7 SALOON KILLINGS, 90 DAYS.
DENNIS O'KEEFE DREW A KNIFE AND
WAS SHOT TO DEATH.
The seventh saloon murder in Kansas City in three months was recorded yesterday morning. In that time more than fifty men have been beaten more or less seriously in "tough saloon" fights.
A fight was started shortly after 8 o'clock in Charles Merlino's saloon, 200 East Fifth street. Charles Craig, a foreman for the Depot Carriage and Baggage company, and Sherman Davis, a stableman, had quarreled, when Dennis O'Keefe, a saloon keeper from the East bottoms, who had no interest in either man, struck Davis, knocking him down.
Craig tried to save Davis and was attacked by O'Keefe, who knocked him down with a chair. Merlino, owner of the saloon, then interfered and tried to separate the struggling fighters. O'Keefe, Merlino says, drew a knife and started toward him. Merlino then pulled a revolver from his hip pocket and fired five shots at O'Keefe, three striking him near the heart. He died almost instantly.
Practically everything in the saloon outside the bar was turned over and broken. Craig and Davis were severely cut and bruised but not dangerously hurt. They and Merlino were arrested. Chief Ahern ordered the saloon closed at once.
"It's another case of 'tough saloon,' the chief said. "That quarrel could have been stopped by Merlino before it became so strong. When O'Keefe entered the saloon Merlino waited until he was nearly tearing the place to pieces before he interfered. The result was a killing."
