Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-09-23

MILD MIN With 4 GUN.
Fred N. Lewis Runs Amuck With a
Gun and Perforates Bohannan's
Office Ceiling.
Mental Derangement Of Young Man
Leads to a Little Gun Play
Last Evening.
cHold up your hands!' was the
l,ather thrilling admonition that
greeted W. H. Bohannan, j.. w. Bull,
and a number of other real estate men,
as they sat in Bohannan's office at.
shortly after 8 o'clock last evening.
Looking up they beheld Fred N. Lewis,
civil engineer and land agent, in the
door with an elevated revolver. Be
fore they had opportunity to do more
than take in the situation ait a hasty
glance, Lewis began to blaze away
and fired five shots into the ceiling
from a 32-calibre revolver. When the
last shot was fired Bohannan, after sat
isfying himself that none of the shots
had penetrated his anatomy, closed
with Lewis, and disarmed him, and
Night Policeman Roberts hauled Lewis
off t. JAIL where he remains awaiting
an examination into his sanity, or I'M
til his relatives shall take him home
with them.
1t was a rather thrilling evening for
the guests in Bohannan's ofice-what
Teddy Roosevelt would call a strenu-
Gus night. Fortunately, after it was
all over, it took on the nature of a
farce, although it might easily have
been a tragedy. Passers by on the
street saw the flashes Of Lewis re-
volver and heard the rapidly fired
shots and hurried across the street, ex-
pecting the occupants of the office
weltering in blood on the floor. AS
they discovered, the principal damage
was to the wall paper in the ceiling
Within five minutes there was a crowd
about THE door and the details Of the
melodrama Were being told and retold
by those who had been under fire
And the great question today is, how
could any man fire five shots from q
revolver in Bismarck and not hit a
real estate man?
Lewis, the shooter. has been mani.
Testing symptoms of mental derange
ment for a week or SO. He came tc
the city a few weeks ago, ~proclaimins
himself a civil engineer and took rooms
in the ;Gussner block. He has also
advertised himself as a real estate
agent, and ait the same time has pur
chased several tracts of land, paying
part cash for Them.
AS nearly as can be learned, he hat
$1,000 or 5 1900 cash with him, which
he has spent literally in developing
his real estate business. His actions
however, have been curious, and his
conversation more {. A few days
ago he announced his intention OF
building al railroad from Bismarck te
Denver, and yesterday he announced
that he would lay out a townsite for
million people, nea the river, builc
asnew bridge, and wipe the city of Bis
marck off the map. He began the
wiping process last night. but his ain
was high. In person, Lewis is tai
and thin, with drawn features and ar
~erratic manner. He has been working
for the American Bridge Company a:
Minneapolis, and is believed to be sui:
fering from dementia resulting from
oYerwoTk. He wa sent west to re
cooperate. stopped off in the city, ant
the land business appears to have.bee1
too much for him, and completed thu
temporary wreck of his intellect. L
lis rather a sad case. The father o
the young man lives in Iowa and ha:
been notified THAT his son is in Jail.
When Lewis was taken to- Jail las
night he protested violently that hi
was being deprived of his rights, AM
asked for a typewriter and wanted th'
governor of tine state notified.
The shooting of last night is believed
to have resulted from a %grievanc.
Lewis had against Bohannan. Yes
terday he applied to the states attor
ney for a warrant for Bohannan's ar
rest.
A telegram received from tn,
mother of the young man at Mace
donna, Iowa, this morning asked tn
authorities % detain her son until sh'
arrived, stating that she would tax
the first train for Bismarck.
KIDDER COUNTY INDEPENDENTS
AT the Kidder county independent