The Van Buren press., 1900-02-03

! Miles, who is &c years OLD. Mithou'
hesitation Miles threw himself upon
Whitaker, winding his arms around
him and calling loudly for help
| An UrjustiHable Arrest.
II WAS right at hand, and in an in
stont Whitaker was surrounded by
group of men, many OF them WIN
drawn revolvers. He made no attempt
TO escape, knowing well that the
slightest attempt to do so would have
brought dozen bullets into his podv'
He submitted quietly while a searcl
was quickly made of his clothing ,ie
proceeds being three revolvers ana
big knife. A quick examination OF tne
revolyers showed that none OF tue
cha!zbers had been used, and thtre
was no powder smut on any OF MS
weapons, proving conclusively that ne
could not have used any of his three
revolyers. In addition to this, all
those who heard the shots join in the
statement that they were from a rihe
and from a smaller weapon.
Took Things Calmly.
Whitaker was quickly led away and
placed in Jail, while guard was
placed at the outer entrance to keep
out all people who had no direct con
ne, ton with the institution. The prs
oner is a man slightly over themedlnm
size, with sandy hair and moustache'
He was disposed to take things calmly
although he repeated again and again
that he knew nothing whatever about
the shooting.
Whittaker's AliL..
~ was on the first floor of the buil1-
ing" he said, "when heard Gov. Tay-
lo, tell that man Davis, the capitol
police man, to go over at once to see
Gen Collier ] said ! would go with
him, and that was where | was going.
7 wanted to know too, what the shoot
ing was about. When l stepped out
side that man grabbed me, and that's
all know, and that's fact"
Few people believe that Whitaker
is guilty, but the fact that he was
hastily leaving the building just after
thu shooting was done was enough TO
make trouble for him.
Corroborated by Davis.
THAT man Davis, to whom Whitaker
referred, is Col. John Davis, the Gus
todiar of the capitol grounds. His
story agrees with that of Whitaker.
~ was just outside of Gov. Taylor's
Office" said Col. Davis, "when ! heard
the shots and heard Gov. Taylor say:
NV God, what have they done" Tie
called to me to at once go over to the
Office of Adjt.-Gen. Collier, and Whit
taker went along. | am positive that
he could not have done the shooting.
We were at the door of the building
in toe short time for that"
Mountaineers Guarded the Doors.
l. As soon as it was known that the
bullet which struck down Mr.. Goebel
had come from the building to the
east, group Of men gathered in front
| OF the door on the east side. Others
rau around to the door on the Yves,
side to prevent the escape of anybody
from there. Several men attempted TO
ertcr the doors from the outside, but
were prevented by groups OF noun
toireers, who stood in the doorways.
Some of these men held Winchesters
in their hands, and presented an as
pect 80 generally uninviting that no
attempt was made to search the
building and nobody gained entrance
| 10 Il for several minutes after the
shooting had been done.
| Used Smokeless Powder.
The man who fired the shots took
the precaution to conceal his location
b. using smokeless powder cartridges
a score of people were where they had
full view OF the side OF the building
from which the firing was done, ana
al! OF them declare that not a sign Of
smoke was visible. Both Chinn and
Ilard are men Of experience in af-
fairs in which powder smoke is a
more or less prominent feature, and
both declare that while they could tell
the general direction from which the
bullets came, they could not guess the
spo. from which they fired.
| Denounced by Republicans.
The republican state officials and
members of the legislature without cx-
ception denounced the shooting in the
most unreasonable terms. Gov. Tay-
lor Immediately caused u small ad-
dresa to be published in which de de-
clared the affair to be disgrace and
an outrage, and calling for the most
sober condemnation. lie sent orders
at once to Adjt,-Gen. Collier, directing
hiIn to take steps for the preservation
of order,
Gen, Collier is republican, and is
opposed to Mr. Goebel. He declared
the shooting 20 be u most cowardly
affair and one that upon every consid'
GRAFTON was to be regretted.
Prompt Action by Gen. Collier.
lse lost no time in making speeches
how ever, and before Goebel had been
lifted from the ground to be carried
to the hotel, Gen. Collier had telc
phoned to the armory, half mile dis
tan,, directing the local infantry com
pany which was stationed there, un
dee command Of Capt, Wulcott, to pro
coed at once to the capitol grounds
take possession Of them and it's ap
proachcs, allowing nobody TO enter ;h,
gates, Twenty minutes after the
shooting, Capt. Walco,t and his mer
marched across the front of the capto
building, and halted at the foot of the