The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-23
ed to release the safety catch on the
revolver and it would not shoot
Hand to Hand Encounter.


Hand to Hand Encounter.
The negro then made rush for Mr.
I Coons and began slaShing him with a
razor. Finding that the revolver
would not work Mr- COons used the
weapon as a club but without emecting
any damage upon his assailant who
continued to use the razor, cutting and
/ slashing at Mr. Coons throat and
/ face. Mrs. C0ons came to the rescue
! of her husband, whose assistant, break
! ing away, slashed her three times, cut
ting her on the left side Of the face,
the chin and across the chest, inflict-
ing wounds which bled profusely-
The struggle aroused q man and his
wife who We're asleep in an adjoining
room, who Immediately telephoned for
the police. Two policemen who ar
rived on the scene within five minutes
after the cutting occurred found Mrs
Coons walking up and down the hall
way awaiting their arrival, while in the
room adjoining the one in which the
/ tragedy was enacted Mr.. Coons sat on
chair bleeding from five deep
wounds Mr.. COons was so weak from
the loss OF blood that he slid and half
fell from the chair to the floor Just as
the police arrived. DR.. Stewart who
mad been telephOned, arrived shortly
aEter and took charge of Mr. Coons
VINO was the most SeriOuSl-- injured
After temporarily dressing the wounds
Mr. Coons was taken to Christ hos
pttal, where DR.. Otto Kiene, the house
physician, says he is resting as easily
as could be expected this rnOrnfno-
While the wounds are numerous and
ne IS weak from the loss of blood the
physician says he will probably re-
cover unless mplica tiOns set in Mrs
Coons was placed on a cot and as
soon as the wounds of her husband
had been dressed, her wounds were
I bandaged- She is resting easy today
ana the wounds, while deep. are not
dangerous.
Escapes by a Small Window.
AFTER committing the assault on Mr.
and Mrs. Coons the negro fled to the
rear or the room which they Occupied
ana attempted to leave by means of a
door which opened into a closet In this
closet is a large trunk which DracticaI-
ly occupies all of the floor SPACE. Clam
bering over this he crawIed through a
small window which is not large enough
70 permit the escape of a large man and
/ cropped a short distant to the ground
and escaped.
Sleeping in the same room with his
parents was the 10-year-old son of Mr.
ana ana MRS CoOns who was awakened by
the struggle of his parents with the
| burglar. He took advantage of the only
means Of defense which he had. and
child-like buried his head in the covers
ana plllows ana as he expressed 1t,
Just staid there and waited for them
to quit fighting"
Mr.. Brewers Story.
D. L. Brewer, the newspaper carrier
who shot Haygood and who is respon-
sible for his capture came out of the
affray with a half dozen wounds inf1ict-
ed with a knife or razor.
In telling of the story of the assault
upon him this morning he said. "The
boy had just left the morning paper at
my house and I was reading it when
the negro came to my door and asked
me to let him some in. He said They
are after me and want to kill me and
want yOu to protect me- I had read
/ ~ he r7r1f
Mrs. CoCns and thought at once Shat
this might be the man the police We're
looking for. I asked him to sit down
and I went into an adjoining room to
telephone the police, and as I looked
over my shoulder I saw that he had
followed me and was watching ana lis
tening to what I was saying.
THE police told me to hold him and
that they would be right out, and that
was where the trouble started for me.
He started to go and I walked into an
other room and got my revolver. and
put it in my pocket and told him that
I would take care of him and see that
he was not hurt for he seemed to think
all the time that he was being chased
by some one who wanted to kill him.
He said, No, I will not stay here for
you want to turn me over to the police
and I won't stand for that
"I took hold of his arm to stop
him. and he drew some kind of
weapon which felt like a mighty dull
cut both of my hands and slashed me
three or four times on the head and
neck. The doctors have me so
bandaged US that I cannot tell how
many cuts there are on me, but
guess that there are plenty of them.
Then I commenced shooting at him.
The first shot went through his cloth
ing. and the second time I missed him
altogether. and the third shot struck
him in the wrist. Then I placed the
revolver against his stomach and
snapped it three times, but it was
empty.
1--WE were pretty busy all of the
time as we fought all over the back
yard, and the shooting was all done
while we We're scuff1ing. which ac-
counts for the fact that I did not kill
him
"He was too big for me to handle
alone, and the folks at home ran away
and did not help me at all, and he
broke away from me and started to
run down the street and I followed
as fast as I could, but I was getting
weak from the loss of blood, and he
was nearly a block ahead of me when
he turned in the alley where he was
/ captured. I thought that I would
meet the police. but for some reason
we did not until later"
Will Be Tried for Sanity.
Haygood viii be tried before Probate
Judge Hayden on Saturday morning
for his sanity. This determination was
reached after he was carefully examined
this morning by DR.. B. d. Eastman
HaygOOd says he went into both the
+ Coon and Brewer residences for protec.
+ ton. He said to all his victims: They
are after me-they are after me" It
/ developed this morning, after an inves-
/ tigation by Detective Ross of the poll
force that Haygood on last Sunday
/ evening jumped into the Kansas river
with all his clothes on, and swan down
f the stream for couple of hundred feet.
When asked this morning why he did
] this peculiar thing. he declared that he
I was escaping from his enemies.
He is suffering from a. hallucination,
! think" said DR.. Eastman, ''of being
] followed by imaginary enemies. That IS
on his mind, and he cannot get rid of It.
/ It appears that he went into both these