“Big Jim” Parker

     James B[.] Parker, the Negro who seized and assisted in the capture of the assassin of President McKinley an instant after the firing of the cruel shots, will lecture before a large crowd at the courthouse tonight, (Thursday). Parker is a big athletic looking man, fully six feet six inches tall, and a blow from his brawny fist would have felled such a small, miserable, creature as Czolgosz could have divined his purpose before it was too late. Parker is well dressed, wears a silk hat, and presents a decidedly clerical appearance. He was born at Atlanta, Ga., in 1857 and was at one time a mail carrier in that city. He begins the lecture by reciting the incidents of the day relative to the President’s visit at Buffalo. He tells how Czolgosz proceeded towards the President shoving out his arm to keep him (Parker) from getting in front. He being at hand saw the look pass over the President’s face as he looked at the assassin when the two shots were fired. He told of his struggle with Czolgosz, how he delivered him two stunning blows which prevented the murderer from firing the third shot at the President. In closing his talk Parker says: “I simply did as any of you would have done. I simply did the duty that one man owes another.”