Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-20
BULLETS FLY
MFIGHTOVER
"A TRANSFER
SAN FRANCISCO CONDUCTOR
STAYS PASSENGER
PANIC ENsuEs; WOMEN AND
CHILDREN TRAMPLED
Crew Of Trolley Battles with Crowd
on Polk Street Llne--Both Em-
pIoyes Of United Railroads
Charged with Murder
BY Associated Press.

Dy Associated freSS
SAN FRANCISCO. Oct. 19-As the re-
suit of trouble over transfer slip on a
Polk street car of the United Railroads
system this evening one man was shot
and killed, another SO seriously wounded
that death will probably ensue. and two
other men less severely injured
The slain man was charles Moss. aged
| "a, hod carrier.
| Otto p. Enerwin was shot through the
neck and left eye and will probably die.
John Monger, a hod carrier was shot
through the left hand: Bernard Cold.
stein was shot through the right leg. and
Joseph Stefferis will likely lose the sight
of his left eye, which was filled with
shattered glass.
The conductor of the car. e. B. Brown,
and the motorman. r. A. Purcell. are at
the city prison and will be charged with
murder. C4
| When the car left the ferry to pass out
Mission street on its way to Polk, 1t was
packed with passengers, including men
returning from work, and men and wo-
men who had been across the bay. The
crowded car made it difficult for Conduc-
tor Brown to collect fares. and by the
| time that Polk street, was reached both
he and the uncomfortably crowded pas
sengers were in condition of irritable
nervousness.
| Fight over Transfer
The man who started the trouble. ac-
cording to his own admissions to the
police was John Monger. He said that
when he paid his fare early on the trip
| he had asked the conductor for a trans
| fer Brown was busy and told Monger
to wait awhile. Mopger repeated his re-
quest several times and Brown failed to
hand him the slip. Finally Monger COM
cluded that Brown did not intend to give
him the ticket and struck at him. The
| conductor lodged the blow and swung
back at Monger. striking him in the face
and knocking him down.
All of this disturbance happened on the
rear platform. where Monger had been
| talking to Goldste.n and Moss These
men say when Monger was knocked down
| they saw Brown draw revolver and
| frappled with him to prevent his using 4.
Browns face would indicate that the pre-
lventive measures included more than
seizure, for his countenance is badly
| bruised and cut.
| 1t was at this jurcture that the shoot
ing commenced. At the same time some
one threw off the trolley pole and the
car came to standstill. The stoppage
| of the car, coupled with noise in the rear,
| led Motornan Purcell to believe that his
mate was in danger, and revolver in
| hand, he pushed has way through the
crowded car Women and children were
thrown into panic and mad rush was
made to escape Women trampled upon
children and windows were broken by the
| frightened passengers, whose hysteria
and fears were increased when the shoot
ing began.
Moss Sot Through Body
| Moss was the first one to receive
bullet. He was shot in the abdomen,
and so closely was the revolver held to
his body that his clothes were powder
burned. He staggered from the platform.
and as he was going 1t is said that the
second bullet that pierced his lung was
fired at him. He walked few feet and
| fell to the walk. dead.
| The shooting of the other men was
done in the confusion of the scuffing and
| fighting. One shot had been fred before
Motorman Purcell reached the rear plat.
form, and then shot after shot followed
| in quick succession.
When Purcell was searched at the police
station a revolver was found on HIS per-
son. Three chambers were empty and
the barrel was powder stained.
Brown told a story of self-defense in
protecting his life. Enerwien. who was
fatally shot. is said to have been one OF
the group that engaged in the fight
against Brown.