Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-11-07
Unarmed She Attacks Mailman
Who Threatened Her Life
With RevOlyerS
STRUGGLE FOR THE WEAPONS
Mrs. Ben oleson, Swedish Woman,
Shows Undaunted Courage by Leap
ina on Man Who Attempts to Murder
Her--Fires at Her But Bullet Goes
Wide Of Its Mark.

| Nothing but the undaunted courage
| of Mrs. Ben Oleson, of sos Jackson
street, In attacking bare handed AL
bert Walker, who was heavily armed
and who attempted to kill her. pre-
vented the probable murder of not only
herself but her children at about
o'clock Thursday night.
Walker, who was a boarder at the
Oleson home, had been acting strange
~ for some time, and came home with
two revolvers which Mrs. Oleson told
him ne must give her or leave the
house. The deranged man then at
tempted to murder her and was only
kept from accomplishing his purpose
by the woman's extreme bravery and
the desperate fight that she made for
the possession of the weapons. MIS-
Oleson is poor Swedish woman who
lives with her brother and her two
children on Jackson street. Her hus-
band is away from home at present, at
work in the western part of the state,
Walker, who is a Northwestern section
hand, had been boarding and roomlng
at the Oleson home for almost a year.
Only recently he has been acting queer
ly, as If he were mentally unbalanced
Wednesday he purchased two 80 CALI
Der reviewers and a quantity of cart
"a
as usual and ate his supper. As he
was going up the stairs to his room
Mrs. Blossoms little son. Arthur, saw
the revolvers protruding from his hip
pockets. He told his uncle, Mr.. Ben
Johnson, of what he had seen and Mrs.
Oleson overheard the conversation.
Fierce Struggle for the Weapons.
Not daunted by the fact that she
was to face mailman who was heavily
armed, Mrs. Oleson mounted the stairs
and entered the room where Walker
was in bed She told him that he
must either give her the guns or leave
the house as she did not want them
around for fear that some harm might
come to the children. In reply to her
demand Walker said rs that 500" and
reached for one of the
guns that he had under his pillow.
Thinking only of herself and her chill
dren, who were close behind her, she
sprang upon the man just as he drew
the weapon from under his head. The
struggle thai. ensued was for life or
death to the woman and she exerted
every particle of muscle that she pos
sessed. After a short, but fierce strug-
gle, she wre.nched the revolver from
him and threw it on the floor.
He Attempts Murder.
No sooner than she had disposed of
the one gun Walker twisted around
sufficiently so that he could draw with
his free hand another revolver that he
had on the other side of the bed and,
swinging it quickly, was in the act
of pulling the trigger when she struck
it with her hand and threw the muz-
zle Of the weapon upwards as 1t was
discharged The bali just missed Mrs.
Olesen's head, striking the ceiling
above. Another hreathless struggle
ensued for the possession of the Sec
end gun, which Mrs. oleson secured
and placed out of reach of Walkers
hand.
Beats Her Frigh:fuliy.
Walker, then having both hands free,
crushed the woman under his body and,
grasping her by the throat with one
hand began beating her in the face
with his clenched fist. Mrs. Oleson
screamed loudly for help but her broth
er and the hired girl had fled from the
scene. Mrs. Oleson stated that after the
first blow all she could see was blur
of stars and light. Her face bore evil.
dence of her frightful beating. for the
entire left side was one, mass OF dull
hlaekish spots and bruis IS, Her eye is
almost completely closed and she is
considerably cut and scratched about
the face. When she could stand the
blows no longer she pleaded with
Walker, for the sake of her little
daughter, of whom he was very fond,
and who, with the little boy, was also
making a most piteous plea, to desist.
Strange to say he stopped and allowed
her to arise. She went down stairs
with the children, SO weak that she was
scarcely able to stand. Walker soon
came down and without saying any
thing, left the house, taking the guns
with him.
Long Search and Arrest.
Walker left the Olesan home and
went to May street. where he was seen
by several of the neighbors. He seemed
peaceable enough and when in the vi
entity of the glucose works suddenly
disappeared among the buildings A
crowd had formed by that time and
with the aid of officers who were called
a search was begun in the district
where Walker had last been seen. The
search lasted almost all night, but not
trace of the man could be found He was
arrested about II o'clock by Officer
Hanson uptown. Walker gave hirnself
up, offering his revolvers to the officer
and telling him he wanted to be locked
up. He had previously called at the Jail
and offered himself to Merchant Police
Mcclure.
Think He Is Insane.
Those who are best acquainted with
the man do not doubt for moment but
that he is insane. John Johnson, Mrs.
Oleson's brother has worked with the
man on the Northwestern section for
some time and he stated that he firmly
believes he is mentally deranged He
says that Walker attacked him We'd
nesday with a pick, while they were
together striking him In the
back. Owing to the injury Johnson has