The Washington herald., 1914-01-21

he began to claw for my face and hit me
That Is all there is to 1t and the incident
is closed"
s.His own FauIt,'' Says shields.
Attorney Shields said:
IF Congressman Ben Johnson's eye
is blackened or he is hurt otherwise, II
is his own fault. acted in self-defense.
He struck me when I was not looking
declared Attorney Shields, who. previous
to taking up the practice Of law, was
famous football player.
81 didn't get much chance to hurt him.
although I was very excited at the time.
The whole thing occurred without tne
slightest warning and foundauon. was
pleading with the members Of the COM
mittee to hear me, after Mr.. johnson had
referred to me as a lobbyist.
Il said that certain misstafementS on
fact had been made concerning my con-
nections with the passage OF the Dill
making crossing policemen members OF
the regular force.
Il had hardly finished the sentence
concerning the misstatements when john
son, at whom / was not looking, struck
me full fierce In the jaw.
'Of course / turned on him. He ran
and I ran after him. I wouldn't have
had a chance to do him any harm. had
intended to. / was anxious to grab him,
as ne Kept yelluS- SlNc iuo Buus
I'll kill the -
Even after they had closed the man
behind door, he kept yelling: Let me
kill him! Let me kill him" A crowd OF
men then showed me out Of the committee
room and / walked away. couldn't
have acted other than I did"
johnson Has Gun Record.
Johnson's gun record. together with re-
ports of his fiery temper. preceded him
in the halls of Congress three years ago.
Since his advent he has repeatedly fig
ured in word battles which terminated
in invitations to come outside" and has
held many more timid members in
wholesome fear Of his fighting proclivi-
ties. 1t is common report in the House
that on one occasion a Kentucky col
league of Johnson urged Minority Leader
Mann not to "rile Ben," as the latter
might start shooting. 1t Is reported
authoritatively that on one occasion in
Kentucky, when three armed men invited
Johnson to get out of the State before
sundown, he drew and killed two and
wounded the third before the smoke
cleared up.
Mr.. Shields last night received numer-
Gus telephone messages congratulating
him upon his action. many persons un-
known to him extending the glad hand"
for his courage in returning Johnson's
attack.
The fact that both men are nearly
physically equal and because Mr.. Shields
enjoys the reputation of being one of
the best athletes ever developed at
Georgetown University the episode was
the talk of Washington yesterday, the
attorney receiving unanimous commen-
dation-
Policemen Are Summoned.
During the recess that followed the
Johnson-Shields fracas, the committee
summoned a nomber of crossing police |
charges More than a dozen were in |
terrogated in the afternoon session, and |
all testified that they had contracted to |
pay Shields either $50 or SEQ ac-
cording to the benefits they expected to |
In the event the bill should pass The
contract was approved and the soliciting |
done by leaders Of the Crossing Police
mems Association. The money was to
be paid in twelve monthly installments
starting with the enactment of the de-
sired law. Eome of the men paid all of
the money, others paid part, and some
paid not at ALL Some who proved de-
Iinquent received severely phrased dun
ming letters from Shields, and their at
tention was called to their delinquency /
by superior officers on the force. Several |
of the members testified that they en-
tered the contract reluctantly, but none
testified hat he was urged unduly by
Shields. Only vague estimates of the |
number who signed these contracts was
pbtainable. The inquiry will continue this
morning