The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1921-03-02
RAIN OF BULLETS
IN UPTOWN DIST.
YOUNG MEN FIRE PISTOL
AND THROW BOTTLES
IN STREETS
SUNDAY MORNING
Four Shots Pierced Plate Glass
in Hirshman Store and
Another Entered LOeb's
Department Store.

AT about four o'clock Sunday morn
ing a reign of terror was staged in
the uptown section of Columbus. in
the very heart of the business district
Four young men staged the af-
fair which resulted in serious damage
by pistol shots to plate glass windows
in the Hirshman store at the corner
of Main and Market and one bullet
carried to the Simon Loeb and Bro
department store, a block away
piercing a prism glass transom and
: crashed into a glass showcase dl the
inside Of the store.
The young men, Messrs. William
Henry Curtis, H. B. Cole, Ralph
Blair and M. j. Loving, were in the
office of Mr.. j. w. Loving on the
second floor of the First State Bank
building and the firing was done from
one of the office windows. Soda
water bottles were thrown from the
windows and smashed on the pave
ment below. Just who threw the bot
ties is not known as this was not
brought out at the trial which was
held Monday afternoon.
The young men were arrested or
drunk and disorderly conduct charge
and firing a pistol within the city
limits.
The night policemen were attract
ed by the firing and rushed to The
scene. They assembled the steps ir
the bank building and found that the
young men had scattered to all parts
OF the building. One of them was ar
rested on the third floor and the 9th
ers had barricaded themselves be-
hind locked doors in the Offices on tbs
second floor. 4
The yot'ig men refused to admit
the officers and Night Chief Foreman
dispatched one Of his men to Mr.
Loving's home to secure the key tc
the office. Meanwhile Officers Har-
ris and Oakley were attempting tc
effect an entrance in order to get tC
the men. Officer Harris scaled the
coping ledge on the front of the build
ing, going out through window anC
gaining entrance to the adjoining Of
flee through the front window. This
was a hazardous and rather desperate
method to resort to, but the Officers
were determined not to be outdone
The young men were carried to the
police station in separate groups
more than an hour having been con
sumed in effecting their arrest OF
account of the delay due to the doors
being locked. They made bond an(
were released from custody to ap
pear for trial Monday afternoon al
3 o'clock.
When the time set for the trial ar
rived the city court room was crowd
ed to overlooking with spectators fol-
the shooting had created quite hi
Of excitement and indignation gen
orally.
The young men were represented
by Messrs. John F. Frierson, Franz
C. Owen and T. W. Lewis.
Mr.. Loving in his statement to thu
court admitted having fired the pis
toll, but declared it was accidental
that he had no malicious intent t.
either fire the pistol in disregard O
the law or to destroy private proper
ty. He said the pistol was an Arm!
automatic with which he was unfamil
lar; that he picked it up from thu
desk and that it was fired accident
ally inside the office and it being al
automatic he moved to the window Il
allow the shots to go outside.
The pistol belonged to Mr.. Ralpl
Blair, who admitted having carrie'
it into the building Ia his pocket, bu
was unable to explain how it-ha'
come to be on the desk in the office
Mr.. Blair in his testimony admitte'
having been under the influence o
liquor and claimed to have bee
asleep while the affair was in pro
gress.
The arresthg officers went on tn
stand and told the court Of the diff
ficulty they encountered in effectlnI
the arrest of the young men. Nj
Harris stated that eight shots evl
IDENTIFY were fired. One empty She
was found on the office floor, one o
the coping just outside the windo'
and six on the pavement below.
at has come to the point in CO
lumbus where not only the property
4 Continual IN Pace Two \