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Akron People [excerpt]
C. F. Billow of this city was near
the building in which the president was shot last Friday.
Mr. Billow, accompanied by his wife,
was in the crowd whhich [sic] witnessed the entrance of President
McKinley, when he returned from Niagara Falls and prepared to shake
hands with the thousands of expectant people in the Temple of Music.
They walked down to the Temple of Music, but owing to the large
crowd did not attempt to enter, and remained in a building near,
looking at an exhibit. When the word came that the president had
been shot they went out into the crowd and saw the president carried
out and placed in the ambulance.
To a Beacon Journal reporter Mr. Billow
said Monday that he never saw people so infuriated, as they anxiously
waited for news concerning the president.
Scenes Indescribable.
“The scenes on the streets that night
were indescribable,” said Mr. Billow. “There must have been 10,000
people around the prison where the assassin was placed, and I believe
that the entire police force could not have prevented the crowd
from getting into the prison and tearing the assassin limb from
limb, if President McKinley had died. They seemed to be only waiting
for news to come of his death, and it required the united efforts
of almost the entire police force to keep them back of the ropes
which were stretched around the prison.
“The newspapers issued extras every
15 minutes, and the newsboys could not get papers fast enough to
supply the anxious people. For a time the people at the exposition
could not realize that the crime had been committed, but when they
finally saw that the report was true, the business of the exposition
was over for the day. The midway attractions all closed, and the
large crowds wandered aimlessly about or broke up into small groups,
discussing the awful affair.
“When we left Buffalo the people of
the city were in a hopeful mood, the bulletins issued every little
while having a reassuring effect, and everybody seems to feel that
the danger is over.”
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