|
February 4, 1910 NEW VAUDEVILLE HOME.
Hippodrome Will Have Theater Large Enough for Traveling Shows. Extensive improvements will be made at the Hippodrome, beginning next Monday, and to be completed in ten days. The picture theater in the southwest corner of the building and the Vienna garden immediately south will be thrown into one theater, with a stage as large as any in the city, with possibly one or two exceptions. The theater will seat 1,200 people and will be the permanent home of traveling attractions, such as big vaudeville shows, Yiddish companies and theatrical attractions of all kinds. The marked success of the recent Yiddish productions was a demand for a regular theater in that part of the city, as Twelfth and Charlotte is in the center of a populous neighborhood and is ten blocks from the downtown theater district.
The Hippodrome theater will be ready within ten days.Labels: Charlotte street, hippodrome, Jews, theater, Twelfth street, vaudeville
January 23, 1910 A YIDDISH THEATER HERE.
First Playhouse of This Character to Be Opened Here Tonight. Kansas City's first Yiddish theater will be opened tonight in the Hippodrome annex, Twelfth and Charlotte streets. Manager Jacobs has fitted up a snug home for Yiddish drama here, the annex being cut off entirely from the Hippodrome proper by an outside entrance, though there is, of course, an entrance from the inside as well. M. B. Samuylow, who was seen here at the Shubert this season, will head a strong Yiddish company playing "Kol Nidre," a four-act opera with book by Charansky and music by Friedsel. Other Yiddish companies will be seen here from time to time and it is hoped to make the Hippodrome Annex theater the home of permanent Yiddish attractions, as there is a large clientele from which to draw.Labels: Charlotte street, hippodrome, Jews, music, theatre, Twelfth street
January 21, 1910 WHEN ELMAN WAS POOR.
Charles Grossman Was a Childhood Playmate of the Violinist.  CHARLES GROSSMAN. There is one person in Kansas City who is awaiting with unusual interest the coming of Mischa Elman, the violinist who will be heard here in concert for the first time at the Willis Wood next Friday afternoon. He is Charles Grossman of 3212 Charlotte street, a young sketch writer, who was a childhood playmate of Elman and shared his clothes and even meals with the infant prodigy, destined to be one of the world's greatest violinists. Elman's father was a man of brilliant education but desperately poor and lived next door to the Grossmans. The younger Grossman is eagerly awaiting the violinist's coming to exchange reminiscences with him. They have not met for a dozen years and in the meantime the 7-year-old concertist of the parting has become at 19 one of the wonderful players of all time.
"I am two years older than Elman," said Mr. Grossman yesterday. "I well recall the time when I first heard little Mischa play his father's violin at the age of 4 years. In my childish way I thought to have him punished and I told his father he was playing the instrument, which was about the only thing of value in the Elman home. The father was at first angry, but soon recognized the hitherto unsuspected skill of his son. He had no means to educate him, however, but my father gave him his first start by placing him under teachers in our home town of Tolnoe. Later he was sent to Schapola where a Jewish millionaire named Bodsky became interested in him and sent him to Odessa, where Professor Auer of the St. Petersburg conservatory took him up. the story of his phenomenal rise is history, but I know that he will be glad to see his playmate of the old days. He was the guest of my brothers in New York, one of whom is a rabbi and the other an attorney. I hope to have Elman as my guest next week.
"Incidentally I do not see why Elman should be called the Russian violinist. He is a Jew and though the czar himself has given him a medal and other honors Russia is the prosecutor of this race, and Elman himself was not allowed by law to live in St. Petersburg until he had secured the august permission of the czar."
Young Grossman himself bids fair to attain a high degree of success in his chosen profession and may yet be a dramatist who will shed luster on the Jewish race, as he is already the author of many successful plays.Labels: Charlotte street, immigrants, Jews, music, race, theater
December 6, 1909 LONG AND SHORT MEN BUSY.
Victims of Highwaymen Report to Police the Loss of More Than $300 on Sunday. J. S. Hubert, a member of the United Brewery Workers of America, living at 2518 Charlotte, was felled by a blow from behind and robbed of five $20 bills, ten $10 bills and five $5 bills at Twenty-first and Locust at 9:30 o'clock last night by two men, one of whom, he says was very tall and the other extremely short. He says he saw the same men in a saloon at Nineteenth street and Grand avenue Saturday night. Hubert immediately reported the case to police and he was taken to his home by Officer Sherry. Upon examination of his head no signs of where he had been slugged could be found.Labels: Charlotte street, Grand avenue, highway robbery, Locust street, Nineteenth street, police, saloon, Twenty-first street
November 20, 1909 NEGRO THEATER MANAGER LOOKED FOR NO PROTEST.
Louis Woods Says His Company In- vested $5,000 in Contracts for Rebuilding Synagogue. Louis Woods of 722 Charlotte street, owner of the Kansas City Son, a negro weekly paper, a negro who leased the Jewish Synagogue at Eleventh and Oak streets to open a theater for negroes, said last night that he was surprised at the opposition the proposed theater has received.
"For years I have been giving this matter much needed thought," he said. "I have seen white play houses in Kansas City prosper and added to every year. I noticed another thing -- that few negroes attend a white theater unless a negro troupe happened to be there. Then the first and second balconies are packed with negroes who pay nearly as much as those on the lower floor. It struck me that as all negro shows that come to Kansas City are liberally patronized by negroes, they might as do as well by a theater managed by a person of their own color.
"I talked with Sam Conkey, advance man for the Cole and Johnson show, with Bob Motts, proprietor of the Pekin, a negro theater in Chicago, and with Sir Green, supreme chancellor commander of the negro Knights of Pythias who just has completed a $100,000 negro theater in New Orleans. We combined on the project. It was our intention to have a chain of negro play houses over the country. We have been looking at a proposition in St. Louis.
"We had no idea that there would be any objection to our going by ourselves. White people usually want the negro to keep to himself, but just as soon as he attempts to do so, they object. We had no idea that we would meet the color objection with this theater.
"The theater was to be an investment. We examined the lease and found it without restrictions as to color. The building and the location were so well adapted to our needs that we put money into the business. We have let several contracts and have spent about $5,000.
"Had we known that our going there would have been offensive, it would have caused us to look for another location. So far as I am concerned I do not wish to raise any strife. I was born and reared in Missouri and expect to live and die here."
When it was known a negro theater was to be near them business men on East Eleventh street got up a petition remonstrating against the lease. It was signed by nearly every business firm near the theater.
A. P. Nichols, a real estate agent, has charge of the synagogue property for the owner who lives in Omaha. The principal objectors are D. O. Smart and the North-Mehornay Furniture Company. Mr. Smart has under erection a five-story building west of the proposed negro theater. There are many retail firms along East Eleventh street, members of all of which are opposing the lease to a negro theater.Labels: business, Charlotte street, Chicago, Eleventh street, New Orleans, newspapers, Oak street, Omaha, race, real estate, St Louis, theater
September 26, 1909 NEW ACTS AT HIPPODROME.
East Side Place of Amusement Opens for the Season. The Hippodrome, at Twelfth and Charlotte streets, opened for the season last night and nearly 5,000 persons attended, the roller skating rink and the dance hall, both remodeled and redecorated, drawing the most patronage. Last night's visitors saw a brand new Hippodrome. There was a greater floor space, better illumination and a bigger variety of attractions than ever before. The new ball room, which has been latticed and banked with satin roses and artificial shrubbery, aroused the admiration of the Hippodrome dancers.
Last night's visitors found plenty outside the dance hall and the skating rink to interest them. There was the Vienna garden, a new permanent feature, which seems destined to meet with favor. Free continuous vaudeville is offered in the Vienna village, which is laid with tanbark and inclosed by lattice work. Elston's dog and pony show was another new attraction that offered many novelties.
The Great La Salle, one of the most daring of roller skate experts, was the big arena attraction last night. La Salle makes a thrilling descent on a 60 per cent incline from the roof of the Hippodrome, and his exhibition belongs in the division of hair raisers.
Numerous concessions along the Hippodrome "Boardwalk" offer plenty of diversion. The place will open this afternoon at 2 o'clock and the performance will be continuous until midnight.Labels: amusement, Charlotte street, dancing, daredevils, hippodrome, skating, Twelfth street, vaudeville
September 26, 1909 FOR FREE TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS.
ROOMS PREPARED IN ASSOCIAT- ED CHARITIES BUILDING.
City Will Furnish a Nurse and Bacteriological Examination of Patients Is to Be Made Daily. Three rooms have been fitted up in the building of the Associated Charities, 1115 Charlotte street, as a free dispensary for scientific tuberculosis research and the treatment of persons afflicted with the disease. Daily consultations will be conducted at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, beginning with tomorrow by Dr. Charles B. Irwin, assisted by Dr. Logan Clendening. Mrs. Kate Pierson, George Damon and William Volker volunteer their services in the management of the department which will receive its support from the Provident Association.
Dr. Irwin said last night that all of the rules set out by the National Tuberculosis Society would be observed.
Bacteriological examinations will be made of the expectoration of patients, who will be instructed how to treat themselves and how to prevent or minimize the extent of infection to others.
CITY TO EMPLOY NURSE. Medicines will be dispensed and a trained nurse will visit the homes of patients to ascertain the sanitary conditions of their respective abodes.
This nurse will be employed and paid by the city, and Dr. W. S. Wheeler, sanitary superintendent, will furnish instruments and necessary appliances.
Those exhibiting early symptoms of the disease will be sent to the sanitarium at Mount Vernon, Mo., supported by the state, or to the one built on the old general hospital grounds by the Tuberculosis Society. There are accommodations at the latter place for twelve patients, and it is contemplated that later its management may be taken over by the city. Patients with whom the disease has reached an advanced stage will be sent to hospitals or probably treated at their own homes if the surroundings and conditions permit.
CARD OF WARNING. Cards bearing this warning will be distributed among afflicted suspects:
"If you are in a run down condition, languid and suffering from night sweats, you are in danger of contracting consumption readily. It will be greatly to your interest to consult the physicians at the dispensary. Everything is to be gained by early treatment."
The dispensary has issued a printed list of suggestions to consumptives indicating the kind of exercise they should take, the kind of clothing they are to wear and what they are to eat. Eggs and milk are recommended in cases of fickle appetite and these will be supplied by the Tuberculosis Society if the afflicted one is too poor to provide them.Labels: Associated Charities, Charlotte street, doctors, food, health, hospitals
September 3, 1909 UP FIRE ESCAPE SIX STORIES.
Patrolman, Weighing 275, Rescues Girl Locked in Factory. Patrolman Herman Hartman, who weighs 275 pounds, climbed the fire escape of the Cluett-Peabody Shirt Company at Eighth street and Broadway and rescued Lucy Henkensmeier, 15 years old, from the sixth floor where she had accidentally been locked in at closing time.
Lucy called up police headquarters over the telephone and between sobs said taht it looked like she would have to stay there all night unless help was sent at once. She had been in and adjoining room, she said, and the floor manager concluded that all had left when he locked the door. Ivan Knuedsen, a patrolman, accompanied Hartman to the scene.
In hopes of picking the lock of the building, Hartman was equipped with burglar outfits found in the station. A "jimmy" was of no avail, he found, and no skeleton kep would work. A charge of nitroglycerine was the only alternative, the two "cops" concluded. Just then a girl's sob drifted down from an open window.
"I can't stand that," said Hartman. "I'm going in the building."
Five feet above was the fire escape, just high enough to be hard to ascend from the ground. With a cat-like spring and a twist of the body, the fat policeman managed to get on the first rung and then the ascent was easy. He soon disappeared in the building and reappeared a moment later. He helped the girl down the ladder and she jumped in safety to Knuedsen's arms at the bottom.
Hartman perspired freely when he reached the ground.
"I guess that will take the fat off me about as good as drilling in Convention hall," he said.
The girl, who lives at 1811 Charlotte street, was hardly able to talk when she reached the ground.
"I was afraid to try the fire escape," she said.Labels: Broadway, Charlotte street, children, Eighth street, police, police headquarters
August 24, 1909 WITH 5,000 NEGRO DELEGATES.
SUPREME LODGE WILL OPEN THIS MORNING.
Every State in Union Wil Be Rep- resented on Roll Call -- Recep- tion at Second Bap- tist Church. With a delegation of 5,000 negro men and women from every state in the Union, the supreme lodge of negro Knights of Pythias opens this morning in Ivanhoe hall, Nineteenth street and Tracy avenue, and continues until Friday night. It is the largest gathering of its kind ever held in Kansas City. Among the delegates are doctors, lawyers, bankers, merchants, clerks, porters, barbers, teachers, editors, farmers and every other profession, trade and business followed by negroes.
A reception was held last night at the Second Baptist church, Tenth and Charlotte streets. Grand Chancellor A. W. Lloyd of St. Louis presided and music was furnished by the choir of the Second Baptist church.
Nelson C. Crews, chairman of the local committee, made an address of welcome.
A solo by Miss Ennis Collins followed.
Welcome to the state was extended by Professor W. W. Yates, who represented Governor Hadley. His address was short and cordial. A selection by the Calanthian choir then followed.
S. W. Green of New Orleans, supreme chancellor, responded to this address.
S. C. Woodson represented Mayor Crittenden in an address of welcome.
There was a solo by Wiliam J. Tompkins and a selection by the choir, "The Heavens Are Telling." Other addresses were made by Prof. J. R. Jefferson of West Virginia; Dr. J. E. Perry, E. D. Green, of Chicago; Dr. W. P. Curtiss, St. Louis; Dr. J. A. Ward, Indianapolis; Mrs. Janie C. Combs and A. J. Hazelwood.
The Supreme Court of Calanthe will be presided over by John W. Strauther of Greenville, Miss. The session will be held at the Hodcarrier's hall. In this meeting every phase of the negro's home life will be discussed. Strauther is one of the most noted men of his race in the country.
At 2 o'clock this afternoon a band concert will be given at Cap Carrouthers by the Bixton, Ia., band, and dress parade at 5:30 p. m. by the entire uniform ranks.
Rev. B. Hillman of Terra Haute, Ind., made the opening prayer last night.Labels: Charlotte street, churches, conventions, Herbert Hadley, lodges, Mayor Crittenden, ministers, music, New Orleans, Nineteenth street, parades, race, St Louis, Tenth street, Tracy avenue, visitors
July 20, 1909 DON'T TRY TO RUB OFF BLACK.
"Stick to Race Type," Major Wright Tells Negroes. "Let us stick to our race type; don't try to rub off the black," was the injunction of Major R. R. Wright of Savannah, Ga., to a congregation at the African Second Baptist church, Tenth and Charlotte streets, last night. Major Wright was one of the two negro army officers of his rank in the Spanish-American war. He is president of the Georgia State Industrial college for negroes, and a member of hte Amerian Historical Association.
"The negro as a race is as great as any that ever peopled the earth," continued Major Wright. "If you are ashamed of your color read history.
"At the time of the Gallic invasion hundreds of thousands of Romans went to Africa and there tried to found a new nation. Africa through its mighty chiefs repelled the invaders, and drove them back to Italy.
"When Columbus discovered America there were fifteen large negro kingdoms in Africa. One of them on the west coast was three times larger than Mexico. The king of this great monarchy was one of a dynasty 1,100 years old. Think of this line of kings and then of that which is represented by King Edward of England and then of America little more than a tenth as old. Such powerful kingdoms are not founded on sand."Labels: Charlotte street, churches, race, Spanish-American War, Tenth street, veterans, visitors
July 15, 1909 NOISE OF THE KIDS DROWNS SET SPEECHES.
FIRST PUBLIC PLAYGROUND IS OFFICIALLY OPENED.
Crowd of 500 Youngsters Rollic So Enthusiastically That Associa- tion Directors Abandon Pro- gramme of Ceremonies. Thronged with children of all ages and color, the small plot of ground at the northwest corner of Charlotte street and Independence avenue was last night officially opened by the directors of the Playgrounds Association as the first public playgrounds in Kansas City. It was planned to have several short addresses by the directors, but the enthusiasm of the youngsters was such that no attention was given to the speakers, who were relieved of their embarrassment by the band.
Long before the hour announced for the opening the children of the neighborhood had arrived, and were busy with the swings, sliding boards and "teeters," Misses Agnes O'Brien and Elsa Katzmaier, the instructors, were assisted by their supervisor, Mrs. Viola Dale McMurray, in the opening. The instructors will be on duty all day, and will teach the children, according to their ages, games.
GREAT CROWD CAUSED CONFUSION. Confusion reigned supreme last night, and the real intent of the playgrounds could not be shown on account of the enormous crowd. Mothers accompanied the tiny tots, while older sisters and brothers came "just to see," but were as interested as the younger children. Every little while some child would set up a wail and to the kind hearted young instructors would tell about an older one teasing them. Two or three large boys were put off the grounds because they would not behave.
All nationalities were represented among the children and Italians mingled with the negroes as did the Irish and Hebrews.
THURSDAY FOR NEGROES. After today the negro children will be allowed there only on Thursday, when the white boys and girls will be barred. Besides the baby game which the instructors will teach, baseball basketball and other amusements will be provided at different hours of the day for the larger youngsters.
Small tables and chairs have been provided for the very little ones who will be closely watched while in the play grounds. All movable apparatus is to be locked up at night. A shelter house extending across one side of the grounds can be used on rainy days. The children will be urged to play in the yard, however, as much as possible.
Between 400 and 500 children were on the grounds at one time early in the evening. When the instructors left the grounds after 9 o'clock, some 200 little ones, who were loathe to leave, remained.
The play ground is in the heart of the thickly populated foreign and negro settlements.Labels: Charlotte street, children, immigrants, Independence avenue, music, organizations, race
July 8, 1909 TO OPEN FIRST MODEL PLAY GROUND TUESDAY.
Band Music and Flag Raising Pro- gramme for North End Model Recreation Park. There will be many smiling little faces in the North End next Tuesday. This will be the opening of the city's first model playground at Independence avenue and Charlotte street. In the morning there will be a flag raising in which the children will participate. In the evening a band will be on hand to make music for the occasion.
The grounds are situated on a lot 85 x 100 feet. On it is a pretty shelter house, 20 x 75 feet, where children may play out of the sun and where mothers of the neighborhood may rest in the evenings. The place may also be used for neighborhood meetings.
There will be eight shower baths with hot and cold water, an indoor baseball and basket ball court, sand pits where the children may jump, and sand piles where the little ones may play and make tunnels. There will also be teeter-totters, a merry-go-round, a giant slide, hickory turning poles and rings. In all there will be twelve pieces of the most modern outdoor playground apparatus. All of this was made possible by money furnished by the Kansas City Playgrounds Association. The K. C. A. C. will furnish a male director and the Kansas City Women's Athletics club will furnish a young woman to look after the instruction of the girls on the playgrounds.Labels: amusement, Charlotte street, children, Independence avenue, Kansas City Athletic Club, music, North end, organizations
May 8, 1909 ATTEMPTED HOLD UP MAY END IN MURDER.
VICTIM DOES NOT OBEY ORDERS AND ROBBER SHOOTS.
Charles Zondler, Saloonkeeper, Seri- ously Injured by Outlaw, Who Is Captured by Police- man After Chase. "I want your money. Hold up your hands."
Charles Zondler, alone in his saloon at Eighteenth and Cherry streets last night at 10 o'clock, looked up into the muzzle of a 38-calibre revolver. He reached for his own gun beneath the bar and the stick-up man shot him twice in the face. The assassin fled from the saloon and darted south through an alley. Zondler fired twice, but missed.
Jerry O'Connell, patrolman on the beat, heard the shots when he was at Nineteenth and Charlotte streets, and caught a glimpse of the flying figure. He cut across lots and headed the man off in the alley. Putting his left hand over the robber's revolver he jammed his own gun close to the fellow's car and brought him to a stop. Then, with the assistance of Patrolman George Brooks, O'Connell marched his prisoner to the Walnut street station.
Zondler, who is an elderly man and has owned the saloon but a few months, was taken to the general hospital in the ambulance from the station. Examination showed that one of the bullets had entered his mouth and passed out through the right cheek. The other bullet entered the left side of the neck and passed out through the right side. He is in a precarious condition.
Lieutenant Michael Halligan put the prisoner through a searching examination at the station. He gave the name of Henry Horton, but a card case had the name of H. S. Seward upon it, and he acknowledged that he sometimes went by that name. Horton admitted to Lieutenant Halligan that he had been arrested in this city before for petty crimes, but said that this was his first attempt at the stick-up game. He had only recently arrived in town, he said, and needed money. A dime and a stamped postcard were in his pockets. Horton asked permission to send the postcard to his mother. He addressed it, "Mrs. W. H. Strain, 3001 Cisna avenue, Kansas City, Kas." On the card he wrote:
"I guess I am gone for good. Come over and see me, Scott."
Horton said that his mother's name was different from his own because she had married twice. He said that he lived at the Kansas City, Kas., address when at home, but had only recently come from Omaha. He made no attempt to deny the act.
Jerry O'Connell, who made the arrest in sensational fashion, is known as the best sprinter in the precinct, if not on the force. He was complimented by Lieutenant Halligan on his capture.
Zondler lives with his family at 3220 East Twenty-third street.Labels: Charlotte street, Cherry street, crime, domestic violence, Eighteenth street, guns, Kansas City Kas, Nineteenth street, police, saloon, Twenty-third street
April 8, 1909 EX-JAILER DECLINES TO TALK.
Refuses to Say Whether Prisoners Taken Out Nights by Brannon. J. L. Chestnut, night jailer at the county jail, was removed from his position yesterday morning, according to Joel Mayes, county marshal, because of his frequent complaints about his hours of work -- from 4 p. m. to midnight.
"I was constantly hearing complaints in regard to Chestnut," said Mr. Mayes over the telephone late last night. He did not like his hours, and thought himself too big for the place. When the matter was brought to my notice again this morning I let him go."
At his home, 2822 Charlotte street, last night, Mr. Chestnut had little to say.
"I notified Mayes two months ago that I did not like my hours," he said, "and when I found there was to be no change, I quit."
"Do you know of any talk about Bert Brannon, the deputy marshal who was discharged today, having taken prisoners out of the jail at night?" he was asked.
"I don't care to talk about that," was his abrupt reply. "I have nothing to do with Brannon or any of his gang."
"Were any prisoners ever taken out at night while you were there?"
"I told you I would not say anything about that now."
"Did you have trouble with Brannon and then turn in your resignation to Mayes some days ago?"
"I have said all I am going to."
When Marshal Mayes was asked if he know of any prisoners being taken out of the county jail at night, given their freedom for a time, and then returned, he said: "I did hear a rumor to that effect, but could not confirm it. Chestnut's dismissal and the discharge of Brannon are two entirely different matters, and not related to one another in the least. As soon as I heard that Brannon was locked up in the holdover with a charge pending against him I went and got his commission."Labels: Charlotte street, corruption, County Marshal Mayes, employment, jail
February 5, 1909 DIVORCED TEN YEARS, DECIDED TO REMARRY.
S. D. Hollis and Wife Couldn't Bear To Be Apart, So the Second Wed- ding Takes Place At Daugh- ter's Home. Ten years ago S. D. Hollis and his wife Mary, both of this city, quarreled and there was a legal separation. In the divorce court they had complained bitterly of each other, and when the hour of final parting came they declared with one accord that their marriage was a mistake, although they had lived together thirty years and reared ten children. It was a dry-eyed farewell. Hollis, glad of his freedom, went to Oklahoma, leaving Mrs. Hollis with her daughter, Mrs. Maude O'Flaherty, at 1606 Charlotte street.
Last night there was another chapter to the story in the Hollis household when at the house on Charlotte street a minister remarried the couple after they declared they were willing to remain together for the rest of their lives. Yesterday morning Mr. Hollis, who is now a night clerk at the Model hotel of El Reno, Ok., dropped in to the O'Flaherty home unexpectedly and asked for a reunion. And then it developed that he had come at the instigation of Mrs. Hollis, who had written him a letter from Omaha telling him she was lonely. The children as well as the parents were very happy last night.
"I admit that I was foolish and it all happened because of my ungovernable temper," said Mr. Hollis in explaining how it came about.
"We quarreled about a member of our family ten years ago. My wife took one course and I took another. We ended the argument in the divorce court.
"Three years ago I tried to take her back and she agreed, but we finally decided not to marry again. Last December I called here with the intention of bringing Mrs. Hollis back to Oklahoma as my wife. She had gone to Omaha, so after waiting six weeks I went home without her. This time I knew nothing could keep us apart, for we have both grown old and need each other's society."Labels: Charlotte street, Divorce, oklahoma, Omaha, reunions, wedding
January 27, 1909
RAN OFF WITH A CHINAMAN?
Mrs. Charles Wilson of Kansas City Arrested in Chicago. CHICAGO, Jan. 26. -- (Special.) A well dressed young woman who says she is Mrs. Charles Wilson of Kansas City, was arrested at Clark and Harrison streets this afternoon by Detective Russell of the Harrison street station while in the company of G. H. Wing, a Chinaman.
When questioned at the station Wing, who has been employed by Louis Sing, another Chinaman, who has a store on Clark street between Harrison and Van Buren streets, declared that Mrs. Wilson was his wife.
Mrs. Wilson at first corroborated the Chinaman's story, but upon being questioned closely, broke down and admitted, the police declare, that she deserted her husband in Kansas City and came to Chicago with the Chinaman, bringing her 3-year-old daughter with them.
Gaw Wing and Mrs. Wilson, who are being held in Chicago by the police, are well known to the Kansas City police. Wing, a laundryman, has been living with Mrs. Wilson for more than a year, the police claim, on the second floor of a flat at Eighth and Charlotte streets. The woman's lawful husband is not known here. Two months ago Wing entered police headquarters one night carrying Mrs. Wilson's baby, which is 2 years old. He was crying and exhibited a picture of the baby's mother. "Poor baby's m other run off, leave baby and Gaw Wing alone," he kept repeating. Wing informed the officers that Mrs. Wilson was hiding in a rooming house at 127 West Sixth street. John McCall and Ben Goode, plain clothes patrolmen, arrested the woman, but Wing refused to prosecute her, and she returned to him. Henry Sing and his American wife introduced the Wilson woman to Gaw Wing. Sing is now in Hot Springs, Ark., for his health, and has his wife and 14-year-old boy with him. Labels: Charlotte street, Chicago, Eighth street, immigrants, Sixth street
December 20, 1908 ALL ATTRACTIONS OPEN.
Everything Now in Fine Running Order at the Hippodrome. Every attraction at the Hippodrome, Twelfth and Charlotte streets, was thrown open to the public last night for the first time since the accident nearly a month ago, when a portion of the roof fell in while workmen were engaged in remodeling the building. At the time of the accident, Kansas City's winter park, as the Hippodrome has sometimes been called, had been running only about one week and its patrons were just beginning to appreciate the attractions offered. The opening last night, when hundreds of people crowded the large building, was but an evidence of what the public think of the entertainment offered.
The Hippodrome offers to Kansas City amusement seekers just about every form of entertainment usually found at the summer parks and has the advantage of having all the various forms under roof and in a building well heated and ventilated. The wild animal show, one of the attractions which has been open from the very first, continues to be one of the principal drawing cards and divides favors with the vaudeville performances and skating rink. The Ferris wheel, crazy house, Japanese balls, shooting gallery and dance hall are also well patronized.
That portion of the roof which was damaged by accident has been repaired in a most substantial manner and has been pronounced perfectly safe by the building inspectors and fire department. The Hippodrome will be open for business every day and night.Labels: amusement, animals, Charlotte street, hippodrome, Twelfth street
November 25, 1907 DINNER FOR POOR CHILDREN.
Unknown Ex-Kansas Cityan Will Feed 1,000 in Convention Hall. Someone -- no one is supposed to know who -- will furnish a free Thanksgiving dinner to 1,000 poor children in Convention Hall, which will also be used gratis. It is enough to say that the donor used to be a Kansas Cityan, and for that matter, is yet in spirit. He has been an exile to New York for some years and has relatives here.
He writes:
"I would like to give a Thanksgiving dinner in Kansas City to 1,000 poor children. My idea is for this to be done under the auspices of the United Hebrew charities and Gentile charities of Kansas City and Kansas City, Kas. I do not want anyone to know who is giving the dinner as I do not desire any publicity. See if you can arrange this and wire me.
In compliance with the wishes of the unknown giver, tickets to the dinner will be in charge of the Associated Charities at 1103 Charlotte street, and the United Hebrew Charities at 1702 Locust street. Poor children may have tickets by calling at either of these places. The dinner will be served between 1 and 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.Labels: charity, Charlotte street, Convention Hall, food, holidays, Locust street, thanksgiving
November 24, 1908 ROOF OF HIPPODROME FELL.
Accident Was Due to Workmen's Lack of Foresight. Owing to the carelessness of workmen on the building a portion of the roof of the Hippodrome, Twelfth and Charlotte streets, fell at 3 o'clock yesterday morning. The accident was due to the moving of two of the supports to the main beams upholding the roof. The work was being done to make room for an aerial act which is to be put on, and the two supports were moved at practically at the same time, thus leaving the heavy beams without support. The walls of the old street car barn, where the Hippodrome is located, are of unusual thickness, and were not damaged to any extent. The floor likewise was built to stay and, although the mass of timbers crashed down on the skating rink, this portion was not damaged. No one was injured. It was stated yesterday that the building would be repaired in two days, and would be opened for the Thanksgiving crowds. The loss is estimated at about $200 and is covered by insurance. Owing to the way the building was originally constructed, no other portion was damaged in the slightest.
The building inspector inspected the building yesterday and pronounced it absolutely safe.Labels: architects, Armourdale, Charlotte street, skating, thanksgiving, theater, Twelfth street
November 21, 1908 BOLD TELEPHONE THIEVES.
Latest Plan Is to Walk in and Carry Out the Pay Box. Telephone thieves are growing bolder. It used to be the custom to enter a store after it had closed and steal the pay telephone. Now they walk in, and while one engages the attention of the clerk, cut the telphone off and walk out.
The latter game was worked by three men on Charles W. Pool, a druggist at Fifteenth and Charlotte streets, Thursday night, and later by two men on L. W. Clare, druggist, 422 East Fifteenth street. From the descriptions given by the druggists, it appears the same men figured in both robberies. The police believe that the telephone thieves loaf around a saloon at Fifteenth street and Grand avenue.Labels: Charlotte street, crime, druggists, Fifteenth street, Grand avenue, saloon, telephone
September 7, 1908 NOW ITS A HIPPODROME.
New Amusement Planned for Twelfth and Charlotte. Within a few weeks Kansas City will be in possession of a real hippodrome. Already the spacious car barns of the Metropolitan company, at Twelfth and Charlotte streets, have been leased for the purpose, and from now until the building will have been transformed into a wonderland of beauty hundreds of workmen will be employed.
The Hippodrome Amusement Company, with T. J. Cannon at its head, is responsible for this innovation in Kansas City's amusements. Mr. Cannon for several years was connected with the New York hippodrome and Luna park at Coney Island.
Having a floor space of 96,000 feet, the old car barns afford ample room for the project. The roof will be torn off and raised eight feet, making it sufficiently high for the performance of aerial acts. The gallery will have a seating capacity of 7,200, and the whole interior of the hall will be brilliantly lighted with arc and incandescent lights.
The interior of the building will be arranged so as to resemble a mammoth midway, most of the concessions having their entrances and exits from it. It is the intention to bring one of the largest herds of trained elephants in the country here, all of which will be seen in Elephant Path, and can be ridden for a small consideration.
Among the numerous amusement devices will be an aquarium, zoo, and animal sh ow, the latter two being received from the best specimens in the Bostock animal shows. There will be the famous razzle dazzle from Luna park, Coney Island, the second of its kind to be erected in this country, while one end of the building will be devoted to the gondola, an amusement device said to be the thriller of them all.
In conjunction with the concessions there will be two free exhibitions of some sort each week, and it is said to be the intention to spare no expense to procure the very best obtainable. These acts will include the famous automobile thrillers of circuses now on the road, high wire acts, dare devil bicycle acts and others.Labels: amusement, bicycles, Charlotte street, hippodrome, Metropolitan Street Railway Company, New York, Twelfth street
August 16, 1908 BUT SHE REALLY WAS SICK.
Owner of a Hotel Said His Manager Was Shamming. A hotel proprietor at 1205 Charlotte street appeared in police court yesterday to prosecute Mrs. Hattie Daschner, his manager, alleging that she disturbed his peace. Witnesses said that the woman was too ill to appear. the proprietor insisted that she was not, that she was hale an hearty and only shamming.
Justice Theodore Remley, sitting for Harry J. Kyle, police judge, issued a bench warrant for Mrs. Daschner and ordered the police to have her in court at 1 o'clock. In the meantime she was to be released on a $200 cash bond.
At the appointed hour the police returned empty handed. But they had made an investigation, they said. "That poor old woman is 70 years old," one said, "and she is certainly down sick in bed. We could not take her from there."
Justice Remley advised the proprietor to see if the matter could not be adjusted out of court.Labels: Charlotte street, hotels, illness, Judge Remley, police court, Seniors
July 4, 1908
FOURTH BEGAN MORE NOISY THAN EVER.
BEFORE MIDNIGHT, EVEN, THE NOISE WAS UNBEARABLE.
No "Quiet Zone" Around Hospitals or Anything Else -- Giant Crackers and Torpedoes on the Car Tracks. "The racket and noise made by the Fourth of July eve celebrations is something awful, and we are going to call up the police to see if it can't be stopped," said one of the sisters at St. Joseph's hospital at 11 o'clock last night. "There has been loud and disturbing noises all the evening and just now one fanfare was finished up that was incessant for fifteen minutes. It is awfully trying on the patients."
"The annoyance from the discharge of nerve wrecking contrivances is becoming unbearable and our patients are complaining," was the report from Agnew hospital.
"Men and boys have been putting torpedoes on the tracks of the Holmes street car line all night long, and the whole neighborhood seems to be well supplied with dynamite fire crackers," reported the general hospital.
"We have one patient who has become hysterical from the din that is being created in the vicinity of the hospital building. Men and boys are putting something on the car tracks that, when it explodes, shakes the windows," was the report from the South Side hospital.
"The noise is awful and there seems to be no end to it. We wish the police would get around here and put a stop to it," was the complaint from University hospital.
Other hospitals reported like disturbing conditions, and the quiet zones which the police promised were not within the limits of Kansas City last night. Soon after sunset the booming of big and little fire crackers, the placing of the nerve-wrecking torpedoes on street car tracks were of common occurrence and there was not a section of the city that was free from the din and disturbance of the noise creators. Down town streets which in past years were as quiet on the eve of the national holiday as a Sunday, were particularly in a state of turmoil and deafening noises, and no apparent effort was made on part of the police to put a stop to it. From the river front to the limits south, east and west, the roar of all descriptions of fireworks was continuous, and in the residence districts sleep was out of the question.
Chief of Police Daniel Ahern had made promises that there was to be a sane 3rd and Fourth of July, and he issued orders to his command to arrest all persons that discharged or set off firecrackers, torpedoes or anything of the like within the vicinity of hospitals or interfered with the peace and quiet of any neighborhood. How well Chief Ahern's subordinates paid attention to instructions can be inferred by reports from the hospitals and the experiences of citizens all over the city.
The first to make history by celebrating too soon was Joseph Randazzo, and Italian boy 17 years old. He had reached a revolver with a barrel eighteen inches long. At Fifth street and Grand avenue Randazzo was having a good time chasing barefoot boys and shooting blank cartridges at their feet. After he had terrorized a whole neighborhood William Emmett, a probation officer, took him in tow and had him locked up. That was at 9:45 p. m. When he had a taste of the city bastile he was released on his promise to be good. But he has yet to appear before Judge Harry G. Kyle in police court.
Nearly an hour after this the police of No. 6 were called upon to get busy. A negro named L. W. Fitzpatrick, who lives near Fourteenth and Highland, moved his base of operations from near home and began to bombard Fifteenth and Montgall and vicinity with cannon crackers varying in length from twelve to eighteen inches. Just as he had set off one which caused a miniature earthquake he was swooped down upon by the police and he did not get home until $10 was left as a guarantee that he would appear in court and explain himself.
Probably the greatest surprise came to Otto Smith and Edward Meyers, 14 years old. Armed with 25-cent cap pistols they were having a jolly time near Nineteenth and Vine when a rude and heartless policeman took them to No. 6 station.
They were "armed," and it was against the law to go armed. On account of the extreme youth of the lads they were lectured and let go home.
Mrs. Mary Murphy, 65 years old, who lives at 2025 Charlotte street, was standing on the corner of Twenty-first and Charlotte streets last night when a groceryman who conducts a store on the corner offered her a large cannon cracker to fire off. Thinking it was a Roman candle, the old lady lighted the cracker and held it in her hand.
She was taken to the general hospital, where it was found that her hand had been badly burned. The hand was dressed and she was taken to her home.Labels: Charlotte street, children, Fifteenth street, fireworks, Fourteenth street, Grand avenue, Highland avenue, holidays, Holmes street, hospitals, No 6 police station, Police Chief Ahern, Vine street
June 28, 1908 NEGROES FEAR 'JIM CROW' LAW.
They're Going to Prepare to Fight Any Such Proposal. To prepare for the protection of the negroes' civil rights in Missouri the Negro Constitutional League has issued a general call to all the negroes in Kansas City to meet in the Allen chapel, Tenth and Charlotte streets, Monday evening. The call says that the activity in Kansas City of certain enemies to the negro race has been so great that the next session of the legislature will have to consider bills proposing Jim Crow laws, and the disfranchisement of the negroes.
The meeting will be for the purpose of selecting the strongest men locally to work for the defeat of such laws, and to arrange for the reception of the state league, which meets here July 9 and 10.Labels: Charlotte street, organizations, race, Tenth street
June 5, 1908 NEGRO BANKER-PREACHER IS HERE.
W. L. Taylor Will Speak at First Baptist Church Tonight. W. L. Taylor, negro, known as the "banker preacher," will speak at the First Baptist church, colored, at Tenth and Charlotte streets tonight. Mr. Taylor is the president of the Savings Bank of Grand Fountain at Richmond, Va., the largest and oldest negro bank in the United States. The institution has something like $18,000,000 on deposit. While in the city Mr. Taylor is the guest of Rev. S. W. Bacote, pastor of the church at which Mr. Taylor will speak tonight.Labels: banking, Charlotte street, churches, ministers, race, Tenth street
May 9, 1908 TWO BARRELS WERE ENOUGH.
Negro Stole Load of Whisky, but Left Part of It. Jordan Coleman, a one-legged negro teamster for the Empire Transfer Company, stumped hurriedly into police headquarters about 4 p. m. yesterday and excitedly informed Captain Whitsett that somebody had stolen a wagon load of whisky from him.
"I left my wagon load with seventy cases and three barrels of whisky in the alley between Main and Delaware, Third and Fourth streets," he said. "I wasn't gone but a few minutes when I came back and the team, whisky and all had disappeared. A man said he saw another negro driving the load east on Third street."
About 6 p. m. Coleman's wagon was found standing at Independence avenue and Charlotte street. Two barrels of whisky were missing from the load. The police are looking for the "booze" and also the thief.Labels: alcohol, Captain Whitsett, Charlotte street, Delaware street, Fourth street, Independence avenue, Main street, police headquarters, teamster, Third street
March 15, 1908 CAR CRUSHED OFF CHILD'S ARM.
Three-Year-Old Was Wandering in the Streets Alone. Louis Wagner, 3 years old, 562 Charlotte street, fell under an eastbound Northeast car at Independence avenue and Charlotte street about noon yesterday and suffered the loss of his right arm near the elbow. The child was taken to emergency hospital.
Motorman J. J. Howe and Conductor John Gordon were arrested by Patrolman Lorraine Mastin and taken to police headquarters. Captain Whitsett booked them for investigation, but the men were later released to appear before the prosecutor when wanted.
Witnesses said that the little 3-year-old was running across the street with the unsteady step of a toddler. As he gained the center of the tracks he looked back. Just at that moment the car came. The child fell under the front trucks.
The mother of the injured boy said that he left home in search of his brother, Ezra, 7 years old. She said that her children often went out alone. The father of the boy, Joseph Wagner, is an itinerant locksmith.Labels: accident, Charlotte street, children, emergency hospital, Independence avenue, streetcar
February 26, 1908 ADMITS HE KISSED THE WIDOW.
Any Other Married Man Would Have Done the Same, Says Murphy. "Everyone knows that I, or any other married man, would kiss a grass widow if he had a chance, and I do not deny that I did. In fact, I do not deny anything that my wife might say in her petition for divorce, nor do I care to confirm it," said Albert Murphy, owner of the Monarch hotel, at Twelfth and Charlotte streets, yesterday, as he leaned over the desk in his hotel. His wife filed suit for divorce, charging that he kissed a grass widow at the hotel.
"When I became of age people knew from then on that I would kiss a grass widow. What married man wouldn't? I defy any man in the city to name one that would not. My wife has sued me for divorce, and I would not walk to the door to prevent it. I do not care whether she gets a divorce or not. I never even called up an attorney about the matter.
"I do not care what she charges against me. I will not say anything more about the affair. My friends knew all about this affair long ago, and I do not care what other people hear about it. But I do want to say that I will never deny kissing grass widows."Labels: Charlotte street, Divorce, hotels, romance, Twelfth street
February 25, 1908
DID HE KISS A GRASS WIDOW?
Mrs. Murphy Says He Did, and She Is Asking for a Divorce. On the charge that her husband, Albert E Murphy of the Monarch hotel, had kissed a grass widow at the hotel, Mrs. Murphy sued yesterday for a divorce. Albert Murphy owns the Monarch hotel, at Twelfth and Charlotte streets, and the wife secured a temporary order from Judge Seehorn of the circuit court which forbids Murphy's disposing of the property until the divorce suit is settled and her application for alimony is heard.
Mr. Murphy was not in his hotel when a reporter called. The clerk howeevr, said:
"I do not believe that Mr. Murphy kissed a grass widow in the hotel. I never saw any widows here and I've been a clerk here for over a year."
Both of the night bellboys gave it as their opinion that Mr. Murphy had never kissed a grass widow in the hotel.
"I guess I would have known it if he had," admits one of the boys, whose name is Ephriam. "There's mightly little kissing going on around here, and I keeps an eye on that little."
Mr. Murphy's attorney, who was in room 124, stated that Mr. Murphy had never kissed a grass widow in the hotel.Labels: Charlotte street, circuit court, Divorce, hotels, Judge Seehorn, Twelfth street
January 30, 1908 BABY LOST NEAR HOME.
Lela Weldon Enjoyed Her Ride to the Police Station. A little girl, almost a baby, pushing an empty go-cart up and down Holmes, Charlotte, and Campbell streets in the vicinity of Fifth street late yesterday afternoon attracted some attention. The little one seemed to be in search of some place, but she kept steadily on, asking no questions.
After two hours of tiresome walking the tot pulled up at a grocery store at Fifth and Holmes streets and announced that she had "lost her mamma and home." She was given a cracker box to rest upon while the police were notified. The tired little one was carried to police headquarters and place in charge of Mrs. Joan Moran, matron.
About 7 o'clock the child's mother, Mrs. J. J. Pearson, 740 Locust street, called for her. She said the baby's name is Lela Neeley Weldon.
"I sent her about a block away for the baby buggy," the mother said, "and when she came out of the house she turned the wrong way. Then she got lost and began to wander about trying to find her home."
It was said by persons who saw little Lela that she was often within a half block of her home. She has lived here but six weeks, coming here with her parents from St. Louis. Most children howl like the Indians when taken in charge by the police, but Lela said she like the ride to the station on the "treet tar."Labels: buggy, Campbell street, Charlotte street, children, Fifth street, Holmes street, Locust street, police headquarters, police matron
January 28, 1908 THEY'LL FIGHT CONSUMPTION.
Negroes Band Together to Battle With the White Plague. Six hundred negroes, eager to fight the white plague, met last night at Allen chapel, Tenth and Charlotte streets, and organized a colored people's branch of the Society for the Relief and Prevention of Tuberculosis. Mayor Beardsley and Dr. R. O. Cross addressed them, explaining in part the plans of the city for a tuberculosis sanitarium.
Among the negro speakers who followed, several declared that there will be vigorous work done now to educate their own people who are living in crowded tenements as to how to fight tuberculosis. Also it was said that the negroes will contrubute their part financially to the proposed $10,000 fund to be given to the city by way of destroying the idea that it is a city charity for paupers.
The negro society's officers are Dr. J. E. Dipple, president; W. C. Houston, secretary; Professor R. W. Foster, treasurer; Rev. F. Jesse Peck, chairman of the executive committee.
Others who spoke were: Dr. E. B. Ramsey, Dr. W. L Tompkins, Dr. A. E. Walker, Dr. J. E. Perry, Nelson, Crews, and Mrs. Cora Calloway, a trained nurse.Labels: Charlotte street, churches, City Chemist Cross, health, Mayor Beardsley, nurses, organizations, race, Tenth street
December 22, 1908 FARMERS WERE HIS FRIENDS.
Sid Stapleton, Negro, Owes His Lib- erty to Their Faith in Him. When Sid Stapleton, negro, was arrested last June for the murder of John Kemp, negro, in a free for all fight at 212 Charlotte street, six farmers of Glasgow, Mo., for whom Stapleton had worked before he came to Kansas City, joined together and employed the best attorney they could find in that part of the state to defend him.
Stapleton was tried in the criminal court Friday and yesterday morning the jury returned a verdict of acquittal. His attorney convinced the jury that with a dozen negroes fighting at once, two with knives and one with a revolver, it was not by any means certain that the defendant gave Kemp his death wound.
Stapleton returned to Glasgow last night and will end his days there, he says.Labels: Charlotte street, courtroom, murder, race
December 11, 1907 SHOT DOWN IN BARROOM ROW
W. H. BARNES KILLS JAMES E. WHITE, A MOTORMAN. PISTOL AGAINST HIS HEART
"WHY DID I GET DRUNK? WAILS DYING MAN.
Murderer Surrenders and Is Now in Jail -- Holds Weapon Leveled at His Victim Some Minutes Before Firing. In a barroom brawl yesterday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, W. H. Barnes of Argentine shot and killed James E. White, a motorman in the employment of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company, living at 816 Bank street. The fight, according to the story told by an eye witness, was begun by White. Barnes, or "Hank," as he was commonly known, was standing by the bar in Peter McDonnell's saloon, Twelfth and Charlotte streets, with a friend. White entered the room and, seeing some of his acquaintances, began to joke and jostle them in a familiar way. He had been drinking heavily.
Going down the line of men at the bar and speaking to each of them, he stepped up to the young man who seemed to be under the protection of Barnes, and spoke to him, lurching heavily against him as he did so.
The young man resented the drunken familiarity and demanded an explanation of White. But White did not choose to explain matters, and went on teasing the boy, who finally started to strike him. At this juncture Barnes interfered and began to make threatening gestures at White. They were standing within two feet of each other when White made a move towards his hip pocket with his right had as if attempting to draw a revolver. Barnes immediately drew a revolver himself and leveled it at White's heart.
Not believing that either man meant his move in any other manner than a joke, White threw off his coat and turned completely around, evidently to show that he was not the possessor of a revolver. Barnes did not lower the revolver, which was pointing at White. This made the drunken man angry, and he called Barnes many vile names.
FISTS AGAINST REVOLVER. Mere words and threats did not lower the revolver which Barnes, with a steady hand, kept aimed at his heart for fully two minutes, so White started in bare-handed to disarm Barnes. He struck at him twice, neither blow reaching Barnes. Barnes said nothing, but stepped a little nearer White and pulled the trigger of the revolver. The cartridge did not explode, and Barnes waited another instant before pulling the trigger a second time.
This time the revolver did its work, the bullet striking White in the left breast slightly to the left of the heart. White did not stagger or fall, but kept to his feet and walked steadily to the rear of the saloon where several men had been playing cards. One man who had been standing in the inner doorway during the fight hastened forward to help the wounded man, who tried to throw him aside, saying: "I can whip him any time, but he got me like a coward just now."
He finally consented to sit down after considerable urging on the part of his friends. The minute that he sat down in the chair he became deathly sick and lost consciousness for a short time.
"I HAD TO DO IT." After firing the last shot, Barnes walked out of the door leading into Charlotte street, remarking to a friend whom he passed, "Bob, I had to do it, didn't I?" He then jumped into his buggy, which was standing by the sidewalk, and drove rapidly south on Charlotte.
Hearing the shot, Officer Ed Doran ran into the saloon to investigate. By the time he arrived, Barnes had gone. The officer telephoned to the Walnut street police station for the ambulance. White was treated by Police Surgeon Dagg, who, seeing his critical condition, ordered him taken immediately to the general hospital.
On the way to the hospital White tried to talk and to answer questions, but the effect of the liquor and the mortal wound were too much for him, and he would only cry out hoarsely: "I know him. I know him. What is his name, I forget? He got me, yes, he got me. Oh, why did I get drunk!"
He died within two hours after he arrived at the hospital, from an internal hemorrhage caused by the bullet, it is thought that the bullet was one of the 38 caliber, as it pierced the body through.
THE MURDERER SURRENDERS. Several hours after the shooting Barnes appeared at the county jail, where he surrendered. He is now in jail.
Barnes had owned the saloon in which the shooting occurred up to a little over a year ago, when he sold it to Rube Snyder, who sold it to its present owner, Peter McDonnell, a month ago.
White had been a motorman on the Metropolitan for about four years. He ran the Troost avenue owl car for some time, when he was transferred to a daylight run on the Broadway line.
White had been granted a divorce from his wife, Pearly White, by Judge Powell at Independence Monday afternoon. The divorce was granted on the grounds of desertion. His wife does not live in this city and her present address is unknown.
White was born in Caldwell county, near Breckenridge, Mo. He was about 35 years of age. He lived on his father's farm up until four years ago when he moved to Kansas City. His fellow workmen say that he was one of the best natured men in the service of the street car company.
SALT WATER IN HIS VEINS. It was believed from the first that White would die from the effects of the wound, but the doctors and nurses at the hospital did all in their power to save his life. Word was received from Captain Thomas Flahive of the Walnut street police station that he would be out to the hospital in order to take a dying statement, but when he arrived he found White too near dead for the police to gather much information from him.
While lying upon the operating table he called time and again for Gertrude Stevens, moaning desperately, "I want my girl. I want my girl." He gave her name and said that she worked at the Fern laundry. When she arrived it seemed to have a good effect upon him, for he no longer groaned and was willing to lie quietly, a thing he had refused to do before.
She stooped over and kissed him upon the forehead, talking soothingly to him. He asked to be moved over on his right side, that he might better see her and talk with her. "He shot me," was all that he would say, and then closed his eyes as if everything was satisfactory.
Three nurses and Miss Stevens stayed with during the hour he survived. His sweetheart stood over his body for several minutes after his death, and then left the hospital without a word. It is said that his recent divorce was procured so that he and Miss Stevens might be married.
SELF-DEFENSE, SAYS BARNES. When seen at the jail last night, Barnes made the following statement in regard to the shooting: "There is not much left for me to say. I shot him in self-defense. He was a man about twice my size, and was ready to fight with me. I am much older than he and knew that I would stand now show with him when it came to a test of strength. For that reason, and to protect myself, I drew a revolver."
"If I had to go through it again, I would let him wipe up the earth with me rather than to even threaten him with a revolver. I did not try to evade the offense, but I just wanted to be the first to tell the unfortunate affair to my wife and family. I live on a farm about a mile and half from Argentine. It took me some time to drive out there and back again. As soon as I opened my front door I told my wife of the affair and told her that I had to go back to the city and surrender. I then drove directly to the jail.Labels: Argentine, buggy, Captain Flahive, Charlotte street, jail, Metropolitan Street Railway Company, murder, nurses, saloon, Twelfth street, Walnut street police station
September 19, 1907
NERLING SHOT HIM
MACK ROGERS DEAD FROM SA- LOON MAN'S PISTOL. Mack Rogers, 50 years old, a carpenter, living at a rooming house on Osage avenue, in Armourdale, Kas., was shot and almost instantly killed about 11 o'clock last night by Bert Nerling, proprietor of a saloon at 1525 Main street. The shooting occurred in an alley back of Nerling's saloon, and was witnessed by George T. Maloy, of 3335 Charlotte, a friend of Nerling. It followed a free-for-all fight in a house at 1527 Main street. Nerling at once surrendered to the police. It seems that Rogers got into a fight at 1527 Main street in which a number of persons were involved. In the course of the disturbance beer bottles and other missiles were hurled around promiscuously, some of them striking and breaking windows in the rear of Nerling's place. Someone, presumably a woman, fired two shots with a small pistol, at which Nerling armed himself with a revolver and went out to investigate. Maloy followed him to see what the trouble was all about. FIRED AFTER BEING MOLESTED.
According to a statement made by Maloy, when Nerling stepped into the alley in the rear of his saloon he saw Rogers and others throwing bottles. He shouted to Rogers: "What the hell are you doing, trying to smash up all my property?" Rogers, it is said, immediately turned upon the saloon man and hurled a beer bottle at his head. Nerling drew his pistol and fired point blank at Rogers. Then he turned and went into the saloon. Rogers staggered some twenty or thirty feet and fell dead. A bullet from a 38-caliber pistol struck him full in the breast, almost directly over the heart. Nerling was taken at once to the Walnut street police station, where he made a statement to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Hogan and Police Captain Morley. Captain Morley ordered the arrest of all the people at 1527 Main street and those living in a rooming house over Nerling's saloon. Maloy made a statement to the prosecuting attorney which was substantially the same as that given by him to the police. ROGERS WAS 50 YEARS OLD.
Coroner Thompson was notified and ordered the body removed to Eylar's morgue. An autopsy and inquest will be held this morning at 9 o'clock. Rogers was nearly six feet tall and weighed 200 pounds. The police this morning locked up a woman who goes by the name of Maud Nerling. She is said to occuply rooms over Nerlin's saloon, and the authorities believe she will prove a valuable witness. Labels: Armourdale, Charlotte street, Coroner Thompson, Main street, murder, No 4 police station, rooming house, saloon, undertakers
September 17, 1907
HIS SECOND TIME IN COURT.
Frank Clarken Is Only 9 but He Is Making a Record. Frank Clarken, 9 years old, of 1734 Locust street, was before the juvenile court yesterday for taking six sacks and selling them to a junk man at Eighteenth street and Charlotte streets.
"I was teasing a lady," the urchin replied.
A search through the records disclosed the fact that Frank had broken a lamp belonging to a neighbor of his mother's and when the owner of the lamp had remonstrated with him he had called her "an old witch." The court sent him back home and told him to be a good boy. Labels: Charlotte street, children, Eighteenth street, Judge McCune, juvenile court, Locust street
August 27, 1907 HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH GAS.
When Wheeler Struck a Light the Building Burst Into Flames. E. Wheeler, of 2028 Charlotte, has found the most expensive plumber. One who was working on the gas pipes in his house yesterday forenoon left a joint open and went to lunch. Mr. Wheeler came home and ate a cold snack himself. It was too hot for cooked stuff, so there was no occasion for lighting a match until Wheeler was ready for his after dinner smoke. Then the odorless natural gas, a houseful of it, flashed into a blaze, and before the firedepartment arrived $250 damage was done to the building and $200 to contents.Labels: Charlotte street, Fire
August 14, 1907 BENEVOLENCE THEIR OBJECT.
Convention of United Brotherhood of Friendship in Progress. Mayor Beardsley yesterday at the Second Baptist church, Tenth and Charlotte streets, addressed the delegates to the convention of hte United Brotherhood of Friendship, a negro oranization. An orphans' home is supported at Hannibal, Mo., at a cost per annum of only 20 cents per member. An additional modern fourteen-room building at the home is soon to be erected at a cost of $5,000. Altogether $24,000 has been spent by the order in the state for benevolent purposes in the past year. Officers will be elected tomorrow.
S. B. Howard, a resident of Independence, is said to be in line for election as grand master. Friday at noon there is to be a parade through the downtown streets, and in the afternoon an indoor picnic at Convention hall.Labels: Charlotte street, Convention Hall, Mayor Beardsley, parades, picnics, race, Tenth street
January 11, 1907
WAS UNDER SPELL.
GIRL, CHARGED WITH THEFT, MAKES THIS EXPLANATION. UNABLE TO CONTROL ACTIONS.
COMPLETELY IN FORTUNETELLER'S GRASP, SHE ASSERTS. Maggie Paul Says Clothes She is Alleged to Have Stolen Were
Given to Her -- Mrs. Moran, Medium, Tells a Different Story. Miss Maggie Paul, the 18-year old daughter of J. J. Paul, saloonkeeper at Eighteenth and Charlotte streets, was arraigned before Justice Miller yesterday charged by Mrs. D. J. Moran, a fortune teller at 815 East Fifteenth street, with taking $91.75 worth of wearing apparel. She pleaded not guilty and her bond was fixed at $500. She was held over night in the matron's room at police headquarters and expects to give bond today.
Miss Paul said she had lived at Mrs. Moran's and played the piano during what she terms a "spirit fortune telling stunt supposed to be presided over by a defunct Indian chief, one 'White Coon.' " She also says that, had she married John Moran, the 24-year-old son of the fortune teller, she would have had none of her present troubles.
"She has been trying for a long time to get me to marry her son," said Miss Paul last night. "I went to a dance Christmas eve at 910 Campbell street with Mrs. Moran's daughter. When I got to thinking of that marrying business it was all so repulsive to me that I ran away and went to the house of a friend at 1214 East Eight street.
"When I am around where that woman is she casts a kind of spell over me and I can't but obey her every wish. It took all my courage to make up my mind to run away from it all. I got tired of playing for a lot of fake fortune telling business anyway. Often I have seen a person with money come to the seance and heard one of the Morans say: 'Trim that sucker. Don't let him get away. Make arrangements for a private seance for he's got real money.' It was all so false and shammy to one who knew and I didn't want to marry John Moran anyway."
Mrs. J. J. Paul, Maggie's mother, and George Brown, to whose house she went when she ran away from the 'White Coon' seances, went to police headquarters last night to see her daughter.
"This is all a trumped up charge which cannot be proved," said the mother. "That woman has had a hypnotic spell over my daughter for two years. We used to live in Midland court on East Sixteenth street and Mrs. Moran lived just across the street. Maggie got to going there and right then the trouble began. Maggie was made to believe that I was killing her with slow poison and she was afraid of me. Didn't I go to Mrs. Moran's house where she had Maggie locked up in the cellar and make her give her up?
"The girl fears that woman right now. You can see it. All this has been done because she ran away when engaged to John Moran. And I don't blame her for that or leaving those Indian 'White Coon' seances, either."
Miss Paul said that a sealskin cloak, valued at $50, which she is charged with taking, was stolen from the cloak room at the dance hall at 910 Campbell three weeks ago when Miss Moran was along. A skirt, valued in the complaint at $17, she was wearing yesterday. She said it cost $3.50 and was given to her by Mrs. Moran and would fit no one else in the family. In fact, she claims that all the missing clothing but the cloak was either given her previous to or at Christmas.
Miss Paul was arrested by Detective William Bates yesterday afternoon at the home of a friend at Eight street and Forest avenue. She said she had left the Brown home because she heard Mrs. Moran had found out where she was, and she was afraid she would "look at me that way again, and then I would have to go back and do anything asked -- perhaps marry John."
The girl who is afraid of the woman who gives seances controlled by the ancient Indian spirit, "White Coon," has blue eyes, blonde hair, and is petite and pretty.
Said Mrs. Moran, when asked about Miss Paul:
"On Christmas night she wore my sealskin coat to a Yoeman's ball at 910 Campbell street. She came home without the coat, and said it had been stolen. New Year's night she put on $42.25 worth of our silk clothes, jewelry and a hat and went to another Yeoman's ball with Mamie. That time she got lost from Mamie and we just found her today living at 1214 East Eighth street with the same Mrs. Brown who had her arrested the time we paid her fine. We've heard that the sealskin jacket was thrown from the window to someone and wasn't stolen. We stuck to her, even when her mother was going to have us arrested for harboring her. We thought her parents were hard on her. They have a divorce case on trial tomorrow."
"Did Miss Paul assist in your seances?"
"Oh, she sat in them," explained Mrs. Moran's husband, "but she didn't help earn any of the clothes."
Labels: Campbell street, Charlotte street, clothing, con artist, crime, detectives, Eighteenth street, Eighth street, Fifteenth street, Forest avenue, Hyde Park, Justice Miller, marriage, Native Americans, police, police headquarters, Sixteenth street
|
|
|
|

|
Get the Book

Vintage Kansas City Stories
Early Kansas City, Missouri

The Trial of Jesse James,
Jr.
>>More
KC Books<<
As an Amazon Associate this site may earn commissions from qualifying
purchases. | |
ARCHIVES |
February, 1910
January, 1910
December, 1909
November, 1909
October, 1909
September, 1909
August, 1909
July, 1909
June, 1909
May, 1909
April, 1909
March, 1909
February, 1909
January, 1909
December, 1908
November, 1908
October, 1908
September, 1908
August, 1908
July, 1908
June, 1908
May, 1908
April, 1908
March, 1908
February, 1908
January, 1908
December, 1907
November, 1907
October, 1907
September, 1907
August, 1907
July, 1907
June, 1907
May, 1907
April, 1907
March, 1907
February, 1907
January, 1907 |
|
|
|
|

Vintage Kansas
City Bookstore
|
|
|
|
|
|