This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Saloon Patron Bites The Bullet
Written
and contributed by Ben Feld
Based on article in Watertown
Democrat, 06 29 1876
In the
1870’s the area around Watertown Junction, the area in which the east-west and
north-south railroads crossed, had the reputation of being not exactly the very
best part of town.
It was
a small community all of its own, made up of a few small hotels catering to the
railroad travelers, many of them salesmen, or “drummers “ as they were
sometimes called, working their territory and dwelling, temporarily, finding
lodging in the hotel facilities at the Junction. In addition to food and lodging, the area
provided entertainment to occupy their free time; entertainment such as
well-stoked saloons and some other houses not frequented by the more gentile
class of people. It was generally agreed
by the solid citizens of Watertown that “something should be done about “the
Junction” but little was ever done, in reality.
Although
a shooting in that part of town was not anything unusual, and only rarely did a
shooting result in the loss of a life, the people of Watertown sat up and took
notice of what was going on out there at “the Junction” when, on July 23, 1876,
while the all-absorbing topic of concern was still the purchase of a new fire
engine.
Strangely,
the shooting incidence did not involve any of the bored transients but, rather
two individuals who were owner-operators in two separate businesses in the
areas; the one, William Cummings, the keeper of a boarding house in the area
was also one of the better customers of Lee Whalen’s saloon, directly across
the street. For quite some time, Mr.
Cummings had followed a routine of appearing at Whalen’s salon in early
evening, asking for a drink of whisky paying for it, and then returning to his
place of business.
On
July 23 his routine varied just a bit.
On entering his favorite watering spot, Cummings demanded a drink of
whisky, which was promptly served him, and, after gulping down that drink,
which, according to some reports seemed to have been taken from a decanter
holding several shots, he demanded another
Since
Cummings had on many occasions asked for more than one shot of whisky and had
never caused any kind of disturbance, never had become argumentative or
obnoxious in any way, Whalen, without any hesitation, served up the requested
drink, which Cummings drank quickly, as he always did. But at that point Cummings departed from his
familiar routine and, uncharacteristically, told Whalen to “chalk it down” --
put it on the charge tab, to be paid later.
However,
having had considerable experience with transient salesmen, deadbeats and
rascals, it was Whalen’s policy to operate on a cash only basis; once you had
consumed your drink, you didn’t depart the premises until the uttermost
farthing had been paid. Surely Cummings,
being a more or less permanent resident of the area, knew about that policy, perhaps
even having adhered to the same code in his eating establishment.
In any
event, Whalen informed Cummings all drinks must be paid for on the spot; no
charges were allowed. Cummings took
exception to the rule and, after pondering the situation for a moment, reacted
by requesting yet another drink -- which was refused him. Whereupon Cummings became a bit more
obstreperous. He seized Whalen by the throat, forcing him against the bar, and
a serious struggle ensued.
It
very soon became apparent to Whalen that Cummins was the stronger of the two,
and, rather than risk losing the match and being put in an untenable situation,
Whalen grabbed the revolver he always kept in a convenient place should it be
needed for just such an occasion as this, and with gun in hand, warned Cummings
to cease the struggle or he, Whalen would shoot.
The
recently consumed alcohol having kicked in to bolster his courage and dim his
good judgment, Cummings struggled all the harder while Whalen tried to get his
firearm into an advantageous position, which was such, as the Watertown Democrat reported, that when
Whalen pulled the trigger, “landed a ball plump into his opponent’s mouth”.
One
would think that such a shot would certainly produce a fatality; but it
didn’t. The intended victim, very much
alive, merely released his hold on Whalen, shook his head and spat upon the
floor a number of broken teeth along with the now shapeless piece of lead which
had been the slug fired from the pistol.
Not
surprisingly, witnesses gave conflicting accounts of the fray; some claimed one
shot had been fired, others reported more than one; some said the shooting took
place inside the saloon, some said outside.
But all seemed to agree that Whalen left the saloon almost immediately,
commandeered a horse and buggy, and proceeded at top speed, fleeing, not from
the law, but to report the incident to the proper authorities. If that truly was his intention, he
apparently had second thoughts, for he made a stop at the saloon run by J. C.
Cordes for some liquid courage, and maybe some advice from the friendly
bartender there. While refortifying his courage and receiving legal advice from
his fellow-saloon operator, Marshal Cunningham walked in and arrested Whalen.
Whalen’s
immediate defense was he had acted in self-defense, his life having been
threatened by Cummings. The Justice of
the peace charged him with intent to kill, setting his bonds at three hundred
dollars. The case was scheduled to be
heard by Justice Krebs the first of July, but for various reasons it was
delayed until July 11 when Justice Krebs, after thoroughly questioning both the
defendant and the plaintiff, ruled that Mr. Whalen had indeed done the shooting
in self defense and, accordingly, he was acquitted.
In
this day and age some enterprising individual would have recovered the
misshapen slug which Mr. Cummings had spat upon the floor, mounted it in a
suitable frame, and hung it in a place where it would be seen by many and would
have elicited a recounting of the fracas which took place in Lee Whalen’s
saloon, near the Junction on July 23, 1876.
Maybe
someone did just that. Maybe there is a
family in Watertown which has been wondering, for years, just what is the
significance of an odd blob of lead Grandma and Great-Grandma kept in that
bureau drawer all these years.
1907
07 25 1907
The
saloon keepers, who attended the State Convention at Oshkosh Wednesday,
returned yesterday and were well pleased with the convention. Several important questions were discussed
and suggestions made toward raising the standard of the saloons.
The
abolition of stalls in saloons and the exclusion of minors and inebriates were
subjects which were discussed at the second annual convention of the State
Liquor Protective association, which was called to order at
Notice
of the meeting was sent out late last week . . . no preparations had been made to entertain
the visitors, aside from those made by the Oshkosh Retail Liquor Dealers
association . . . The number of delegates present was about 100 and various
parts of the state were represented . . . The state association was formed at
Appleton a year ago . . .
