Two Syracuse Women Saw President M’Kinley Shot

Miss Jaquin and Miss Mahley Stood But Ten Feet from the President
at the Time of the Shooting.

     Two Syracuse young women were eye witnesses [sic] of the shooting of President McKinley in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American exposition in Buffalo Friday. They are Miss Mollie A. Jaquin of 1009 Carbon street [sic] and Miss Elizabeth Mahley of 112 University avenue [sic]. The latter was within ten feet of the president when the shooting occurred. She saw all the details of the tragedy and was so near that when Czolgosz was attacked and knocked to the floor he fell against her in falling.
     The story told by the Syracuse young women differs somewhat from the published reports and according to them the president’s assailant lost his head or else he might have accomplished his purpose.
     In talking of the affair Miss Mahley said:

Was in Front of Czolgosz.

     “I was exactly the sixth person in front of Czolgosz. After I shook hands with the president I walked in the line past him and then waited for a moment to see the other people in line. When Czolgosz came up I took particular notice of him because of the peculiar shaped bandage on his hand. The bandage was long and pointed and not at all the kind that a person would have on a sore hand unless they were splinters holding broken fingers in place. He held the bandaged hand close to his breast. When he approached the president he extended his left hand, which was the one not bandaged. Instead of taking the hand of the president he did not seem to brush it aside, but raised his left hand towards his throat and then fired. It appeared to me that the man might have had a string extending from the revolver up his arm and he pulled the trigger from this string.

Might Have Fired Again.

     “After he fired the second time he seemed to have become very much excited. It all happened so quick that all those about stood still for ten seconds at least. This would give the fellow plenty of time to fire a third shot, but he seemed bewildered and stood staring as the president fell back. The first man to take hold of Czolgosz was the negro waiter. He pushed his way through the crowd and struck the man several times. The negro seemed infuriated and I believe he would have killed Czolgosz if he hadn’t been taken away.
     “I think the man could have escaped from the building if he had not hesitated after he fired the last shot. Everybody appeared so dumbfounded they did not know what to do. Immediately after the shooting there was a man with a dark moustache who shot out of the crowd and hastened out of the building. Several people took after this man, but they could not capture him.

People Rushed from the Grounds.

     “There was a great deal of noise about the grounds for several minutes, but as soon as it became known that the president had been shot hardly a sound was to be heard. The people all seemed to rush for the gates, and an hour afterwards there was probably not 1000 people on the grounds. There were two or three people between me and Czolgosz, and when he was knocked down he fell over on the crowd around me and I was pushed back. I heard the president say: ‘Am I shot?’ ‘Make it light to Mrs. McKinley,’ and ‘I am sorry to have been the cause of so much trouble.’ The saddest part of it all was when Mr. Milburn knelt over the president and commenced to weep.”
     Miss Mahley and Miss Jaquin say there was great excitement in Buffalo Friday and all night long the streets were crowded with people. They left there Saturday, and they say thousands of people crowded the depot all that day waiting to take trains out of the city.
     Miss Mahley said Czolgosz was a boyish looking fellow and doesn’t appear to be over 20 years old. He is a handsome looking man, she said, and none of the pictures that have appeared in the papers look much like him.