The Revolver at Front and Cherry

Justice Von Tobel yesterday heard the testimony in the case of the state against H. Hershberg, the clothing merchant, charged with assault upon John Bower, a mechanic. Bower was attempting to install a railing for a stairway leading to the basement under Hershberg's store at Front and Cherry streets when he was driven away by the merchant at gunpoint.

The case attracted unusual interest, and the courtroom was crowded. John Bower, the complaining witness, testified that he was hired by A. C. Miller, a saloon man, to put in the railing. He had dug three or four holes for the posts when Hershberg ordered him away. When Bower refused, Hershberg and a man named Levy threw the railing into the street. Bower tried to reinstall it, prompting Hershberg and his clerks to return. Bower alleged that Hershberg pulled a revolver, pointed it at him, and threatened to 'blow your brains out.'

Witnesses were divided. Plasterer E. C. McDougal and contractor Peter Neebe corroborated Bower’s account, stating the mechanic made no threatening moves. However, Hershberg’s clerks, A. Degendorf and H. Jones, testified that Bower had held an 'uplifted hammer' in a menacing fashion. Arthur C. Miller, the saloon keeper, testified that he had received official consent from the corporation counsel and the street commissioner to cut the stairway, as he occupied the space beneath the sidewalk. Arguments in the case conclude this afternoon.