The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-09-23
EXPECTED A SHOT
GdynOr Flags Hearst News
papers In Letter.
KEPT REPEATING FALStHOODS
Mayor Declares That He Had a Feel
ing For Some Time That He Would
Be Attaeked-"Journalism Drag
sed to Degradation"

New York, Sept. 20.-"The Hearst
newspapers went on repeating the
falsehoods and tried to get meeting
to denounce me-" says Mayor Gaynor
In describing the attempted assassina-
nation made upon him in a letter to
his sister, Miss Mary Gaynor of Utica
n. Y.
Though the thing had not entered
my head that morning, was not sur
prised when l realized that / was
shot," says the mayor. IL had had a
feeling for some weeks that / might
be assaulted on account of the anony-
nous threats l was getting by mail
l had not received so many nor so
regularly since 1 was opposing the ring
corruptions and the McKane condi-
tions in Brooklyn and Gravesend when
l was young man. l had ceased
walking over the Brooklyn bridge.
THE matter of the pictures of the
Reno prizefght had came up. had
no way as mayor to stop the theaters
from showing them.
"They had been shown for years
without objection. But the Hearst
newspapers kept on denouncing me
for not stopping them. l suppose you
know the way they had belied me
ever since l became mayor.
"Finally, one day they printed in
large type that an officer of the Chris
tan Endeavor society named Low
lande had called on me at the mayors
office and asked me on behalf of that
society to stop the pictures and that
l told him he was fool and was sent
by fools
II had never said such a thing, as
you may well know. 1t was made up.
l learned that Lowlande was process
server for lawyers. The officers of the
Christian Endeavor society put forth
a statement of their own motion that
it was untrue that they had sent Low
lande or any one else to me, and that
he did not represent them. But 1t
made no difference. These newspapers
went on repeating the falsehood and
even tried to get up a public meeting
to denounce me.
"Meanwhile, people of wicked or dis
ordered minds, of whom there are
large number in New York city, would
cut these articles out and send them
to me with abuse and threats written
on the margin.
FINALLY they printed that terrible
cartoon Of me entitled The Barker l
was dressed up as a rutfian and stand
ing outside of a prizefight ring twirl-
ing a cane and barking for people to
go in and see the sport. Two men
slugging each other, one of them down
and bleeding, were exposed in the ring.
"Think Of one who has been more of
a library student than anything else
all his life and who never even saw
boxing match, being pictured like that!
But the ignorant and disordered minds
believed it, and | suppose many others
who read no other newspaper did and
were naturally infiamed against such
a rufIian being mayor. That was the
object these newspapers had in view.
although they printed all the pictures
of the fight in the most revolving form,
as they had been doing for years with
all such fights.
"Even some sensational ministers
wrote to me as though they believed
it, 1t was during this time that it first
entered my head that / might be in
danger, especially in walking over the
bridge, although earlier in the year |
had received a few similar threats
when these same newspapers pub
lished that we were discharging small
employees but taking on expensive
ones.
"Such journalism is, of course, in alb
solute defiance of the criminal law,
and it did enter my mind to publicly
call ON the grand Juries and the dis
trict attorney to protect me from IT,
but / was weak and feared people
would say l was thin skinned.
"But the time is at hand when these
journalistic scoundrels have got to
stop or get out, and am ready now to
do my share to that end. They are alb
solutely without souls. If decent peo-
pie would refuse to look at such pa
pers the thing would right itself at
once.
'The journalism of New York city
has been dragged to the lowest depth
- A.. Ill