Iowa Old Press

An attempted hold-up in a lonely spot near the city cemetery at 4:15 o'clock Saturday afternoon resulted in the stabbing of two men when Ernest Buergel, 60 years old, fisherman living at the foot of Howell street, turned on his assailants with a pocket knife.
A deep knife wound in his abdomen, just above the groin, Walter Strathmann, 36 years old, 1836 West Sixth street, one of the hold-up men, is lying in a serious condition at Mercy hospital.

Other Man Hidden.
     The other man, believed to have been even more seriously hurt, cannot be located and his identity has not been learned. Police think he is being hidden by friends who fear his arrest.
     Buergel, the assailant of the two, was captured in his shanty boat at midnight by a squad of officers, headed by Lieut. Walter Romeyer and Detective Peter C. Kuehl.
     Emily Gregg, a 17-year-old girl and three men, Joseph Collins, Henry Schmidt and W.H. Bailey, are also being held by authorities as witnesses in the stabbing affray. These witnesses were arrested in the shanty of Maude Bateman by Officers Lodge, Kinney and McDermott early Saturday evening.

Find Blood Stains.
     The Bateman shanty is a few minutes' walk from the scene of the stabbing. Fresh blood found on the floor of the place indicates that the injured men went there after they had been cut.
     "Yes, I stabbed both of them," Buergel declared when, half intoxicated, he was shoved into the police car after his capture. "They came up to me as I was gathering coal near the cemetery.
     "One of them put his arm around my neck and choked me. Then I stabbed both of them. I'm glad I did it too. If you've got any men that's cut up, I'll let you know that I'm the one that did it."
     Questioned by Officers Dietz and Bishop at Mercy hospital, Strathmann declared that he did not know who had stabbed him, and was reluctant in giving any details concerning the affray.

Strathmann Tells His Story.
     Strathmann told newspaper men at the hospital that he had been walking at the foot of Fillmore street, near the Behrens coal yard, when a man rushed out upon him from behind a building.
     "He had a knife in his hand and he stabbed me in the stomach," Strathmann asserted. "Then he turned and ran away down the railroad tracks.
     "I dragged myself four blocks to the city cemetery when I met Joe Collins at the foot of Division street. 'Joe', I said, 'I've been stabbed'. I don't know who did it or anything about it.' He called the ambulance and had me taken to the hospital.'
     Surgical examination last night showed that the left side of Strathmann's abdominal wall had been punctured. Whether or not there are serious injuries to internal organs has not been determined.

Comb "Shanty-town."
     In their efforts to round up the stabber police combed the "shanty-town" district near the river front all of last evening. Many houses were visited and their occupants subjected to rigid questioning.
     Buergel's shanty was visited by police early in the evening but he was not found at home. When Lieut. Homeyer and his squad arrived, the man was lying on a bunk in a drunken stupor, a bottle of hooch near-by.
     Efforts to arouse Buergel failed until prohibition Officer Roy E. Muhs, a member of the squad, climbed thru a small window.
    Buergel and the witnesses will be questioned by authorities today with the probability that serious charges will be filed against the knife-wielder.
     Just what charges may be placed against Strathmann, both victimizer and victim has not been acertained.

     Recovered from the intoxication which rendered him helpless Saturday night, Ernest Buergel, 60-year-old fisherman, residing in a shack on South Howell street, gave details of the fray in which he stabbed two men to Police Captain Frank Lew and Officers George S. Rogers Sunday.
     Buergel's written confession names Walter Strathmann, 36, 1836 West Sixth street, now lying in Mercy hospital with a deep knife wound in his abdomen, as one of the hold-up men who accosted him near the foot of Division street Saturday afternoon.
     "I was walking along the tracks, picking up coal in a basket, when I got close to two men. One of them started up Division street while the other came up to me, threw his arms around my neck and tried to choke me," Buergel states. "I pulled a pocket knife out of my pants pocket and struck him once in the left side. He let go and the other fellow came up and struck at me. I lunged at him with the knife. I am not sure if I cut him or not, but I think I did. They both ran away. One went towards the island (City Island) and the other ran up Division street.

Carries Open Knife.
"I had about $15 or $16 on me. The hold-up men didn't say anything when they attacked. I always carry an open pocket knife when walking around the railroad tracks because there are a lot of hold-ups down there."
James "Gampy" Powers and Otto Gilbert, notorious characters recently released from the county jail, were picked up as suspects in the stabbing affray by police officers Sunday evening. The two men are being held for questioning, as it is believed they can give details of the affair. Joseph Collins and Henry Schmidt, arrested as suspects Saturday night, have been released but police are still holding Emil Gregg, a 17-year-old girl, and her alleged sweetheart, W.H. Bailey. Miss Gregg and Bailey were found in the shanty of Maude Bateman on City Island when police went there to investigate. They may be charged with disorderly conduct.

Hunt Other Stabbed Man.
Authorities are today continuing their search for the other man stabbed by Buergel. It is believed that this man is being hidden by his friends.
In Mercy hospital today, Strathmann, seriously wounded, reiterated his story that an "unknown man" had rushed out upon him and stabbed him at the foot of Fillmore street Saturday afternoon. He denies having attempted to hold up Buergel and is apparently trying to make a "mystery" out of the stabbing.

     Armed policemen watched night and day at the bedside of Walter Strathmann, 36, 1826 West Sixth street, stabbed in the abdomen by Ernest Buergel, a fisherman, when he and another man attempted to hold up Buergel last Saturday.
      Strathmann, lying in Mercy hospital, refuses to give any information which will lead to the identity or whereabouts of his companion, believed to have been seriously wounded by Buergel in the affray.
     Fear that Strathmann may walk out of the hospital or be "rescued" by his friends before he can be subjected to grilling has led Police Chief Charles Schlueter to detail two shifts of officers to his room.
     Outside of Buergel's confession yesterday that he stabbed Strathmann, and the other men when they tried to hold him up, authorities have succeeded in gaining little insight into conditions which resulted in the knife attack.
     James "Gampy" Powers and Otto Gilbert, underworld characters, picked up as suspects have been released. Buergel could identify neither of them as Strathmann's companion. The only suspect being held at present is W. Beelendorf, shantytown resident arrested by Lieutenant Walter Homeyer and Detective Peter C. Kuehl last night.
     No charge has yet been filed against Buergel, altho information charging him with assault with a deadly weapon or with intent to inflict great bodily injury may be filed today.