A Bloody Political Dispute in a South Third Street Saloon
Partisanship and liquor lead to a brutal knifing after two men argue over their respective roles in local conventions.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
James W. Ryan, formerly bartender in the Monte Cristo saloon, narrowly escaped bleeding to death after a fight with Andrew Kehoe, a Democratic ward heeler, yesterday morning at Eugene W. Way’s saloon on South Third street. Kehoe and Ryan had been drinking and singing when conversation turned to the last city election. Kehoe, who was drunk, bragged about his role in the Democratic convention. Ryan, a Republican, doubted him, saying, 'You are not swift enough to be a delegate to any convention.' Kehoe began to walk around Ryan with his fists doubled up. Ryan hit Kehoe, and the two were mixed up in a rough-and-tumble fight. After they were separated, Ryan felt something trickling on his forehead. He had been cut by a sharp instrument—likely a knife, though Kehoe denies it. Ryan required eleven stitches in total and lost a significant amount of blood.
“You are not swift enough to be a delegate to any convention.”
This violent encounter in a Pioneer Square saloon underscores how deeply partisan political identity was woven into the social fabric of the 1890s, where public brawls over 'delegates' were common manifestations of local civic tension.
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