New-York tribune., 1907-09-25
HHE 18TH 4 B4TTLEFIELD.
Bullets Fly an Serious Street Riot IN
Uest 18th Street.

In the 18th Assembly District. on the upper West
Tide where Francis P. Coughlin the Mcclellan can
sdidete. fighting John f Curry. the Murphy
candidate. small riots and fights were continually
IN progress near the polling places. most Of them
near Ninth and Tenth avenues
hour before the primaries opened there
s.ively riot-the most serious in any election dis
Nrict-in West 9th street in which revoiVeTs, pls1
scis clubs and knives were freely used and several
persons narrowly escaped death serious injury.
About O'Clock hundred strong, followers Of
r-Coughln marching down the street. many of
Ahem armed. AS the line came abreast Of the John
IF. Curry Association, at No. 43, il was greeted
with hoots and yels. These answered by a
fsiozen shots fl rapid succession
the same time sympathizers both sides be
gan 10 mix in with their fists Curry. his twenty
tive captains and many eutenants. were in the
clubhouse holding final conference. They were
.slpstairs. fact which probably saved lives,
Aes the bullets entered the windows the ground
floor.
Many shots we're returned by the Curryites in the
club house. a bullet went through the hat Of a
district leader of Charles Aiahoney. One of the
tEoughlin men. Frank Dunleay, received scalp
iwoEnd. Just as the fight started some sent in
IA call the West s7th police station. bring
ing out the reserves But the crowd had increased
ITO such enormous size that they unable to
fhandle il. and Police Headquarters asked for
assistance. Inspector Walsh soon arrived with
sixty more men.
The fighters by this time had marched on toward
tlertE avenue inspector NalSh ana ms men 1o-
lowed them and dispersed them No arrests were
mace. An extra force of patrolmen detailed
tie clubhouse all day until the close Of the
polls.
Curry said that the Cougfllin mad attacked
rllis in the hope OF preventing them from dis
| tributing the ballots. Michael Laville, one Of
Curry's inspectors said that he had been attacked
/ separately by two Coughlin men and beaten with
brass knuokles. He gave the police the names Of
the men. but they have not been arrested yet
After clearing the streets the police began q
lsearch Of the nearby houses. where it said
that some persons had been injured. In the home
iof DE- Robert G. Moore, opposite Curry's Clubhouse
they foGnd that woman patient had had mar
row escape from being shot 70 death Captain
Daley, Of the West 47th station. said that
fully hundred shots fired Some of the
pistols. he thought, however. might have contained
blank cartridges
Frank Coughin. Curry's opponent. half an hour
~later al his headquarters in The West End Club on
Tenth avenue. said that none Of his men had any
thing 10 do with the shooting. for they not in
that neighborhood the time He thought the
! shooting must have been done by the Curry men
! themselves
Sheriff Hayes appeared at the Curry Headquarters
! in person with forty-four deputies he had sworn
tn later in the day These men were all equipped
with nightstcks and revolvers and instructed TO
do their duty in keeping order. They went from
] the Curry headquarters with the inspectors and
p3raphernalia for the primaries guarding each to
the place where the primary held.
The first arrest in the 18Th District was that OF
(, Ja-nes Brown al Gle. the charge of punching