The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-10-20
SPIRITED AWAY.
Negroes Who Shot Fred Tutcher
Taken to Lawrence.
HOung Man Dies in Agony at the
Hospital.
PEOPLE WERE EXCITED
Several Hundred Gather Around
the JaiIs.
Danger of u Clash Between
Blacks and Whites.
Both Sides Were Armed With
ReVOIyers and Guns.
PEOPLE WERE EXCITED

EE6Q luICQeT. Ine young man WIZ
was brutally shot down by a negro
Sunday night. died at 4:15 Monday af-
ternoon at Christ hospital from the Of
fectss of the wound At 2:45 o'clock in
the afternoon ne was seized with con-
vulsions. but rallied an hour later and
called for his mother. She had barely
reached his bedside at Christ hospital
when he died with hemorrhage. The
dying scene was d very sad one, and
the hospital attendants. vino are accus-
toned to seeing grief and suffering,
were moved to tears. After calling upon
her son to look at her, the heartbroken
mother raised his eyelids SO that he
might see her for the last time. lie
was conscious, but unable to speak or
open his eyes.
In the crowd which assembled around
the city Jail after dark, there were
large number who did not know. that
the body of the murdered boy was at
Shellabarger's undertaking establish
ment just across the street The as
Eembly could not be called a mob. 1t
consisted of spectators, to the number
of three or four hundred. who were
there to see if any demonstration would
be made But it was an assembly of
spectators who would have joined any
organized mob, no matter how small
The fact that there were no leaders
saved trouble.
The two negroes who committed the
dastardiy crime were not in town, haN-
ing been spirited away to Lawrence be-
fore dark by Sheriff Lucas, but a num-
Der of officers were kept around the
station for the purpose of quelling any
street riot which might occur between
white and negroes This was the only
danger The whites were quiet and
pea ceable, and not a weapon OF any
kind was displayed among them, al
though it is probable that number OF
them had revolvers, and would have
used them if trouble had been started.
ON the other hand crowdss'of negroes
assembled carrying shOtguns, rifles and
TeVolVers conspicuOusly displayed. They
showed an aggressive spirit and a desire
10 pick a quarrel with the whites. They
mixed in the general crowd, and a
white man passing though had to be
careful to avoid being tripped up by
some negro. For a few minutes, about
10 o'clock when the crowd of whites
began to fully realize that the negroes
were hunting trouble things were IN
such condition that a loud voice or a
slight alteration would have precipita-
ted a fight The negroes then backed
off into dark corners. and the whites
began to disperse At 1880 all the
whites were gone, but number of
armed negroes were still in sight. Sew
eral policemen who had been called in
regular work, and Chief Gof went
home When the crowd was the thick
rst some of the policemen who had no
ticed that many negroes were carrying
ehotguns and rifles, advocated arrest1ng
and disarming them, but Chief Gof
forbade them 10 do So Although they
are making the demonstration and eX-
hibiting their weapons" he said, they
would declare that We were showing ia
Voritism and that the whites were also
armed and I think if you would search
lot of those white men you would find
that they were right. Let them alone.
If anything is started, let them start it.
1t is our business to stop disturbance,
not to create one" which is rather an
amusing view of the duties of the police
as applied to an impending conflict.
In their confession the two negroes,
Will Mason and Thomas DeMoss, said
that they were acting in self-derense,
as the murdered man was coming at
them with club. There is nothing to
corroborate their statement. P. L. Reed,
who saw the tragedy, says that Tutcher
had nothing in his hands, and made no
attempt to strike either of his assailants.
The ante-m -mortem statement of Tutch-
er which was taken at the hospital by
County Attorney Hungate while the boy
was dying follows the story in detalI
as told by Reed. 1t is as follows:
My name is Fred Tutcher. l am now
lying at Christ hospitel, Topeka, Shaw
nee county, Kansas. and I make the fol-
lowing statement as my antemortem
statement of how l received the injury
from which ! am now suffering. I be-
lfeve and know that l have no chance to
recover and l believe that 1 am certain
TO die, and have no hope of recovery
from the injury from which I am sut-
dering and / make this statement In the
presence of impending death as a true
account of how [ received my injury.
Last night, October IS, 1908. a few
minutes after II o'clock. 1 was standing
in the south door of the Parlor livery
barn at the corner of Seventh and Van
Pliren streets. and was talking to Percy
Reed Two colored men drove down the
street and turned UP into the barn where
we were standing. They were men who
earlier in the evening hired the horse
They drove into the barn on a gallop
and as they crossed the side walk, and at
the door of the barn one of them Jump
cd out. The man who jumped out was
the shorter of the two men. and was
what would be called a brown skinned
colored man.
THE other man drove the horse up
the incline and stopped in the barn. I
walked around on the west side of the
rig as the horse was facing SOUTH and
sas;. % the man who was still in the
buggy and was a taller man than the
other, being man close to six feet and
a real dark skinned colored man:
What do you mean by driving this
horse so hard boys2' At this the tai
Ter of the two jumped out OF the buggy
with a whip in his hand held about
the middle with the butt raised toward
me. and said Il don't know whether it
Is any of your business; We paid
for it. didn't we2'' and began to call me
names and curse me. I said to them
that that was all right and took the
robe out of the buggy. carried it
around ta another buSEY. ] was COM