"An Unusual Case"
Dan Shay, Clarence Euell, Gertrude Anderson, and the Limits of Hoosier Progressivism

DAVID JONES

One of Indianapolis's most prominent landmarks, a physical embodiment of the city's Hoosier boosterism and cosmopolitan aspirations, the English Hotel and Opera House had loomed over Governor's Square (later Monument Circle) since its completion in 1880. Built by William Hayden English, an Indianapolis businessman, congressman, and one-time Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United States, the hotel's facade featured two towers and bas-relief sculptures of past Indiana governors. Its 2,500-seat theater, whose 100-foot-long entrance corridor was graced by frescoed walls, marble pillars, and a grand staircase, had hosted the likes of Sarah Bernhardt and George M. Cohan.	1
The English Hotel and Opera House, Indianapolis, 1915 The hotel occupied the entire northwest quarter of Monument Circle. The hotel cafe, site of Clarence Euell's murder, stands to the right of the lobby entrance in this view. Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society
But when Indianapolis Police Lieutenant Herbert R. Fletcher and Sergeant John Sheehan stepped into the English Hotel lobby late in the evening of May 3, 1917, they were not hunting for celebrities or entertainment. In the corner of the lobby, across from the sweeping marble staircase and large mirrors, sat Clarence Euell, a 30-year-old waiter employed at the hotel cafe. Euell was doubled over in pain, moaning as blood seeped out of his abdomen from a single gunshot wound. Soon an ambulance would arrive to take him to City Hospital, but within an hour, Euell would be dead.	2
Fletcher and Sheehan went upstairs to the room of Dan Shay, 40, a former major league baseball player and current manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, a minor league club in the American Association. Immediately the officers noticed the abrasions on Shay's face; they could smell the liquor on his breath. He was either intoxicated or dazed, or both, the officers concluded. To most of their questions Shay proved unresponsive, though he did make one statement that both Fletcher and Sheehan would later repeat in open court: "The nigger called me a ——and made a pass at me and I shot him."1	3
More than six months later, Shay would display far more eloquence following his acquittal of second-degree murder charges by an Indianapolis jury. After declaring that he had known all along he would be acquitted, Shay added, "I felt any fair-minded man would look at the case in the same light the jury did. I want to thank the jury publicly for their verdict; the judge, for his many courtesies extended; my attorneys, who so diligently defended my position, and the people in general, the people of Indianapolis, who understand the situation. Of course it was in some respects an unusual case, but now I am glad it is all over."2	. . .