Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-08
ARMED CRANK OYSTER BAY
IRRATIONAL MAN WITH PISTOL
NEAR THE PRESIDENT.
Boston Police Believe That the Man
Is From Walpole,
Mass

OYSTER BAY, n. Y. September S.
A crank armed with an antiquated bull
dog" revolver was caught near the Presi-
dents house at Sycamore Hill yesterday
by the secret service guards. The man
described himself as John Coughlin. de-
tective. and when stopped by the secret
service men presented a card upon which
were inscribed his name and the word
officer" He said that he had come to
ask the President to order out 10000
troops to catch yeggmen who had been
terrorizing Boston.
Coughlin is supposed to have reached
Oyster Bay on the 12:1S train. He walked
the three miles to Sycamore Hill. appear
ing In the grounds shortly after o'clock
The road leading to the Presidents house
forks at the tennis court some two num-
dred yards from the house and forms a
loop about the Presidents home. The
two guards who are on duty in the day
time stand at either end of the house, and
their view commands both roads after the
fork at the tennis grounds.
Guards Overpower Him.
One of the rules for visitors at Saga
more Hill is that no one shall come on
foot. so when Secret Service Agent John
Adams caught sight of Coughlin toiling
thing was wrong and motioned for the
man to go back. Coughlin kept right on.
but without quickening his pace, ana
Adams ran down the road to meet him.
In response to the secret service man
demand as to his business, Coughlin pro-
duced his card and explained In the most
casual way that he had come to confer
with President Roosevelt concerning the
recent outrages by yeggmen In Boston
and to lead back such troops as the Presi-
dent thought it fit to order out
The secret service man tried to explain
lat the. President was not seeing Visitors
at the moment, hoping to get him quietly
out of the grounds.
Old Pistol Not Loaded.
Coughlin hesitated a moment and slid
his hand toward the back pocket of his
trousers. Adams grappled with his man
without further parley. Coughlin strug-
gled for a moment, but he is slightly
built man, and Adams had no difficulty
In holding him until Agent James Sloan,
jr, came to his assistance. Sloan searched
the prisoner and found in his hip pocket
a. .32-caliber revolver Of the bulldog
type. The weapon was wrapped in a
wooden bag. and. according to the secret
service men, was not loaded.
The Slight struggle near the tennis
court had not been observed at the house.
and the secret service men. without
alarming the Presidents family, called
one of the government automobiles and
carried Coughlin down to the Oyster Bay
town hall. where he was arraigned be-
fore Justice of the Peace Franklin on a
charge OF carrying concealed weapons.
Justice Franklin committed Coughlin to
the county jail at Mineola. During his
detention at the county jail Coughlin will
be examined as to his sanity.
According to the secret service men,
Coughlin told them that he had been
confined for three years in An asylum for
the insane.
Belief of Boston Police.
BOSTON, September S.-The police of
this city believe that John Coughlin. who
was arrested by secret service agents at
Oyster Bay yesterday while attempting to
secure an interview with President Roose-
welt, is John Coughlin of Walpole. Mass.
who has been missing from his home in
that town for about ten days The Wal
pole man is described as being thirty
three years old, dark hair, blue eyes and
brown beard. His home here is near the
Walpole- Foxboro line and not far from
the Foxboro Home for Inebriates. The
man arrested at Oyster Bay said that he
in Walpole. but there is no such institu-
ton in the town. Officials of the Foxboro
Hospital said today that no person named
John Cougihlin had ever been an inmate
of their institution.
Pronounced Insane.
M1NEOLA, n. Y. September S-John
Coughlin. the armed man who was ar
rested while attempting to reach the
President at Sycamore Hill yesterday,
was examined by two physicians today