The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-02-01
TO KILL
Shooting of Senator GOebel OF
Kentucky Evidently Delhi
erately Planned.
Chief Wonder Is That the At
tempt Was Not Entirely
Successful. .-.
Five Shots Fired, Only One of
Which Was Effective---Great
Excitement.

grave fears are entertained. He him
self is calm and insists that he will not
die. .-s .sa
FRANKFORT, KY, Jan. Ex-senator
William Goebel was shot and very Sc
riously injured at lilo a. m, while
passing through the state house yard on
his way to the capitol building.
The shots were fired from rife, 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 thought by
the physicians in charge that the wound
will not prove fatal, unless complications
set in. Harland Whitaker, farmer
from Butler county, is under arrest,
charged with having fired the shots, but
he denies that he had anything to do
with it. Five revolvers were found
upon him when he was taken into GUS
tody.
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
he building, occupied by the offices of
The governor, secretary of state and
9TH r Leading officials of the state. The
ball struck Mr.. Goebel in the side and
he Instantly dropped to the pavement.
Chlnn and Lillard instantly seized him,
Chinn saying as he did so:
81 guess they have got you, Goebel."
YES" replied the wounded man, Il
uess they have got me for sure"
While Chinn was holding the wound
ed man, supporting his head in his arms,
four shots were fired at both men. All
of them struck close, making the dust
fly from the brick pavement. Both
Chinn and Lillard stuck to their friend,
neither of them moving from his side
until the firing ceased.
Arrested One Man.
Within three minutes after the shoot
ing, line of men was thrown around
the building from which the shots We're
fired, with the intention of preventing
the escape of anybody from the struc-
ture. 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. 1t was close at hand, and no es-
cape 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 resistance
would have resulted in his instant
death. He submitted to arrest 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 in 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 any of the weapons having been
in use.
Maintained His Innocence.
He was hurried to the Jail. three
blocks away, withall possible speed, for
it was feared an attempt might be made
to lynch him, and it was accomplished
before the crowd could lay hands on
him. He did not lose his composure for
an instant, Notwithstanding the excite
ment around him.
81 don't know no more about it than
any of you all" he remarked. II was
there ON the first floor. heard the shots
and heard somebody say somebody was
shot. 1 thought maybe that all this
trouble they have been talking about
had Just commenced and I 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"
Deliberate Attempt to XIII.
That the attempt to kill Mr.. Goebel
was deliberate admits of no doubt what
ever, and the only wonder is that it
failed. There was no reason why it
should have failed, except for poor
Workmanship. The window from
which the shots were fired was raised
about eight inches from the bottom, and
the man who fred at him had perfect
range of not over 500 feet with Goebel's
tail figure in black oyercoat in sharp
relief against the white snow-coyered
ground behind him. It is claimed by
many judges of good shooting who
abound in Frankfort at the present time,
that the wouldbe assassin was nisled by
the looseness Of the: overcoat and fred
TOO much TO one side. c--. -
! The soldiers who have been. On duty
$780,. tT.seaii% ~; 't.-zJ.t re.ss:.s: