WOUNDED SHERIFF'S CLUES TO GUNMEN

Evening Star, Issue 22723, 10 August 1937, Page 10

WOUNDED SHERIFF'S CLUES TO GUNMEN

Constable ‘William Wathen, 53 years old, of Albion, dangerously wounded in a fight with two gunmen in the sandhills 20 miles north of Omaha. Nebraska, chewed wheat stalks and finally drank the last few drops of ink from his fountain pen to quench a “ terrible ” thirst while he lay 24 hours waiting for help. . J _ T . . , Between spasms of pain at N icholas Seim Hospital in Omaha he related detail* of the fight in which his companion, Sheriff L. I. Smoyer, was lei Hod« An operation was performed in an attempt to remove the pressure from the spinal cord that was the cause of his suffering. It showed that the cord was not severed, which gave hope for his recovery. Wathen talked of the hours he lay helplessly waiting for help to come, how he called to the sheriff hoping for an answer, how he scribbled a few notes in. a small notebook and on a handkerchief which he hoped might help in the identification of the murderers, using the same pen that he finally drained of its last drop of ink when thirst became unbearable. In the notebook he has written: “ 2 men shot Sheriff and me. Car No. 7-4897 Colorado. 2 men.” (Investigate: .-vid the number was 7-4697). On another page Wathen added: “ Sheriff Smoyer dead. lam unable to move. Took both guns. My gun has crack on right side. Is 38.5 in barrel. Win. Wathen.” At the hospital Wathen said that ho fell to the ground with the first shot fired by one of the gunmen. “ I got up on my feet again just as he shot the Sheriff. He went down and the man fired at me again. _ I went down. I thought I was hit again, but I guess my leg just gave out under me*. I thougnt I was nit four ties. Just once, though, wasn’t it, doctor?” ‘‘l’m sure the one who took our guns qras hit,” he continued. “He kept me covered while he picked up the Sheriff’s gun. Then he came over to me and said, ‘ Throw it over there.’ It was empty and I tossed it away.” An hour or two after he was shot, Wathen began to give up hope of help arriving in time. He wrote in his notebook: “June 17, 1937. One tall slim man. 1 medium heavy. Car No. 7-4897. Two men in black Ford. 2 shot Sheriff, myself. Smoyer dead. Not able to move. Car No. 7-4897, Colo. 2 men—am not able to move. They shot me first.' I fired three shots after down. Good-bye. Wm.” Finally, on the last page of the book he wrote: “About noon. Am still alive. Am unable to move. I was shot first twice and got three shots at killer. Lawrence (Smoyer) never knew what hit him. Wm. Wathen.”