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Attempt at Phenix to Kill President
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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.
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