Year: 1877

A MANIAC lNCENDIARY.


sIe Fights the Police and FIremen with


Revolver and CutlanN.


About quarter past nine O'Clock last
night a fire was discovered in twostory
house on Third street, between Caron-
delet and Baronne. The fremen and
police hastened upon the scene and found
the house with closed doors burning IN
side. 1t appears that the fire was set by
a man known by the name of Louis Gus
ter, better known az Crazy joe. When
the police approached the front door, Joe
made his appearance on the scene and
told them that he would kill the first one
that dared to enter the house, The
officers then ran to the fre,aarm box and
turned in an alarm.


These officers were Flanagan and DOno-
van, and before they could get into Il e
house several other policemen and large
portion of the fire department had ap-
peared on the scene. Then it became
necessary to enter the premises at all
hazard Such being the case, officers
Donovan and Flanagan broke open the
front door, and as they did so they were
received with three shots fired in rapid
succession from a Colts revolver, which
Crazy Joe held in his hand, standing at
the head of the stairs.


As the first three shots sped wide Of
their intended mark, the officers never
faltered, but tried to gain the top of the
stairs, as the fire was in the second story
of the building The two officers were
followed by the fircmen and several others
Of their brother policemen. As Crazy
Joe saw that he was about to be over
powered, he discharged the other two
chambers of his pistol point blank at the
crowd, but from some unexplained
reason the balls failed to do their desired
work.


After Joe had emptied the contents of
his revolver he retreated into one of the
rooms which was on fire, regardless Of the
volumes of smoke he had to encounter
and fastened the door. Officers Donovan
and Flanagan, who seem always to have
been in the lead, with giant strength
forced open this door, and as it swung
back on its hinges they could just see
Crazy Joe through the binding wreaths
of smoke, armed with an artillery cutlass,
waiting for them to approach. The
/ officers well knew that Joe had to be
treated with despatch, or he would put
a mark upon them that they would carry
to their graves, for he Eeld a weapon in
his hand that would make just such
mark


On pressed the officers, and when they
were in arms length OF Joe, the latter
made plunge at officer Donovan, which
took effect in the officers body and forced
him to falter. His brother officer stood
by him nobly and when he saw him fall,
advanced upon his opponent (JOe), and
as he did so Joe used the sword upon
him with murderous effect. This officer
was Flanagan, and before the crazy man
was done with him he had stabbed him
seven times, giving him four slight
wounds in the back, one slight one in
the breast, one in the right leg, which
severed the muscles, and Sne in the head
which is considered the most dangerous,
az it is supposed to have fractured the
skull.


When the two officers after desperate
fight to hold their ground, had been
vanQuished, they were taken from the
room by the firemen, and rs they were
being conveyed from the scene of blood,
the chief of the fire department called on
Sergeant Hamilton to 90 and shoot the
man, but the sergeant declined on the
ground that he was afraid Of shooting an
innocent party.


Chief 0Connor then borrowed pistol
from an officer, and entering the room,
levelled the weapon at Crazy Joe and
pulled the trigger five times, but it failed
to go off, This caused Joe to retreat out
of the room on to the back gallery.


He had no sooner gotten on the gallery
than the fremen turned the hose on him,
the water from which, together with the
acid from the hose of the BabcOck, had
almost smothered and drowned him out
Officer Davis, seeing Joe on the gallery,
rushed upon him and secured him. Ser.
geant Hamilton and Mr.. Fred Kuhns, of
| No. -, came to his assistance, and were
bringing Joe down stairs when he drop
ped from their grasp corpes. 1t was
then thought he had been shot, as several
shots had been fired by the police and
iremen at him when he opened the fight
at first on the head of the steps; but
upon examining his body no wound
could be found, and it is supposed that
he died from excitement and from the
acid from the Babcocks.


Joe was about forty years Ofage and the
proprietor of Junk store. He leaves a
wife and son somewhere in this city.
They used to live with him, but he ran
them out of the house. The death OF
this man will be hailed with joy by all
his neighbors, as they stood in mortal
fear of him. He is the same party who
somo months ago shot at Officers Miller
and Ober with a shotgun, and at the
same time stabbed officer Barringer in
the arm while they were trying to exc
cute warrant on him. Singular to say,
that regardless of the number of persons
present last night at the fire, and the
number of shots fred not single person
was wounded by pistol ball,-Nec
N leans Democrat,