Evening star., 1901-09-07
Washington Horri6ed Over the Re-
ceipt Of News From Buffalo.
LATE REPORTS 4 GREAT RELIEF
Extra Editions of The Star Cir
cuIated Like Wildfire.
EXCITING SCENES DOW NTOWN

| to Washington through the medium of an
| extra edition of The Star created pro-
found and deep sensation.
| The Stars first extra was upon the
| streets at 4:i0 o'clock. single newsboy
rushed from the basement of The Star
| building on the 11th street side crying the
news. A man standing upon the corner
bought the first paper. 1.-The President is
| shot! he cried, waving his paper aloft.
| Within sixty seconds there was a con-
| stant stream of newsies emerging from
| the office with extra papers, and in less
! than five minutes all of the downtown
| districts had the news. The word was
passed from lip to lip and from house to
house until. in about twenty minutes, it
was all over the city.
AT first Washington was stricken dumb.
/, The news was so astounding that articu-
late expression of the peoples feelings was
almost an impossibiity. Crowds stood
along the streets reading The Stars extras.
People riding in street cars read their
papers and looked at each other in amaze
ment. They were stupefied by the magni-
tude of the import of the news But later
when a full realization of just what had
| happened broke upon the public, there was
| intense excitement. People hurried along
! the streets discussing the attempted
murder, crowds gathered about the news
paper offices awaiting bulletins. Every
where the feeling was at a high tension.
How is the President? What is the
latest news" were questions that were
! banded about and asked at every hand
| Every scrap of information was devoured
with an eagerness that well attested to the
| tact OF just how popular the President
! is among Washingtonans
Bulletins of different shades of impOrt
| poured into the city for several hours after
the shooting. Some of them were favora-
! Die. while others were to the contrary
Everything indicating that the Presidents
| condition was improving was greeted with
! acclaim. All the news tending to snow
| tnat MS condition was growing worse east
a corresponding degree Of gloom over the
| city.
The departments and the Executive Man
| sion had closed to the business of the day
anu an were vacant excepting the few
"atchmeh who maintain their accustomed
! vigil throughout the night. No member of
| the cabinet was in Washineton so that
| there We're few officials at their desks from
whom TO gain any news from Buffalo until
sCfne time after the attempted assassna-
tion occurred.
Anxious Hearts.
The newspaper offices were besieged with
questions over the telephones. The lobby
OF the business Office of The Star was
crowded to suffocation shortly after the
first extra was issued, there being a large
overflow of people from the crowd outside
anxiously awaiting bulletins. Persons not
content with waiting for the news to be
posted or printed and whose personal So
licitude for the President permitted of no
restraint came to the editorial rooms and
begged FOR something from the Presidents
bedside telling of his condition. The telegraph
companies were SO busy answering tee-
phone calls that they had difficulty in find
ing opportunity to attend to their regular
duties The pressure for information was
unprecedented Everywhere the express
sion was heard: Let us hope and Dray
that the President will recover There can
surely be no other outcome"
Told i'm Extras
The first extra edition Of The Evening
Star contained only few lines, giving the
bare announcement that an attempt had
been made upon the Presidents life. 1t
was enough to arouse the populace, how
ever, and just when the city was sitting
down to its dinner it received the news
News and not food was what the public
| hungered for then, and everything else was
forgotten In the rush that was made for
the down town section in quest of informa-
tion.
At $40 o'clock The Star issued it's second
extra. This edition gave additional infor-
nation OF the shooting, and told Of the
| location of the. President wounds and of
the arrest of the would-bc assassin 1t
stated that the man had been captured
and locked up. Very little was told of
the Presidents condition, however, and the
anxiety was upon the increase. Rumors
of all kinds were afloat by this time AS
far uptown as 18th street and Florida ave-
nue. the report had been circulated that
the President was dead. 1t had spread all
over the northwestern section of the city
before 5:3O o'clock Fortunately it was
not true, but IT was not until The Star
| circulated its third extra at $50 o'clock
that the reassuring news came that Mr.
Mckinley yet lived. The assurances held
| out by the dispatches in this edition. how
| ever, were anything but of a hopeful ma
ture The telegraph told of the fact that
| the Presidents injuries had been pronounced
| probably fatal This information cast
! gloom over the city. The stanchest were still
| in the ruling of Providence that the Presi-
dent should survive. At $40 o'clock the
! fourth extra came out, and the gladsome
| tidings were hailed with elation: THE
| Presidents wounds not necessarily fatalr'
Again did the machinery OF report get
| into operation, and ii was but short time
before the whole city was aware OF the
! fact that President McKinleys chances
looked for. Upon top Of this news came
the fifth extra Of The Star at midnight,
which told of the hopeful character of Mr..
McKinley's condition. and all Washington
went to bed joyful and happy IN the belief
that the life of the chief executive had
been saved. 1t was good news to sleep
upon and when Washington turned in for
the night it did so with profound sigh OF
relief.
Rush for Papers.
The scenes about The Star building
where newsboys were being supplied with
papers last evening, were unprecedented in
the history of the city. Sixty-four thou
sand copies OF The Star were sold, and the
startling news was quickly taken to every
section of the city. As soon as 1t was
learned that the extra paper related to the
shooting Of the President there was an i'm
mense rush for the sales rooms of The
| Star, which are located along the 11th
street side Of the building, under the side
walk. This large space was filled with
boys and men and some women eager to
| get supplies Of the paper, and the excited
| rush upon the sales counters was con-
/ trolied with difficulty. Any boy who did
| not make at least s. was regarded as a
| dismal failure at the business. The news
| boys averaged two visits to the source of
| supply and bought on an average fifty
| papers at each visit. Within three hours
| four editions of the extra paper were is
sued, SO that by the time boy sold out
| his first supply and returned for more he
was able to get a later edition.
One energetic boy sold In three hours 400
papers. Among the sellers Of the papers were
/ many laboring men, hodcarrier returning
| from his work, with mortar covered cloth
| ing netting several times the amount of
] his days wages. The papers were sold to
| the waiting populace at cents each. and