Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-08-26
VICTIM CANNOT LIVE
Free-for-all Fight In Side Show Tent
Ends With Murderous Assault Upon
Bloomfield coIored Man-One of the
Men, Accused Of Shooting Junkin.
Makes His Escape.

Bloomfield, Aug. 24.-(Special.)-
Charles Junkin, well known colored
man and for several years a resident
OF Bloomfield, lies at the point of
death as the result Of murderous as
sault by two employees of the w. T..
Hall circus. One man, accused Of
having Inflicted the wounds which
will doubtless cause Junkins death, Is
under arrest, and another, who shot
Junkin during the free-for-all fight
that ended with the injury to the col
ored man, cannot be located. The
prisoner refuses to give his name and
none of the officials of the circus can
supply the information. Neither is
the name of the fugitive known
A Free-for-All Fight.
The trouble started at the close of
the afternoon performance given by
the Hall circus troupe here yesterday
A party of young men, residents of
Bloomfield, and the country nearby
visited one of the side shows, where
some of them got into an alteration
with two Of the employees The latter
attempted to put the young men out
OF the tent, to which the latter OBJ
Jected, claiming they had bought tick.
cts and wished to see the perform.
ance. A free-for-all fight resulted, dur
ing which Alva Swift and Will Beck.
ley, two Of the young men, were
knocked down and beaten by show
men. The fighting continued in front
OF the tent, where Charles Hazlewood,
a special policeman, attempted to re-
store order. He was struck by one
OF the circus employees and quite badly
though not seriously injured.
Junkin Shot and Beaten,
Junkin was standing nearby when
the trouble started and seeing the off.
Ger and the other Bloomfield men
were in need of help he attempted to
take their part. One Of the circus
employees rushed at him and fired with
a revolver, the bullet making a flesh
wound in Junkin's shoulder. Though
only slightly hurt he fell and before
he could defend himself a second
Snowman beat him over the head with
a heavy iron bar. fracturing the skull
and inflicting fatal injuries.
AssalIants Seek Hiding Places.
By this time crowd had collected at
the scene of the fight and the circus
employees took to flight to save them
selves from arrest Sheriff Wilkinson
was summoned and after search of
the cars on the side tracks near the
depot he found the man who is ac-
cused of having beaten Junkin with
an iron bar. This prisoner was taken
to the Jail and locked up. The man
who did the shooting cannot be found,
but. the officers have a description of
him and hope to bring about his ar
rest soon
1t is hard task the officers face
in trying to find the man who shot
Junkin. w. T. Hall, the owner Of the
circus, has given them every possible
assistance but he 10 powerless to pro-
duce the man or to give them the
name of any Of those who were en-
gagged in the fight. They are canvas
men and common laborers and the
circus management keeps no record of
the names of this class of employees.
Description Of Fugitive.
The man for whom the officers are
hunting and who is accused of shoot
ing Junkin is described as being near
ly six feet tall, weight about 200
pounds; wears short, medium brown
mustache, small straw hat, black
Junkin VIII Die.
Junkin was conveyed to the hospital
and physicians removed a piece of
broken bone from the skull, about
three inches long and nearly as wide
The colored man lived through the
night but today his death is expected
momentarily and the doctors say he
cannot possibly survive.
trousers and no coat.
Junkin is known to every resident Of
Bloomfield. He is unmarried, about So
years old and has good reputation
as a peaceable and honest citizen.