President McKinley is Shot at Buffalo Fair
Wounded in the Breast and Abdomen
He is Resting Easily
One Bullet Extracted,
Other Cannot Be Found
Assassin
is Leon Czolgosz of Cleveland, Who Says He is an Anarchist and Follower of Emma
Goldman
Buffalo,
Sept. 6, 1901-- President McKinley, while holding a reception in the Temple of
Music at the Pan-American Exposition at 4 o'clock this afternoon, was shot and
twice wounded by Leon Czolgosz, an Anarchist, who lives in Cleveland.
One bullet entered
the President's breast, struck the breast bone, glanced and was later easily
extracted. The other bullet entered the abdomen, penetrated the stomach, and has
not been found, although the wounds have been closed.
The physicians in
attendance upon the President at 10:40 o'clock to-night issued the following
bulletin:
"The President is
rallying satisfactorily and is resting comfortably. 10:15 P. M. temperature,
100.4 degrees; pulse, 124; respiration 24.
--P.M. Rixey,
--M.B. Mann,
--R.E. Parke,
--H. Mynter,
--Eugene Wanbin.
Signed by George
B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President."
This condition was
maintained until 1 o'clock A. M. when the physicians issued the following
bulletin:
"The President is
free from pain and resting well. Temperature, 100.2; pulse, 120; respiration
24."
The assassin was
immediately overpowered and taken to a police station on the Exposition grounds,
but not before a number of the throng had tried to lynch him. Later he was taken
to Police Headquarters.
The exact nature
of the President's injuries is described in the following bulletin issued by
Secretary Cortelyou for the physicians who were called:
"The President was
shot about 4 o'clock. One bullet struck him on the upper portion of the breast
bone, glancing and not penetrating; the second bullet penetrated the abdomen
five inches below the left nipple and one and one-half inches to the left of the
median line. The abdomen was opened through the line of the bullet wound. It was
found that the bullet had penetrated the stomach.
"The opening in
the front wall of the stomach was carefully closed with silk sutures; after
which a search was made for a hole in the back wall of the stomach. This was
found and also closed in the same way. The further course of the bullet could
not be discovered, although careful search was made. The abdominal wound was
closed without drainage. No injury to the intestines or other abdominal organs
was discovered.
"The patient stood
the operation well, pulse of good quality, rate of 130, and his condition at the
conclusion of operation was gratifying. The result cannot be foretold. His
condition at present justifies hope of recovery."
Leon Czolgosz, the
assassin, has signed a confession, covering six pages of foolscap in which he
states that he is an Anarchist and that he became an enthusiastic member of that
body through the influence of Emma Goldman, whose writings he had read and whose
lectures he had listened to. He denies having any confederate, and says he
decided on the act three days ago and bought the revolver with which the act was
committed in Buffalo.
He has seven
brothers and sisters in Cleveland, and the Cleveland Directory has the names of
about that number living in Hosmer Street and Ackland Avenue, which adjoin. Some
of them are butchers and others are in other trades.
Czolgosz is now
detained at Police Headquarters, pending the result of the President's injuries.
He does not appear in the least degree uneasy or penitent for his action. He
says he was induced by his attention to Emma Goldman's lectures and writings to
decide that the present form of government in this country was all wrong, and he
thought the best way to end it was by the killing of the President. He shows no
signs of insanity, but is very reticent about much of his career.
While
acknowledging himself an Anarchist, he does not state to what branch of the
organization he belongs.
How The Deed
Was Done
Assassin Came
with the Crowd to Greet the President and Shot When Two Feet from Him
Buffalo, Sept. 6.--Czolgosz's
attempt on the life of the President was made at about 4 o'clock in the Temple
of Music, where Mr. McKinley had gone to hold a reception at that hour. He had
spent the day at Niagara with about 100 invited guests, and arrived at the
exposition ground at 8:30. Mrs. McKinley proceeded to the Mission Building and
the President went directly to the Temple of Music.
A vast crowd had
assembled long before the arrival of Mr. McKinley. The daily organ recital was
nearing its end as the President entered and went to the slightly raised dais at
one end of the hall.
The President,
though well guarded by United States Secret Service detectives, was fully
exposed to such an attack as occurred. He stood at the edge of the raised dais,
and throngs of people crowded in at the various entrances to see their Chief
Executive, perchance to clasp his hand, and then fight their way out in the
good-natured mob that every minute swelled and multiplied at the points of
ingress and egress to the building.
The President was
in a cheerful mood and was enjoying the hearty evidences of good-will which
everywhere met his gaze. Upon his right stood John G. Milburn of Buffalo,
President of the Pan-American Exposition, chatting with the President, and
introducing to him persons of note who approached. Upon the President's left
stood Mr. Cortelyou.
The Assassin
Appears
It was shortly
after 4 o'clock when one of the throng which surrounded the Presidential party,
a medium-sized man of ordinary appearance and plainly dressed in black,
approached as if to greet the President. Both Secretary Cortelyou and President
Milburn noticed that the man's hand was swathed in a bandage or handkerchief.
Reports of bystanders differ as to which hand. He worked his way with the stream
of people up to the edge of the dais, until he was within two feet of the
President.
President McKinley
smiled, bowed, and extended his hand in that spirit of geniality the American
people so well know, when suddenly the man raised his hand and two sharp reports
of a revolver rang out loud and clear above the hum of voices and the shuffling
of myriad feet. The assassin had fired through the handkerchief which concealed
the revolver.
There was an
instant of almost complete silence, like the hush that follows a clap of
thunder. The President stood stock still, a look of hesitancy, almost of
bewilderment, on his face. Then he retreated a step while a pallor began to
steal over his features. The multitude seemed only partially aware that
something serious had happened.
Then came a
commotion. With the leap of a tiger three men threw themselves forward as with
one impulse and sprang toward the would-be assassin. Two of them were United
States Secret Service men, who were on the lookout and whose duty it was to
guard against just such a calamity as had here befallen the President and the
Nation. The third was a bystander, a negro, who had only an instant before
grasped the hand of the President. In a twinkling, the assassin was borne to the
ground, his weapon was wrested from his grasp, and strong arms pinioned him
down.
Then the vast
multitude which thronged the edifice began to come to a realizing sense of the
awfulness of the scene of which they had been witnesses. A murmur arose, spread,
and swelled to a hum of confusion, then grew to a babel of sounds, and later to
a pandemonium of noises.
The crowds that a
moment before had stood mute and motionless in bewildered ignorance of the
enormity of the deed, now with a single impulse surged forward, while a hoarse
cry welled up from a thousand throats, and a thousand men charged forward to lay
hands upon the perpetrator of the dastardly crime.
Confusion
Reigns
For a moment the
confusion was terrible. The crowd surged forward regardless of consequences. Men
shouted and fought, women screamed and children cried. Some of those nearest the
doors fled from the edifice in fear of a stampede, while hundreds of others from
the outside struggled blindly forward in the effort to enter the crowded
building and solve the mystery of excitement and panic which every moment grew
and swelled within the congested interior of the palatial edifice.
Inside on the
slightly raised dais was enacted within those few feverish moments a tragedy, so
dramatic in character, so thrilling in its intensity, that few who looked on
will ever be able to give a succinct account of what really did transpire. Even
the actors who were playing the principal roles came out of it with blanched
faces, trembling limbs, and beating hearts, while their brains throbbed with a
tumult of conflicting emotions which left behind only a chaotic jumble of
impressions which could not be clarified into a lucid narrative of the events as
they really transpired.
But of the
multitude which witnessed or bore a part in the scene there was but one mind
which seemed to retain its equilibrium, one hand which remained steady, one eye
which gazed with unflinching calmness, and one voice which retained its even
tenor and faltered not at the most critical juncture.
They were the mind
and the hand and the eye and the voice of President McKinley.
After the first
shock of the assassin's shots, he retreated a step, then, as the detectives
leaped upon his assailant, he turned, walked steadily to a chair and seated
himself, at the same time removing his hat and bowing his head in his hands.
In an instant
Secretary Cortelyou and President Milburn were at his side. His waistcoat was
hurriedly opened, the President meanwhile admonishing those about him to remain
calm and telling them not to be alarmed.
"But you are
wounded," cried his secretary; "let me examine."
"No, I think not,"
answered the President. "I am not badly hurt, I assure you."
Nevertheless his
outer garments were hastily loosened, and when a trickling stream of crimson was
seen to wind its way down his breast spreading its stain over the white surface
of the linen their worst fears were confirmed.
A force of
Exposition guards were on the scene by this time, and an effort was made to
clear the building. The crush was terrific. Spectators crowded down the
stairways from the galleries, the crowd on the floor surged forward toward the
rostrum, while despite the strenuous efforts of police and guards the throng
without struggled madly to obtain admission.
In The Hospital
The President's
assailant in the meantime had been hustled to the rear of the building by
Exposition Guards McCauley and James, where he was held while the building was
cleared, and later turned over to Superintendent Bull of the Buffalo Police
Department, who took the prisoner to No. 13 Police Station, and later to Police
Headquarters.
As soon as the
crowd in the Temple of Music had been dispersed sufficiently the President was
removed in the automobile ambulance and taken to the Exposition Hospital, where
an examination was made.
The best medical
skill was summoned and within a brief period several of Buffalo's best- known
practitioners were at the patient's side. The President retained the full
exercise of his facilities until placed on the operating table and subjected to
an anesthetic.
Upon the first
examination it was ascertained that one bullet had taken effect in the right
breast just below the nipple, causing a comparatively harmless wound. The other
took effect in the abdomen, about five inches below the left nipple, two inches
to the left of the navel, and about on a level with it.
Upon arriving at
the Exposition Hospital the second bullet was probed for. The walls of the
abdomen were opened, but the ball was not located. The incision was hastily
closed and after a hasty consultation it was decided to remove the patient to
the home of President Milburn. This was done, the automobile-ambulance being
used for the purpose.
Arrived at the
Milburn residence, all persons outside the medical attendants, nurses, and the
officials immediately concerned were excluded and the task of probing for the
bullet, which had lodged in the abdomen, was begun by Dr. Boswell Park.
When it was
decided to remove the President from the Exposition Hospital to the Milburn
residence, the news was broken to Mrs. McKinley as gently as might be by the
members of the Milburn family. She bore the shock remarkably well, and displayed
the utmost fortitude.
Crowd Ready to
Lynch
While the wounded
President was being borne from the Exposition to the Milburn residence between
rows of onlookers with bared heads, a far different spectacle was being
witnessed along the route of his assailant's journey from the scene of his crime
to Police Headquarters. The trip was made so quickly that the prisoner was
safely landed within the wide portals of the police station and the doors closed
before any one was aware of his presence.
The news of the
attempted assassination had in the meanwhile been spread broadcast by the
newspapers. Like wildfire it spread from mouth to mouth. Then bulletins began to
appear on the boards along "Newspaper Row," and when the announcement was made
that the prisoner had been taken to Police Headquarters, only two blocks distant
from the newspaper section, the crowds surged down toward the terrace, eager for
a glimpse of the prisoner. At Police Headquarters they were met by a strong
cordon of police, drawn up across the pavement on Pearl Street, who denied
admittance to any but officials authorized to take part in the examination of
the prisoner.
In a few minutes
the crowd had grown from tens to hundreds, and these in turn quickly swelled to
thousands, until the street was completely blocked by a surging mass of eager
humanity. It was at this juncture that some one raised the cry of "Lynch him!"
Like a flash the cry was taken up, and the whole crowd re-echoed the cry, "Lynch
him!" "Hang him!" Closer the crowd surged forward.
Denser the throng
became as new arrivals each moment swelled the swaying multitude. The situation
was becoming critical when suddenly the big doors were flung open and a squad of
reserves advanced with solid front, drove the crowd back from the curb, then
across the street, and gradually succeeded in dispersing them from about the
entrance to the station.
By this time there
were probably 30,000 people assembled in the vicinity of Pearl, Seneca, Erie
Streets, and the Terrace. The crowd was so great that it became necessary to
rope off the entire street in front of Police Headquarters, and at a late hour
to-night the police were still patrolling in the streets in the neighborhood, in
squads of three or four. Inside the station house were assembled District
Attorney Penny, Superintendent of Police Bull, Capt. Reagan of the First
Precinct, and other officials.
The prisoner at
first proved quite communicative, so much so in fact, that little dependence
could be placed on what he said. He first gave his name as Fred Nieman, said his
home was in Detroit, and that he had been in Buffalo about a week. He said he
had been boarding at a place in Broadway. Later this place was located as John
Nowak's saloon, a Raineslaw hotel, 1,078 Broadway. Here the prisoner occupied
Room 8.
The Prisoner's
Story
Nowak, the
proprietor, said he knew very little about his guest. He came there, he
declared, last Saturday, saying he had come to see the Pan-American and that his
home was in Toledo. He had been alone at all times about Nowak's place, and had
had no visitors. In his room was found a small traveling bag of cheap make. It
contained an empty cartridge box and a few articles of clothing.
With these facts
in hand the police went at the prisoner with renewed vigor in the effort to
obtain either a full confession or a straight account of his identify and
movements prior to his arrival in Buffalo. He at first admitted that he was an
Anarchist in sympathy at least, but denied strenuously that the attempt on the
life of the President was a result of a preconcerted plot on the part of any
Anarchist society.
At times he was
defiant and again indifferent. But at no time did he betray the remotest sign of
remorse. He declared the deed was not premeditated, but in the same breath
refused to say why he perpetrated it. When charged by District Attorney Penny
with being the instrument of an organized band of conspirators, he protested
vehemently that he never even thought of perpetrating the crime until this
morning.
After long and
persistent questioning it was announced at Police Headquarters that the prisoner
had made a confession, which he signed.
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