Well Guarded

Was the Man Who Shot the President.
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THE EXCITED CROWDS
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About the Jail During the Night Following the Attempt Upon McKinley’s Life.

     A returning sightseer from the Buffalo exposition, who witnessed the excited crowds on the night following the attempt upon President McKinley’s life gives an interesting account of the feeling there. He said:
     “The jail where the man was locked, who attempted the life of the president, is situated at the bottom of a hill and around this jail angry people were surging all night long. We left at 12 o’clock, and until that time the excitement continued unabated. The people would gather in a compact body at the top of the hill and then make a dash down towards the station. The police who surrounded it, some on foot and some on horseback, would meet them and gradually force them back. Bricks[,] stones and clubs were flying through the air all the time. As soon as the crowd was forced back they would reform and start down again. Sometimes they would approach the building from another street and try to catch the police napping, but they couldn’t do it. Every attempt possible was made to get hold of the prisoner, but the police had formed too solid a guard around the jail.
     “The Buffalo papers gave but poor accounts of the shooting during the afternoon. They reported about 5 o’clock that McKinley was dead and the people began to drape the buildings. One building down town [sic] was half draped with mourning. Many of the buildings had flags at half mast upon the flag staffs [sic].
     “I never saw anything like the excitement that prevailed in that town. The people seemed to feel guilty, that they had been entrusted with the life of the president and had betrayed it and they wanted in some measure to atone for it by getting the prisoner out of the way.”