User:Nonenmac/Conway shirt cards

VICTIM TAKEN TO HOSPITAL;
NOT EXPECTED TO SURVIVE

Two colored bandits escaped this afternoon after shooting an eighty year old Civil War veteran who grappled with them when they tried to hold up his haberdashery shop at 16th and South sts. They also shot at one of his sons and knocked down another.

Phillip Conway, the aged haberdasher who was shot, is in the Polyclinic hospital with a bullet wound in his upper abdomen, and is not expected to live.

A bullet fired at Phillip Conway, Jr., fifty three, who fled at a warning shouted from his brother as he entered the store while the holdup men were there, was stopped by a tobacco can in his hip pocket.

The bandits got no loot. The day’s receipts had just been taken to the bank by Phillip, Jr.

The shooting occurred at 2.30 P.M. The Conway shop is a large one occupying 600 and 602 S. 16th st., and divided down the middle by shelves and showcases.

Eugene Conway, forty-five, the younger son, was in the store, and the father in a wire cage about the till at the centre of the store, when the colored men entered. Both are described as light colored, one about five feet ten inches tall, the other a little shorter, and neither well nor poorly dressed.

The, aged man probably was shot because be mistook the bandits for April Fool jokers, his son thinks.

“The men came in and asked to see some overalls,” Eugene Conway related. 'They each bought a pair and then asked to see some shirts. I walked with them to the other side of the store. near where my father stood at the till.

“I reached up to get some shirts, and when I turned around I was looking into a pistol held by one of the men.

“’That’ll do’ he told me, hand over what you’ve got.

“I really didn't know what to do, but I edged backwards, with them following me. It was in my mind to get into a room in the back of the store and see if I couldn't knock the receiver off the phone there and summon help that way.

“My father saw us moving and walked out from behind the till to see what was happening. Everything was quiet and I don’t think he had an idea it was a hold-up.

“As he came out from behind the till, the other bandit, not the one that had me covered, drew a revolver and shot him.

CIVIL WAR VETERAN IN HOLDUP OF SHOP

“He didn’t fall, because both grabbed him and held him up, one keeping me covered with his free hand. I didn’t know father was hit, because he didn’t fall. The two bandits started to hustle us both back to the rear room.

“Just then my brother Phillip came in. I saw him and yelled to him, ‘Get out, Phil, keep out.’ He saw what was the matter and started to run out of the door. One of the men shot after him. We found afterward the bullet struck a tobacco box in his pocket and dropped to the floor.

“I started to struggle then, and one of the men hit me in the face, knocking me down. Then they both let go of me and father and ran out of the store. I don’t think they had a car, but got away on foot.”

The elder Conway fought in the Civil War with the Keystone Battery. He has been many years in the business on the South st. corner, and his store has been a neighborhood landmark for years. He lives at 623 S. 16th st., near the store, as does Eugene. Philip, Jr. lives at 1727 Porter st. The 16th and South sts. corner ordinarily is crowded, but today, on account of the storm, there were few persons there.

“I had just got back from taking our day’s receipts to the bank,” said Phillip. “I think the bandits must have known something about our business, but miscalculated by a few minutes and thought the receipts had not been taken yet.

“When I got back, I didn’t know anything was wrong until my brother yelled at me. Then I saw the two men holding my father and Eugene fighting with one of them. I turned to run out to call help when they shot at me. Then they bolted out the other entrance of the store. I ran after them about half a bloc. They went south on 7th st. and disappeared.”

Brown, of the 20th and Fitzwater sts. station, was the first policeman to arrive. Lieutenant McGowan took charge and called for bandit-chasing cars to comb the whole district. He also sent his men from house to house in certain sections looking for the men.