Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1908-03-24
Three Shots Fired at Dip
Of Which Take Eft -
INTERVIEW THE CAUSE OF
Mr.. Stevens Accused of Misrepr &
ing Conditions in COrea. :
srATEMENT OF THE AssAnAN1
Charges That Mr.. stevens is I'm Pay
of cOrea and That He is sePv-
ina Japan--wOunds Are
Probably Fatal.


an attack by four Coreans at the Fairmont
hotel last night, d. w. Stevens. member
Of the Japanese council at Seoul, was shot
and perhaps fatally wounded this morning
at the ferry boat as he was about to leave
for Washington. The shooting was done
by N. w. chun. a Corean. Stevens was
shot twice. one bullet penetrating his right
lung and the second the groin third
bullet struck a companion Of the shooter,
who ran from the scene. and he was cap
tured by u. Sexton, a deputy in the as
SCISSORS office.
Mr.. stevens and the wounded Corean
were taken TO the Central Emergency hos
pital.
Mr.. Stevens, accompanied by the Japa-
nese consul. had Just stepped out Of the
hotel omnibus when several Coreans ap-
preached them. One OF them said a few
words to Stevens and then struck him in
the face.
He then drew revolver. covering It
with n handkerchief. and began shooting
at Stevens. At the hospital Dr. Hill ex-
tracted a bullet from the wounded Corean.
who had been shot through the lungs
Stevens is a man OF strong physique He is
in splendid health and may recover
First Attack sunday Night.
The attack on Mr.. Stevens at the Fair
mont hotel last night was the result of a
mass meeting of Corean societies of San
Francisco. which appointed four perma-
nent members-Eal Lee. c. X. Chung, Y.
M. Moon and u. 9. Choy, all young men-a
committee to interview Stevens to sscer-
tain his views as expressed in the press
after his arrival The opinions expressed
by him were decidedly favorable to the
Japanese In Corea The four Coreans
called on Mr.. Stevens shortly after o'clock
last night. Lee, who speaks English flu
emily asked Stevens II he had made the
statement attributed to him in the press
and the latter replied in the affirmative.
The young men wanted TO know II the
Japanese were not killing off the Coreans
stevens said no. The spokesman then
wanted 10 know II all the Corean officials
had not boon eliBninated and Stevens again
responded to the contrary. adding that the
young man had probably been too long
away from his country to know the exact
condition of the government.
Then the attack began. Stevens was
knocked down and beaten with chairs.
His head struck the marble flooring. but
nc quickly arose and seizing chair placed
his back against the wall and held his as
COrean Makes Statement.
After the assault Eal Lee said that
Stevens ls paid by the Corean government,
but Is doing what the Corean people do
not want him to do.
THAT is," said Lee. 'he is talking falsly
about us and the Japanese In reality he
is in the service OF Japan. Since the
Japanese began to protect Corea thou
sands OF my countrymen have been killed.
The Japanese soldiers hold up peasants for
their property, and they are killed II re-
fused. About 1,50o villages in my country
have been destroyed by the Japanese troops
in a little more than a year since the
trouble began"
Mr. stevens Statement.
AS soon as he was removed from the
operating table Mr.. Stevens called for an
Associated Press reporter TO whom he gave
the following version OF the shooting:
AS got out OF the Fairmont hotel omni-
bus several Coreans approached me- One
OF them struck me In the face, lacerating
my cheek AS Il started to pursue him
another corean began to shoot at me. The
first shot miesed me and struck the Corean
I was .pursuing. The next two shots took
This evidently is the work OF small
band OF student agitators In and about
san Francisco, who resent the fact that the
japanese have protectorate over Corea
and believe that / am to some extent re-
sponsible for this condition OF affairs in
their country.
WASHINGTON. March 23-purham
White Stevens is a we'll known American
diplomatist who has played a conspicu-
GUS part in japanese official life. Mr.
Stevens hegan his diplomatic service in the
State department here. Through Count
okuma he was given the post Of confidential
adviser and counsel for the japanese lega-
tion at Washington. Later he was appointed
60 the important post Of confidential ad-
wiser to the Japanese authorities at Seoul.