The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-11-25

= was laughing.
Flash Blinds Spectators in Court.
Then came the binding flash tina
stilled every sound and that for a sec
ond stunned every mind and every mus
Gle beyond power Of action. No one
had noticed Haas as he sIouched down
the long aisle with his hand clutched
tightly against the revolver in his
pocket, for the crowd was streaming
IN and there was nothing to designate
him from a score of other courtroom
loafers and "regulars." He passed the
corner of the press desk and then rush
ed forward a single step. His hand
flew out to the side of Heney's head;
there was a flash of metal, a report, a
glare that filed the courtroom, but
there was no cutlery.
His body bent forward, his hands ex-
tended rigidly at his sides, with one of
them-the right-still grasping the
smoking revolver, and with his jaw
swung limp and his eyes glaring like
the orbs of a beast at the prey it had
just struck down, Haas fell back a
pace or two and there stood petrifed
The fraction of an instant elapsed and
James Foley, Heney's bOdyguard, was
upon the assassin in savage onslaught.
He tore the pistol from Haas hand
and flung the man to the floor, where
he pinned him until Deputy Sheriff
Frank Coyle, Policeman F. w. Robl of
the courtroom detail and one or two
spectators and press representatives
rushed to his assistance
Heney's Guard Balks Second Shot.
Foley, who has constantly been near
Heney in the courtroom, was seated in
his usual place across the aisle from
the latter's desk and about ten feet
away when Haas made his last stride
up to Heney. No instinct could have
warned him of the assailant s inten-
tiOn, and no power could have taken
him to Heney's side or given him the
opportunity to draw his own revolver
in time to prevent the crime. AS the
gun flashed he leaped from his seat and
before Haas could raise his arm for a
second shot he had wrested the re-
volver away and was throttling the man
as he flung him into a corner by the
jury box. Haas struggled in that flash
of time to make sure of his victim
with second shot, but his finger was
not as quick upon the trigger as was
Foley's leap across the intervening /
aisle
From the opposite side of the court ,
room Deputy Sheriff Frank Coyle, the
bailiff of the court, started to rush be-
hind the attorneys tables toward the
scene of the shooting, drawing his re-
volver and attempting to draw bead
on Haas. Before he could fire a spec
tator arrested his act and simultan-
eously Haas was borne down by Foley.
Gaping Hole Behind Heney's Ear.
At the flash of the shot, which miss
ed his temple by a bare fraction of an
inch and tore a gaping hole in front of
his right ear, Heney clutched the edge !
of his desk with both hands and at
tempted to rise, but the blood spattered
from his wound to the table before him
and his head fell forward. The spark !
of his courage glowed again and his
limbs twitched as he tried once more
to gain his feet. 1t was an effort that
he could not accomplish, however, and
once more he pitched forward, his feet
slipped and he fell toward the floor
The first paralyzing effect of the trag 4
edy passed, and as Heney's limp body .
down, Al McCabe reached for
ward, caught him in his arms and eased
him gently to the bloodstained floor.
As the realization of what had hap !
pened gripped the crowd the courtroom ]
became filed with uproar. One /
n two women who had been sitting in +
he rear of the hall cried out hysteric IL
ally, men stampeded for the door and I
)ut into the open air, and policemen G
md court officials rushed forward to
he front of the room. There were one
II two cries of ''Kill him-hang him."
md for a moment the crowd surged for l
ward. But the mutterings stimulated l
he police and bailiffs to action and :
With harsh commands they cleared the
ront of the room. Judge Lawlor hur-
led from the chambers and his first u"
Jet was to order that the jurors, who
lad been waiting in an anteroom and :.
lad not witnessed the scene, be sent
It once to their hotel.