fourth
district station, and from hat time
for an hour or O the deadly work
went on, with little apparent posi-.
bility of stopping it before the day
platoon went off duty, for the officers
were so widely scattered as to render
it almost impossible to warn them of
the danger confronting them on OPEN
ing the patrol boxes of their beats.
To the executives the situation was
most bewildering, as the reports of
shocked men came pouring in, and
the consciousness was upon them Of
their inability to reach more than a
moiety of the endangered force with
a warning.
The Dead.
Nicholas Beckmann, patrolman.
John Looney, patrolman.
The Injured.
Michael j.. Burke, patrolman;
knocked unconscious; badly burned
about hands; will recover
Andrew Barry, patrolman; serious
ly burned about hands and badly
bruised about body; taken home in
serious condition.
James Edwards, patrolman; right
hand badly burned.
Oliver Miller, telephone boy, Fourth
district station; knocked unconscious
and badly bruised.
George Lyman, inspector of wires,
ETC.; hands badly burned.
John Dineen, patrolman and signal
officer; badly burned and bruised
from fall.
Patrick Noonan, patrolman; hands
frightfully burned.
Patrick Lardncr, patrolman;
knocked unconscious and hands
burned.
John Killoran, patrolman; injured
by fall and hands and right ear
burned.
Morris birmingham, patrolman;
knocked unconscious and burned
about face and hands.
James Moran, patrolman; hands
burned and left side injured.
Anthony Dwyer, patrolmar;
knocked unconscious and burned
about face and hands.
Charles Kilcullen, patrolman;
burned about face and hands.
Confined to Fourth District.
The trouble seemed confined to the
Fourth police district, and in the
course of the efforts to notify the
men in danger three special officers
were sent through the territory m
braced in the district as early as
seven o'clock to warm the patrOlmen.
This was before the deadly character
of the trouble was realized. AS soon
as it was found hat the ross was
of such a serious character n patrol
wagon was sent pOst-haste through
the district to warn all officers not to
touch II of the boxes. 1t was 9:31
o'clock before the danger of further
accident was entirely over, and then
the source of the trouble had not
been definitely located. An investi-
CATION by daylight is in progress.
The Located.
The trouble was finally located to
have been caused by the sagging of
an electric light wire of the Seekner