Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1903-07-10
Crowd Stones MiIitiamen.

From o'clock Monday morning un-
til the hour of last nights catastrophe,
the crowd surged about the jail, calling
the militiamen vile names, assailing
them with stones and herating the
deputy sheriffs, who guarded the pail.
At 9 o'clock the mob gradually be-
came more and more excited, it's mani
festatiOns of uneasiness became more
frequent and at 10 o'clock it was seen
that nothing could prevent an assault
on the jail. At 1920 o'clock the riot
ers pressed slowly forward and inno-
cent onlookers and curious persons
followed. Slowly they forced the
militiamen back toward the Jail until
the alley between Division street and
the stone building was reached Then
the leaders, with bicycle in their
front as shield to the bayonets of the
soldiers, attempted to enter the alley
and to storm the alleyway entrance
Captain Blum Of the national guard
ordered charge On the rioters. Grad
ually the crowd was forced back, the
Soldiers Using Their Bayonets
and the butts Of their guns Suddenly
a rioter fell. A soldier tried to lift him
to his feet, but before he could do so he
was assaulted by a ricter Stones and
boulders began to fly through the air.
a soldier was struck with a rock and
fell. a rioter was knocked down with
a gun butt and then a shot was fired.
The one shot started a fusilade of
musketry and shotgun fire from the
defenders Of the Jail and a scattered
return fire from the rioters. Fully
500 shots were fired from the Jail win.
dows, the courthouse steps immediate
~ opposite and by the soldiers on the
streets. No one knows who fired the
first shot. The soldiers say it was the
rioters, while the rioters refuse to talk.
Governor Durbin is said to have in.
structed the authorities not to lessen
the safety of the Jail with halfway
measures. The soldiers and deputies
Fired Into the Retreating Mob
CT men who ran into Division street,
falling, crying and begging. For ff:
teen minutes the firing continued The
mob was gone and the soldiers were
holding the place In front of the
staggering band Of ffty-eight soldiers
lay the dead and the wounded. Means
and shriells OF agony and fear came
from the injured. Ed Schiffman, a
painter who was seen in the first
ranks of the mob during the evening,
lay. on the sidewalk The top Of his
head had been blown off with a As
calibre bullet and his brains were ooz-
ing on the sidewalk A short distance
from him lay another man. Close by
stretched the bleeding form OF another
young man, dead, with a bullet wound
over the heart. All over the street
crawling and moaning, wounded riot.
ers and onlookers tried to ease their
pain and to get away from the Jail
and the small body of soldiers.
In Division street, between her
grief-stricken father and mother,
The Altman Girl Lay Dead,
with her breast torn away with buck.
shot charge. She had been out driv.
ing with her parents, who, attracted
by the noise, stopped to watch the ex.
element.
In the yard of the courthouse
wounded rioters sprawled, and back
Of the line of soldiers two of the mill.
tiamen had fallen.
Within a half hour things had be.
come so quiet that care could be taken
of the dead and the injured. The
wounded soldiers were taken into the
Jail and found to be four In number
Their injuries were slight and were
dressed by Surgeons Tepee and
Achilles. The injured soldiers were
taken to the courthouse, and later to
their homes. The others were picked
up and taken to hospitals and their
homes in ambulances and carriages.