The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-19
PISTOL DUEL WITH ROBBERS Negro is Killed by Police
 man Ragland.  IS WOUNDED HIMSELF officers Had Desperate En- counter With Thieves. Jim Cohen is Dead and Jim Pope, . White Man, and others Are
 Locked Up in the
 City Prison.

oficers of the law of Montgomery. and two burglars Jim Cohen. .s, a negsc; aff,cer was shof Ra9ians ana siie was an panfaiiy though not dangerousiy wounded at 3:45 o'clock yesterday morning in the rear or Greii Brothers store on Tallapoosa street.
 Charlie Reeves, negro hackman. IS in the city prison charged with. com plicity with the burglars, and Jim Pope, a white man. is also incarcerated Hn tcipants pasRsctSfn of the he Blood biooay aray In the meantime the entire police department Is anxiously hunting clue to the ex- acs speeia idsnfS Seer 6c 1ne Rasand is resng easily Rts' at st. Marsaret's Hospital, where he was taken Immediately after the fight s He has r tspee a one esh s lef thigh. Special ..oficer Oscar McDade, the fourth participant in the affray, is performing his usual dfties;
 In Act of R0bbihg Store.
 Officers Ragland and McDade, who are plain clothes men, were on their regular rounds and were walking railroad tracks, they saw two men standing near the freight ears on Rail road Street just back of Greils store. and the policemen started towards them to ascertain their business there at that hour of the morning. Officer land started through Railroad Street in order to surround the men. The men saw McDade first and Immediately opened fire on him which he returInea, ths Inns officer and the two negroes began. One of the men started on a run into the railroad cut 5pst sonth soy,a,sa of ,th, the As Special Offfcer Ragiand turned the corner of Moulton and Tallapoosa Streets he almost ran into Cohen. The nesro's weapon was in his hand and he leveled 1t at the officers breast. and fired. Ragland was prepared and he immediately began using his weapon: the close of the terrific fusilade of shots. the officer. sank to the pavement with. bullet in his left thigh and Ragiands pistol had struck his as- | sailant, two of which entered his. chest, one his stomach and/on in the right As the policeman fell to the ground. | the negro took q parting shot at him. but the bullet passed through the of- | fcers coat and buried itself in a wooden board at the side of the pros- and ran south along M0ulton Street to the alleyway back of the Mobile and | Ohio freight house where he fell head long to the ground in dying condition. fell.
 Officer Ragland's wounds.
 Assistance soon reached Officer Rag land and he was hurried to St Mar
  surgical attention. The wound in his thigh, the most serious of his injuries was minutely examined by the sur- geons and the bullet was probed for but it had become located back of the muscles and could not be reached by the probe. The other wound in the arm while painful is not considered given the wounded man and. at late | hour last night, he was resting easily l Coroner. Tice was notified soon after the tragt @y and went to the scene of the bloedy fight He examined wit | ing was 1ustifiable.
 1 The body of Cohen was turned over | to a negro undertaken and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery yesterday after noon.
 l Considering the circumstances of the | early morning duel 1t is remarkable l that the casualties were not more numerous. The burglars had the ad- and the officers were compelled to fire | on them from the open street. The negroes were equally as well armed and got in the first shots.
 In these prosaic times one reads but seldom, save in fiction. of a fight in a dark alley in the dead of night, be- tween law officers and law breakers, when the forms of the participants can pistol fire. It was a scene of the kind that Is seen in melodrama only there was no comedian to rush on and save the day for one side or the other. It was a serious practical struggle for life on the one hand and liberty on the other. The policemen fought because they are paid to uphold the laws and apprehend its violators. There was no of home and country to make them stand a murderous pistol fire, Their fight was for practical purposes. but their fight was thereby none the less
 McDade Tells of Duel.
 Officer McDade told of the affray :n a graphic maner at the police station Sst Hsternh nsht no,oemS 0Ser Sss is sssG mot the force a bare two years. but he has rapidly risen to the coveted post or special officer.
 Officer Ragland Is a veteran crimi- Russell County and has wieIded in fiuence Tn the politics of the State. He has been on the force about two years
 The two special men had been called to apprehend negro, who had stolen money from the house of Sadie Duncan, white woman on Tallapoosa Street and discovered the robbers on their way there.
 tempt to. leave Montgomery thts morn ing on No. S7, the fast train to Mobile. Rids which .lsaS leaves at s;25. said Officer Nc; toward the union station. When we reached the corner of TaIlapoosa Street we noticed there were two empty box cars standing back of the GrieI Brothers store and we thought that the negro would probably be hiding in there until the train pulled in We made an examination of the cars but did not locate the negro. Just as we were going to turn away. l noticed two the track and l suggested to MT. Rag land that we find out what their bust- ness was at that hour of the morning He agreed. was to approach them was to go back and come on them from | the rear
 Just as I started up the track. saw that the negroes were going to show fight. I halted and was dFawing my gun, when one of the negroes fired. Be- fore I could return the fire the second negro fired twice in rapid succession. | then fired twice, when heard perfect | fusilade in the rear. l knew that Mir. | Ragland had come up and that it was idid not attempt any further resistance with his gun. but took to his heels. He | dashed straight up the track. I fol- | lowed him about thirty yards behind. tThe negro outran me but I emptied my gun on him as he ran. The negro turn. | ed after he knew that l had to reload and before l could get out any more Icartridges, he had sealed the high bluff on the river side of the cut and disap- peared.
 T then turned about to see how Mir. | Ragland was getting on. During the 1 entire chase heard them banging | away but the shooting ceased and I knew that when dr TebtSrned tbs Ier rd dan either
 When I reached the spot the negro tnad ceased to breathe and Mir. Ragland was bleeding from several flesh