The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1904-10-25
ISL. LOUIS POLICE BAIT E
Detectives Killed BY Train Robbers
in Small Room
Bandits who Were Being Run Down BY
onacers Of the Law Put Up Game
Fight 10 the End.

ST. Louis, Mo Confined in one small
room at No. 1924 Pine street, FIVE men
--three city detectives and two train
robber suspects fought battle Of
death at A o'clock in the afternoon, and
hardly before the seven flashes Of the
reyolvers had dimmed two lives had
been snuffed out, another prolonged
only for few hours and two men bad
~ wounded.
John Shea and Thomas Dwyer, city
detectives, and al Rose, suspect, are
dead, and Thomas MeCluskey, anoth-
err detective, and w. B. Morris, alias G..
G. Blair, were mortally wounded. De-
tectives Harry James and Edward p.
Boyle, Of Kansas City, who also par
ticipated in the raid, escaped unin-
jured through the earlier arrest Of
Harry Vaughn, alias, Adams, in the
street before the shooting. Vaughn
/ was badly dubbed for attempting to
assist his comrades when he was led
into the house.
McCluskey and Morris are at the city
hospital, while Roses body was taken
/ to the morgue after his death from
wounds supposedly inflicted by Dwy-
er. The bodies of the two detectives
were sent to an undertaker's.
Vaughn is in custody. as are almost
dozen persons in the neighborhood,
who either witnessed part of the shoot
ing, or may be able to throw some light
on the affair, which is the most terri
BILE in the history OF the ST. Louis Po-
lice Department.
Morris boosted that he did all of the
shooting which resulted in the detec-
tives' deaths, and it was he who faced
them as they opened the door and
sent a death fusillade with unerring
aim into their ranks before himself
falling to the floor from wounds in the
left eye, left hand In the back and
in the left thigh. The revolver with
which Morris did such terrible execu-
ton was empty when he fell, and he
expressed the regret that he had run
out of ammunition.
The raid was the result of a tip re-
ceived by Detective Harry James
that a trio of crooks suspected of the
famous Pullman robbery on the lii
nois Central, at Centralia, H., last
summer, were staying at the house
conducted by Mrs. Springer. Other
productive raids have been made in
the same neighborhood, which is con-
sidered as a gathering place of many
rough characters.
John ]. Shea, Thomas Dwyer, Thos.
McCluskey, Harry James and Edward
Boyle were the five detailed from Cen
trail Station to make the arrest. In
stead Of going directly to the house
the squad scattered itself about the
corner of Fourteenth and Pine streets
to see if any of the men could be seen.
Harry Vaughn soon came out of the
house at 1924 Pine street and was ar
rested. The detectives then entered,
with Dwyer in the lead, McCluskey
second, Shea third, Boyle next and
James following.
Morris opened fire as the officers en-
tered the room, where he was standing
in front Of the mantel, the revolver ex-
tended at arms length. Hardly had
Dwyer taken a step forward when he
was struck in the stomach. Rose i'm.
mediately Joined in the shooting, hit
ting Detective Dwyer in the neck. Nc
Cluskey, too, was hit before he hardly
entered the room. Both detectives
| had been shot in the twinkling of an
eye, and Detective Boyle had hardly
got his revolver ont of the holster be.
fore Shea threw up his arms and said
I'm shot" Shea, however, had sent
In some shots before he fell back, and
Boyle, seeing Morris go down to the
floor, rushed Shea out the back way
and left him in the arms of strang.
er,
1t is believed that Shea shot Morris
in the back when the latter turned fol
another revolver after emptying the
one in his hand. The detective al
ready had received his death wound.
After Shea had been taken into the
rear by Boyle the latter returned, run
ming into the house after getting the
wounded mans gun. BY this time
Vaughn was making trouble for James
and he was subdued only after fierce
struggle in which the prisoner suf
fered badly beaten head.