Leon F. Czolgosz
First Authentic Picture of the Anarchist Who Shot President McKinley.
(From the New York Journal.)
Name of the Assassin Is Pronounced “Choalgosh”
Polish Term For “Snake,”
Says Official Interpreter.
Since the attempted assassination of President McKinley every newspaper reader in this country has been trying to learn the proper pronunciation of the surname of Leon Czolgosz, the man who shot him. Many will recall that there was a similar interest and the same difficulty in pronouncing the name of Guiteau, who assassinated President Garfield.
Mr. William M. Doyas, official Interpreter of Polish and Bohemian languages in the United States immigration office at Baltimore, and himself a Pole by birth, says that the would-be assassin's name should be pronounced “Choalgosh.”
“The word is derived from a Polish verb,” said Mr. Doyas, “which means to drag or creep or crawl. Used as a noun, it means a creeping, crawling thing, such as a snake. In the present instance the name seems most appropriate.”
Assassin's Name is Pronounced “Choalgosh”, Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal, September 13 1901