HUEY LONG SHOT BY ASSASSIN
GUARDS OF SENATOR SHOOT DOWN ASSAILANT AFTER BULLET STRIKES LOUISIANA DICTATOR IN ABDOMEN
Wound Not Fatal Is Opinion of Doctor After Operation
Two Shots Fired
But Only One Enters Body of Victim, Witness Says
BATON ROUGE, La. Sept. 8 ─ (AP) ─ Senator Huey Long, Louisiana's political "dictator," was shot through the right side tonight in the state capitol with a pistol in the hands of Dr. C. A. Weiss, an eye specialist of Baton Rouge and member of an anti-Long political family.
Bodyguards of Senator Long immediately killed Dr. Weiss, puncturing his body with bullets and leaving him dead on the floor of the corridor.
Identification of Weiss was established by Dr. Thomas B. Bird, East Baton Rouge parish coroner, and Joe W. Bates, assistant superintendent of the state bureau of identification.
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Senator Long had just finished directing passage of bills in one of his special legislative sessions where legislators followed his bidding without question.
As the senator stepped out of the house door, spectators said, Dr. Weiss walked up to Long and pressing the muzzle of a pistol close to his body, fired one shot. Then the bodyguards opened fire, killing the doctor, and assisting Senator Long down the stairs to an automobile.
Bleeds at Mouth
Long was staggering and bleeding at the mouth. He maintained consciousness and talked to his assistants. At the hospital he was rushed to an operating table, and Dr. Urban Maes of New Orleans, of the medical staff of Louisiana State university was summoned by airplane.
Hospital officials said the senator's condition was grave, but Dr. Arthur Virdrine, head of the New Orleans Charity hospital, in charge of the case, said the bullet had not struck any vital organs, and he did not consider the senator's condition critical.
He said the bullet passed entirely through the body, and unless complications set in, the senator had a good chance to recover.
Physicians said the bullet entered the right side of his abdomen and ranged through the body, emerging at the back.
The body of Dr. Weiss lay on the corridor for more than an hour until it could be viewed by the coroner.
Dr. Bird said two cartridges had been fired from the pistol, but Dr. Virdrine said only one bullet struck the senator.
FEAR OF DEATH FROM BULLETS TOLD IN SENATE
Attack On Long Recalls His Speech Telling About "Plot"
USED BODYGUARDS
Alarm Draws Laughter When Outlined In U. S. Congress
WASHINGTON, Sept. 8. ─ (AP) ─ News of the attempted assassination of Senator Huey Long in Baton Rouge startled the capital late tonight, with officials recalling instantly that only a month ago tomorrow he told the senate a plot to kill him was afoot.
As word spread through the city, telephone calls to newspaper offices for information increased with the minute.
Until details of the shooting and his condition were known, officials and political leaders had little to say.
Many of them at the time of the senate speech had taken Long's fears lightly. They were well aware, however, that he almost constantly took precautions of having bodyguards in the vicinity when he appeared in public.
Whether the department of justice could or would take any action in the shooting was conjectural.
In the August 9 speech, the Louisianan took the floor during a dull afternoon and said two of his supporters had sat in a hotel room in New Orleans adjoining an apartment where the reported plot was discussed. Some senators laughed while others listened closely.
Career of Long Told In Outline
NEW YORK, Sept. 8. ─ (AP) ─ The career of Senator Huey P. Long in tabloid:
Born August 30, 1893, in Winnfield, La., of humble parentage.
Admitted to Louisiana bar in 1915, age 22. Never completed formal schooling in high school or college.
Louisiana railroad commissioner 1918-21.
Governor of Louisiana 1928-31.
Defeats effort to impeach him, wins election to United States senate in 1930.
Retains governorship as "dictator" to prevent foes from taking over government.
Takes senate seat January 25, 1932.
