The Penn's Grove record., 1908-09-11
ROOSEVELT SHOT At
FROM TH|CKET NEAR HOME
Attempt to Murder President as
He is Riding Horseback
SUSPECTED CRANK ARRESTED
Secret Service Chief, Summoned in n
Hurry From Washington, Scours
= the Neighborhood, But Finds No
Trace of Guilty Man.

Hurry From Washington, Scours
the Neighborhood, But Finds No
Trace of Guilty Man.
Oyster Bay, L. IAN attempt to
assassinate President Roosevelt was
made while he was riding on the
Cove road near Sycamore Hill.
The assassin, hidden in the bushes
at the roadside, fred at the President
with a revolver; the bullet whizzed
over Mr.. Roosevelt's head.
The President, perfectly calm,
pulled up his horse and wished to
dismount and search the bushes. The
friend who was riding with him dis
suaded him and they rode on.
Camille W%eidenfeld, the New York
banker; Mrs. Weidenfeld and Edward
Fisher, who was driving them, heard
the shot. The assassin escaped.
The attempt on the Presidents life
became known when the Secret Ser
vice men guarding Mr.. Roosevelt ar
rested John Coughlin, armed and
seemingly insane, as he sought an in
L6INlGW Will tu6 IIS5luSuL. IAO az
tempt explains why Chief Wilkie, of
the Secret Police, was called hurried
ly from Washington to Sycamore Hill.
Every circumstance goes to prove
that the effort to shoot Mr.. Roosevelt
was deliberate and carefully planned.
The President and a friend, a man
whose name has not developed yet,
were returning from a horseback ride
and took the back road. They were
jogging along past the estate of the
Presidents cousin, w. Emlen Roose-
welt, when the shot vas fired from the
bushes by the road.
The Presidents horse started; his
rider halted him and looked at the
bushes. He saw no one; he saw not
even a puff of smoke. The President
made as if-to dismount, but his com-
panion, who seemed quite apprehen-
sive, urged him to ride On.
The incident might never have been
made public had it not been witnessed
by others besides the President and
his riding companion. A short dis
lance back of them, in the road lead
ing to Sycamore Hill, was a carriage
in which were Camille Weidenfeld, a
broker, of No. rs Wall street, and his
wife.
Mr.. and Mrs. Weidenfeld heard the
shot and reached the place where Mr..
Roosevelt and his friend were stand
ing just as the latter two, unable to
see any one in the bushes, trotted off.
The place, they said, was near the
entrance to the Emlen Roosevelt es-
tate. They recognized the President,
and through their discussion of the
incident with friends in the city the
story came out.
When the shot was fired no Secret
Service man was with the President;
he dislikes to take one along on his
daily rides. When he arrived at Sag
amore Hill he described "the incl
dent" as he called it, to Sloan, chief
of the Secret Service guard.
The next day a crank, insane and
armed with a revolver, fully loaded,
walked into the grounds of the Pres
ident's home on Sycamore Hill and
demanded of the first Secret Service
agent who held him up to see the
President to lay before him an mag
mary grievance. He was disarmed
after a struggle and lodged in Jail at
M%ineola.
The Government agents are con-
vinced that the prisoner, who gave the
name of John Coughnn,T and-eiso seid
he was Est. Patrick" is the man who
shot at the President.
"Coughlin" is about fifty years old,
five feet six inches in height, has blue
eyes, a reddish Van Dyck beard, dark
hair and is we'll set up bodily. He
says he came from Boston and was
born in Walpole, Mass, and that he
is only thirty-fve.
The crank, who admitted that he
was once in an insane asylum, put up
a hard struggle when he was cap
tured. 1t was only by the merest
good luck that he did not shoot one
of the Secret Service men, as he at
tempted to draw his revolver just as
he WAS seized