News Items from The Kansas City Journal ~ Old News That's New to You from Vintage Kansas City.com

February 7, 1910

A WALKING HABERDASHERY.

Overdressed Man Imagines He's

Hunted Magnate.

Robert C. Kainz, a young man who says he is an Englishman recently imported to this country, went to police headquarters about 3 o'clock Sunday morning and demanded to know why he had been locked out of jail. The desk sergeant apologized for the oversight and sent him to the holdover.

When searched Kainz was found to be a walking haberdashery, with everything from a clean collar to an extra suit of clothes on his person. Aside from the assortment of dry goods and men's furnishings were:

One ruby ring, three boxes of Egyptian cigarettes, several cigar lighters, a half dozen packages of chewing gum, two pairs of new horsehide gloves and several neckties.

Kainz wore two overcoats, two complete suits of clothes, a jersey sweater and two vests, besides two shirts and some under garments. His feet were protected by three pair of hose, each a different color, and two silk mufflers were wrapped around his neck.

Investigation revealed that he had been living at the Salvation Army hotel on Fifth street. For a time he is said to have imagined that he was the president of a great insurance company, who feared that the United States government might prosecute him for selling bad "policies." He had a quantity of sample insurance policies and a rate book in his pocket.

Kainz was turned over to Colonel J. C. Greenman yesterday and his mental condition will be looked into.

Labels: clothing, Col. J. C. Greenman, England, Fifth street, immigrants, mental health, police headquarters, Salvation Army

July 14, 1909

WORKHOUSE NOT FIT

PLACE FOR INSANE.

PARDON AND PAROLE BOARD

ORDERS INVESTIGATION.

Mrs. Kate Pierson, a Member, Se-

verely Criticises Humane Officer

Greenman -- One Pardoned and

Ten Paroled Yesterday.

Incarceration at the city workhouse of persons who are mentally deficient came in for severe censure before the pardon and parole board yesterday afternoon. Colonel J. C. Greenman, humane officer at the municipal court, was criticised by Mrs. Kate Pierson.

The matter was brought to the notice of the board by its secretary, L. A. Halbert, who made a report upon certain prisoners, among them three insane persons.

"Colonel Greenman thinks it is his duty to have those insane persons sent to the workhouse," said Mrs. Pierson. "As long as he can keep an insane person away from St. Joseph he is happy. He seems to take a certain pride in keeping down the county's expense."

Frank P. Walsh, another member of the board, said in that connection:

"Whatever may be the cause it is a regrettable situation, and one which needs our attention. We must find some place for those who are insane. The workhouse certainly is not the place for them."

BOARD TO INVESTIGATE.

The board decided to make prompt investigation of the reported insane cases and ordered the secretary to secure competent medical assistance to make the necessary examination. The board itself will see to the court order of commitment.

It was asserted that paroled prisoners were often rearrested within a few hours or days following parole. The secretary said in this connection that he had approached a prisoner and asked if he wished to be paroled.

"No, I don't," the prisoner is said to have answered. "I have only three months to serve, and then I am free. If I get paroled I get pinched again right away and have to serve out my parole as well as my new sentence. I'd rather serve it out."

It was decided by the board that the police commissioners be asked about this and also asked to detail a special officer to the board for use in rearresting those paroled prisoners who break faith with the pardon board.

Labels: Col. J. C. Greenman, mental health, St.Joseph, workhouse

April 3, 1909

ASKED THE MAYOR FOR $300.

Aged Man Said Roosevelt Had Left

Money at the Hall for Him.

An elderly man wearing a beard that reached nearly to his waist, walked into the offices of Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., yesterday. He could not speak English.

Through an interpreter the man's mission was learned.

"He says he is down here after that $300 you have for him," said the interpreter.

"The old man says he received a Marconi telegram this morning from Theodore Roosevelt saying he had left $300 for him with the mayor, and he wants it."

The old man was taken to Colonel Greenman. Later it was learned that he is a wealthy German and lives on Mersington. He was put in charge of relatives who explained that he has been irresponsible of late.

Labels: city hall, Col. J. C. Greenman, immigrants, Mayor Crittenden, mental health, Mersington street, President Roosevelt, Seniors, telegram

December 15, 1908

BELIEVES HE'S ROOSEVELT.

Remarkable Fantasy of a Man From

Grandin, Mo., With $290.

Joseph DeViera, 56 years old, was picked up at the Union depot yesterday afternoon in a bewildered condition. Sergeant R. P. Lang took him to police headquarters and turned him over to Colonel J. C. Greenman, investigator for the police department.

When searched DeViera had $290 but he acted as if he had been drugged. When Colonel Greenman asked him what was the matter he answered: "Ask J. B. White. He knows." Mr. White, who is connected with the Missouri Lumber Company in the R. A. Long building, was called over the telephone. He said DeViera worked for him at Grandin, Mo. He is an engineer and machinist.

"He was in my office this morning," Mr. White said. "He seemed all right then. When he left he said he would leave for home in the afternoon."

After being locked in a cell in the matron's room DeViera became very violent last night. He yelled with all his lung power that he was "Roosevelt, the mighty hunter." Then he became Napoleon I, and finally said, "I am the Christ, son of the living God, here to reform the world."

"Do you know Adam God, the reformer?" Patrolman Patrick Boyle asked.

"Sure," was the quick reply, "knew him in Africa when he was a baboon. He knows all about the origin of the species, just like I do. We are living too fast for the mighty hunter. I can hit a bear in the left eyebrow at thirty miles."

This sort of rambling talk, yelled in a tone to attract a crowd outside the station, DeViera kept up most all night.

Labels: Adam God sect, Col. J. C. Greenman, mental health, police headquarters, police matron, President Roosevelt, R A Long building

September 20, 1908

WITS GONE AWRY;

POLICE GATHER 'EM IN.

FIVE MEN OF FREAKY IDEAS

PICKED UP IN ONE DAY.

Unfortunate Who Believed Sparrows

Were Nesting in His Hair -- An-

other Held Up Twelfth

Street Traffic.

The holdover at police headquarters yesterday resembled an insane ward in a hospital. Before the day had closed five men, some a bit more "off" than others, were incarcerated there. One of the men who gave the name of Shea was found on the street sitting in a shady place. At intervals he was seen to shake his head and then spat the back of one hand with the other. When asked what he was doing he said: "The sparrows are pulling hairs from the back of my hands and building nests in my head. Shoo. Shoo." Then he would shake his head again. "Wrestling with 'Old John B.' " was the comment of the officer who took Shea to the station.

Another man, apparently suffering from the same trouble as Shea, gave the name of Baylay. He was a little more active than his brother in distress. Seeing turkeys wearing straw hats and little yellow goslings with plug hats and red neckties on, Baylay was busy chasing them about the street. He was really interested in his chase as he said he had "never seen the like before in all my life."

An aged man by the name of Nolde was picked up by a patrolman on Twelfth street and Grand avenue. He had stopped many street cars by waving his cane and had attracted quite a crowd. The old man believed that he was a motorman and that it was his duty to stop traffic as he was doing. He was booked for Colonel J. C. Greenman, who looks after the insane for the city and county.

The next unfortunate to arrive gave the name of "Robinson Crusoe" and said he was 103 years old. With his long, unkempt hair dangling about his shoulders, he almost looked the part. He finally gave the name of Farbis Foster. The old man was picked up at 1415 Main street. He had been wandering aimlessly about the streets for days. He was also booked for the attention of Colonel Greenman.

After "Robinson Crusoe" had been stowed away the most picturesque member of the quintette of "offs" arrived in charge of Patrolman G. M. Russell of No. 7 station. He was bareheaded and barefooted, with his trousers rolled to his knees. Around his neck was a piece of heavy string, to which was attached a quart tincup, somewhat battered. In the cup was a match. In the man's mouth was a small twig, at which he puffed as if smoking a cigarette. To add to the picture, the man was gently fanning himself with a weed. When searched the police ran upon what they at first took to be a "billy," but when brought to the light it was seen to be nothing more than a red corncob -- a big one, too, probably ten inches long.

"Don't throw that away," said the man, who gave the name of L. H. Miller; "I have just had that patented at great cost."

"Is that so? What's it used for?" asked Lieutenant James Morris.

"It's the finest thing in the world to kill mosquitoes, flies and the like," he said. With that Miller took the big cob and whacked away at a fly on the desk, and, of course, missed it. "See that?" he added gleefully. "Can you beat that? Put that in the safe until I call for it, and don't let anyone see how it's made, either."

Colonel Greenman will also look after Miller and his patent combination destroyer of insects.

Labels: Col. J. C. Greenman, Grand avenue, Main street, mental health, police, police headquarters, Seniors, Twelfth street

July 17, 1908

JACK GALLAGHER

IN THE WORKHOUSE.

TO REMAIN ONE YEAR UNLESS

HE PAYS $1,000 FINE.

Chief of Police Daniel Ahern's Luna-

cy Commission Quickly Decides

That Gallagher's Troubles

Are Temper and Booze.

Before a lunacy commission consisting of four physicians Jack Gallagher, notorious circumventor of justice, was yesterday adjudged sane. It took the commission only an hour and a half to hear all of the testimony and to make its physical and mental examinations; then they went into executive session and within five minutes had returned its verdict, which reads:

"We submitted Jack Gallagher to a personal, mental and physical examination, and heard the testimony of witnesses, and from the evidence of such mental and physical testimony and examinations offered, we find that Jack Gallagher is sane, and responsible for his actions."

After the commission, consisting of Dr. J. O. Hanawalt, Dr. St. Elmo Saunders, Dr. O. L. McKillip and Dr. J. S. Snider, had been informed of its duties and the result its decision would have upon the cases which were then being held in suspension by the police court, it called Jack Gallagher as the first witness.

Gallagher walked into the room accompanied by an officer. The slugger' demeanor was somewhat tame compared with his previous actions. As Dr. Hanawalt began to question the prisoner he dropped his eyes and nervously moved his hands and feet. The preliminary questions relative to age and residence were all answered in a quiet manner.

IN SALOON BUSINESS THREE YEARS.

"In what business were you engaged as a boy," was the first question.

"I did not go to school further than the fourth grade. Then I worked like any other kid."

"When did you first enter the saloon business?"

"Three years ago, in Kansas City."

"What is your general condition of your health?"

"Good."

"Did you ever have any serious illness?"

"No, just kid's diseases. Dr. Snider always treated me."

"Do you ever have any trouble articulating?"

Gallagher did not understand the word, and after it was repeated to him three times he replied:

"I didn't get past the fourth grade in school and I don't know what that big word means."

When its meaning was explained he answered in the negative.

"How tall are you and what do you weigh?"

"I am 6 feet one inch and a fraction and weigh about 170 pounds."

"Did you ever weigh more than that?"

"Yes, several years ago I weighed 190 pounds

"What caused you to lose weight?"

"Worry over my business, and I have had to do a lot of that."

Then followed the physical and mental tests given by the physicians. During the physical examination Gallagher called attention to a small bruise on his left ankle, which he charges was made by a blow from Albert King's cane. Gallagher told the physicians that he had never been troubled with his eyes, having passed an examination for the United States army and also for the police department.

"Is your memory good?" questioned Dr. St. Elmo Saunders.

"Yes," and after some hesitancy he added, "There have been times when I have overlooked my mail for a day or two, but they were mostly bills."

"Do you remember all of the events which happened yesterday?"

"If you mean the events which led up to me being arrested and my appearance in the police court, yes."

"Tell me the facts which led up to your going to Mr. King's rooms."

"I don't care to answer that question."

"But you remember them well?"

"Yes."

75 GLASSES A DAY.

J. F. Richardson, representing Mr. King, then questioned the witness.

"Do you drink intoxicating liquor?"

"Yes."

"Do you ever get drunk?"

"Yes. I have drank whisky ever since I was 20 years old."

"Did you take any whisky on the night before you went to Mr. King's rooms; and if so, how much had you drunk?"

"I drink every day from sixty to seventy-five glasses of whisky; Tuesdays as well as any other day. I was under the influence of whisky when I was arrested."

"Were you responsible for your actions in King's room?"

"I think I was, but I won't answer any more questions like that."

Colonel J. C. Greenman, Humane officer, said that they must have witnesses to help them in their decision as to whether or not Gallagher was insane. Then Dr. Saunders questioned Dr. Snider relative to the medical attention which he had given Gallagher. Dr. Snider replied that Gallagher had never been seriously ill, and that in his opinion he is sane and always had been.

"You have never seen him act insane before?"

"No, never. When he is drunk, as he frequently is, he is always able to take care of himself."

"Is he a good business man?"

"From what I know of him I would say yest."

Tom Gallagher, brother of the prisoner, was called to the stand.

"Would you believe from your brother's conversation Tuesday night that he was drunk?"

"HE'S SANE," SAYS TOM.

"Yes, I think he was, but he knew what he was doing."

"Do you think your brother is sane or insane?"

"Sane."

These questions satisfying both parties to the investigation, Tom Gallagher was dismissed and Miss Mayme Lefler, Mr. King's nurse, who was with him at the time Gallagher attempted to assault him Wednesday morning, was called to the stand.

Miss Lefler went over the story of the assault in a very concise manner, stating at the close that she believed Gallagher to be sane. Miss Lefler, in getting her training as a nurse, had to spend a certain part of her time in the insane ward at the general hospital, and from her knowledge of insanity she pronounced Gallagher as being sane, but a man of violent temper. She stated that Gallagher seemed to have been drinking before he entered Mr. King's room Wednesday morning.

Mrs. Etta Condon, proprietor of the hotel at which Mr King is staying, was called to the stand and told the same story as did Miss Lefler. "Do you think he was insane?" she was asked.

"No, not a bit of it."

"Would you know an insane person if you saw one?"

"I think I would, but Gallagher seemed to be more drunk than anything else. And he has a violent temper."

QUARRELSOME WHEN DRUNK.

J. J. Spillane, a street inspector and a particular friend of Gallagher's had been present throughout the hearing and at Tom Gallagher's request he was called to the witness stand.

Spillane told of his acquaintance with Gallagher, which dated back twenty years. He said that he did not believe that Gallagher was insane, or that he ever was insane.

"Is he quarrelsome when under the influence of liquor?"

"Not any more than any other man is; he would always stick up for himself."

Captain Frank Snow of police headquarters was called to testify. He had known Gallagher for ten or fifteen years. During that time, according to the testimony, Gallagher's conduct had been of a very erratic nature. He had engaged in several controversies at various times.

"Do you think that Jack is insane?"

"No, indeed. Jack would not have any trouble if he would let the booze alone. Every man, or almost every man, who has owned a saloon on East Fourth street, has gone crazy, and Jack will go the same way if he keeps up his present pace."

"So you think drink was responsible for all his trouble?"

"Yes, I do."

W. K. Latcham, the arresting officer for the second offense committed by Gallagher Wednesday morning against Albert King; Gus Metzinger, patrolman in charge of No. 4 police station, and who released Gallagher on $11 bond, and Dr. E. L. Gist all testified that it was their belief that Gallagher was sane. The testimony was becoming long drawn out and immaterial. The case for insanity was lost within the first five minutes of examination and the commission decided to put an end to the needless investigation.

After taking the testimony of John McCarthy, one of Gallagher's bartenders, the investigation adjourned and the commissioners met in secret session. They remained in session long enough to cast one vote and dictate their decision to the stenographer.

GOES TO THE WORKHOUSE.

Gallagher was sent to the workhouse in the daily crowd which is sent from the police court. His fine is $1,000 or one year in the workhouse. If he does not pay his fine he must remain for one year unless pardoned by the mayor.

The lunacy commission proceeding was instigated by Chief of Police Daniel Ahern, who conferred with Judge Theodore Remley of the police court and Colonel J. C. Greenman of the Humane office. It was the opinion of the three that Gallagher was too dangerous a man to walk the streets of Kansas City. It was the fear that he would be able to pay his fine and get out of the workhouse a free man, that led Chief Ahern to take such steps in having the lunacy commission appointed, he says.

"It means," said the chief, "that Gallagher goes to the workhouse His time limit for appeal is over and he will have to serve out his time or pay his fine. He is a dangerous man and should be kept in custody. I believe the fellow is insane."

It was suggested to acting Police Judge Remley by Cliff Langsdale, city attorney, that the time for appeal bond in Gallagher's case had elapsed. Judge Remley said that he would not countenance an appeal bond at any rate. He said that it would be necessary for Gallagher to go to courts above his jurisdiction before he could keep himself from the workhouse any longer.

Labels: alcohol, Col. J. C. Greenman, doctors, Jack Gallagher, Judge Remley, mental health, nurses, Police Chief Snow, workhouse

July 16, 1908

CUNNING SHOWN

BY GALLAGHER

SLUGGER WILL TRY TO HAVE

HIMSELF DECLARED INSANE.

THUS ESCAPE HIS MIS-DEEDS

CREATES A SCENE IN THE ROOM

OF ALBERT KING.

Arrested and Released on Ridiculous

Bond of $11 -- Fined $1,000

in Police Court on Two

Charges.

An attempt is to be made by the friends of Jack Gallagher to have him declared insane.

The object is to prevent justice from taking its course.

The first suggestion for a lunacy commission was made by Jack Gallagher himself.

His saloon license gone, under a double fine of $500, and with a penitentiary sentence staring him in the face, Gallagher's only hope is in an "easy" lunacy commission that will free him of all responsibility for his brutal, wanton and wicked acts.

A depravity seldom equalled, unbridled license and bad whiskey is what's the matter with Jack Gallagher. His mentality, even though of a low order, is capable of recognizing right from wrong. Gallagher, according to the statements of eye witness, was too drunk when taken to Central police station yesterday morning that the officers in charge hesitated about arraigning him in court.

The lunacy commission judge is the last desperate stand of this desperado and his friends.

Gallagher was locked in a cell in the police matron's room last night.

INSANE? NO, BAD WHISKY.

When the city attorney, Cliff Langsdale, called the case of the city against Jack Gallagher, arrested yesterday morning on two charges of disturbing the peace, it was said Gallagher was too drunk to appear. Newspaper men attending police court insisted that he be brought out before the court and arraigned on the charges. Sergeant Frank Snow informed the court that Gallagher was "pretty drunk," but Judge Remley finally ordered him brought out of the holdover so he could judge for himself.

Gallagher's demeanor before the court was that of the bully. While he showed signs of heavy drinking he was sufficiently sober to know what he was talking about and the police judge decided he was sober enough to stand trial.

After Gallagher had been fined $500 on two charges he asked his brother, Thomas Gallagher, to apply for a lunacy commission to inquire into his sanity. Thomas Gallagher immediately sought the chief of police, Daniel Ahern, and asked that the $1,000 fine be stayed until he could have his brother tried for insanity. Chief Ahern readily granted the request, giving Gallagher a stay for twenty-four hours. Judge Remley consented to the stay granted by the chief of police. Jack Gallagher was then turned oer to Colonel J. C. Greenman who has charge of all insanity cases for the police department. Gallagher was taken from the common holdover and placed in a cell in the matron's room. The police stated that he had been put in the matron's room because it was rumored that Gallagher's friends had passed cigars and whisky into the jail to him when he was held for investigation when he assaulted Albert King on Wednesday, a week ago.

Gallagher's friends called on the chief of police during the morning and afternoon, but the chief refused to say what their mission was. Jack Spillane, a street inspector, was in evidence at police headquarters and in the chief's office all of yesterday afternoon. He refused to say what he wanted, except that he was a friend of Gallagher's.

SLUGGER'S FRIENDS BUSY.

Thomas Gallagher insisted on an early meeting of the lunacy commission and desired to name the members who were to be called in to act. He was informed by Colonel Greenman that the law required a certificate of two reputable physicians to determine whether a man was insane or sane. He also told Tom Gallagher that he intended to go further than the law required, that he intended to appoint four physicians so the public would be satisfied with any verdict that the board should return.

A physician, who said he had been Jack Gallagher's family doctor for the last five years, appeared at police headquarters and said he wanted to be called as a witness to testify that Jack Gallagher had been insane for nearly five years. He was one of the physicians that Thomas Gallagher asked Colonel Greenman to appoint as a member oft he lunacy board.

Willis King, a brother of the reporter assaulted by Jack Gallagher, called on Colonel Greenman yesterday afternoon and asked that he be notified so he could have witnesses summoned to appear before the commission. Colonel Greenman set the time for the commission to meet at 10 o'clock today.

"BAD MAN," SAYS AHERN.

Chief of Police Daniel Ahern said yesterday afternoon that he considers Jack Gallagher a "bad" man and that he does not want him at large. He said he will hold him pending a report of the self-solicited lunacy commission, a member of which Gallagher requested to be allowed to name.

"When Gallagher was brought in here the second time today I made up my mind that he is dangerous and should not be allowed his liberty again, said the chief. "Why, he might attack you, or me. I wouldn't allow a bully like that to strike me, but I know I am just as liable to a cowardly assault from a man of that kind as a newspaper reporter or any other person.

"Gallagher was fined in police court. His fines were heavy, but if he were went to the workhouse I thought Jack's friends might pay his fine, and I decided to prevent it.

"It was my plain duty to send him to the workhouse, though. What could I do under the circumstance of a fine and no cash forthcoming. When Jack's friends suggested he is crazy I was a way to keep him under restraint.

"It does not matter to me whether he is crazy from the effects of bad whisky or from other causes. I simply had to keep him under restraint, and I thought the lunacy commission plan was the best way out. I straightway turned the prisoner over to Colonel Greenman, the humane officer."

MUST KEEP THE PEACE.

At the request of Albert King, Jack Gallagher will be placed under a heavy police bond by the prosecuting attorney. After being placed under a bond, if Gallagher cannot raise funds to meet it, he will remain in jail for thirty days, after which time he is at liberty and will forfeit the bond if he disturbs the peace of the complainant.

Besides this, a warrant charging Gallagher with burglary is in the hands of the authorities. The charge of burglary is brought under a statute which defines burglary as the forcible entry into the dwelling house of another in the night time with intent to commit a felony therein.

Gallagher's actions in the home of Mr. King yesterday morning bring him under the rule of the statute and the warrant for his arrest on the charge of burglary is the result.

Labels: alcohol, Col. J. C. Greenman, Jack Gallagher, Judge Remley, mental health, newspapers, Police Chief Ahern, Police Chief Snow, police court, police matron, violence

July 4, 1908

MAYOR COULDN'T

REMOVE "SPELL."

STROUD STILL UNDER INFLU-

ENCE OF THE "EVIL EYE."

SEEKS A REAL HYPNOTIST

K. U. GRADUATE STILL BEING

HELD BY POLICE.

Will Not Be Given Liberty, as They

Fear He May Be Seized at

Any Moment by Homi-

cidal Mania.

JOHN EARL STROUD, A. B.
Kansas University graduate whose mind
is deranged and is being detained
by the police.

Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., put aside everything for a time yesterday and repaired to the police matron's room, where, with mystic signs, a few words, a wrinkled brow and a queer look in his eye, he attempted to remove a hypnotic spell which John E. Stroud of Howard, Kas., says has been upon him for now just three months and six days.

Stroud called on the mayor Thursday afternoon and insisted on having an audience with him at once. He said that he was laboring under the spell of a "snake-eyed hypnotist," which might cause him to jump in front of a street car at any moment, and that he had made a special pilgrimage here to see the mayor, believing that only he could undo the spell. The mayor called Captain Walter Whitsett to his office and Stroud was placed in limbo.

There was a brief session of the police board yesterday, and at its close Stroud's case came up for discussion. "Why don't you go in and remove the spell then?" the mayor was asked. "If the man believes you can, it might help him."

"I have never been a success at removing spells," said his honor, "but I'm game to try my hand at it."

The police board adjournd to the matron's room and Mayor Crittenden was formally introduced to Stroud, who sat with bowed head in a cell. He seemed pleased when told that the mayor had come to cast off the spell and shook hands cordially.

IT PLEASED THE VICTIM.

"All but myself and the doctors will please leave the room," said the mayor in a commanding voice. When the room was cleared the cell door was unlocked and the mayor entered with Dr. J. P. Neal. Taking Stroud by the right hand, placing the left upon the man's brow and looking as much like a real spell-removing wizard as possible, the mayor said in a slow, firm voice:

"By the authority vested in me by the great state of Missouri and this beautiful city, I here and now peremptorily command the hypnotic spell which has been upon you be permanently removed."

The mayor finished his solemn duty with a motion of the hands as if flinging something from the ends of his fingers. Stroud grinned and looked as if he felt better.

"You'll be all right now," said the mayor on leaving. "I have called the spell all off."

The unusual duty was performed at just 4:13 o'clock. Two hours later Stroud was asked if he didn't feel better and if the spell had been cast off.

"SEND ON A HYPNOTIST."

"I guess I was wrong in my surmises," he said dolefully. "It will undoubtedly take a hypnotist to undo the work of one of his kind. Send on a good one and I think he can do it."

"How do you know the spell has not been removed by the mayor?" he was asked. "He has removed hypnotic spells before and should not have failed in your case."

"Because I can hear the hypnotist talking to me," was the reply. Then he cocked his head to one side to listen. "I didn't quite catch what he said then," he said. Once more he took a listening attitude and laughed. "He says, 'You can do as you please.' Now that isn't true, for my whole life is guided by his suggestions. I see it now in everything I do. I may be looking at a person passing along the street there and want to change and look at someone else, but I can't. Again, when I feel like looking at an object a long time, the hypnotist compells me to change and look at something else."

Dr. Neal said yesterday that Stroud's condition is much worse than when he was first detained. Then he was only receiving suggestions at intervals, but now he regards every move he makes a coming from the mysterious person whom the thinks has him in his power.

DANGEROUSLY INSANE.

"That class of insanity is the most dangerous kind," said Dr. Neal. "Suppose the suggestion to kill should come to him and he believed that he had to act on it? What would be the result?"

Thursday night Captian Whitsett wired the unfortunate man's father, R. L. Stroud, the proprietor of the Stroud hotel, Howard, Kas., and the reply said, "Have written by this mail." The letter had not ben received last night Colonel Greenman notified the father again yesterday. Stroud said he had been here since June 15 and had been stopping at 314 West Fourteenth street. He will not be released except to relatives who can care for him, as he is now regarded as a dangerous man to be at large.

Labels: Captain Whitsett, Col. J. C. Greenman, Fourteenth street, Hyde Park, Mayor Crittenden, mental health, police board, police matron, streetcar, visitors

May 15, 1908

BELIEVES SHE IS HIS WIFE.

Convict Writes Concerning a Poor

Teamster's Daughter.

The Journal of April 28 contained a story the heading of which read, "Here's an Unfortunate Man." It told of a teamster who had to support eleven persons on $10 a week. His wife had just become hopelessly insane and he was compelled to borrow $30 from his employer.

The story said that a daughter, 20 years old, and her two children were living at home because her husband had deserted her some time before. Yesterday Colonel J. C. Greenman who handled the case got a letter from Elmer Albertin, now known as "No. 9738" in the penitentiary at Jefferson City. In inclosed the clipping from The Journal.

"I cut this story out of an old Kansas City Journal," he wrote. "While the story contains no names, I feel sure that the deserted woman with the two children is my wife. I did not desert her, but have been a victim of circumstances.

"At the time I left home I went out into Kansas and worked in the harvest fields. When, by hard work, I had saved $17 I started for home. While sitting on the platform of a depot in a small town two men came up behind me and one of them knocked me senseless. Then they robbed me. A big gash was cut in my head and was sewed up there."

The man goes on with some unimportant data and winds up with "Then I came into Missouri and now I am here for two years." He did not say what he had done or where he was sent up from.

Colonel Greenman enclosed the letter with a brief note to the man about whom the story was written and told him to give it to his daughter. If she proves to be Albertin's wife an effort may be made to get him pardoned as his family here is greatly in need of his support.

The same story was returned to The Journal by a prosperous farmer to Effingham, Kas, who offers to put the unfortunate teamster and his whole family on a well stocked farm. That letter as sent to the man yesterday by Colonel Greenman with instructions to reply direct to the kind hearted Kansas man.

Labels: Col. J. C. Greenman, farmers, Jefferson City, marriage, penitentiary, teamster, The Journal

April 28, 1908

HERE'S AN UNFORTUNATE MAN.

Teamster With an Insane Wife and

Ten Children Needs Help.

There is a man in Kansas City too proud to ask for charity, who needs charity as much as any man who ever lived. He is a teamster, earning $10 a week with ten hungry mouths to feed. Last week his wife became violently insane and the unfortunate man was compelled to borrow $30 from his employer, a transfer man, as "the doctor must be paid every time he comes."

Yesterday the insane wife was taken to the general hospital for observation and later she will be transferred to the state hospital for the insane. This man had a wife and seven children, ranging from 4 to 20 years. The oldest, a daughter, married and has two children. Her husband left her and she came home. That made eleven mouths to feed, but as the wife is now in the hospital the struggling man with his $10 a week, is trying to make both ends meet.

Colonel Greenman, who has the case of the wife in charge, said yesterday that he would not give out the name of this man, but if persons, charitably inclined, wished to help him they could come to him in his office at the city hall where they would get the man's name.

"If there ever was a case on earth where a man needed a helping hand, it's this one."

Labels: children, Col. J. C. Greenman, mental health

February 23, 1907

DRAGS A DOCTOR

THROUGH STREETS.

INSANE WOMAN CAPATURES HER

WOULD-BE CAPTOR.

ESCAPES FROM A HOSPITAL.

SECURES A SURGEON'S KNIFE AND

MENACES INTERNES.

Even After Being Strapped to Her Bed

She Makes Her Escape For

The Second Time --

Finally Subdued.

Attendants at the emergency hospital have had lively times with insane people, but the most strenuous time so far was Friday night and yesterday morning with Mrs. Emma Lucas, a demented woman, en route from Los Angeles, Cal., to Toledo, O. The woman was acting suspiciously at the Grand Central depot, Second and Wyandotte streets, and was taken to Central station late Friday night for investigation. When it was seen that she was demented she was transferred to the emercency hospital.

Mrs. Lucas, who is 27 years old, is a large woman and strong. She was confined in the women's ward but in a short while some one discovered her ponderous form climbing over the fence surrounding City Hall park. She had escaped through a window.

Dr. Ralph A. Shiras, who is not large, sallied forth in pursuit He overtook the big woman on Fifth near Delaware street and grabbed hold of her. The woman shook him off with ease and in turn grabbed the doctor. Dragging him along behind as she would a toy wagon she walked nearly to the Wyandotte street depot with the struggling doctor before aid in the form of two policemen who loomed up on the horizon. Emma was subdued and again landed in the women's ward.

Early yesterday morning Mrs. Shiras, who is night nurse at the emergency hospital, was busy attending a case and did not notice Mrs. Lucas. She had entered the operating room and, from a case, secured a large surgical knife. The woman was as sly as a fox, as all insane persons generally are, and in concealing the deadly weapon under her garments she went stealthily back to her ward. Her actions were noticed, however, by a patient and the alarm given.

Mrs. Lucas was made to give up the knife and she was then placed to bed and restraining straps put on her. To this she objected very much and was continually crying to be released. When her breakfast was served yesterday morning the insane woman used the knife sent up with the meal to cut her straps.

Once more the big woman made her escape by a window and was not seen until she was climbing over the fence of City Hall park. Across the street she fairly flew into a clothing store, where she demanded the use of a telephone to call for help, she said.

The stream of doctors, attendants and board of health attaches which followed the demented person would remind one strongly of a chase seen almost weekly in the kinodrome pictures at the Orpheum theater. She was corralled and returned, a restraining strap dangling from one of her feet.

In what was thought to be a lucid interval later Mrs. Lucas told Colonel J. C. Greenman, who looks after the insane for the police, that she had hidden a sum of money in the women's wash room at the Grand Central depot. Colonel Greenman searched for it but found nothing. Mrs. Lucas said that when she arrived here the money was in a stocking and that a woman passenger had advised her to take it out. She said she did so and hid it in the washroom.

Labels: board of health, Central station, city hall, Col. J. C. Greenman, doctors, emergency hospital, Fifth street, Grand Central depot, mental health, nurses, police, Second street, visitors, women, Wyandotte street

April 19, 1907

FROM ROSEDALE, NOT SEDALIA.

Police Cast Doubt Upon Mrs.

Henderson's Story of Hardships

The police and the authorities at the Helping Hand institute have grave doubts of the story told by Mrs. Mable Henderson, who, with her blind baby, insists that she walked all the way from Sedalia, Mo., to this city, a distance of ninety miles, in three days. She says that she left there at sunup Monday morning , and arrived here at about 5:30 o'clock Wednesday evening, having had only 25 cents for expenses.

Mrs. Henderson was found by the police in the bottoms late Wednesday night, and sent to headquarters and then to the Helping Hand. She said she was not tired when she came in, refused food, saying she was not hungry, and neither her dress nor shoes were at all worn as they would have been from such a long tramp.

Early yesterday morning a man called Captain Weber at police headquarters and said: "I know the Mrs. Henderson with the blind baby mentioned in the papers this morning. She has lived with several others in a tent on the outskirts of Rosedale all winter. The men named in the paper as brothers-in-law, for whom she is now looking, lived there also. They all left recently and I don't know where they went."

The man refused to give his name. An official from the Helping Hand went to Rosedale and found the report to be true. He was also informed that Mrs. Henderson has two other children somewhere else. This she denied later. The investigation will be carried on further today.
"We have had at least twenty-five calls today offering to take both the woman and her baby," said Superintendent E. T. Bringham. "Several called in person and offered to assist in any manner desired. She was being cared for, however, and a specialist was secured for the baby, so all was being done what was necessary. The eye specialist, after a close examination, said that there was no hope for the baby ever regaining its sight, it having been blind from birth."

Mrs. Henderson said that she could get no place to work on account of her blind baby, the mother herself being blind in one eye. On this account it was said yesterday that an effort would be made to take the blind baby from its mother and place it in a blind institute, where it could be educated with others similarly afflicted. Left as it is, it would have little chance to make a living. The mother, when placing the child even in the nursery was mentioned, objected strenuously, and said that wherever the baby went she would go also.

"The woman is known to the Associated Charities," said Colonel Greenman, Humane agent, "and has been for some time. Agents from there are investigation the case now. Mrs. Henderson weighs only ninety pounds and her baby seventeen pounds. To reach here in three days she would have to walk at least thirty miles a day. That seems an impossible task for one so frail as she appears to be."

Labels: Associated Charities, charity, children, Col. J. C. Greenman, con artist, Helping Hand, police headquarters, Rosedale, Sedalia, visual impairment

April 7, 1907

2 RUN-AWAY WIVES

SISTERS FLEEING FROM HUS-

BANDS SEEK REFUGE HERE.

ONE OF THEM

UNDER ARREST.

SHE IS ACCUSED OF SELLING

MORTGAGED PROPERTY

Mrs. Jennie D. Smith, of Denver, and

Mrs. Narcissus Smith Tell Their

Troubles to the Police

-- "Plot to Get Me to

Denver," Says Jennie D.

There must have been all kinds of discord in the Smith family when two Mrs. Smiths, sisters, made up their minds to run away. Both are now in the matron's room at police headquarters. Both are pretty, brown eyed and auburn haired.

One of them is being held a prisoner. Her name is Mrs. Jennie D. Smith from Denver, Col. An officer from there will be here after her this afternoon. A wire to the chief here said that a charge of welling mortgaged property had been placed against her.

Mrs. Jennie D. Smith said that she left her husband in Denver three months ago, going to her sister, Mrs. Narcissus Smith, in Memphis, Tenn.

"My husband threatened to kill me more than once," said Mrs. J. D. Smith. "My sister was there at the time and heard him do so many times. When we separated he gave me all the furniture and told me to keep the roomers or do what I pleased. He said he would make the payments for it. When I got ready to go to Memphis with my sister I sold the furniture, $350 worth of it, for $115. The auction house to which it was sold lost it afterwards to the instalment house. My husband simply wants to get me back there, and into trouble, with the idea that I will go back to him -- but I won't. Not much."

The two sisters went on to Memphis, where two weeks ago, Mrs. Narcissus Smith concluded that life with George Smith, a machinist, could not be endured any longer. So they both "up and left," taking the Memphis woman's 3-year-old baby, Ruth, along with them. Mrs. George Smith was preparing to go back to Denver with her sisters.

Yesterday morning a small, bald, stockily built man went into the office of Chief Hayes and announced that he had come to town to "kidnap me child." After a short talk it was learned that he was after "Baby Ruth," a golden haired beauty.

"I am going to take that kid away from my wife and take it to the home of my sister," he announced. Chief Hayes, however, told Smith that he would walk into all sorts of trouble if he attempted anything of the sort in Kansas City. He was referred to Colonel J. C. Greenman, Humane agent.

It was the order of the colonel that an officer be sent out with Smith, and that all three, husband, wife and baby appear at his office. While Smith and Detective William Bates were scouting in the vicinity of Hasbrook place, Twelfth and Washington streets, where the Mrs. Smiths had resided, Mrs. George Smith appeared at the matron's room to see her sister. When she was told that her husband was here after the child she was more than frantic.

"He'll steal it. He'll steal it, just as sure as fate," she said, hysterically. "I never did him but one mean trick and that was to use his last month's pay check with which to get away. He was just preparing to leave me and go to Panama, and I knew it. Now he wants the baby just for spite."

She was going right home to protect her baby, but was told that Smith was with an officer,and would not dare to do such a thing. On her way downstairs to see Chief Hays and ask his protection, which Colonel Greenman advised, after hearing her story, she encountered "George" right face to face in a narrow hallway.

"Don't you touch me! Don't you speak to me!" she exclaimed, as she sought protection behind a big policeman. Smith wilted when the policeman said, "Phat ye tryin' to do here, hit a lady? G'wan wid ye, er Oi'll drive ye into th' flure like a tack."

Chief Hayes sent Holly Jarboe with Mrs. Smith No. 2 to her rooms at Hasbrook place, where the child was found with a neighbor. She moved right then and there, bag, baggage and baby, to the matron's room at police headquarters, where the chief said she could remain until her sister left for Denver. This afternoon an officer will accompany her to the train to see that no trouble occurs in the Smith family.

"If Smith wants to steal his baby let him go to Denver," said the chief. "We don't allow that here when we know it."

Labels: children, Col. J. C. Greenman, custody, Denver, detectives, domestic violence, Holly Jarboe, Police Chief Hayes, police headquarters, Twelfth street, Washington street

March 20, 1907

WHEN SHE ASKED FOR MONEY.

Flagman's Wife Says He Beat Her
on the Street.

Mrs. Robert Donohue, an aged woman living at 8 Chestnut avenue in the East bottoms, went to the office of the Humane Society yesterday afternoon to complain of her husband, a flagman for the Missouri Pacific and C. & A. railroads at the Chestnut Avenue crossing.

"I went to the switch shanty today to see if he had got his check," she said. "The pay car had just passed and another man, Mr. McCoy, brought it to him. He asked McCoy to remain and watch the crossing while he went to get it cashed.

"When he returned, he offered teh man a dime, which he refused. Just then I saw a quarter on the sidewalmk and stooped down to get it, intending to hand it to my husband. While I was reaching for it he attacked and beat me. I have three married daughters here and they have all tried to get me to leave my husband, as he has often cruelly beaten me.

"I would have had him in police court last month, but I was ashamed to appear there with such a black eye as he had given me."

Colonel Greenman said that he advised Mrs. Donohue long ago to secure a warrant for her husband and yesterday he gave her the same advice.

Labels: Col. J. C. Greenman, domestic violence

February 26, 1907

BY A LAWYER'S AID.

ATTORNEY HELPED MRS. ROBINSON

KIDNAP HER CHILD.

AN OLD MYSTERY CLEARED UP.

CHILD WAS TAKEN FROM CHACE

SCHOOL LAST JUNE.

Mother and Father Had Separated and Courts Had Awarded HimCustody of Gertrude, 7 Years Old--Humane Officer Suspected.

When little Gertrude Robinson, 7 years old, was kidnaped from the basement of the Chace school by her mother on June 1 last year many persons, especially Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Weaver, 1404 Troost avenue, who were keeping the child, believed that Colonel J. C. Greenman, Humane agent, had aided Mrs. Robinson. A woman, well known as a local temperance worker, appeared at Colonel Greenman's office yesterday afternoon, however, and admitted that she and a lawyer had planned the whole thing. Mrs. Robinson, she said, came on here from Chicago and stopped at her home. The lawyer was called in and the three planned the kidnaping, which was successful.

Just after little Gertrude entered the basement steps at the school the morning of Friday, June 1, 1906, a woman was standing in the shadow. "Hello, Gertrude," she said. "Why, hello, mamma," replied the child. The mother threw a black cloak over her child and ran to where a carriage was standing on the Paseo. With mother and child the carriage was driven rapidly south to Fifteenth street and west. Then it was seen no more.

It was believed that Mrs. Robinson had stolen her own child, but this could not be proved. Woman-like, however, she had to tell it. Two days later a Frisco conductor came in from his run and reported that a woman with a little girl, described as the missing one, had boarded his train in Rosedale. He paid no attention to her, but she had told the train butcher her story. She said that after getting possession of Gertrude the hack had driven to the Southwest Boulevard and Wyandotte street. All that had been planned out beforehand. There she left the vehicle and boarded a Rosedale car, getting out there just in time to meet the ongoing Frisco passenger for Springfield, Mo. She left Springfield for St. Louis and went from there to Chicago, getting home the next day.

The child was not missed by the Weavers until noon. Then they instituted a search on their own accord, and the kidnaping was not reported to the police until 2 p.m., five hours after it occurred. All of the outgoing trains were watched by detectives, but the shrewd little mother with her babe was many, many miles from Kansas City railway stations. She knew they would be watched, that is, she, her woman friend and the lawyer.

Little Gertrude was the daughter of Harry G. Robinson. He secured a divorce from his wife by default, the notice of the suit having been printed in an Independence paper, which the wife never saw in her Chicago home. When she heard of it she came here and tried to get the decree set aside, but failed. The court had given the custody of the child to Robinson. Colonel Greenman had advised the woman in both suits and that was how he came to be suspected of advising the kidnaping.

The mother came here once," said the colonel yesterday, "and visited with her child at the Weaver's for a week. I suspected something wrong at the time and went so far as to make Mrs. Robinson leave her return ticket and all her money, but a small amount, with me, and saw her to the train when she left. She had visited at my house then and I knew if she got away with her baby I would have to bear the blame. When she did come here and succeed in kidnaping it I had no idea she was out of Chicago -- but I got the blame nevertheless of advising her to take it in the manner in which she did. I wouldn't use my office for breaking the law and am glad that Mrs. Blank has set me right."

The woman who helped to plan the kidnaping said she was going to tell the Weavers how it was all done -- some day, when she got a chance.

Labels: butchers, Col. J. C. Greenman, crime, custody, Divorce, kidnapping, Paseo, Rosedale, schools, St Louis, Troost avenue

February 23, 1907

ADOPTED A NINTH CHILD.

Mrs. Fanny Savage, Highwayman's

Wife, Accused of Neglect.

When Mike Savage, alias O'Brien, was arrested by Detectives Kenny and Ghent on a charge of highway robbery, at his home, 417 East Eighteenth street, the night of February 14, those officers reported to Colonel J. C. Greenman, Humane agent, that a little 5-month old baby was being kept there in squalor, wretchedness and misery.

Yesterday morning Dr. E. L. Matthias, of the juvenile court and Mrs. Kate Pearson, of the Associated Charities, went to the Eighteenth street house, while Mrs. Fanny Savage, the baby's foster mother, was away and took the little one to Mercy hospital, Fifth street and Highland avenue, where it is said to be in precarious condition.

When Mrs. Savage returned home she was taken before Colonel Greenman for investigation and asked why she had adopted a child of such a tender age and then had neglected it. She said her husband saw it at St. Anthony's home and "took pity on it" and for that reason she adopted it -- "just because my husband wanted me to," she said. "I have eight of my own now and five of them are at home."

Savage, James Severwright, Samuel Hite and Herman, alias "Dutch" Gall, are all confessed highwaymen now in the county jail awaiting trial.

Labels: Associated Charities, Col. J. C. Greenman, crime, custody, Eighteenth street, Highland avenue, highway robbery, jail, juvenile court, Mercy hospital, St Anthonys Home

January 29, 1907

BEAT HER MOTHER.

INSANE DAUGHTER VICOUSLY

ATTACKS MRS. MURLEY

INJURIES MAY CAUSE DEATH.

FOR YEARS AGED WOMAN LIVED
ALONE WITH DAUGHTER
Always Protested Against Sending
Her to Asylum -- Miss Murley's Hallucination
of Marriage ith Man Whose Name She Conceals

The muffled scrams of a woman attracted some attention in the vicinity of Forty-sixth and Bell streets late Sunday night, but, as they finally died down, little attention was paid to the incident. Early yesterday Mrs. Nancy Murley, 72 years old, both eyes blackened, her head cut and her body beaten black and blue, left her home at 4604 Bell street and made her way to a neighbor's house. Having been a cripple for many years, Mrs. Murley walked with a cane.

"I have done my best to protect my daughter for the last nineteen years," the aged woman told the neighbor, "but now she has beaten me nearly to death and threatens to kill me. She is locked in the house there and I had a hard time getting out without being seen."

Police station No. 5 in Westport was at once notified and Mrs. Murley was cared for. Sergeant Dillingham, accompanied by H. D. Greenman, a son of Humane agent Greenman, went to the house, which they found closed, all doors being tightly bolted or locked. Miss Fannie Murley, the woman hwo had so cruelly beaten her mother, was finally prevailed upon to admit them. She was sent to police headquarters and later in the day transferred to the general hospital, where she will remain until the county court passes on her case. She probably will be sent ot an asylum.

Beaten With a Board.

Miss Murley never missed going to both Sunday school and church. When she returned home Sunday night and her mother admitted her she said:

"I am going to put a stop to you and Bessie (a cousin) talking about me. I am going to beat you to death, or burn your limbs off so you can't go out and then I shall go and kill her."

Mrs. Murley had seen her daughter in a tantrum often before and thought by letting her alone she would become quited. Instead, however, the woman, who is 32 years old, fiercely attacked her aged mother with her fists, beating her severly about the face and head. Then she got a piece of board or bed slat and beat her mother over the back and shoulders. Mrs. Murley is now in a dangerous condition, on account of her age, and may die from the injuries. Dr. T. H. Smith, Forty-third and Bell streets, is attending Mrs. Murley.

J. W. Davis, 405 Freeman avenue, Rosedale, a motorman, is a cousin by marriage of the woman. It was his wife, Bessie, whom Miss Murley had also threatened to kill. From him it was learned that Miss Murley had had typhoid fever when 13 years old and from that time had been slightly demented.

Devotion of the Mother.

"Only two weeks ago," said Davis, "the girl beat her mother so that she was compelled to leave home and come to my house for a few days. The girl has always been dangerous, but her mother, hoping against hope, lived there alone with her. We probably never willknow what the aged woman has endured in all these nineteen years. Now, however, she sees the utter futility of trying to keep her at home adn will endeavor to send her to an asylum. She was not able to leave her bed today, though, and may never be again."

Davis said that Miss Murley has often disappeared from the home. She would put on a hat and leave when her mother was not watching her and, in a week or ten days, return in the same mysterious manner. She was never able, however, to tell where she had been or what she did. On one occasion when she had been gone for two weeks, and the police had searched for her all over town, she returned late one evening. She was wet and cold., for it was in the fall of the year, and her shoes were worn through to her blistered feet. When asked where she had been all she would say was, "I rode on a hand carl>"

Another time Miss Murley was found wandering in the woods near here. Believeing that she would like a trip to the country she was sent to relatives on a farm, but all to no avail. The police at the Westport station have record of many times where Miss Murley disappeared, but she always returned home, when she became more reational, without their ever having had a single trace of her.

Doctor Calls Her Dangerous

Dr. St. Elmo Sanders, city physician, examined Miss Murley in a cell at police headquarters yesterday afternoon. She told him that she never struck her mother in her life, but suspected that neighbors were "annoying her." She said that she got up early to make a fire and her mother began to scream, "a habit she has had for a long time," she added. The woman is believed to have attacked her mother with an iron stove poker just before Mrs. Murley succeeded in making her escape from the house.

Miss Murley also said that she was married two months ago to a gospel singer. "He was here two weeks ago," she said, "but had to go away again. We were married in an East side Christian Church." Further than that she refused to state. Davis, her cousin, said Miss Murley had never been married, but had often written love letters to men with whom she had been acquainted or had only seen. She took her pencil to jail with her.

Thomas Bell, a farmer of Shelby county, Mo., brother of Mrs. Murley, was notified by Davis of her condition. He will probably arrive here today. Mrs. Murley wil be removed to a hospital where she can be more properly cared for. The neighbors have been caring for her since she was attacked so brutally. Since the death of Daniel Murley, an old soldier and husband of Mrs. Murley, she and her daughter have lived at 4604 Bell street. She bought a little home there five months ago.

"Miss Murley, though a small woman," said Dr. Sanders, after the examination, "is one of the most dangerous patients I have seen in years. She is suffering from chronic melancholia, and would kill another perosn or herself just as soon as the notion struck her. She must be closely guarded. I am not surprised at what she had done, or that she denies it. She should have been incarcerated years ago."

Labels: abuse, Bell street, Col. J. C. Greenman, general hospital, mental health, police headquarters, Rosedale, Seniors, typhoid, Westport