Statewide County AZ Archives Obituaries.....Collins, Pat 1901 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/az/azfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: D. Joshua Taylor http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00006.html#0001358 and Elizabeth Burns July 17, 2005, 2:36 pm Arizona Republican-Feb. 9, 1901 PAT COLLINS February 9, 1901 Arizona Republican Newspaper Pat Collins, poker player and professional gambler, well known in Phoenix and other parts of Arizona, was killed in Santa Barbara, in a roughhouse scene on Wednesday. A special dispatch to the Los Angeles Herald thus describes the killing: "A battle royal was fought here tonight at a place on Anacapa Street kept by a number of Japanese women. The result is one man dead. "At 6 o'clock a call came from the place for police protection. Chief of Police Dan Martin responded, taking with him E.C. Niles, special officer and engineer of the Washington fire company. They learned that a gambler named Pat Collins, well known at Phoenix and all over Arizona, had been there and went away for a gun. He had promised to kill all the inmates and the Japanese women believed he would make good his threat. "The officers were at the hall door to leave the place when Collins kicked it open and fired point blank into the group of officers and women. "That he missed all is a miracle. The bullet went right through the bunch. Officer Niles kicked the door shut. Bang went the desperado's pistol, once, twice, three times more. The bullets crashed through the panels of the door and splinters flew in all directions, striking the officers. The shrieking women fled before the fusillade and hid in the rear of the building. "It was shoot or be shot for the officers. Niles fired twice through the door, while the shots were still coming from without. At his second shot there was a stifled groan from outside the shattered door. But there was no fall and those inside could not tell what was to happen next. "Finally Niles volunteered to hold the dangerous position in the hall while the chief went around the house to reconnoiter. But at this point Constable Hopkins came up and a moment later he discovered a crouching form in the corner of the porch. It was the form of Pat Collins. He was in a sitting posture and held his almost empty gun in one hand. A pool of blood told that he was terribly wounded. Hopkins felt his pulse and found that the man was dead. Niles second bullet had had its effect. "The body was at once taken to the morgue, where may viewed it and recognized it as that of Collins. All attempts of the coroner to learn anything of the man's past have been fruitless. Here he posed as a well-dressed, happy-go-lucky player and until tonight was always peaceable and even friendly. He drank lightly this afternoon and the drink may have started him on the warpath. The inquest will be held at 10 o'clock tomorrow. It is possible that Officer Niles may be arrested and at once released. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/az/statewide/obits/c/collins287gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/azfiles/ File size: 3.4 Kb