A CIRCUS TRAGEDY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1672, 26 September 1887, Page 2

A CIRCUS TRAGEDY.

' A telegram from Davenport, lowa, July t 20th, to the " San Francisco Bulletin " . says : — " Sellß Brothers' circus gave an ' exhibition last night at Clinton, four miles up the river. The show included a' Wild ' West ' exhibition, part of which consists of an attack made by a number of cowboys headed by Pawnee Bill and a party of Indians. In some unexplained manner some of the cowboy b' revolvers were r loaded with ball, and when the firat shot ! of the promiscuous fusilade was fired, a l terrible cry of pain went up from a lady . member of the audience. The Indians \ kept galloping around the tent, pursued I by the cowboys, who continued firing, and m a moment one of the Indians fell off his po«y. By this time there was a tremendous uproar m the circus, many of the audience having crowded into the rings. The circus people picked up the fallen redskin, and found he had been shot m the right shoulder. He was at once carried to the dressing-room. It was then found that three people m the audience had been wounded as follows : — s Mrs W, Lambertson, m the left breast, ! dangerously; George Harrington (aged : seventeen) m the forehead, fatally ; l Wallace Phillipß, m the top of the head, p not seriously. It Jb not known how Berious the Indian's wounds were, but it is believed he cannot recover. The circus left town immediately after the performance, omiting a show billed fer Dubuque to-day, m order to get out of lowa, and . went to Prairie dv Ohien, Wis. It is said , the cowboys, who were apparently drunk, wanted to kill tho Indian, and m drunken stijpidity shot into the audience. As soon as the serious nature of the wounds inflicted on the Clinton people was ascertained, a crowd gathered ; but the circus was by that time boyond the reach of pursuit. Steps will undoubtedly be taken to bring the guilty patties to justice "