Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1901-09-12

ter Yes, know | was bitter l never
had much luck at anything and this
preyed upon me. 1t made me morose
and envious, but what started the craze
TO kill was lecture ! heard some little
time ago by Emma Goldman. She was
in Cleveland and and other anarchists
went to hear her She set me on fire
Her doctrine, that all rulers should
be exterminated was what set me to
thinking, so that my head nearly split
with pain. Miss Goldman's words went
right through me and when / left the
lecture | bad made up my mind that
| would have to do something heroic for
the cause | loved. Eight DAYS ago,
while I was in Chicago, / read in a
Chicago newspaper Of President Nc
Kinleys visit to the Pan American Ex-
position at Buffalo. That day bought
ticket for Buffalo and got here with
the determination to do something, but
did not know just what | thought Of
shooting the President, but I had not
formed a plan
Il went to live at 1918 Broadway,
which is a saloon and hotel John
Nowak, Pole, sort Of politician, who
has led his people here for years, OWLS
it. | told Nowak that | came to see the
Fair. He knew nothing about what was
setting me crazy. | went to the Expo
sition grounds a couple of times day.
Not until Tuesday morning did the reso-
luton to shoot the President take hold
of me 1t was in my heart; there was
no escape for me- / could not have
conquered it, had my life been at stake
There were thousands Of people in town
on Tuesday. heard it was President s
day. All those people seemed bowling
to the great ruler. ] made up my mind
to kill that ruler. bought 80 caliber
! revolver and loaded it.
On Tuesday nighr / went to the Fair
Grounds and was near the railroad gate
when the Presidential party arrived. ]
| tried to get near him, but the police
| forced me back. They forced every body
backNso that the great ruler could pass.
I was close to the President when he got
into the grounds, but was afraid to at
| tempt the assassination because there
were 60 many men in the bodyguard
| that watched me. / was not afraid of
| them or that | should get hurt, but
afraid | might be seized and that my
| chance would be gone forever.
well he went away that time and
went home. On Wednesday / went to
the grounds and stood right near the
President, right under him near the
stand from which he spoke | thought
half dozen times of shooting while he
was speaking, but ] could not get close
enough | was afraid might miss, and
then the great crowd was always iost-
ling and ] was afraid lest my aim fail
/ waited until Wednesday evening, and
| the President got into his carriage snd a
| lot of men were about him and formed a
Gordon that / could not get through, !
was tossed about by the crowd aud my
spirits were getting pretty low. I was
| almost hopeless that night as | went
home.
Yesterday morning went again to
| the Exposition grounds. Emma Gold
mans speech was still burning me up.
! waited near the central entrance for
| the President, who was to board his
special train from that gate, but the po-
lice allowed nobody but the Presidents
/ party to pass where the train waited,
| SO / stayed at the grounds all day wait
| ing.
During yesterday first thought Of
| hiding my pistol under my handkerchief
| | was afraid if / had to draw it from my
| pocket | would be seen and seized by
the guards. got to the Temple Of Mu-
sic the first one and waited at the spot
where the reception was to be held
Then he came, the President-the
ruler-and | got in line and trembled
and trembled until / got right up to
him, and then | shot him twice through
my white handkerchief. | would have
| fired more, but | was stunned by blow
in the face-a frightful blow that
| knocked me down and then everybody
jumped on me. thought / would be
killed and was surprised the way they
treated me.