Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-07-23
From Saturdays Daily.l

|
The thug, criminal as bad as a
murderer, did his work in Ottumwa
last night, and as result John Lydon,
a twenty-one year old man whose home
is near Glasgow, few miles southeast
of Fairfield, lies at the Ottumwa hos
pital with a fractured skull, and the
probabilities are that he will not be
able to recover his normal condition
for considerable length of time, even
with the most careful nursing and sur
| gical attendance.
| Suspect Arrested.
| There is now in the county Jail a
man who gives the name of John Scan
Ian, who has been positively identified
by the younger brother as one of the
men who assaulted his brother and
robbed him. The man claims to be en-
tirely innocent, but the police do not
believe his story.
Robbed of Twenty Dollars.
Not only was Lydon nearly murder
ed by the thugs, but his younger broth
er, who was with him, was robbed of
almost all the money the two possess
ed amounting to S20.04. The young
men are now stranded in Ottumwa,
without place to sleep or anything
with which to pay for their living.
Came From Fairfield.
The. Lydons had not been in Ottum-
wa more than fifteen minutes when
the crime was committed They ar
rived from Fairfield on Burlington
passenger train No. l, at HOS o'clock
last night and started east along the
Burlington tracks to go to the Milwau-
kee depot, where they intended to
| board train for Emmettsburg, from
which place they were to go to the
wheat fields of the north in search of
work.
Went Down Railroad Tracks.
Each of the brothers was carrying a
| telescope containing his clothes, and
| this fact made it evident to any one
I who might have seen them that they
We're strangers and evidently had mon
| ey, owing to the fact that they were
travelling. They walked east on the
railroad tracks from the Burlington de.
pot to point about half way between
/ Market and Green streets, when they
heard some one running behind them
according to the story as told to a
/ SOul lCpOllCl lAC youh6Si cASlA
er, whose name is Daniel Lydon.
Attacked From Behind.
The boy says that neither he nor his
brother thought much about the two
men behind them, looking back only
once. They thought that the men were
running to catch freight train which
| had just passed. Just before the two
men overlook the brothers, however,
the younger one. who was a foot OF
! two behind the other, saw one of the
men throw missile through the air
and strike his brothers head, knocking
him down instantly.
Took the Money.
Just as his brother fell to the
ground Dan, the younger felt one OF
his assailants grip his neck while the
other went through his pockets, taking
from one of them $20.04, all the money
the boy had. 1t was in the following
denominations: three five dollar bills
| three silver dollars, four half dollars
and four pennies. No attempt wai
made to search the older brother, who
/, was lying upon the ground as if dead
This would tend to the theory that TIL
thugs had seen the boy display his
money, but he says this was not done
even at Fairfield, where he and his
older one buying the tickets to this
city.
Boy Pursued the Men.
AS soon as the boy had been robbed
the two rascals started to run away
going toward a string of cars standing
on the side track which runs along the
north side of the Burlington freight
/ house. Eager to recover the money
and, if possible, to repay the thugs fol
the injury they had done to his broth
er, the boy started in pursuit of the
two criminals, but the one nearest hin
stopped and picked up a rock, turning
to pursue the boy. who. being unarm
ed, ran toward Green street. The ruff
fan followed the youth nearly to the
j street, giving up the chase as soon as
the boy came into the light from the
4 street lamps.
Police Notified.
On Green street the boy met two pc
destrians, D. w. Jones and Henry
Blount, and told them of the attack
asil:nf them to come with him an(
help his brother. The men accompa
MED him to the point where the crime
was committed and found the unfor
tunate man just beginning to regain
consciousness. His head seemed tt
give him much pain and he was GOV
cred with blood. The police were no
4 tilted at once, and Captain Gallagher
With Officers Schwartz, Pack ant
OBrien, FASTENED to the scene of tn,
trouble.
Mans Skull Fractured.
The man was placed upon stretch
err and conveyed to the police station
DR.. A. O. Williams was summone,
and after hasty examination. ordere,
him to be taken to the hospital. Her
further examination showed that hi
skull was fractured on the right sid
and his cheek, just below the RICH
eye. is badly cut He became partial
~ conscious, but seemed to so into
doze often. This morning this sympton
was more prominent, and further de
velopments may make an operation
necessary.
Made Round Up.
AS soon as the man had been take
to the police station, and the younge
T,ydon had given a deScriDtion of III