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October 29, 1908

CAPTAIN WILLIAM J. MORLEY,

OF POLICE FORCE, IS DEAD.

Brave and Efficient Officer, and Had

Been in City's Service

Many Years.

After an illness of more than two months, William James Morley, captain at No. 5 police station, died yesterday afternoon about 5 o'clock. He had been for twenty-two years one of the most efficient members of the police force of the city. He was 57 years old.

Captain Morley was born in Ireland, but emigrated to this country at the age of 18 years. He became a railroad man and soon rose to the position of assistant yardmaster at Binghampton, N. Y. It was there that he married and then moved to Kansas City, coming in at the same time that the C. B. & Q railway did, thirty-two years ago.

He was made yardmaster, a position which he held for ten years. At the end of that time he gave up his position to become a policeman, and was assigned to the Central police station. He was a brave and capable officer and made a number of good captures. At the end of ten years' service as a patrolman he was made a sergeant and stationed at No. 4 station. Seven years ago, as a reward for faithful service, he was made a lieutenant in charge of the desk at the Walnut street station. There he remained until September, 1907, when he was made captain and placed at the Westport station.

Captain Morley was wounded in the service fo the city once, that being during a fight in the West Bottoms, in which he was accidentally shot in the left shoulder by a brother officer while trying to arrest a burglar.

Captain Morley was singularly fortunate in his business ventures. Many years ago he bought a strip of land in the West Bottoms, which the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway bought from him at an increased price. He also invested in other real estate, and he invariably made a handsome profit on every transaction. Hhis fortune is estimated at $15,000. At the time of his death he owned some business property on Grand avenue and several houses, besides farming land.

Captain Morley's private life was happy. He lived many years in the ho use where he died at 3418 Broadway, an old-fashioned frame house set far back in the yard. Besides his wife his family consisted of five children. Katherine is now in Binghampton, N. Y.; Mrs. P. E. Fagan loves in Kansas City. Louis C. is a steamfitter; John is a farmer in Jackson county and William J. Morely, Jr., is a miner in Ely, Nev. Two grandchildren also survive. Captain Morley was a devout Catholic and a member of the Annunciation parish. He belonged to the order of Heptosophs.

"I worked with Captain Morley for fifteen years," siad Captain Thomas P. Flahive last night, "and I always found him honest, fearless and efficient as well as considerate and kind hearted. The police force of Kansas City has lost one of its finest and truest men."

The funeral services will be held Friday morning at the home, but the exact time has not been determined. Catholic rites will be used.

Labels: Broadway, Central station, death, immigrants, No 4 police station, No 5 police station, police, railroad, real estate, West bottoms, Westport

October 17, 1908

POPULAR HOTEL CLERK DEAD.

Irving W. Doolittle Had Been at the

Baltimore Many Years.

Irving W. Doolittle, 48 years old, chief clerk at the Hotel Baltimore, died yesterday morning at his home in the Lorraine apartments, 1014 Broadway. Mr. Doolittle was born in Antrim, N. H., and came West while a young man of 28. He had been clerk in hotels in the East, and became chief clerk at the Throop hotel, Topeka. While there he married the daughter of the proprietor of the hotel.

She died, and three years ago Mr. Doolittle married again. He came to Kansas City several years ago and became clerk at the Midland hotel, but two years ago was transferred to the position which he held at the time of his death.

Besides his wife he leaves a brother, Arthur Doolittle, officer in the navy, now stationed at Portsmouth, and another in New York. The body is at the home of W. B. Johnson, his brother-in-law, 2825 Independence avenue. The funeral arrangements have not been made.

Mr. Doolittle was unquestionably one of the most popular hotel clerks in the country. There isn't a traveling salesman this side of the Rockies but knew him and liked him for his unusual patience and courtesy. For all these Mr. Doolittle always had a smile and a hearty handshake when they came in. If rooms were scarce he always gave assurances that set at rest the impatient traveling salesman.

Labels: Broadway, death, Hotel Baltimore, Independence avenue, Midland, New York, salesmen

October 10, 1908

FARMERS SHOOT A

COCAINE CRAZED MAN.

RICHARD GREENWOOD STOLE A

GUN AND HORSE.

Defended Himself, Behind Breast-

works of Baled Hay Near Swope

Park -- Back and Legs

Filled With Shot.

Just as bales of cotton looked fine to Andrew Jackson of New Orleans, so bales of hay appealed as ramparts to Richard Greenwood near Swope park yesterday. Greenwood has a fondness for cocaine and, cherishing delusions that he was being pursued, he fled from the North End into open country, perhaps by street car. He was in no condition yesterday to tell.

At any rate, early in the morning he appeared at the farm house of C. C. Cole, about five miles east of Swope park. Whatever delusions the Cole family may have cherished that he was in search of information as to how to make $1,000 from an acre in six months were quickly dispelled when Greenwood ran into the house and took a shotgun which hung on the wall.

With the gun he hurried down the road to where R. C. Hutcheson was looking after the horses in his barn . Pointing the business end of the weapon towards the farmer, he induced the latter to put bridle and saddle on a horse. Then Greenwood rode away. Hutcheson got busy with the telephone and every farmer in the neighborhood was soon out, each armed with a shotgun.

In the meantime, Greenwood had discovered that the gun he carried was of the ancient pattern called "Zulu." It had only one barrel and but one cartridge. So at the home of C. S. Brown the raider stopped and induced Mrs. Brown to give her five shells. He threatened her with the gun.

By this time the farmers were in full cry after the North Ender. Soon after leaving the Brown farm, Greenwood forsook his steed and made for a field. There he made a rude breastwork of baled hay. Behind this he defied capture. His pursuers fired and he returned the fire. Right there the "Zulu" took revenge. Greenwood was unable to extract the first shell from the gun and before he was otherwise able to defend himself he had been captured.
Martin Roos, a deputy marshal, brought Greenwood to the jail hospital. He had shot in his back and legs. A charge of robbery in the first degree was filed against him in Justice J. B. Shoemaker's court.

When searched at the county jail cocaine was found in Greenwood's pockets. He said some one had given him the drug. Last spring he was treated at the general hospital for the drug habit. Of late he had been working at 507 Broadway.

Labels: Broadway, crime, farmers, guns, jail, narcotics, North end, Swope park

October 4, 1908

MAD MOTORISTS CAUGHT.

NORRIS AND THOMPSON CONFESS TO

DRIVING FATAL CAR.

The Two Men Arrested While

Hiding Near Troy, Kas.

TROY, Kas., Oct. 3. -- (By telephone.). Thomas Norris and James Thompson, the "mad motorists" whose speed mania sent one person to death and seriously injured four others in Kansas City last Tuesday night, were arrested on a farm near this city early this morning.

They immediately admitted their identity and confessed that they had driven the car which killed Pearl Gochenour. They are now in charge of Kansas City detectives and are returning to Missouri without requisitions. It is probable that they will reach Kansas City this afternoon. Both men are badly frightened and despondent.

Shivering from the cool morning blasts on their cots in a tent on an isolated portion of a farm five miles south of Troy, Kas., Thomas Norris and James Thompson were arrested at daybreak yesterday morning by Sheriff M. C. Kent and Deputy Sheriff Griffin of Doniphan county. The "mad motorists" have been hidden away on the Carpenter farm for the past two days and seemingly felt secure from pursuit in their retreat. They were taken to St. Joseph, Mo., and were brought to Kansas City yesterday afternoon by Detectives Wilson and Ghent, who have been working on the case since the night of the automobile tragedy in which little Pearl Gochenour was killed and four other people seriously injured.

Captain Walter Whitsett had set his net so thoroughly that the fleeing chauffeurs have never had a chance of making their escape. The captain of police got in communication last night with Sheriff Kent of Troy over the telephone and instructed him to go to the farm five miles away where he would catch the two men wanted so badly in Kansas City for criminal negligence.

Norris, who was a chauffeur for the Woodward Automobile company, and Thompson, recklessly drove a car, going at a speed of forty miles an hour, into a frail spring wagon on Broadway, near Hunter avenue, last Tuesday night. Of the occupants of the wagon, 10-year-old Pearl Gochenour was instantly killed and Mrs. Jennie Bucher of Forty-seventh and Holly streets was seriously injured. Robert Gochenour was internally injured, but will recover. Miss Florence Bucher and Mrs. Alice Gochenour sustained severe bruises.

Without waiting to ascertain the extent of the havoc they had wrought, the motorists sped away laughing over their shoulders at the picture of the writhing victims they had brought about. After returning the car to the Woodward garage at 1929 Grand avenue, Norris and Thompson fled to the home of Norris's mother in Kansas City, Kas., where they spent the night. At an early hour Wednesday morning they set about eluding the officers and succeeded until last night, when it was learned that they might be near Troy, Kas., where Thompson's father lived on a farm.

Norris and Thompson were seen in Brenner, a small village three miles from Troy, Thursday afternoon, where they were purchasing several days' provisions for their camp on the Carpenter farm two miles from the town. They bought everything in the way of eatables from spring chicken to flour, and were continually joking about the long stay which they expected to make in their camp. Sanford Thompson, the father of one of the chauffeurs, occupies a portion of the Carpenter farm, and it was on this portion that the tent had been pitched. According to the information received over the 'phone the young men were much excited when they were informed that they were under arrest, but they gave in without attempting to escape. They will be held without bail until they can be given a hearing.

Automobile men of the city are clamoring for the prosecution of the mad drivers, as well as the general public. It may fare harder with Norris than with Thompson, as it was he who drove the car and who had taken it without permission from the Woodward garage. Since their arrest both have grown despondent and refuse to talk of the tragedy which resulted in the death of Pearl Gochenour.

Labels: automobiles, Broadway, Captain Whitsett, death, detectives, Forty-seventh street, Grand avenue, Holly street, jail

September 30, 1908

MOTOR CAR KILLS

ONE, HURTS FOUR

COLLIDES WITH LIGHT SPRING

WAGON ON BROADWAY.

RUNNING AT 40 MILES HOUR.

RECKLESS CHAUFFEUR SPEEDS

AWAY IN THE DARKNESS.

LAUGHS AT HIS VICTIMS.

PEARL GOCHENOUR DEAD; MRS.

BUCHER MAY DIE.

Women and Children Hurled High in

Air When Crash Came -- Dam-

aged Car May Lead

to Detection.

No more heartless indifference to suffering and death has been exhibited in Kansas City than occurred last night, when a furiously driven big red touring automobile crashed into a light spring wagon on Broadway, near Hunter avenue, killing a girl of 14 years and badly injuring five other people, two women, two girls and a boy.

The impact of the collision was heard a block away.

When the motor car struck the wagon, tearing it to pieces, women and children, screaming with fright and pain, were hurled high into the air and fell in a heap on the hard curbing, with bits of splintered wood falling all about them. It is said the men in the motor car -- there were two -- looked at the death and suffering they had caused, laughed, turned on more speed and glided away into the enveloping darkness.

HOW ACCIDENT OCCURRED.

The accident occurred at 8:45 o'clock. Besides little Pearl, who was instantly killed, the other four occupants were seriously injured and at least one fatally so. In the spring wagon were Mrs. Jennie A. Bucher, her daughter Florence and Mrs. Frank Gochenour and and two children, Robert and Pearl.

Mrs. Bucher was driving the horse when the accident occurred. The two families are neighbors and often go driving together in the evening. Last night they started to go to Levanthal's bakery, 1819 Grand avenue. The horse was being driven north on Broadway and in order to avoid speeding automobiles Mr. Bucher was driving close into the curbing.

They had passed Hunter avenue and were proceeding at a slow trot when suddenly the front wheels of the wagon were struck by an automobile, and without any warning the women and children were thrown out. The wagon crashed the front part of the wagon against the curbing, leaving it in splinter. Mrs. Bucher and Mrs. Cochenour and Robert Gochenour were thrown up onto the parkway, falling on top of each other. Miss Florence Bucher fell beneath the rear wheel. Little Pearl Gochenour, who had been sitting on her mother's lap, fell beneath the seat of the wagon and the horse was knocked over on top of her, crushing her.

FATHER WAS STUNNED.

Frank Gochenour, the father of the dead child, is a stonemason and resides on Forty-seventh street between Holly and Mercer streets. Mrs. Bucher conducts a grocery store at 825 West Forty-seventh street and her husband, Henry Bucher, is a bartender at the Valerious cafe. Mrs. Bucher is 42 years old, Florence Bucher is 14, Mrs. Alice Gochenour is 37, Robert 14 and the little girl was only 10 years of age. Rober Bucher, 14 years old, had been visiting with Robert Wilson, Thirty-fourth street and Broadway, and was on his way home when he heard the noise the collision made and ran to where the crowd was quickly gathering. He was much affected when he learned that his mother and sister were injured.

As soon as Mr. Bucher heard of the accident, he hurried to the emergency hospital, but his wife was unconscious.

A few minutes after he arrived his two daughters who had stayed at home arrived. They said they had gone to Mr. Gochenour's house and told him of the accident. He was alone in the house with his 3-year-old baby girl and could not leave to go to the hospital. The Bucher girls said that Mr. Gochenour did not seem to realize that his little girl was dead.

HEARD THE CHAUFFEURS LAUGH.

J. D. Skinner, 3508 Baltimore avenue, did not see the accident, but did hear the crash and saw the disappearing automobile. He was on Hunter avenue at the time and running to the corner could see two men in the machine. He said it was running at a rate of forty-five miles an hour when it passed over Hunter avenue and possibly faster after the accident. Many women living in the vicinity came out of their houses in time to see the automobile flying down the road. Some of them said they heard the two men in the machine laugh.

When the police were searching the street around the spot where the wagon was demolished they found part of an automobile lamp and broken parts of glass of the light reflector. Sergeant James A. Jadwin of No. 5 police station telephoned a description of the auto and the men to eleven police stations, and the men in several districts were given the descriptions. Kansas City, Kas., police were also notified.

Labels: accident, automobiles, Baltimore avenue, Broadway, children, death, emergency hospital, Grand avenue, No 5 police station, police, retailers

September 22, 1908

PROHIBITION'S OPENING GUN.

Eugene W. Chafin, Candidate for

President, Will Open Campaign.

The opening gun of the Prohibition party's campaign in Jackson county and Missouri will be fired at the New Casino hall, 1021 Broadway, tomorrow night. Eugene W. Chafin, Prohibition candidate for president, will be here then to deliver one of his campaign speeches on "The Platform of the Prohibition Party."

Mr. Chafin is returning to the East from a tour of the Pacific coast states and the Northwest, where he has been campaigning. Ex-Governor John P. St. John of Kansas and Dr. C. B. Spencer, editor of the Christian Advocate, will preside at the meeting.

Labels: Broadway, politics, prohibition

September 12, 1908

HANGED HERSELF, BUT LIVES.

Mrs. Harry Woodruff Made a Rope

of Police Station Bedding.

Frustrated in her attempt to throw herself into the Missouri river early Friday morning, Mrs. Harry Woodruff, Fourth street and Broadway, hanged herself in the cell in the matron's room at police headquarters four hours later. Mike Mullane, a patrolman, saw the woman running toward the river in an excited manner. He gave chase and caught her. While taking her to Second and Main streets the woman broke from him and tried to throw herself in front of a passing freight train. Again the patrolman rescued her and called the patrol wagon from police headquarters. It took four officers to put the maniacal woman in the wagon.

All the way to the station the woman said that she would not live for twelve hours and she defied the officers to save her life. After she had been locked in the matron's office it was thought she was quieted. At 7 o'clock yesterday morning a passing officer heard strange sounds coming from the cell in the matron's room. Entering the room he saw the woman hanging by a cloth rope from the bars. She was taken down almost unconscious and later sent to the Door of Hope.

Labels: Broadway, Fourth street, Main street, mental health, police, police matron, Second street, Suicide

August 6, 1908

EXCESSIVE HEAT KILLS TWO.

Both Victims Were Men and Both

Were Found Dead in Bed.

Two men died in Kansas City yesterday as the result of excessive heat. Both were found dead in bed, and autopsies held by the coroner developed the fact that they died of heart failure, but heat prostration is given as the contributory cause.

One of the men was Arthur J. Shera, 37 years of age, a carpenter from San Diego, Cal. He was found in his room at the Hotel Convention, Twelfth street and Broadway, at 6:30 o'clock. The second man was Patrick Kearny, 45 years of age, a laborer, found in his room at 24 East Third street, at 7 o'clock.

Labels: Broadway, death, Twelfth street, weather

May 5, 1908

POLICE FIND OWNERS

OF CANNED JEWELS.

BOY'S DISCOVERY BRINGS GLAD-

NESS TO ONE HOME.

Porch Climber Had Stolen Watches

on December 26, 1906, and

Buried Them in a To-

mato Can.

By a thorough search of police records Fred G. Bailey, secretary to the inspector of detectives, yesterday located the owners for most of the jewelry which was found Saturday night at Nineteenth and McGee streets. The valuables were found by John E. Linings, 317 East Nineteenth street, a boy who was digging for worms. It was all safely planted in an old rusty tin can which, according to the record, had been in the ground just one year, four months and two days when found. The can, which was delivered to Lieutenant Hammil at the Walnut street station, contained four gold watches, one gold cross, one gold cuff button, two brooches, one an old came; one gold and one enamel heart, and one string of three-strand gold beads.

Bailey began at January, 1906, and it was not until he reached December 26 of that year that his efforts were rewarded. On that night porch climbers entered the home of E. H. Stimson, 3145 Broadway, while the family was in the siting room below. The thief or thieves secured two ladies' gold watches, one an open face watch, with E. A. S. on the case in big letters, and the other marked "Emmett to Olive." They also got a long gold watch chain and five gold rings.

On the same evening the home of C. M. Gilbert, then living at 3129 Washington street, was entered, probably by the same "climbers" as it was in a similar manner. There three gold watches were stolen. One, an open face watch, had "1876" engraved on it and there was a long chain to it. Another was engraved "Annie B Gilbert" and the last was undescribed. The thief also got a black seal card case and $40 in cash.

The gold engraved cross, the cuff button, two brooches and two hearts have not yet been identified. Detective Ralph Trueman was sent out to locate the robbed families and tell them of their luck. He found Mr. Stimson still living at the same number but Mr. Gilbert, he said, had left the city. Neighbors said the family had moved to Ohio. They believed it was Dayton. Secretary Bailey will endeavor to locate Mr. Gilbert and make him happy.

Mr. Stimson, who is a real estate man, was very much pleased when told of the find. "I recall the night we were robbed," he said. "It was the night after Christmas and about 8 o'clock. The thieves climbed the front porch and ransacked the two front rooms. The watch marked 'E. A. S.' is the property of my daughter, Edith Aileen Stimson. She will be more pleased than anybody as she was broken hearted over her loss."

Many conjectures have been made as to how and why the can of jewelry was buried in the ground and especially why it was left there. Many police believe that the thief, after burying his loot, fell into the hands of the law and may now be doing time in some prison. Others think the man who put the can there must be dead.

It is not an unusual thing for burglars to bury plunder, especially watches and other jewelry which is easily identified. After it has been buried long enough for the police to cease to look for the lost valuables they can easily be dug up and either sold or pawned with less chance of detection. If the thief is in prison the police believe he would have some day returned and disposed of his loot.

Labels: Broadway, crime, detectives, jewelry, Nineteenth street, Walnut street police station, Washington street

May 1, 2008

ITS GREAT TO BE FAMOUS.

Joseph Yanner Says Friends Are Kill-

ing Him With Kindness.

Joseph Yanner, the Kansas City boy who is with the "Strongheart" company at the Grand theater this week, is a busy person. To hear him tell it, one would think that he scarcely had time to eat. "Never in my life have I found it so hard to keep engagements as I am finding it this week," said he; "it is almost impossible for me to get around to the theater on time. Between automobile rides and chumming with all of my old friends it is always just a few minutes before the curtain goes up when I am able to get into my dressing room.

"Yesterday my family took me to one of the theaters in town to see Robert Mantell. I was immensely enjoying the play when a party of my friends burst in upon us and carried me off for an automobile ride over the boulevartds. That's just the way I have been going all week; keeping only parts of engagements and then having to make a sprint for the theater. It is all very enjoyable, though it does seem rather nerve-racking."

Mr. Yanner will stay with the "Strongheart" production until the end of this season. He will then come houme to Kansas City and spend the summer with his parents. He has made no arrangements for his next season's work as yet, but expects to do so before he returns home.

Kansas City has been Mr. Yanner's home for twenty years, having been reared here. He attended the Christian Brothers' Catholic school at Twelfth and Broadway.

Labels: automobiles, Broadway, schools, theater, Twelfth street

March 10, 1908

BABY HAS NOT BEEN FOUND.

Mrs. Pansy Gaulter Says Husband's

Mother Made the Trouble.

Mrs. Pansy Gaulter, whose baby was snatched from her arms by her husband, Loren Gaulter, at Sixth and Central streets Saturday afternoon, said last night that no trace had yet been found of either Gaulter or the child. The last she saw of him was when he ran down Central street to Fifth street and through a building at 306 West Fifth. He is said to have met a woman at Fourth and Broadway and to have later taken a Leavenworth electric car The kidnaping was reported to the Humane Society, and W. H. Gibbbens has a warrant for Gaulter.

It was a mistake to say that my mother caused any trouble between us," said Mrs. Gaulter. My mother-in-law caused all the trouble and she had made trouble before. Finally I told y husband I would not live with his people any more, and he then wanted me to live with his uncle. When I refused that also caused trouble. It was his people, not mine, that caused our separation."

Labels: Broadway, Central street, Fifth street, Fourth street, Humane Society, kidnapping, marriage, Sixth street, streetcar

March 8, 1908

HE STOLE BABY FROM

ITS MOTHER'S ARMS.

FATHER ESCAPED, ALTHOUGH

PURSUSED BY A MOB.

Mysterious Case, in Which the Prin-

cipals, After Causing a Grand

Furor, All Dropped

Out of Sight.

To kidnap a baby from the arms of its mother on a public street at high noon, run several blocks pursued by 250 people and the frantic mother and to finally make good his escape through a basement on West Fifth street, was the record made by a father yesterday.

A woman was walking on Sixth street near Central at noon yesterday, carrying her baby. As she neared the corner a man appeared, grabbed the child from its mother's arms and ran north on Central street -- the baby under his coat. At Fifth street he turned west as far as the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, 302 West Fifth street. In the door he darted, slamming it after him. The kidnaping caused great excitement and the man with the baby was pursued by a mob which jammed about the door.

The woman from whom the baby had been snatched was a blonde, tall and wore a brown cloak and a small hat with a white veil. As she ran she cried to the pursuers, "Stop him! He's my husband and has got my child and will kill it. I know he sill. Stop him!"

An elderly woman dressed in black appeared on the scene, from where no one seemed to know, and overtook the fleeing mother. Several times she tried to detain her, but when frantic efforts failed, the woman in black grabbed a small hand satchel from the other woman and gave up the chase.

Charles E. McVey, desk sergeant at police headquarters, was passing and saw the crowd. The woman in brown appealed to him to get her baby which was being stolen, saying again that it would be killed. McVey ran into the bottling works and took a freight elevator to the top floor, having been told that the man with the baby had gone that way. When he descended, however, he was informed that the man had left by the basement door in the rear.

J. B. Jewell, manager of the bottling works, said: "The man who went through here with the baby in his arms was Loren Gaulter, who formerly worked here. The woman who pursued him was his wife. They have been married about two years and the baby is probably 6 months old. They last lived in Independence, Mo., but I never knew of their having had any family troubles."

Until five days ago, Gaulter was employed in the mail department at the Union depot as a truck handler. At that time he quit suddenly and what became of him no one there knew.

The man with the baby ran through an open lot in the rear of the bottling works and made his way to Fourth and Broadway, where, witnesses said, he was met by another woman The two were later seen to board a Leavenworth car, it was said. McVey had trouble in dispersing the crowd, and when quiet was restored all the principals in the affair had disappeared.

The distracted mother made her way around the block and through the alley by which the man and baby had escaped. To a man loading a car in the rear of the Richards & Conover Hardware Company's store she appealed to help her. That man, who said he knew the woman, gave the name of Young. He said she was Mrs. Gaulter, but he did not know where she lived. Harry Williams, a negro porter in a barber shop at 316 West Fifth street, saw the man with the baby under his coat leave the bottling works by the rear basement door. When he called out, "That man's stolen that baby," he said the man ran faster than ever.

Jewel said that after all the excitement was over a young woman, known to him as Gaulter's sister, called on him. She asked where "the folks" had gone, Jewel said, and intimated, that she would have gone with them. The wife was heard to remark that if her husband got out of town, she new he would take the baby to Iowa.

The kidnaping was not reported to the police or to the Humane Society, consequently neither worked on the case.

Mrs. Belle Slaughter, who formerly lived at 1639 Washington street, is the mother of Mrs. Gaulter. Until two days ago the Gaulter's lived at 612 East Ninth street, and appeared to be happy, neighbors say, until Mrs. Slaughter appeared. It is thought that Mrs. Slaughter is the woman who appeared and took Mrs. Gaulter's handbag during the chase after the husband and child.

Labels: Broadway, Central street, Fifth street, Fourth street, kidnapping, Ninth street, Sergeant McVey, Sixth street, Washington street

February 3, 1908

CAUGHT BABY

AS IT FELL

EXCITED WOMAN HAD TROWN

INFANT FROM THIRD STORY.

BUILDING WAS IN FLAMES

MRS. HILDA HOLMQUEST OBEYED

A CROWD'S YELLS TO JUMP.

Man Caught the Baby as It Dropped,

but the Woman Struck the

Hard Pavement and

Was Badly Hurt.

MRS. HILDA HOLMQUEST.
Who Heeded an Excited Crowd's Advice to Leap From a Burning Building, and was seriously hurt.

Cut off from escape by the stairs in a fire in 406 Landis court yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Hilda Holmquest rushed to a rear fire escape three floors above the paved alley, with another woman's child in her arms and stood a moment dazed while flames shot up at her from a window on the floor beneath. It seemed impossible for her to descend the ladder through the flames and the excited crowd below cried to her to jump.

"Oh, take the baby," she said, "it is not mine."

Then she threw the infant and jumped after it.

George M. Thomas of 910 Wyandotte street, one of the crowd beneath, caught the babe by one arm and both feet and dodged Mrs. Holmquest's falling body.

The child was unhurt. Mrs. Holmquest struck the brick pavement and suffered a broken knee, a serious scalp wound and internal injuries. She may recover.

RESCUED BY FIREMEN.

Two minutes after Mrs. Holmquest jumped the truck and ladder company from No. 4 fire station arrived and rescued all of the other people imprisoned by the fire in the upper floors. They are: Mrs. Edward McNamara, wife of the police sergeant; Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Bushnell and Mr. and Mrs. Mellin.

Others than Mrs. Homlquest, who were injured in the blaze, were people on the first floor. The fire started from an unknown cause in a closet in the apartments of Mrs. Frank Alley, on the first floor, and when she opened the closet door it had gained such headway that already it was eating its way through the ceiling into the rooms above and it burst out of the closet upon her, singeing her hair and burning her hands.

A Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, who were visiting Mrs. Alley, were unable to reach a door before the flames cut them off. Mitchell's face was burned deep into the flesh. Mrs. Alley was unable to save anything from her apartments.

The rescue of Mrs. McNamara from a window above the floor from which Mrs. Holmquest leaped was a thrilling one. When she discovered the fire she rose from her bed, where she had lain for six weeks because of sickness, crept to a window, and seeing nothing below her but smoke and flame, climbed along the window ledge on the third floor to the window of hte adjoining apartment, No. 408. There she remained until Captain John Vaughn of the fire company put up a ladder, climbed it and carried her to safety.

WENT DOWN THE LADDER.

Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell and the Marlins, their guests, were also on the third floor. Smoke and flame coming up the stairs and enveloping the fire escapes compelled them to sit in their windows and await the arrival of the firemen. No. 4 truck company ran up three ladders and brought them all to safety.

When the work of rescue was finished the firemen turned their attention to the blaze and extinguished it after a hard battle. Two companies were called and assisted No. 4. The fire damage was confined to the three foors of the one apartment, although tenants of the apartments on either side suffered damage by water.

CAUSE OF FIRE UNKNOWN.

Last night no cause for the fire had been discovered. M. G. Harmon, agent for the property, said that the loss will probably amount to $4,000 or $5,000. The "court" runs from Broadway to Washington street on Eighteenth street on both sides and includes twenty-two houses, accommodating four families each on as many floors. Howard B. Waldron, mayor of Hisllsdale, Mich., bought the property five years ago for $200,000 and $80,000 insurance is carried.

Mrs. August Josephson, mother of the baby that was dropped three stories, returned soon after the fire and found her child at her sister's, Mrs. H. O. Axene, at 402 Landis court.

Mrs. Holmquest is 28 years old and came here from Providence, R. I. She has been married eight months and is the wife of Theodore Holmquest, a porter, employed at the Emery, Bird, Thayer Dry Goods Company. He was at work yesterday and she had left her home at 1638 Pennsylvania avenue to visit Mrs. Josephson and was caring for the baby, Velma, while Mrs. Josephson attended a funeral. Velma is eight months old.

Labels: Broadway, children, Eighteenth street, Fire, Landis court, Washington street, women, Wyandotte street

February 2, 1908

WELSH ORGANIZE A SOCIETY.

For Promotion of Welsh Music, Liter-

ature, and Art.

The Welsh society of the Greater Kansas City, which was organized yesterday, will hold a St. David's day celebration on Monday, March 2, in the Second Presbyterian church, Fifteenth street and Broadway. St. David's day falls upon March 1, but as that is Sunday this year, the celebration was postponed for one day. There will be speeches and singing in both the Welsh and English languages.

There are several thousand Welsh in Kansas City and there is an opportunity, the organizers believe, for a flourishing society here. The officers of the society are Owen J. Owen, President; Theodore S. Jones, secretary; and John Lloyd, treasurer. Those interested in Welsh music and the society are invited to meet in Professor Gwilym Thomas's studio at Eleventh and Oak streets Monday evening at 7:30 o'clock.

Labels: Broadway, churches, Eleventh street, Fifteenth street, Oak street, organizations

January 1, 1908

HE RAN COLISEUM

MANY YEARS AGO.

HENRY D. CLARK, THEATRICAL

MANAGER, IS DEAD.

Came Here a Penniless Song and

Dance Man With Eddie Foy,

and Made Half a Mil-

lion Dollars.

Henry D. Clark, famous as the creator of the old Coliseum which he conducted throughout Kansas City's frontier days, died last night at his residence, 3300 Broadway. He had been ill for three weeks and succumbed to acute gastritis and bronchial pneumonia following grip. The phenomenal will power of the man enabled him to rise from his bed against the advice of his physician and family as late as Sunday, when he shaved himself and went about as he wished.

Mr. Clark was one of the youngest soldiers in the civil war. He enlisted in the New York heavy artillery when only 13 years 6 months old, and served throughout the war. New York was his birthplace, but he went in childhood to Wisconsin. Starting in a theatrical career in Chicago after the war, he came to Kansas City to locate in 1877.

He was the most picturesque and amazingly progressive theater manager Kansas City ever had. He came here moneyless, "opened" in a cellar and amassed over a half million dollars. Then he retired. That was ten years ago, after he had discovered that the things he knew about running a frontier place of amusement did not suit the public when taken out of the original setting and sold to them at uptown prices in a regular theater.

But the most Kansas City ever knew of Clark was far back of his retirement. It was thirty years ago when he first appeared here. He was a young man then and had been doing a song and dance with Eddie Foy. His working partner called herself Zoe Clark. She was the more thrifty of the two and decided that Kansas City would be a good place to open a theater. Clark's father lived here then and drove a one-horse job wagon. The elder Clark was not up on theatricals, but he was willing to help his son get into business.

So the old gentleman rented a cellar in Fourth street for Henry and Zoe and bought them a keg of beer. Business was good in the cellar, and Clark built the Coliseum at the corner of Third and Walnut streets with the receipts. The only "legitimate" shows "making" Kansas City in those days played in a hall over the present site of Arnold's drug store at Fifth and Walnut streets.

The Coliseum was a money-making venture too, and Clark soon quit "doing a turn" himself. Zoe started a boarding house to take care of the actors and actresses who played the Coliseum. And then came to Kansas City the embryo of advanced vaudeville. The Coliseum attracted the best variety performers in the West and Eddie Foy. McIntyre and Heath, Murray and Mack and scores of others played long engagements there.

And the best of all these performers were then destined to be plunged into the legitimate sooner or later. Clark realized this and built the old Ninth street theater. It burned and he rebuilt it, but he could never make it a financial success and he leased the property and during the last ten years he called at the theater at 10 o'clock on the morning of the second day of each month, rain or shine, to get the rent. It was the only time he was ever seen about the place.

Surviving Mr. Clark are the widow and five children. They are: H. D. Clark, Jr., and Palmer Clark, druggist and dry goods merchant respectively at Genessee and Thirty-Ninth streets; Miss Hazel Clark, Willie Clark and Mrs. J. B. Shinn of Seattle, Wash.

Labels: Broadway, Chicago, Civil War, dancing, death, druggists, Fourth street, Genessee street, New York, theater, Thirty-ninth street

December 23, 1907

PURSESNATCHERS BUSY.

Rob Mrs. West on Broadway, Near

Fourteenth Street.

Purse snatchers were at work again Saturday night. Mrs. Anna West of 1020 Summit street was passing along Broadway near Fourteenth street not long after dusk when at the rear of a drug store two young men in dark overcoats sprang before her. The purse they snatched from her contained about $2.50 in change. She could give but Little description of the men beyond that they were young and both wore soft hats, one gray and one black.

Labels: Broadway, crime, Fourteenth street, Summit street

December 21, 1907

POLICY FINES ARE $100 EACH.

Only Two of the Defendants Appeared

in Court.

After continuing their cases for one week to see why they could not be tried in the state court, Judge Kyle yesterday tried the four men found with a policy wheel and other gambling paraphernalia in the room of the former Police Judge T. B. McAuley, at 903 Broadway, about noon on December 12.

Only two of the defendants, Charles Morton and John Bell, appeared in court. J. R. Heath, attorney for the policy men, entered appearance for John Findlay, son of Edward Findlay, formerly known as the "policy king," who, when arrested, gave the name of "Bill Wilson," and Randall Daniels, an aged expressman.

The four men were fined $100 each. Their cases were all appealed to the criminal court. Edward Findlay was a spectator at the trial, but had nothing to say. None of the defendants was put on the stand.

Labels: Broadway, gambling, Judge Kyle, police court

November 18, 1907

CORNERSTONE LAID.

Beginning of the Redemptorist Fathers'

Church, to Cost $150,000.

The ceremony of breaking ground for the new church of the Redemptorist Fathers, at Hunter avenue and Broadway, took place at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Father Ferreol Girardey presided. Work will begin this morning, and within a year and a half the Fathers hope to see the building completed.

The stone spire, 230 feet high, and the gothic architecture of the structure will be the features. The church will face on Broadway, a little south of the present group of buildings. The dimensions are 72 x 204 feet, and the estimated cost $150,000. Wilder & Wight are the architechts.

Labels: Broadway, churches, cornerstones, ministers

November 1, 1907

ONE NIGHT IN JAIL ENOUGH.

JUDGE KYLE EASY ON HALLOWEEN

OFFENDERS BEFORE HIM.

Thirteen Appeared in Police Court,but

the Pranks of Most of The Were

Harmless -- Fifteen Halloween

"Drunks" Were There, Too.

Thirteen of the defendants in police court this morning came before Judge Kyle with dark rings under their eyes -- and rings that weren't there as the result of drink. They were the Halloween "cutups" who hadn't been clever or lucky enough to evade the officers.

The names of Albert Brown, R. A. Staley, James Briody and James Brown were called, and the first four unlucky "kids" filed into the courtroom.

The patrolman who caught them testified that they were hauling a wagon along the car tracks near Independence avenue and Prospect for the fun of seeing motormen make emergency stops.

"You've been locked up all night?" asked the Judge.

"Yes, sir," said the oldest boy.

The judge looked at them thoughtfully

AND OF COURSE THEY WERE HUNGRY.

"And, sa-a-y, we're hungry, too," pleaded the boy.

"All right. You're dismissed."

Then came Louise Diggs, a 14-year-old negro girl, who had given in to temptation and gone "skylarking" in boy's clothes with "the rest of the bunch." She was dismissed for lack of evidence that she did any mischief.

Rube Medley, Floyd Turpin, Harry Becker, Guy Rupe and Roy Rupe were all the same size, and they looked like a corporal's guard on undress parade.

"They were trying to pull down a sign board, but it was too heavy for 'em," testified the patrolman.

"You've been locked up, too, I can see," said the judge as he noted the rings under the boys' eyes.

"Well, if you can't outrun the officers you'd better stay indoors after this. You didn't destroy any property, so you may go, too."

GREASING TRACKS THE CHARGE.

The next party of four was made up of J. A. Kennedy, "Jim" Benedict, "Ed" Kennedy and Grover Brink. The charge of greasing the tracks at Ninth street and Broadway wasn't sustained and they went away grinning.

And then came fifteen Halloween "drunks," most of them "plain," and no fine was more than $2.

Frank Belander and Walter Ayres were last on the docket. They pleaded guilty to a Halloween fight.

"It was in the middle of a car track, where there was plenty of room -- and we won't fight any more," said Belander.

"It's alright with me," said Ayres. "You see, judge, it wasn't our fault. A woman tempted--"

"All right," interrupted the judge. "It was only a Halloween fight, and you have an excuse that's stood the test of time. I'll fine you $1 each."

Then the judge dismissed court.

Labels: alcohol, Broadway, Judge Kyle, Ninth street, police court, pranks

October 10, 1907

ARE AGAINST SUNDAY CLOSING.

Seventh Day Adventists Say It Is Re-

ligion, Not Law.

K. C. Russell of Washington D. C., will deliver a lecture in New Casino hall, 1023 Broadway, tonight. He will speak under the auspices of the Seventh Day Adventists of Kansas City, and his address will be in defense of the Sunday theater. Mr. Russell is chairman of the International Religious Liberty bureau, and has made a careful study on which he is to talk.

D. U. Hale, chairman of the Missouri Religious Liberty bureau, is taking an active interest in opposition to the Sunday closing. In speaking of the matter of the Sunday closing movement last night he said that he believed the theaters should be closed not only Sunday, but every day of the week.

"But," he continued, "because that is my belief it is no sign that my friends and acquaintances must believe the same thing. It is a religious belief which I have no more right to enforce upon my neighbor than I have to force him to go to church when he does not feel so inclined.

"It is loudly proclaimed that the question of the enforced observance of Sunday is a law and not a matter of religious belief, and, being so, must be enforced whether good, bad or indifferent. Daniel of old was thrown into the den of lions because he broke the law of his land by worshiping God according to the dictates of his own conscience. Even Christ was a victim of the law. It was not claimed that He was a murderer or a thief, but that He ought to die according to the law of the land of His accusers. They influenced the civil authorities, as many are trying to do today, and nailed Christ to the cross simply because he had broken a law.

"The operating principal is the same in Kansas City today with regard to the Sunday law as it was in the days of old, and is a step that will be attended only with evil results if taken."

Labels: Broadway, churches

September 30, 1907

2 BALLOONS COLLIDE.

IMPACT COMES 500 FEET ABOVE

THE EARTH.

AERONAUTS' NARROW ESCAPE.

WIRES PREVENT POSSIBLE FA-

TAL FALL TO GROUND.

Exciting Terminus of a Race Through

the Air That Was Watched

by Hundreds of People

at Electric Park.

A collision of balloons 500 feet above solid ground was viewed by hundreds of people at Electric park last night, when the race between five balloons, which is the feature of the Corn Carnival, had only well begun. A stiff breeze was blowing out of the east, and the balloons were carried rapidly away from the park.

When the balloons reached a point nearly above Forty-third and Main streets, it was seen to be inevitable that two of them would collide. Fireworks were being set off in the air, and the people at the park could watch the course of the aeronauts clearly.

A scream of fear arose from the spectators when it was seen that a collision was almost inevitable. Just when it seemed the balloons would surely dash against one another, the two aeronauts cut their parachutes loose, and started to descend.

The parachute of Lee Planet, of one of the balloons, for some reason refused to work, and Planet fell rapidly. It seemed that he must be dashed to death, and the crowd of watchers turned away their eyes when he had disappeared from sight, believing him dead.

But luck was with Planet, and he lit upon a row of telephone wires, and from there dropped to the ground. His right hip was fractured, and he was rendered unconscious. Dr. Carl Bates, of No. 4 police station, treated him, and had him taken to his home. Planet is 24 years old, and is living at 1639 Broadway. Warren Redwine, the other aeronaut, escaped uninjured.

Labels: accident, balloons, Broadway, doctors, Electric park, fireworks, Forty-third street, Main street, No 4 police station

September 22, 1907

MEEK WHEN IN COURT.

Changed Attitude of a Bad Man From

Oklahoma.

"I am a bad man from Texas and Oklahoma. I don't really hanker to kill anyone, but I might stick this knife into somebody and just turn it around a few times. I feel like doing that just to keep up my 'rep.' "

Martin Garrett, the man who made the foregoing remark Friday night at Sixth and Broadway, and who was later arrested with an open knife in his hand, was as meek as a lamb when he was arraigned in court yesterday.

His remarks had been directed to William Williams, an inoffensive citizen, who was eating a sandwich while Dennis Guffey tried to act as a peacemaker. All were arrested. The "bad man from Texas and Oklahoma" was fined $15 and the others discharged.

Labels: Broadway, oklahoma, Sixth street, visitors

August 27, 1907

MAN NEARLY STRANGLED.

Silver Tube in Throat Became Dis-

placed During a Fight.

In a fight with a street car conductor near Fifth street and Broadway yesterday afternoon, a silver tube in the throat of Antonio Habto, through which he breathed, was pushed out of place, and only through prompt surgical attention the man was saved from asphyxiation. Rabto is a barber, 67 years old, and lives at 1307 West Ninth street. He boarded a westbound Fifth street car and tendered the conductor a transfer not good on that line. An argument followed. Rabto claims that the conductor then choked him, and that the tube in his throat was pushed inward and to one side, causing it to become clogged up in such a manner as to almost entirely cut off his breathing. A police ambulance was summoned, and Dr. J. Park Neal, an ambulance surgeon, administered treatment while tha man was being removed to the emergency hospital At the hospital the tube was properly replaced.

Labels: Broadway, doctors, emergency hospital, Fifth street, Ninth street, Seniors, streetcar, violence

August 9, 1907

POLICE OFFICER M'KEE DIES.

Bruises Received in Making Arrest

Indirectly the Cause.

M. C. McKee, a police officer, died yesterday of blood poisoning at Agnew hospital. He had been unconcsious for a week.

McKee received a broken nose and a severe bruise on the back of the head July 4 in a fall from a transfer wagon at the wharf at Second street and Broadway.

From his station at the Grand Central depot he was sent to stop a fight between teamsters. It was from the wagon of J. H. Hickman, a driver for the Empire Transfer Company, that he fell. His foot slipped from the wheel. Hickman is said to have jumped from the wagon and to have beaten and kicked the officer.

In police court the next morning McKee pleaded for leniency in behalf of the driver, saying he had a wife and family to support.

McKee after a two-day lay off went back to work, but collapsed after two weeks. For the last week he lay unconscious at his home, 653 Park avenue, and was removed
Wednesday to the hospital.

Coroner Thompson said last night that he will hold an inquest. Prosecutor Kimbrell will not file any information against Hickman until after the inquest. It is said that Hickman has left the city.

McKee had been on the force for four years.

Labels: Broadway, death, Park avenue, police, Prosecutor Kimbrell, Second street

August 7, 1907

AUTO HURTS TWO GIRLS.

Wrecked Popcorn Stand While Hurrying

With Guest to Wedding.

An automobile crashing into a popcorn wagon caused the serious injury of two little girls last night. The wrecked popcorn wagon fell on the children, cutting and bruising them.

Thomas J. Proue, a chauffeur for the Automobile Livery, 1113 Broadway, was driving to a wedding at Twenty-ninth street and Prospect avenue, Eastbound on Eighteenth street approaching Cherry, he met a sprinkling wagon. A little girl, while at play ran into the spray back of the wagon. The motor car slowed down, but when opposite the wagon the child darted back in its path. Proue swerved his machine south into Cherry street, but to save the child, the turn had to be too shortto avoid smashing the popcorn wagon.

John Carle, the wagon's owner, went down under the shattered glass of his little cage, and escaped without injury. But two little girls, Annie and Jenny Myerson, of 1723 Oak street, were not so fortunate. Annie, 8 years old, received a deep cut over the left eye and serious bruises. Jennie, two years older, was also seriously bruised.

Dr. G. A. Dagg, ambulance surgeon from No. 4 police station, attended them and sent them to their home. Proue, the chauffeur, waited at the scene of the accident till Officers Smith and Cook arrived with the ambulance, and then drove with the officers to the station. He was later released on $100 bond for his appearance in police court this morning.

The accident occurred at 8:15 o'clock, and many people were on the streets. When the popcorn and peanuts of the Italian vender were scattered over the ground there was a "help yourself" scramble, with several dozen participants. A. L. Morse, who was personal representative of Francis Murphy, the temperance worker, mounted a box and begged the crowd to stand back and treat the popcorn man as they would like to be treated. His address was received in good spirit, and the crowd helped Carle gather his wares together.

Labels: accident, automobiles, Broadway, Cherry street, children, Eighteenth street, No 4 police station, Oak street, Twenty-ninth street, wedding

August 6, 1907

WASN'T ROBBED AFTER ALL.

Mrs. Wright's Silverware Had Been

Merely Misplaced.

Mrs. C. D. Wright, of the Richelieu hotel, Twelfth street and Broadway, who reported to the police some weeks ago that she had been robbed of several hundred dollars worth of solid silverware, yesterday found that the valuables had been by mistake packed in a box with some sofa pillows. Her married sister, who is moving into a new house at 315 East Forty-second street, Highland park, found the goods while she was unpacking. Mrs. Wright helped her sister pack the goods, but is unable to account for how she chanced to put her silverware in the box with the pillows.

Labels: Broadway, Forty-second street, hotels, Twelfth street

July 9, 1907

FROM BROADWAY TO TROOST.

Ordinance to Pave Twelfth as a

Business Street.

A resolution was adopted by the upper house of the council last night to pave
Twelfth street, Broadway to Troost avenue, as a business street. If the document passes the lower house and is signed by the mayor, it will devolve upon the property owners to agree among themselves what material they will use. Failing in this agreement the board of public works will decide. If left to the board, Kettle River sandstone blocks will be in all probability chosen. The Metropolitan Street Railway company laid these blocks between its tracks on Twelfth from Grand avenue to Broadway. The experience has been to the credit of the new material for heavy traffic.

Labels: Broadway, Grand avenue, Kansas City council, Metropolitan Street Railway Company, Troost avenue, Twelfth street

July 8, 1907

A DRUG CLERK ARRESTED.

Clarence Moreland, Alias Davidson,

Wanted for Jail-Breaking.

Clarance Moreland, known here as Clarence Davidson, was arrested last night by Deputy County Marshals Morgan and Siegfried, on a warrant from Tazewell, Ill., charging him with escaping from jail there July 13, 1905, and at the same time liberating three other prisoners.

Moreland is a registered pharmacist and has been employed in local drug stores for nearly a year, having come to this city directly after his escape. He was arrested in a drug store where he was empoyed, near Fifth street and Broadway. He is said to have led an exemplary life during his residence in Kansas City.

Labels: Broadway, druggists, Fifth street, jail

February 8. 1907

STRUCK WITH A BEER GLASS.

Saloonkeeper Arrested

After Injury to a Traveling Man.

In a fight in the saloon of Charles Dittmar, Broadway and Southwest boulevard, yesterday afternoon, William E. Hines, a traveling salesman from New York, was so seriously cut that he had to be taken to the University hospital. Hines did not say what started the trouble, but said it was Dittmar who struck him. He was hit with a beer glass and received a deep cut two inches long on the left side of the face, a cut an inch long under his left eye and a number of small cuts and bruises about the head and face.

Dittmar was arrested and taken to No. 3 police station, a few blocks distant, where he was released on his personal recognizance.

Labels: Broadway, No 3 police station, salesmen, saloon, Southwest boulevard, University hospital