The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-07-23
Five Hundred Police Held at
Bay Until Ammunition
Is Gone.
SEVENTEEN VICTIMS
OF BOSTON GANG
Officers Guard Cemetery All Night
and at Daybreak Advance-Reign
of Terror Ended.

BOSTON, July 2s-Fighting 500 police
men, the leader Of the Jamaica Plain
bandit gang fell just as the day was
breaking this morning riddled with bull
lets in a ravine IN Forest Cemetery
He fought 10 the last ditch, only giving
I'D when his ammunition was exhaust
&c. One of his companions is supposed
TO have fallen into a pond at the back
of the cemetery and drowned Three
others OF the band are missing.
The battle followed a thirty-six hours
reign Of terror in Boston, in which II o
men were ;uilIed and fifteen injured.
two Of them mOrtally, by the bandits
After these seventeen fell in the streets
the desperadoes hid in the cemetery
Two suspects have been arrested, and
one Of them just escaped lynching by
a mob of police and citizens, calling for
his blood He was caught running from
the cemetery just as the smoke of the
battle cleared away, and although ap-
p2rently innocent had to beg his captors
10 keep him from being torn TO pieces.
NOW a hunt is going on for his con-
federates.
Man Darts From Cover.
The bandits were chased TO the cene-
tory and police patrOlled its boundaries
all night. AS dawn broke the order
to march was given and the line Of
bluecoats advanced TO the interior.
After ten minutes beating OF the bushes
and peering behind tOmbstones a man
darted out from a wooded knoll and
ran along a ridge to the ravine. He
held the police at bay for a while and
then fell. shot twenty times.
The dead man and his band entered
S7nr -4Fcr ~
and when the proprietor defended HIS
cash drawer they fired. killing one nan
and wounding two. A cemetery watch
man fell their victim yesterday and
then they disappeared 4 trolley car
conductor was mOrtally wounded and
woman shot when they next appeared,
after which they sought the refuge from
which the chief was driven this morn
ing.
Odds Heavy Against Fugitives.
The pitched battle in the cemetery as
morning dawned was like a battle OF
war times. but the odds were heavy on
one side-that Of the police. 1t was
case OF two men with two guns against
800 men. with 800 guns and a dozen
rounds Of ammunition. The desperadOes
lost. One was killed and the other
may have been drowned. The police
emerged with only a few wounded.
Marching in soldier-Iike fashion, the
police advanced upon the fugitives.
few minutes after O'Clock and hunted
them to cover. Then the shooting be
gan. For fifteen minutes the air was
filed with flying lead Spectators saved
themselves from the shower Of bullets
by crouching alongside OF stone fences
and behind trees.
The scene was one OF indesCrfbable
confusion. The desperadOes withstoOd
the fire as long as they could, return
ing IL until their ammunition gave out
Then they fell.
Target for Hundred Guns.
AS the smoke Of battle seemed to SUBJ
side, a youth, whose identity was later
learned, was seen running from the
cemetery close TO the boundary. Again
he signal to fire was given and once
more the shower Of lead whizzed
through the air At the moment the
youth was suspected Of being the sec
ond bandit but later il yas discovered
that the police were wrong.
Had the youth not halted in his flight
his body would have been riddled He
that OF the dead man. Policemen
pounced upon him when he stopped, and
the crowd yelled: Lynch him
Even some Of the patrolmen Joined IN
the clamor for the mans life. He
young man was bundled into another
automobile, and with a crowd OF fully
100 officers and 500 citizens pushing on
DeFund, ne was taken through the Gem
etery gate and 10 the superintendent S
Office.
Begs for His Life.
stop. before they tear me TO pieces, -
the youth cried. frantically, and on his
knees in the automobile he implored his
captors to listen to him
4 am not the man you want" he
pleaded. Il will tell you my name and
where I work. I can get a hundred
men in five minutes who viii identify
me- But still the crowd yelled Lynch
him. Lynch him.
For q few moments it seemed as
though the mob would take the matter
into their own hands. The cries became
louder as the crowd increased but the
policemen made a few arrests and sui
len murmuringS replaced strident
shouts.