The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-31
WILLIAM GOEBEL SHOT BY AN ASSASSIN

After the wound had been dressed SEN
ator Goebel showed great exhaustion. and
it was announced by the physicians that
he would in all probability die within
short time. He rallied, however, and un-
der the influence of opiates sank into
gentle slumber, which lasted for several
hours.
The bullet which struck Mr.. Goebel was
fired from a window in the center of the
third story of the office building just east
of the capitol. That window was raised
about eight inches from the sill, to per-
nit an unobstructed passage of the bull
let when Mr. Goebel should come within
range.
OTHER SHOTS FIRED.
Both Chinn and Lillard assert that
while the first shot came from the di-
rection of the window in the third story,
+ there were other shots fired from differ
ent portions of the same building. Some
of those who heard the shots say at least
one shot was fired from the office of the
secretary Of state. This, however, is not
true, as there were men in the office of
the secretary of state who rushed to the
window as soon as the shots were heard,
and all of them declare that there was
no shot fired at all from that part Of the
building.
The window in the third story was left
open, no effort having been made to close
it by the would-be assassin, while not an
other window in the building was open,
nor were there any places where bullets,
had been fired through them.
ARREST OF WHITAKER.
Whitaker was arrested as he came
down the steps on the east side of the
state office building, directly below the
window from which the shots had been
fired. AS he reached the sidewalk and
was fastening toward the scene of the
shooting, he was met by John E. Miles,
who Is seventy-six years Of age. With
out hesitation Miles threw himself upon
Whitaker, winding his arms around
him, calling loudly for help. 1t was right
at hand, and in an Instant Whitaker
was surrounded by group of men, many
of them with dra wn revolvers. He made
no attempt to escape, knowing well that
the slightest attempt to do SO would have
brought a dozen bullets into his body.
He submitted quietly to a search, which
was quickly made of his clothing, the
proceeds being three revolvers ard one
big knife. A quick examination of the
revolvers showed that none of the cart
ridges. had been used, and there was no
powder smut upon any part of his weap-
ons, proving conclusively that he could
not have used any of his three revolvers.
In addition to this all those who heard
the shots join in the statement that they
were from rifle. Whitaker was quick
ly led away and placed in jail, while
guard was placed at the outer entrance
to keep out all people who had no di-
rect conne ction with the institution.
The prisoner is a man slightly over
medium size, with sandy hair and NOUS
tache. He was disposed to take things
calmly, although he repeated again and
again that he knew nothing whatever
! about the shooting.
WHffTAKER'S STORY.
'T was on the first floor of the build
ing he said, when I heard Gov Taylor
tell that man Davis, the capitol police
man, to go over at once to see Gen. Col
lier. I said l would go with him, and
there / was going. I wanted to know,
too, what the shooting was about. When
l stepped outside that man grabbed me,
and that's all know, and that's fact"
Few people believe that Whitaker is
guilty of the crime, but the fact that he
was hastily leaving the building from
which the shooting was done was enough
to make trouble for him.
THAT man Davis to,whom Whitaker
referred, is Col. John Davis, the GUS
todian of the capitol grounds. His story
agrees with that of Whitaker.
II was just outside of Gov Taylor's
Office. said Col. Davis, when | heard
the shots and heard Gov. Taylor say:
My God, what have they done? He
called to me to at once go over to the
office of Adjt. Gen. Collier and Whitaker
vert along. I am positive that he could
not have done the shooting. We were at
the door of the building in too short a
time for that"
AS soon as it was known that the bull
let 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 ran to the
door OH the west side to prevent the es-
cape of anybody from there. Severai
men attempted to enter the doors from
the outside, but were prevented by
groups Of mountaineers,- who stood In
the doorways. Some of the men held
WiEchesters in their hands, and pres anted
an aspect so generally uninviting that
no attempt was made to search the build
ing, and nobody gained entrance to it
for several minutes after the shooting
had been done, and the assassin had am
pie opportunity to escape.
SHOOTING WAS PLANNED.
That the shooting of Mr. Goebel was
the result of a carefully laid plan is with
out question. The man who did the work
had evidently taken his stand at the
window, which had previously been
raised, In order to allow the free passage
of the bullet and waited until his VIC
tim was in full sight before firing.
Ever since the influx of mountaineers
last week a large number of them have
been sleeping in the upper part of tie
state house 1t is not known however,
that any of these men did the work, or
that they had any knowledge of the pre-
meditated crime. There has not so far,
been discovered the slightest direct evil
dence pointing to any one, and it is not
likely now that any will ever be found.
The man who fired the shots took the
precaution to conceal his location by US
ing smokeless powder cartridges score
of people We're where they had a full view
of the side of the building from which
the firing was done, and all of them de-
clare that not a sign of powder smoke
was visible. Both Chinn and Lillard are
men of experience in affairs 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 at the spot from which they were
fired.
II tried hard to get sight of the fell
low" said Lillard. He kept pouring the
: lead down at us. and I'll swear there
was not a sign of anything to indicate
from where he was shooting. AS many
shots as he fired would make considerable
powder smoke If ordinary cartridges were
used, but never a sign of smoke could 1
see.'
sI looked around mighty brief spell"
said Col. Chinn, "but there was nothing
for me to look at, so l paid attention to
Goebel The fellow used smokeless
powder all right enough, and 1 guess he
was pretty wise to do It, Somebody might
have got him If they had known where
to look for him. BY the time we knew
where to look he had gone and it WAS