The Springfield herald., 1907-08-30
EDITOR OF WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
is KILLED IN HIS HOME
TOWN BY RANCHER.
TRAGEDY STIRS KERSEy
BUT FOR TIMELY INTERFERENCE
THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN
COMMON LAW HANGING.


day night shot C. R. Lewis, editor OF
the Kersey Enterprise, through the
heart. Lewis fell dead on the spot,
I've got you now" said Simonsen
with curse, and replaced the gun
in his pocket. Excited crowds gath
cred about him, some clamoring that
he be strung up. Disdainful OF
threats, Simonsen stood with folded
arms until a constable arrived and
| placed him under arrest.
The shooting was the result of
publication in Lewis paper. in which
the name of Mrs. Simonsen, woman
of striking beauty, was connected by
innuendo with that of j. l.. Ewing, n
wealthy ranchman. Simonsen,
though himself fairly well-to-do, is
tenant on Ewing's ranch. and the two
men, as far as known, have been on
| good terms.
The innuendo against Mrs. Simon
sen is said to have been repeated
number of times in various issues of
the Enterprise the last ten days ago,
and Simonsen had gone to the editor
and protested. Bitter feeling grew up
between the two men, and Simonsen
came to Kersey with the purpose, ap-
parently, of ending the affair through
procuring the arrest of Lewis.
| II I'LL, tIe JUSTICE VI tue peace
at Kersey, to whom Simonsen applied
for the warrant, insisted that the mat
ter be carried to the prosecuting at
torney. Simonsen did not have pa
tience to await this action. He was
drinking and, arming himself with
| revolver, started out on man hunt
| for Lewis.
Found Victim on Street.
| the
main street, at s o'clock, an hour
when the thoroughfare was crowded
with townspeople and farmers doing
their Saturdays shopping. He walked
up to Lewis, without a word of warn
ing, and whisking out the revolver,
fired at close range.
| I've got you now, you - -,
he exclaimed. the sound of his voice
half drowned by the pistol report.
Lewis, shot through the heart, threw
up his hands, whirled around to the
opposite direction, and fell, face down
ward, on the street.
Excited witnesses to the cold
blooded shooting came thronging from
all directions.
Hang him. hang him!" shouted
some in the crowd. Bring rope.
quick!"
mo you won't. That man got only
what he deserved. Don't touch him."
cried others, forming a body guard
| about Simonsen.
In the middle of two struggling and
about evenly matched mobs, one cry
ing for his life, the other determined
to defend him. Simonsen, the only
collected person in the crowd, was
| pushed back and forth over the body
| of his victim The outcome of this
strife was doubtful and looked as
though it might end in trouble, when
Constable James Loustelet succeeded
in pushing his way through the crowd
to where Simonsen was being buheted
about. The officer drew his revolver
and threatened the crowd, forcing
every one to withdraw to distance
from his prisoner.
The constable stood his ground un-
| til Under Sheriff Fred Williams, who
had been notified of the shooting by
phone message. arrived, after COW
ering the ten miles from Greeley in
record time. Under Sheriff Williams
took charge of the prisoner and placed
him in the Greeley Jail.
Two Factions in kersey.
The removal of Simonsen, however,
| did not serve to allay excitement in
Kersey. The crowd instead collected
about the morgue where the body OF
Lewis lay, and fought the controversy
| over anew.
The alleged slanderous publications,
in which the name of Mrs. Simonsen
and Ewing were connected in a man
ner that left little to be inferred be-
gan to appear in the Enterprise some
time ago. Simonsen, each time. went
to Lewis, it is said and protested,
but apparently without effect The
publications continued to appear, and
they finally goaded Simonsen to the
point where he sought legal remedy.
| Failing to procure warrant Tor
Lewis arrest, he went to his home to
secure his revolver, determined to
take the law into his own hands.
Mrs. Simonsen, a blonde, has never
failed TO attract by her beauty. She
is stylish in appearance, always well
dressed, and with fondness for jew
elry. Smonsen is thirty-seven years
old, native of Sweden, but has lived
in Kersey for the past ten years. The
couple have no children.
style of journalism.
The style of journalism followed
by Lewis has aroused much adverse
criticism. On several occasions, it is
said, he was warned that his papet
the mails unless its tone was changed.
He followed a policy of dealing with
topics usually disregarded.
Here are types of his utterances:
IF a certain old stiff from Greeley
doesn't keep away from a certain
womans house in Kersey, the citizens
will treat him to a coat of tar and
feathers" and IF that son of h
known as Brother -, who claims
to be a worker in the Lords vineyard,
don't get out of town pretty quick
and mend his ways, rope and tele'
! graph pole will be his fate"
The publication that caused the kill.
ing tonight was couched in practically
the same sort of language.
Others of a like nature have en-
broiled the daring editor in number.
less fights heretofore.
Lewis had been publisher of the En-.
terprise about a year, and during that
time the paper has been watched cur
iously by the citizens of Kersey and
Greeley. Lewis leaves a wife.
Sad News Delayed.