Attempt at Phenix to Kill President

Special to the Post-Dispatch.

     PHENIX, Ariz., Sept. 7.—What is here regarded as an undoubted attempt to assassinate President McKinley in Phenix on May 7, during the visit of the presidential party to this city, has just been disclosed. At the time the affair was only known to a few people and the local press did not give publicity to the incident, owing to an attempt of the officers to locate the would-be assassin.
     As the carriage bearing the President was passing along Washington street, a man sprang from the dense moving throng and attempted to climb into Mr. McKinley’s carriage. He had one hand on the back of the seat and one foot on the carriage step. Just as he drew himself up and before he could make any movement, Rough Riders, who were escorting the chief executive, grasped him by the collar and withdrew him into the crowd, which quickly swallowed him up. The thousands who lined the sidewalks were so intently gazing at the distinguished occupants of the carriage that notwithstanding the efforts of the Rough Riders to recapture him, the man managed to evade them.
     A secret service man accompanying the President was informed of the incident and McKinley’s handshaking was confined to few persons. Up to that time the President mingled freely with the people, literally elbowed the horny-handed miners at the Congress of Mines with a feeling of the utmost security.
     The man who attempted to climb into the carriage was of medium height, and a stranger in the city, being here two days before the presidential party.