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January 13, 1909

ICE FLOES WRECK

SHIPPING ON BLUE.

Pleasure Craft Smashed and

Swept Away by the

Grinding Cakes.

Great havoc among the shipping in the Blue river was wrought by a sudden break-up of ice on that stream yesterday afternoon. Several costly houseboats and launches were crushed, or their moorings snapped and carried away down the river. In all the damage amounts to several thousand dollars.

At the Kansas City Boat Club's moorings, Fifteenth street and Blue river, Harvey H. Espenship's thousand-dollar houseboat, fully furnished, was swept from its berth by the ice and carried down the river. Marion Bolinger, a boatman at Independence avenue and the Blue, saw it being carried by. It was crushed, and floating on his side. The boat contained several hundred dollars' worth of furniture, including a piano.

HOUSEBOAT AND LAUNCHES.

Mr. Espenship lost two launches, also the Iona I and the Iona II. These boats were valued at $600. both were carried down the Missouri river, one of them smashed in a jam of ice as it passed Independence avenue.

Bert Claflin of Centropolis lost a houseboat and a launch. More than twenty small boats were swept away or crushed in the ice at Fifteenth street.

Charles Demaree's houseboat and launch broke their cables. The houseboat was secured, but the launch was lost.

A lighter belonging to Harry Harris, son of Postmaster J. H. Harris, was crushed. Mr. Harris intended to build a house on the lighter next spring. A houseboat, the owner of which is not known, was crushed as it passed Independence avenue. The riven timbers were scattered among the ice cakes along the shore.

SEVEN-FOOT RISE.

The rise in the river during the afternoon was more than seven feet. At 8:30 o'clock last night the river left its banks at Fifteenth street. Boat owners, alarmed by the residents along the river, hastened to the moorings and secured their craft with chains. the landing stage at the boathouse, Fifteenth street and the Blue, was carried away.

The ice was breaking slowly, or a great deal more damage would have resulted. The ice cakes, being thick and heavy, crushed the small craft as they ground against them. The Kansas City Canoe Club lost many small boats.

Labels: Blue river, boats, Centropolis, Fifteenth street, ice, Independence avenue, organizations

August 29, 1909

KISHONGA, CHIEF OF

CHEWATAS, RETURNS.

VISITS KANSAS CITY PADDLE

AND CAMP CLUB.

Leads Procession of Canoes and

Grand March at Club House

Then Disappears for

Another Year.

With searchlights along the bank of the Blue trained upon him, Kishonga, ancient chief of the Chewatas, from the land of the Illini, returned to the land of the living for a brief sojourn last night. Clad in aboriginal dress, the old chief, in his canoe, headed a procession of twenty-six other similar water craft with modern decorations and pyrotechnical effect.

Lanterns and flanbeaux lighted up the whole procession, while green and red lights on each shore illuminated the river to a weird brilliancy. All the canoes were towed by the launch Ferro from Camp Bughouse, about a quarter of a mile above the bridge, to the clubhouse of the Paddle and Camp Club, just below it, and then back again to the camp.

In true Indian fashion, Chief Kishonga was on his knees in the canoe and everything that an orthodox Indian ought to wear, he wore. His faithful valets had seen to that, for they had gone to the costumer's and bought all in the way of aboriginal dress that looked good to them. His outfit was capped with a huge war bonnet that bristled savagely above his head and trailed down his sinewy back.

THE BIG CHIEF LED.

Upon returning to the camp, the string of canoes cut loose and reassembled in front of the clubhouse below the bridge again. With proud mien, Kishonga set his moccasined foot on the wharf and walked up the steps into the clubhouse where the grand march was declared on. The big chief led it.

When the merriment was high, there came a sudden interruption. The voice of the Great Spirit was heard -- that is, bombs were set off outside and the drummer in the orchestra rolled his sticks on the tense sheepskin. Then there was a blinding flash. It marked the supernatural translation of Kishonga from the chlubhouse to the wharf where he was seen to re-enter his canoe. Down the river he paddled and disappeared around the first bend, not to be seen again until this time next year.

BLACK BEANS AND WHITE.

Although it was 200 years since he incurred the wrath of Gitchie Manitou, and was sent to the Happy Hunting Grounds for his pains, Kishonga didn't have much to say during his brief reincarnation.

Fred B. Schnell, E. E. Branch and Frank A. Missman, constituting the regatta committee of the Paddle and Camp club, were the only ones who were supposed to be accomplished in the language of the chief, and they said he didn't say much. What he did say, however, was brief and to the point.

No one is supposed to know whom impersonated Kishonga. Two black beans and one white one were presented to the three committeemen to draw from . The one who drew the white one was to have the appointment of the chief, but was sworn to secrecy. Thus the mystery was sustained. At noon yesterday the chief was taken in an automobile downtown and given the freedom of the city. About 100 couples danced last night at the club-house after Kishonga had vanished for another year.

Labels: Blue river, boats, Native Americans, organizations, parades

July 10, 1909

DROWNS IN THE BLUE.

Current Too Swift for Charles

Knapp, a Sheffield Laborer.

While swimming in the Blue river yesterday afternoon below the Kansas City Southern bridge, Charles Knapp, a laborer for the Kansas City Bolt and Nut Company, was drowned. The body was quickly recovered.

Knapp was accompanied by E. J. Slaughter of 3006 East Twenty-fifth street, who was barely able to swim, and could render no assistance to the drowning man. Knapp climbed on a girder and dived out as far as possible. The current was swifter than he calculated and after a few struggles to get to the bridge he gave up and sank.

Slaughter telephoned the Sheffield police station but help arrived too late. The body was taken to Blackman & Carson's undertaking rooms in Shefffield by Deputy Coroner Harry Czarlinsky. Knapp's mother, Mrs. William Brown, lives near St. Clair on the Independence line.

Labels: Blue river, death, Dr Czarlinsky, drowning, laborer, sheffield, swimming, Twenty-fifth street, undertakers

July 7, 1909

PLANS A RIVERSIDE

DRIVE FOR THE BLUE.

BOULEVARDS AND PARKWAYS

ALONG BANKS.

If Bonds Are Voted Tuesday, Kess-

ler's Ideas of Beautifying the

Blue Valley Will Be

Considered.

Preparatory and unofficial sketches for the redeeming of the Blue river and its tracks, and the addition of boulevards and parkways on both sides of the stream from the Missouri river to Swope park, have been prepared by George E. Kessler, engineer and landscape architect, for the consideratoin of the park board.

To carry out the plans of beautifying the Blue valley will necessitate funds from a bond issue, and there is not much likelihood of the park board giving it serious consideration unless bonds to be voted next Tuesday carry. If the bonds are approved by the voters the board will go over the territory and determine the applicability of Mr. Kessler's suggestions.

"The beautifying of the Blue valley and making it accessible to the use of the public for boulevards and other pleasures is a big undertaking," said Mr. Kessler yesterday. "There are many propositions involved that will have to be figured out before any definite engineering plans can be settled. The natural possibilities are there, and I have some excellent ideas.

"I believe it is possible to increase the water area of the stream by the acquirement of 100 or more acres of land at the bend in the river at about Twenty-seventh street and the installation of a dam."

Labels: architects, Blue river, George Kessler, Park board, public works, real estate, Swope park, Twenty-seventh street

July 6, 1909

REVIEWED BATTLE

OF OLD WESTPORT.

REUNION AND PICNIC ON WOR-

NALL ROAD.

Pioneers Hear of Kansas City's Pre-

carious Situation During Price

Raid -- Purchase of Shaw-

nee Mission Proposed.

The battle of Westport was lived over again by a hundred of the city's oldest inhabitants comprising what is now known as the Historical Society at the old Wornall homestead at Sixty-first street and the Wornall road yesterday.

The occasion was a basket picnic of the society and the object was no more than to celebrate the nation's birthday but so many could recall the time when the Wornall mansion was a hospital and and the cottonwoods around the premises were split and riven in battle that the names of Price, Mulligan and Curtis came easy, and many a gray headed veteran leaned eagerly forward in his seat while the speakers marshaled before them the contending armies.

"It was this way," said Judge John C. Gage, who was a participant in the battle. "General Price driven from behind by the Federal forces left Independence, Mo., and crossed the Blue. It was a serious moment for Kansas City for General Curtis left the town unprotected and crossed over to Wyandotte to his headquarters. For a whole night the city was practically at the mercy of the Confederates.

"It was a good thing the Confederates did not know of this movement of Curtis. By the next day he had returned and when the battle occurred Curtis was on hand and fought like a tiger."

Several of the old residents who were present had never heard of the incident referred to by Judge Gage. Others who were participants on one side or the other remembered it distinctly.

MISPLACED STRATEGY.

"Very little has been said of Curtis's desertion of Kansas City at this time," said the judge after his speech to some of those who had never heard. "It was an incident quickly closed by the prompt return of the federal forces from across the Kaw. You see General Curtis at first believed it might be more important to protect Fort Leavenworth than the city. When he discovered how small a force General Price had and that he was practically running away from federal pressure behind he changed his mind. He was no coward and his retrograde movement was merely misplaced strategy."

Other speakers were Judge John B. Stone, ex-Confederate soldier; Mrs. Laura Coates Reed, Hon. D. C. Allen of Liberty, Mo., Miss Elizabeth B. Gentry, Mrs. Henry N. Ess, William Z. Hickman and Dr. W. L. Campbell. Frank C. Wornall read the Declaration of Independence and Mrs. Dr. Allan Porter read a selection entitled "Two Volunteers." The meeting of the society was presided over by Dr. Campbell, who also introduced the speakers.

A proposition was made by Mrs. Laura Coates Reed to the effect that the society purchase the old Shawnee mission in Johnson county, Kas., for a historical museum to be used jointly by the D. A. R. society and the Historical Society. Mrs. Reed's remarks along this line were seconded by those of Mrs. Henry Ess.

Labels: Blue river, Civil War, history, Independence, Johnson county, Judges, Kaw river, Leavenworth, Liberty, organizations, reunions, veterans, Westport

June 27, 1909

BOY DROWNS IN THE BLUE.

Fell From a Skiff and Came Up Be-

neath a Barge.

John Palmer, 14 years old, fell from a skiff into the Blue river near the Independence road yesterday morning and was drowned. Marion Bullinger, proprietor of boathouse at that point, and several others saw the boy fall over the side of the skiff, which was near a barge anchored close to the bridge. The body did not rise again until the barge was moved, when the body was found beneath it.

The boy and his father room at the home of Jack Thomas, 415 Douglas avenue. Until recently he had been working at the Kansas City Nut and Bolt factory at Sheffield. Deputy Coroner Harry Czarlinsky viewed the body and had it sent to Blackburn & Carson's undertaking rooms.

Labels: Blue river, boats, children, Dr Czarlinsky, drowning, sheffield, undertakers

June 11, 1909

BOATING RULES ON THE BLUE.

New Regulations Are to Be Em-

bodied in Ordinance.

To meet the requirements of the motor boat men on the Blue river, a draft of an ordinance is being drawn up, which the council will be asked to pass, regulating traffic on that stream.

At a meeting of the Kansas City Yacht Club yesterday President J. E. Guinotte appointed Dr. Elliott F. Smith, J. W. Hogan, John Gurney, Thomas Landers and R. Mudra a special committee to draw up rules and regulations for the river traffic, which are to be embodied in an ordinance.

The river men find that a hard and fast rule requiring all craft to keep to the right and will not do for motor boats, as in places the river is so narrow and bends so sharply that it is absolutely necessary for launches to cross to the left.

Accordingly, to mark the river, in such a way as to show w here the right of way is to the right and where to the left, and otherwise making it possible to care for the 250 oar, paddle and propeller craft already in the little river.

Labels: Blue river, organizations

November 27, 1908

NOT A HUNGRY PERSON LEFT.
If There Was, It Wasn't the Fault

of Givers of Dinners.

Amid the general rejoicing and feeling of goodfellowship incident to a perfect Thanksgiving day, the less fortunate inhabitants of the city were not forgotten. At every charitable institution in the city a dinner was provided for the inmates. The Salvation Army, Franklin institute, Union mission and other organizations of like character fed hundreds of poor persons, and sent many baskets of provisions to deserving families who were unable to attend the dinners.

The Union mission, at Eighteenth and McGee streets, provided a dinner and fed over 400 persons. Special invitations had been sent out and persons from Rosedale, Argentine, Kansas City, Kas., and country districts attended the dinner. Everything in the way of eatables was provided, and if any person in Kansas City went without a Thanksgiving dinner yesterday it was not because of a lack of opportunity.

"It was certainly good to see those poor persons eat," said the Rev. Mrs. Rose Cockriel, the pastor of the mission. "Those who came to the dinner ranged in age from 7 weeks to 33 years, and they all appeared to enjoy themselves. Six little boys, the oldest one 10 years of age, walked in from beyond the Blue river. We gave them their dinner and a basket of provisions to take to their home."

At the Old Folks and Orphans' home the day was celebrated with an old-fashioned dinner, turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies and everything that should be eaten on that day. At the Perry Orphan Boys' home 130 boys partook of the good things that had been provided for them.

At the Working Girls' hotel there was really a day of thanksgiving, not alone because of the excellent dinner, for in addition to that some unknown friend donated a high grade piano to the institution. From the standpoint of charity and general cause for thankfulness, the day was very much a success.

At the county jail Marshal Al Heslip provided a dinner for the prisoners, of whom there now are fewer than 200. All the trimmings went with the spread. Eatables out of the ordinary also were served at the Detention home, where juvenile prisoners are confined.

Labels: Argentine, Blue river, charity, children, County Marshal Heslip, detention home, Eighteenth street, food, holidays, Kansas City Kas, McGee street, orphans, Rosedale, Salvation Army, thanksgiving

August 29, 1908

STATE OFFERS REWARD FOR

EARL HAMILTON.

Deserter Is Believed to Have Mur-

dered George Pickle, Whose Body

Was Found in River.

Governor Joseph W. Folk yesterday offered a reward of $200 for the arrest and conviction of Ira Earl Hamilton, the deserter from the United States army, who is believed to have killed George W. Pickle in a swampy place near the mouth of the Blue river on June 20. The reward stands good for one year from the date.

On June 20, Pickle, who was only 17 years old, left his home at 1429 Summit street with Hamilton, 28 years old, ostensibly in a search of work. Five days later a body was found in the underbrush near the mouth of the Blue. Hamilton, who at that time was not suspected, was sent a few days later to see if he could identify the body. He reported that it was the body of a negro, 35 years old.

At the point where the body lay had been several feet of backwater during the flood. Trees and brush grew thick and neither the body nor the clothing could have floated away. Near there detectives found a piece of gas pipe about one foot long. It had been cut with a machine which crushed the ends together. The pipe was yesterday identified by a woman who lives at the home of Hamilton's aunt. She said she had often seen it among his tools. He is a constructural iron worker.

Hamilton was arrested shortly after the boy disappeared, but at that time Pickle's body had not been found. Hamilton was turned over to the military prison at Fort Leavenworth to serve time as a deserter. He succeeded in making his escape from there in less than a month. Prosecutor I. B. Kimbrell says he has a strong case against Hamilton.

Labels: Blue river, flood, Governor Folk, Leavenworth, military, murder, Prosecutor Kimbrell, Summit street

August 24, 1908

PICKLE'S BODY NOT BRUISED.

Coroner Finds No Mark of Violence.

May Have Drowned.

An autopsy was held yesterday on the body of George Pickle, found in the Blue near the junction with the Missouri river several weeks ago. Pickle disappeared from his home, 1429 Summit street, June 21, and it was believed that he had been murdered and robbed, as he had over $100 when he left home. A companion was arrested and held for a week in connection with Pickle's disappearance and then released. The coroner found that Pickle died from some unknown cause, probably from drowning, but that he was not bruised in any way.

Labels: Blue river, drowning, Missouri river, Summit street

August 23, 1908

LOST BOY'S BODY

IN PAUPER'S GRAVE.

GEORGE PICKLE HAS BEEN DEAD

SINCE JUNE.

Body Was Found in the River a Few

Days After His Disappearance.

Earl Hamilton Viewed It and

Made False Report.

On Saturday, June 20, George Pickle, 16 years old, went from his home, 1429 Summit street, in company with a friend, Earl Hamilton, 30 years old. They said that they were going to view the high water.

The day passed and the boy did not return. The next day Alexander Pickle, father of the lad, asked Hamilton what had become of his son. The latter replied that he had left him at 10 o'clock the morning before and that the boy had probably gone to the harvest fields, as he heard him asking for a ticket for Poe, Kas., at the Union depot ticket window. As George had promised his sister, Mrs. Alma E. Crowder, when she was in the city a few days before, that he would go out to her husband's farm at that place in a few days, this story seemed very probable. However, a few days later a body was discovered in the Missouri river near the mouth of the Blue and taken to the undertaking rooms of Blackburn & Carson in Sheffield for identification. The mother of the lost boy asked Earl Hamilton to go to Sheffield to view the body. He came back and reported that the body was that of a negro in an advanced stage of decomposition. The family did not pursue that clew any farther until last Friday.

Alonzo Ghent and Lum Wilson, city detectives, were assigned to the case. They discovered that Hamilton, a few days after the disappearance of the boy, deposited $120 in $20 bills in a bank, although the same week he had told his landlady that he had not enough money to pay her. George Pickle had a like sum when he disappeared. Hamilton had continued his friendly relations with the pickle family and frequently stopped to talk with the mother and to inquire if the boy had been found. On one of these visits he mentioned to Mrs. Pickle that he had served six months in the army once. She repeated this remark to the detectives, who investigated and found that Hamilton was a deserter from the army, having served a full term of three years and six months of another. They arrested him and sent word to Fort Leavenworth, and in the meanwhile they tried to connect him with the disappearance of the boy.

No charge, save investigation, was ever placed against Hamilton. He was turned over to the county marshal and held as his "guest" in the county jail a few days, then surrendered to the government authorities. A month later he escaped from the federal prison.

But it was not the trained minds of the detectives that determined the fate of the lad. Rather it was the mother's love which prompted her to go over the case again and again and to work up every clew. Her husband, who is a night watchman for the Jones Dry Goods Company, told her that no doubt the boy was safe, but she refused to believe it. Inquiries showed that he had not gone to Poe, Kas., nor was any word ever heard from him.

Last Friday, Mrs. Pickle, in thinking over the mystery, remembered that it was Hamilton that had reported the body at the undertaker's was a negro's. She determined to see if they had not been deceived, so she sent a friend, a Mr. Kinsey, to see the body. He found that the body was very probably that of the boy, and identified several articles as belonging to him. Yesterday the body was exhumed form the pauper's grave, where it had been buried, and positively identified by the father. A gash on the head told how he had come to his death. The police are looking for Hamilton now.

The body of George Pickle will be buried in Mount Washington cemetery today. Earl Hamilton is a cousin of Joseph Hamilton, 1511 Pennsylvania avenue, brother-in-law of the dead boy.

Labels: Blue river, detectives, Jones Dry Goods, Leavenworth, Missouri river, Mt. Washington, murder, Pennsylvania avenue, Summit street, undertakers

August 24, 1908

PICKLE'S BODY NOT BRUISED.

Coroner Finds No Mark of Violence.

May Have Drowned.

An autopsy was held yesterday on the body of George Pickle, found in the Blue near the junction with the Missouri river several weeks ago. Pickle disappeared from his home, 1429 Summit street, June 21, and it was believed that he had been murdered and robbed, as he had over $100 when he left home. A companion was arrested and held for a week in connection with Pickle's disappearance and then released The coroner found that Pickle died from some unknown cause, probably from drowning, but that he was not bruised in any way.

Labels: Blue river, drowning, Missouri river, Summit street

August 7, 1908

LOSES LIFE IN RIVER?

Coat and Hat of Newspaper Solicitor

Found on Bank of Blue.

Harry Taylor, a newspaper solicitor of 1514 Washington street, is thought by the police to have lost his life in the Blue river, near the Kansas City Southern railroad bridge, some time yesterday. A coat and hat which afterwards were identified by Mrs. Taylor were found on the river bank by a policeman. A bottle of phenol was found in one of the pockets. An effort is being made to find the body.

Labels: Blue river, clothing, Kansas City Southern, missing, newspapers, Washington street

June 16, 1908

TWO LIVES LOST

IN BLUE RIVER.

ALFRED G. BUCHANAN AND MISS

NITA EWIN DROWNED.

THEIR CANOE STRUCK A SNAG.

YOUNG MAN TRIES TO RESCUE

HIS COMPANION.

His Efforts Rendered Futile by the

Struggles of His Companion.

They Go Down to Death

Together.

MISS NITA EWIN AND ALBERT BUCHANAN.
BLUE RIVER CLAIMS TWO MORE VICTIMS.

While boating on the Blue river in Sheffield yesterday afternoon, Alfred G. Buchanan and Miss Nita Ewin were drowned. The canoe in which they were rowing caught on a hidden snag and turned turtle. Both Mr. Buchanan and Miss Ewin lived in Independence. Each was about 20 years of age. Miss Ewin was the daughter of Mrs. Bertie Ewin, a widow, of 412 North Liberty street, while young Buchanan was the son of J. F. Buchanan, an abstracter and loan agent in Independence.

The young couple secured a canoe at the Blue River shortly after noon yesterday, saying that they would return in a short time. They immediately paddled off toward the mouth of the Blue. The accident occurred just above the Belt line bridge.

Witnesses say the boat struck a hidden snag or the limbs of a big tree that overhung the river. Both the occupants of the boat were thrown out by the shock and the boat itself capsized. The two young people struggled in the water for a short time and then went down. Mr. Buchanan was an expert swimmer but, according to those who witnessed the accident from a distance, he was hindered in his efforts to save himself and the young woman by the struggles of the latter.

Two Missouri Pacific firemen stationed with their engines near the scene of the accident saw the young people drown. They left their engines and immediately began to dive or the bodies. Their efforts were fruitless.

The police department was then notified and Lieutenant M. J. Kennedy of the Sheffield station led a rescue party consisting of Marion Bollinger, owner of the boat, and a fisherman. Both bodies were drawn from the water by hooks nearly an hour and a half later.

Mr. Bollinger found the body of the young man first and the fisherman found the body of the young woman. Lieutenant Kennedy had telephoned the father of the young man and he was present when the bodies were removed. Dr. A. C. Mulvaney and Dr. Connelly Anderson, who had been called by Lieutenant Kennedy, tried to resuscitate the two but failed. It was 6 o'clock before the bodies were sent to Independence in an ambulance.

Miss Ewin was the only daughter of Mrs. Bertie Ewin. Seven members of the family have died in the last five years. Alfred is the second son of J. F. Buchanan.

Labels: Belt line, Blue river, boats, death, doctors, drowning, Independence, police, railroad, sheffield

June 14, 1908

CROPS AND GARDENS DAMAGED.

Missouri River Towns in This Vicin-

ity Will Suffer Greatly.

Much damage is being done to the crops which are planted in the vicinity of the smaller towns along the course of the Missouri. The gardens along the Blue river are mostly safe as yet, but there is great anxiety felt for their safety during the next two or three days.

At Harlem and Coburg, many garden and berry fields have been planted in the bottoms and these have been a total loss. All along the course of the Missouri, from Kansas City to Liberty, the lowlands are under water to the depth of from two to six feet. Some corn fields and much wheat and smaller gardens are completely washed out by the flood.

At Northern Junction and Randolph, the chief loss is of small gardens. Randolph is higher than most of the other smaller towns along the river and but few houses have been flooded by the high water. The residents are making preparations for any emergency and will be able to meet the flood when it comes. Their experience in the flood of 1903 was a good lesson to them. The people in Randolph are quite hopeful, thinking that the river will not rise high enough this year to severely injure them.

Labels: Blue river, flood, Liberty, Missouri river

May 17, 1908

HIS CHILDREN SAW HIM DROWN.

Hector Bonne, a Belgian Gardner,

Lost His Life in the Blue.

In the presence of his family of four children, Hector Bonne, a Rosedale gardener, was drowned while fishing in the Blue just south of Dodson last evening about 7 o'clock. He had taken his children for a day's visit at an uncle's, Charles Cula, near the Harrisonville bridge, not far from where the accident occurred.

Several men were fishing there and some were intoxicated. Bonne waded into the water banteringly with his clothes on, and all seemed to think when he dropped out of sight that he was making fun for the children. But he had stepped off a ledge and was drowned without coming up. In a few minutes the dead body was recovered by R. H. Hopkins, a farmer, who was there fishing. Bonne was a Belgian. Deputy Coroner O. H. Parker sent R. V. Lindsay, a Westport undertaker, for the body. With his wife and children, Bonne lived just beyond the end of the Rosedale car line.

Labels: Blue river, children, Deputy Coroner Parker, Dodson, drowning, fishing, immigrants, Rosedale, undertakers

March 16, 1908

SEASON'S FIRST SWIMMER.

Policeman Chides Clyde Cobeck for

Plunging Into the Blue.

The first man to swim in the Blue river this spring is Clyde Cobeck, of 1037 Topping avenue. Patrolman Carl Johnson of No. 7 police station called him ashore at Fifteenth street because Cobeck was clad only in a union suit. The swimmer was about ready to come in anyhow, and remarked as he stepped ashore:

"It's the early diver who gets the cramps."

He was not arrested, but allowed to put on his garments and beat it to the nearest fire.

Labels: Blue river, Fifteenth street, police, swimming, Topping avenue

March 13, 1908

ROCK ROADS WILL

REACH EVERY TOWN.

No More Mud-Isolated Hamlets.

Road contracts amounting to $55,604.65 were let by the county court yesterday. When these contracts are completed there will not be a town nor hamlet in Eastern Jackson county which is not touched by the web of rock roads.

There was talk yesterday that injunction proceedings would be brought against the court, but this only materialized in a warm protest from Atherton as to the location of a rock road to that town. Some wanted the road east of the Blue, others west. The court had listened to the arguments before on this measure and decided on the east route as the most beneficial.

The contract for the Hickman Mills road to Lee's Summit was let to Colyer Bros., the lowest bidders, at $19,917.44. This gap is three and three-fourths miles long.

Today the county court will go over the Blue Springs rod and make an inspection of work done under the contract. A few days ago a strong delegation from Tarsney appeared before the court and claimed that the contractors were not complying with the specifications. Two of the our miles of road remain to be built. The farmers claim that the macadam laid is not deep enough, the rolling light and everything short in measurement.

Labels: Atherton, Blue river, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, public works

July 8, 1907

CAME HOME IN A GUNNYSACK.

Supposed Drowned Boy's Clothing

Taken From the River Bank.

A drowning scare occurred at the Blue river, in Sheffield, yesterday afternoon, when the clothes and a crutch of William Hess, a 12-year old, one-legged boy, who lives near Independence and Ewing avenues, in Sheffield, were found on the bank. The finding of the clothes was reported at the Sheffield police station, and a prompt search for the body was instituted.

For three hours boats plied up and down the river from Nineteenth street to the mouth of the river, and for some distance about where the clothing was found the river was dragged. The search was abandoned about 7:30 o'clock, and the clothing turned over to the boy's mother by a policeman, who broke the news to her.

A half hour later a dejected looking figure, clad in an improvised bathing suit made from an old gunnysack, appeared in the doorway of the Hess home. It was the supposedly drowned boy, who had returned from a row with two other boys up the river, and finding his clothes gone he had hobbled to his home by way of alleys and side streets.

Labels: Blue river, children, drowning, Nineteenth street, sheffield

June 27, 1907

COP PINCHED THE PINCHER.

Lively Chase Along Main Street

Before He Was Run Down.

After a chase of two blocks on Main street, in which a number of pedestrians took part, E. W. White, a fisherman, who lives in a houseboat on the Blue river, was headed off and arrested by patrolman William Ryan at Fourteenth and Main streets last night.

White was standing in a stairway that leads to the Woodman hall at 1210 Main street. As S. O. Harris, 814 Troost avenue, and his wife and daughter, Ethel, 11 years old, descended the stairs he reached out and pinched the little girl, it is charged. She screamed, and the man ran out of the door and turned south on Main street, the father in pursuit. As white continued others joined in the chase, and Patrolman Ryan, seeing the commotion, hurried toward the crowd. White was just turning east on Fourteenth street when he ran directly into the policeman's arms.

He was taken to the Walnut street police station, where he will be held for prosecution by the girl's father.

Labels: Blue river, children, Fourteenth street, Main street, police, Troost avenue, Walnut street police station

May 12, 1907

FELL INTO BLUE RIVER.

Conductor Patterson Knocked From

Car, Rescued by Man in a Boat.

W. B. Patterson, a conductor on the Kansas City & Independence line, last night at 7:15, as his car, westbound, was approaching the Blue bridge, leaned far out to adjust the tail light, which was glowing dimly. His head struck a truss and he was hurled from the car into the water, fortunately striking no other part of the bridge. He was assisted to shore by a man in a boat. W. P. Donahue, the motorman, had noticed that something was wrong and stopped the car. Patterson was taken to the division car barn at Ninth and Lister and later sent to Monroe and Garner, his home. A scalp would two inches long is the only mark he bears of the accident. But he was badly chilled while waiting at the barn for dry clothing.

Labels: Blue river, Lister avenue, Monroe avenue, Ninth street, streetcar

March 27, 1907

SHOT BY TWO POLICEMEN.

Were Trying to Arrest Sheffield Man

Who Flourished Pistol.

David Bostick, a roller mill hand of Sheffield, was shot and perhaps mortally wounded early this morning in that suburb by Sergeant Caskey and Patrolman Parks. Earlier in the evening Bostick had shot at Harry Bahling, a saloonkeeper of Sheffield, whom he had attempted to hold up. Then he went to the home of George Ritter, on the Blue. Returning from there he met the officers and threatened them with a revolver. Both officers shot him at the same moment. He had just left the boat in which he had come from Ritter's home.

Labels: Blue river, police, sheffield, violence