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

January 25, 1910

POOR MAN'S SHAVE ATTACKED.

Barber College Law, Which Prohibits

Charging, Will Be Tested.

The "poor man's" shave may become a thing of the past. The State Board of Barbers is after the barber colleges that give a shave for a nickel. Complaint was made yesterday to the prosecuting attorney and information will be filed this week in the criminal court to test the validity of the barber law.

A barber college at Missouri avenue and Delaware street will be made the defendant. It is charged that the owner has placed a barber pole in front of his "school," and that he charges five cents for a shave. It is also charged that the owner, or "president," advertises in the newspapers and employs barbers.

The law requires that barber colleges shall not charge for shaves and hair cuts, the barber pole shall not be displayed and only the "students" shall work upon the "victims."

Labels: barbers, criminal court, Delaware street, Missouri avenue

January 10, 1910

HOBOES RAID ROOMING HOUSE.

But Police Cut Short Their Rest; 17

in Jail.

Tired of loafing around on street corners, seventeen hoboes organized themselves Saturday night and made a raid on a rooming house at 427 Delaware street, taking possession of all the beds after driving the keeper and guests away. The police were notified and the gang taken into custody.

"We got to sleep in a bed once in a while to keep from forgetting how," declared one of the tramps at police headquarters. "But I reckon you've got some bunks here."

Labels: Delaware street, hoboes, police headquarters, rooming house

November 16, 1909

MARCHED HIM TO STATION.

Employer Surprised Employe Dis-

posing of Ham and Bacon.

George Teck, head of the firm of Teck, Waterman & Co., 411 Delaware street, wholesale dealers in cured meats, acted as his own detective and yesterday morning caused the arrest of an employe of the firm on a charge of larceny.

For some time past Teck has been missing hams and sides of bacon from the stock. Early yesterday morning, according to his statement at police headquarters, he caught the man trying to dispose of a twelve-pound ham and a side of bacon.

Taking him into custody, Teck marched him to headquarters and turned him over to the police.

Labels: crime, Delaware street, food, police headquarters

October 30, 1909

WILSON CONFESSES;

TELLS OF ROBBERY.

ENTERED SCALES OFFICE ON

NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 8.

Prisoner, Who Wrote Threatening

Letters to R. A. Long, Will Be

Turned Over to Federal

Authorities Today.

After "sweating" Thaddeus S. Wilson all day yesterday, E. P. Boyle, inspector of detectives, finally obtained a confession from the young man last night in which Wilson admitted that he had not only sent the two threatening letters to R. A. Long on Thursday but also had broken into the office of the Moneyweight Scale Company, 730 Delaware street, about three months ago.

"I might as well own up," he admitted. "You have the goods on me."

His signed statement offered the confession not only to sending threatening letters to R. A. Long, but also of the burglary of checks and money from the offices of the Moneyweight Scale Company on the night of September 8.

Although state law is drastic in its punishment of blackmailers, and the letter in which $5,000 is demanded is clearly within that class, Inspector of Detectives Edward Boyle announced last night that Wilson would be turned over to the federal authorities today.

The United States punishes with unusual severity persons who attempt to use the mails to defraud, and in Wilson's case there is no avenue of escape. Wilson will be taken in charge by the postoffice inspector.

Close questioning of Wilson yesterday afternoon at police headquarters by Inspector Boyle elicited the information that R. A. Long was not the only Kansas City man from whom he had demanded money.

Lawrence M. Jones was requested to send $1,000 to the young man September 6, but had paid no attention to the matter.

LIGHT ON POLICE METHODS.

When Wilson first came to Kansas City three months ago, he secured employment with the scale company. A few days later the place was robbed. Among the papers taken from the safe was $75 in currency. A couple of days following the robbery, Mr. Shomo of the Moneyweight Scale Company received an anonymous letter signed "C. O. D. 1239." A promissory note was also enclosed in which "C. O. D." intends to pay back the $75. The letter follows:

"KANSAS CITY, MO., September, 1909.
"Dear Sir: You will please find inclosed certain papers that are perhaps of value to you, also note covering the amount with interest computed that looks good to me. Thanks, humbly, C. O. D. 1239.
"P. S. -- Better send to Wichita and tell Mr. Reade to send another money order.
"P. S. 2 -- Say while I was sitting there in that big chair a bluecoat and a graycoat came along, saw an open window and began to talk about it. Yes, they wondered if any one was in there. I began to think it was a hell of a place for me. But I had to sit there and take it. Come very near offering them a ten spot to go on away and leave me alone. Then I heard one of them say to the other one:

" 'Crawl in through that window and see what's wrong inside.'

"Things getting hotter for me.

" 'Me?' says the bluecoat. 'Oh, no.'

"If I had been out in the country I'd laughed out. Come I couldn't. Well, they argued which it should be to go in. Well, they finally said they would send the janitor.

" 'No, no, no! I'm not on the police force yet,' says he. Then there was some more arguing. Well, they came back and looked at the crack in the window with more argument. I was afraid I would have to give up that ten spot. They said they would wait and see. I don't know where they waited. I didn't see them when I made my exit.

"I will close. I would like to tell you some more about those cops. They're true bloods, all right. Say, you will get my check someday. C."

Labels: crime, Delaware street, Inspector Boyle, R A Long

August 9, 1909

FINDS A CITY TRANSFORMED.

F. S. MacJohnstone Tells of Kansas

City 25 Years Ago.

"Kansas City was a mud hole when my wife and I left it for the West a quarter of a century ago," said F. S. MacJohnstone of Colorado Springs, Col., at the Hotel Moore last night. "Its transformation as we viewed it today from an automobile which whirled us over the magnificent boulevards is wonderful. Twenty-five years ago there were huge, ugly hills with rocks jutting out on every side, steep walks, poor sewerage, hilly paved streets and no park system. Now you have the opposite. In Colorado we have beautiful drives and parks for our natural mountain scenery gives us an unrivaled background.

"Neither my wife nor I deemed it possible that Kansas City could make the strides it has since we left it. We have read of the growth of the city but did not realize its extent. We drove this afternoon through Roanoke. We used to go nutting in what is now one of the prettiest residence districts in the city. At that time it was occupied by a few shacks.

"Although my father and I furnished locks and hardware for the Old Missouri Valley buidling which was located somewhere near Fifth and Delaware streets, the only familiar sight we met of any conssequence was the old Blossom house, opposite the Union depot. The hotel was built before we left Kansas City."

Mr. MacJohnstone is a former alderman of Colorado Springs. With his wife he came to Kansas City to attend the wedding of a cousin, Fred MacJohnstone of Chicago, to Miss Lydia Dunning of Rochester, N. Y. Miss Duning was the guest of the MacJohnstones at Colorado Springs and came to Kansas City with them. The bride and groom departed yesterday for Chicago.

Mr. and Mrs. MacJohnstone left last evening for Denver.

Labels: Chicago, Delaware street, Denver, Fifth street, history, hotels, New York, Union depot, visitors, wedding

June 13, 1909

CAN'T USE NELSON BUILDING.

Helping Hand Committee, Looking

for Location, find it Unavailable.

After a thorough inspection of the Nelson building, Missouri avenue and Main street, the committee from the Helping Hand institute passed unfavorably upon it for the institute's use.

George W. Fuller, one of the committee, said last night:

"We found the Nelson building of such a style of construction as to render it unavailable for our use. The executive board of the Helping Hand institute muss pass upon the matter as yet, but our report will be an unfavorable one.

"There are two or three other places which we have in view for a new location, but there is nothing definite about them as yet. We are very anxious to get the Pacific house, Fourth and Delaware streets, but we have been unable to do so."

Labels: Delaware street, Fourth street, Helping Hand, Main street, Missouri avenue

May 19, 1909

THIRD PARALYTIC

STROKE WAS FATAL.

FRANCIS M. FURGASON WAS ILL

THREE WEEKS.

Seventy-Six Years Old, Mr. Furgason

Had Long Been Active in

the Charities of

the City.

As the result of a paralytic stroke which came to him over three weeks ago, Francis M. Furgason, president of the Furgason & Tabb Underwriting Company, with offices in the Dwight building, and a pioneer among the progressive men of this city, died quietly at his home, 1006 East Thirty-third street, at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. He was 76 years old.

Until a few days ago it was hoped that the stricken man might partially recover, although it was conceded by family physicians that a third stroke would cause his death. At times there seemed to be even chances that the third stroke would not come, for the patient and frequent rallies and the advantage of a hardy physique. Monday, however, he began to fail and early yesterday morning it was known that there was no hope for him. The funeral will be held Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock from Calvary Baptist church. Dr. F. C. McConnell, Rev. J. M. Cromer and Rev. H. T. Ford will officiate in the services. The deacons of the church will act as active pallbearers. Interment will be in Elmwood cemetery.

WAS ONCE Y. M. C. A. PRESIDENT.

Mr. Furgason was born near Indianapolis, Ind., April 1, 1833. His father was a pioneer of sturdy Scotch extraction, who had pushed west to the Hoosier state when it was yet a wilderness and staked out a farm at what is now the very center of Indianapolis. Mr. Furgason spent his first years on the farm, but at 18 his father sent him to Franklin college.

Mr. Furgason was graduated at Franklin when he was 22 years old, at the head of a large class for that time. The following year he was made a teacher at the college, and three years later elected to the presidency, which place hie filled, it is said, with credit to himself and the institution until the year 1867, when he gave up his collegiate work and came to Kansas City, where he became involved in the insurance trade.

In 1861 the Y. M. C. A., which was then only an infant organization, was in bad financial straits and temporarily suspended. The war, which had been the cause of the trouble, was now over and many members had returned and were anxious to revive the association on a more active basis than ever before. The board met and Mr. Furgason was elected president of the Y. M. C. A. D. A. Williams, an electrician, was made secretary. The move proved a fortunate one for the associaton.

Under Mr. Furgason's management headquarters and a reading room were established on the south side of Missouri avenue on Delaware. Rent was obtained free from the late D. L. Shouse, then a banker, and the four years of the Furgason administration saw the Y. M. C. A. on an improved financial basis, with a membership that was twice as large as it had been at any previous period. Mr. Furgason never gave up his interest in the Y. M. C. A. and other organizations for the benefit of the younger element of the city.

Soon after his connection with Y. M. C. A., Mr. Furgson was hired as a teacher in the Franklin school at Fourteenth and Washington streets, and served in this capacity eight years. After this he resumed his former occupation of insurance agent and followed it until his retirement from active business a few years ago.

MEN RESPECTED HIM.

"He was one of the kindest and gentlest old men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing," said the Rev. F. C. McConnell of the Calvary Baptist church recently. "I knew Mr. Furgason for thirty-five years," said George Peake, a veteran accountant, who has offices in the First National bank building. "It seemed as if he had the perpetual desire to extend sunshine in all directions."

Mr. Furgason was married twice, once in the early 50s, the last time to Mrs. Laura Branham in 1858. His widow and one son, Frank, who has taken his place in the firm of Furgason & Tabb, survive him. A son, Arthur, and a daughter, Emma, died within a few months of each other three years ago.

Labels: cemetery, death, Delaware street, Fourteenth street, ministers, Missouri avenue, schools, Washington street, YMCA

May 3, 1909

WHEN TROOST AVENUE

WAS A COUNTRY ROAD

A. J. BLETHEN TELLS OF KAN-

SAS CITY YEARS AGO.

Owner of Seattle Times Comments

Upon Growth and Development

in Thirty Years -- West Has

Few Unemployed.

"Without a doubt the growth and development of Kansas City in the past two decades is nothing short of marvelous, and its splendid parks and drives, with the many handsome residences, rival anything I have seen anywhere in the country." This statement was made last night by Alden J. Blethen, former business manager of The Kansas City Journal, and now editor and owner of the Seattle Times, who is a guest at the Hotel Baltimore.

Mr. Blethen left The Journal twenty-nine years ago, to go to Minneapolis, where he had taken over the management of the Tribune of that city. After twelve years in Minneapolis he went to Seattle, Wash., and purchased the plant of the Times.

"I was in Kansas City about ten years ago as a delegate to the Democratic national convention which nominated W. J. Bryan for the second time. At that time I did not have an opportunity to see much of the city, but this afternoon I took an automobile and with my wife and daughters drove around to look over some of the old landmarks.

TROOST AVENUE A COUNTRY ROAD.

"What we used to call the Southern hills is now one of the most modern and beautiful residence sections I have had the pleasure of seeing. It is almost past belief. Thirty years ago I used to drive over the hills along an old country road where the farm houses were more than a half-mile apart. That road is gone and today Troost avenue occupies its place.

"The business has moved with certain precision to the south as the town extended. The old Journal office at Sixth and Delaware streets was then considered the center of town. The number of new buildings is surprising."

Mr. Blethen talked of the exposition to be held in Seattle this year and declared it would exceed any of the minor fairs held in recent years.

"This fair was conceived as a celebration of the discovery of gold in the Alaskan and Yukon fields," said he, "and we are leaving nothing undone to make it a fitting celebration. Last year Alaska produced $21,000,000 in gold and is second only to Colorado in the production of that metal.

Mr. Blethen, with his wife and daughters, left Seattle last March for a tour of the states. He went to California and over the Southern route, stopping at New Orleans and Mobile, and up the coast to Atlanta. Thence to Washington and New York.

He arrived in Kansas City yesterday morning from Chicago and will leave tomorrow for Denver and Salt Lake, arriving in Seattle May 10.

Labels: Delaware street, history, Hotel Baltimore, hotels, newspapers, Sixth street, The Journal, Troost avenue, visitors

December 25, 1908

CHRISTMAS IN OLD

K. C. FIFTY YEARS AGO.

DOINGS OF THE DAY AS RECORD-

ED IN THE JOURNAL.

Dropping Down the Vista of Years,

a Decade at a Time, the Festal

Day Is Reviewed - A

Mayor's Charity.

Kansas City is notable for its Christmas weather. The records show that it is ten to one there will be clear skies on Christmas day. In 1858, a half a century ago, the day was a duplicate of today, "though," says the Journal of 1858, known then as the "Western Journal of Commerce," the weather sometimes froze at night and thawed at daytime, and then sometimes it was vice versa."

Kansas City was not much of a town in 1858, for The Journal had some important city news that Christmas morning. It announced that Delaware street had been "filled" from Third "all the way to Commercial street." That morning there was a fight on the hill. The hill was Third and Main. As the city proper lay along the river front, the hill was quite on the outskirts and just the sort of a place for the hoodlums to mix it up.

Others "mixed it up" besides the hoodlum. The Leavenworth Journal took a nasty fling at this place when it said in its current issue:

"The people of Kansas City are so dirty the assessor classifies them as real estate and they have to pay taxes."

The editor of the Kansas City Journal was on his metal in a minute.

"If the assessor of Leavenworth," was said in the Journal of Christmas day, 1858, "has yet waited upon the editor of the Leavenworth Journal, we would like to know what he estimates asses at."

"The curtain at the theater at Independence dropped sine die last night," is a local item. Independence never got over the closing of its theater. It, and Westport, had scoffed at Westport Landing, and laughed outright when it took on the high falutin' name of City of Kansas. But the City of Kansas opened up an opera house of its own and the one at Independence had to turn the lights out, and the janitor with them.

NO DOUBT OF IT.

"We find it difficult," said The Journal that same Christmas morning, "to convince our readers that we are really in receipt of dispatches of the day previous from St. Louis and the East, but we are, and shortly we will be in telegraphic touch with all parts of the United States," and later on in the report has it that wire was expected by every steamboat for the opening of a telegraph office in Kansas City.

Having no telegraph wires, and certainly no trains, the city had to depend upon the overland stages and river boats for the mails. That morning the mails arrived from Salt Lake, after a phenomenally good winter run. They had left Salt Lake November 29. The trip had been without incident, though a large party of Cheyenne Indians had been passed.

Christmas day ten years later, 1868, saw Kansas City quite prosperous. It had eleven trains in and out every day. President Johnson the day before proclaimed full amnesty to all who had taken part in the war of the rebellion, whether they had been indicted or not. "It is supposed to be issued to enable the supreme court to dodge trying Jeff Davis," was the comment of The Journal, and the editor did not like the prospect a bit. He wanted Mr. Davis tried for treason.

THAT GAY NEW BUS.

Showing how the town was growing, one of the most important local stories was of an improvement:

"Cassidy Brothers have a new bus for their Westport line. It is one of the gaudiest institutions of the city."

The fame of that bus lasted until the father of Walton H. and Conway F. Holmes started tram cars, by building a suburban line to couple Kansas City with Westport.

For the first time The Journal made note of the festivities in the churches. The Grand Avenue M. E. church, known as the mother of churches, was reported as having been crowded with members of the Sunday school and congregation to watch the unloading of a Christmas tree. At Westport the Rev. W. W. Duncan had a tree in his church, too.

Besides Christmas trees there were "oceans of egg nog" in town, according to the report that day, and a grand dinner was given at the Sheridan house, "A. C. Dawes, agent of the Hannibal & St. Joseph," being one of the guests, they had "whisky a la smash up," among other things. Ex-Governor Miller attended that dinner and made a speech. At the dinner it was announced that the steamboat Hattie Weller had brought 500 fine hogs up "for the packing houses in the West Bottoms."

D. L. Shouse, father of Manager Louis Shouse of Convention hall, was publicly presented with a gold badge, because of his great services in the Mechanics' bank.

HE WENT TO ST. JOSEPH.

Dr. G. W. Fitzpatrick may have forgotten all about it, but The Journal of thirty years ago yesterday announced his having gone to St. Joseph for the day. In late years, Dr. Fitzpatrick has lived a retired life, but he was quite a figure in local affairs in his day. He always led the parades. An abstemious man himself, he always started his parades from Sixth and Broadway "because," so he used to say, "it is the only point in the city where there is a saloon on each corner."

It was very cold that Christmas. "The hydra gyrum dropped to 8 degrees below zero," so The Journal tells. Trains were from half a day to all day late and the storm was all over the North and Northwest. Great attention was paid by The Journal to the railroad construction work, and an item appearing that morning, Christmas, 1878, is interesting now because it says that the M. K. & T. had agreed to build from Paola to Ottawa if the people would raise$50,000 bonus and grant a free right-of-way.

FIRST MAYOR'S TREE.

George M. Shelley, at present assessor and collector of water rates, was mayor, and as mayor in 1878 he did what Mayor T. T. Crittenden, Jr., is doing today. He distributed gifts to the poor. To ninety-one families in the First ward, fifty-four in the Second, fifty-nine in the Third, twenty-nine in the Fourth, fifty-five in the Fifth and thirty-four in the Sixth his honor gave orders for provision. Three hundred and sixty-seven individuals and firms -- names all printed in The Journal -- donated money or groceries, and by this means the poor were taken care of.

One man, traveling through the city, told Mayor Shelley he was comfortably provided for but for the moment without money. He was anxious to do something for some poor fellow so he turned his $25 overcoat over to the may or, and his honor soon had it on the back of a man who needed it. The generous traveler refused to give his name to Mayor Shelley.

Kansas City, Kas., was Wyandotte in those days, and Christmas was celebrated there evidently, for an item from that place reads:

"The colored Society of the Daughters of Rebecca had a festival in Dunnings's hall yesterday. Two hens got in a fight. A knife was flourished, but no blood was drawn."

OLD TIME PREACHERS.

At Grace Episcopal, Washington Street Tabernacle, the First Congregational and the Grand Avenue M. E. church there were Christmas trees and festivities.

Christmas day, 1888, saw Father Glennon preaching at special services at the Catholic cathedral. Father Lillis officiating at St. Patricks, and the Rev. Cameron Mann in the chancel at Grace church. Since then all these clergymen have been elevated. Dr. Mann and Father Lillis to be bishops, and Father Glennon to be archbishop; Bishop Talbot, that same day, preached at Trinity, of which church his brother, Robert, is the rector. Dr. Robert Talbot would have been a high bishop himself by this time only for the fact that Episcopalians think one bishop in a family is enough.

That Christmas day was a dreary one. It rained most of the time, at night the downpour turning to sleet. Over 100 telegraph poles were broken down, and almost every wire in the city snapped under the weight of the ice.

Labels: churches, Civil War, Delaware street, history, holidays, Independence, Leavenworth, Main street, ministers, The Journal, Third street, weather, Westport

December 9, 1908

GIRL IS KILLED ON RIVER.

Police Attempted to Sink Skiff in

Which Mrs. Pratt and Chil-

dren Were Escaping.

Information that men and women who had participated in the shooting had escaped and were making their way to a houseboat they had moored in the river was given to the police. Chief of Police Daniel Ahern ordered Captain Walter Whitsett, Lieutenant Al Ryan and Inspector of Detectives Charles Ryan to go to the river with thirty detectives and patrolmen.

When the officers arrived at the river bank, foot of Delaware street, they found one woman, two girls and a boy guarding the boat. Inspector Charles Ryan acted as the spokesman for the police and, climbing down the sand embankment, approached the gang plank. He was stopped by the woman, Mrs. Della Pratt, who threatened to shoot. The woman stood at the head of the scow gesticulating with her left hand as she warned the officers not to come any nearer, while she kept her right hand on a rifle hidden behind the canvas flap of the boat covering. Lining the top of the bank for a block in each direction, people stood watching the police trying to induce the woman way from the boat. She refused to allow anyone to approach the boat nearer than the end of the gang plank.

When ordered to come out on the bank she said she would give herself up if the police would bring Mrs. Melissa Sharp to the river and allow her to talk to her. The police refused to grant her request. Then she asked them to have James Sharp, whom she called "Adam," brought to the house boat.

REFUSED TO SURRENDER.

For forty-five minutes the police argued with the woman and pleaded with her to surrender, but she stubbornly refused. Her two daughters, Lula, 14, and Mary, 11, joined the tirade against the police. While the officers did not want to shoot the woman and two girls, they were afraid to make a run for the boat, as it was believed that some of the men might be in it.

Finally a woman allowed William Engnell, a 15-year-old boy, to leave the boat and the police officials urged him to try to influence the woman to give up. He returned to the boat, but he did not have any success and again left the boat and was placed under arrest.

Untying a skiff which was alongside of the small houseboat, the woman ordered the two girls into it, and taking several revolvers and a rifle, the woman entered it and shoved off toward midstream. As the skiff, which had a canopy over it in the bow, floated out into the current, loud cheers rent the air from many of the persons in the crowd who sympathized with the woman and her kind.

ORDERED NOT TO SHOOT.

Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., and Police Commissioner Andrew E. Gallagher were spectators along the river bank, and had ordered the police not to shoot the woman and children. But it was seen that the woman and children would soon be out of reach, Mayor Crittenden gave the police permission to attempt to shoot holes in the boat in an attempt to endeavor to compel the woman to put back to shore.

Immediately upon receiving the order, Lieutenant Harry E. Stege, armed with a riot gun, shot at the boat and his fire was at once returned by the woman, who used a Winchester. As the bullets from the skiff were aimed at the crowd and were heard to sing as they passed overhead, the crowd wavered and finally broke and ran. The police fired volley after volley at the skiff, but could not tell whether the bullets were having any effect. After using all of the ammunition in the boat, the woman sat down and the girls got under the canopy.

Previously, and during the shooting, the three had been standing up in the boat, singing and waving their arms. It was seen that the boat had passed behind the range of the police guns and a new form of attack had to be planned. Mayor Crittenden ordered several patrolmen to enter a skiff and follow the fanatical woman and her children. He ordered them to stay out of rifle range but to keep them in view and arrest them at the first opportunity.

FOLLOWED BY FERRY BOAT.

But as the crowd of police officers and followers ran east along the river bank they came to the Ella May, a ferry boat, and impressed it into service. The captain of the boat was ordered to follow the floating skiff and near the piers of the old Whiner bridge the Ella May drew alongside of the skiff and its occupants. Inspector Ryan and Captain Whitsett asked them to take the woman out of the water.

The water became so shallow that the ferry boat had to back up, and it was then steered to the regular Harlem landing and the police ran up to where McCoy was standing on the bank with Mrs. Pratt and her daughter, Mary.

The woman informed the officers that her other daughter, Lula, 14 years old, had been shot in the cheek and was in the boat. The little girl's dead body was huddled in the bow of the skiff. It was placed on some bedding found in the skiff and two patromen rowed it back to the foot of Main street, where an ambulance was waiting. The woman and living child were put on the ferry boat and brought to police headquarters. The dead child's body was sent to Wagner's morgue.

PITY FOR THE CHILD.

With her clothes wringing wet from dropping into the water as she attempted to get out of the boat after her mother said they would surrender, Mary Pratt, 11 years old, stood shivering on the sand bank near Harlem. An officer shed his coat and wrapped it around her. Pity was expressed by every police officer for the girl, but none was shown for the woman who was led to the boat with her wet clothes clinging to her body.

They were placed in the engine room while the ferry boat crossed the river, and then taken to the station in the police ambulance. While crossing the river Mary, who is a sweet-faced intelligent little girl, told about the shooting.

"Our faith you know teaches us that we have the right to kill police who interfere with us. We were strangers and did not know we had to have a permit to sing in the street. When the officer came out there and told us to get off the street, then we believed that they were not peaceful and we had a right to shoot them."

"Does your religion teach you that it is right to kill people?" was asked. "No, you be just and understand my position," Mary said. "We are a peace-loving people and believe that this country is free and we have a right to preach on the streets. If the police try to stop us our religion teaches us to believe that they are wrong and should be killed."

"Did you all have guns with you up town, Mary?" was asked by Lieutenant Al Ryan.

"Yes, we all had guns except Dewey and Edna. Papa had given them to us and we always carried them when we went up town to preach," she said. As she told her story she smiled every little while, and the fact that her sister had been killed did not seem to trouble her.

She told the police that the tribe of religious fanatics had drifted down the Missouri river from North Dakota, where they had spent the summer. Two boys named William and Alexander Engnell joined the clan at Two Rivers, S. D. The boys lived at Pelan, Minn. Alexander fell from the faith, Mary said, and left the band before they reached Iowa. William is still with the people and was arrested at the houseboat.

Labels: Adam God sect, boats, Captain Whitsett, children, Delaware street, Fourth street, guns, Harlem, Main street, Mayor Crittenden, ministers, Missouri river, murder, Police Chief Ahern, violence, women

December 9, 1908

"EVE" THREATENED TO SHOOT.

But Ryan and Joffee Rushed Upon

the Frenzied Woman and Captured Her.

Samuel Joffee, clerk in the city auditor's office, ran out of the city hall as soon as the firing began, and he, in company with Inspector of Detectives Charles Ryan, captured Mrs. Melissa Sharp, the woman who calls herself Eve, and disarmed her at Second and Delaware streets, whither she had fled form the scene of the battle. Mr. Joffee made the following statement:

"I was in the office when I heard the first shot, and ran out at once. The shooting was going on in front of Probasco's saloon. About that time I saw Eve running along Fourth street toward Delaware, with the three children. Inspector Ryan and I ran after her. She turned north on Delaware, and we caught up with her at the corner of that street and Second, where she had climbed a hill on the east side of Delaware.

"As she stood on top of the hill she drew her revolver and said she would kill the first man who came up. I picked up a brick, but changed my mind and, instead of using it, I ran up the hill with Mr. Ryan and as we grabbed her, all three of us rolled down the twelve-foot incline. At any rate, we got hold of her revolver and wrenched it away, then we took her on up to headquarters."

Labels: Adam God sect, city hall, Delaware street, detectives, Fourth street, guns, police headquarters, saloon, Second street

September 21. 1908

UP THE RIVER IN LAUNCHES.

Twenty-Four Craft Went as Far as

Parkville Yesterday.

Twenty-four launches containing members of the Kansas City Yacht Club, their families and friends, made an eighteen-mile trip up the river to Parkville yesterday, and so successful and enjoyable was the outcome that it is the intention to make several other similar runs before the advent of cold weather.

The launches, containing about 100 people, departed from the foot of Delaware street at 10 o'clock with Art Boylan, a man well acquainted with the river, as pilot. Shortly after noon the fleet arrived at its destination, and, after anchoring, the pleasure seekers went ashore and had dinner at the hotel. The return trip was started about 3 o'clock and all of the launches arrived safely at the dock here by 5:30 o'clock.

"It is trips like these that are worth while," said Judge J. Karl Guinotte, one of the party. "The river at this season is just right for a trip of the kind, and the people of Parkville gave us a royal time. I am one who is determined that such trips shall be regular weekly events."

Labels: boats, Delaware street, organizations, Parkville

July 28, 1908

OLD NEWSBOY ONCE

A PROSPEROUS MAN.

EDSON E. PHELPS HAD CITY'S

LEADING BOOKSHOP.

That Was Twenty Years Ago -- Sold

Papers Until His Death Sunday,

Forgotten by Those Who Once Knew Him.

They will be burying Edson E. Phelps today somewhere or other. He died in a third floor back on Sunday, which explains why the doubled-up, little, prematurely old man was not on his camp stool at Eleventh and Main yesterday or the day before, selling newspapers.

When the newspapers yesterday published the announcement of the death of the old "newsboy" they dismissed it in a line or two. There was no mention made about Mr. Phelps, formerly a book seller with a large establishment on Delaware street, and before that the head bookman in M. H. Dickinson's great store at 620 Main street.

The writers who picked up the death of Phelps, the old newsboy, and the undertakers who got his remains, and the deputy coroner who viewed them, were not old enough to remember the days when The Journal was on Fifth street and the town ended at the Junction, where Dr. Munford was talking of putting up one of the biggest buildings in the West, which he had somebody do afterwards, sure enough, and it is there today.

In those days Mr. Phelps, the best known book seller in this part of the country and an authority looked up to from New York and the shops in Churchyard street, London, no less. Mr. Phelps, without a doubt, was the best posted man on books in private trade. He would not snap his fingers to sell a set of new stuff, but he could make T. B. Bullene go miles to look at a hand-tooled Bible, and then made Mr. Bullene buy it and, which may be news to some people interested, he got Father Dalton interested in some other rich old books and the upshot was that Mr. Bullene gave Father Dalton his precious old hand-tooled Bible, that Mr. Phelps had secured for him, one of the only three of the kind in the world.

WITH GREAT FINANCIERS.

And Mr. Phelps could walk slap bang up to the desk of Simeon B. Armour, one of the great Armours, and talk books to him. Mr. Armour said once that he understood there was a Mazarin Bible for sale. Could Mr. Dickinson find out about it? Mr. Phelps was sent for, and he told that excepting for the copies in the British museum and the Lenox, N. Y. library, the only other copy was in the hands of a rich Chicago candymaker, and might be bought. What would Mr. Armour care to offer?

Thank you, he would run up and see if Gunther would take $10,000 for the book.

Last week Phelps would say thanks for two pennies for a copy of a newspaper he was selling, and he would take off his hat for a nickel.

Mr. Phelps -- this is going back to the '80s, when Dickinson's bookstore was the literary center of the city and the public library was on the second floor of the old trap at northeast Eighth and Walnut -- handled a Breeches Bible, and he negotiated for a Caxton Golden Legend, finally terminating the deal by deciding the copy was spurious. He knew the whereabouts of the only First Psalter, Caxton movable type print, and bought over half a dozen copies of Mlle De Maupane, excommunicated though it was and hard to get through the postoffice or customs house without having all the pictures and most of the pages torn out. He thought nothing of charging a $100 commission on a two or more volume set of old works when he was Mr. Phelps, and he cried like a child last winter one cold morning when a man, instead of buying a paper which old Phelps, the newsboy, was wobbling about as an offer, slipped a half a dollar in his hand and said, "Pretty cold this morning, Mr. Phelps."

WHEN HE WAS MR. PHELPS.

"Mr. Phelps" was getting back to the days of uncut first editions of "Pickwick Papers," second edition "Shakespeares," fully illumined "Arabian Nights," and Frank Tyler, and Cameron Mann, and when Miss Sheldley used to buy her expensive editions through Mr. Phelps.

Mr. Phelps would show his precious smuggled copies -- most of them consigned --to the biggest people of the city, and he had the right to walk into the private office of Colonel W. H. Winants in the old Armour bank and talk original plates to him.

But that was a long time ago. That was as long ago as twenty years, and twenty years are twenty decades in this rapidly revolving West.

The self-same Mr. Phelps did not dare to go into the humblest office where they let out desk room in his last years. He had the bad luck to live too long. He ought to have died when Herb Matthews, his old partner in the bookselling business in the Delaware street store, died, or when his other old running mate, Ed Burton, the stationer at Dickinsons, died. The three were the literary authorities of Kansas City. Two of them died ten years ago, and went to their graves in honor.

Phelps buried himself about the same time, but kept on breathing until last Sunday, and the longer he lived the deeper he buried himself, till he got so deep down and so far out of sight that he could come out in the open and sit on a cap stool at Eleventh and Main and sell papers for coppers, getting into greater ecstasy over a nickel than when he was Mr. Phelps and making $100 commission on a single deal. He did not have to die to be forgotten, but old-timers like D. P. Thompson, whose gallery in those days was near Dickinson's store on North Main street, turned up who remembered when Phelps, the newsboy, was Mr. Phelps, the bookseller and literary antiquarian, and the identity of the man was fixed.

Labels: books, death, Delaware street, Eighth street, Eleventh street, Father Dalton, Fifth street, history, libraries, Main street, New York, newspapers, the Junction

May 28, 1908

HAS NITROGLYCERIN

BURIED IN A ROAD.

SAFEBLOWER WILL LEAD

THE POLICE TO IT.

That Is, if Some Wagon Wheel

Don't Set It Off Before This

Morning -- One Sends Money

to His Mother.

Safe blowing is not a lucrative business, according to G. W. Hart and William Riley, the two yeggmen who were arrested Tuesday night after having blown a safe in the Metzner Stove Supply and Repair house, 304 West Sixth street. The two burglars made a complete confession before Captain Walter Whitsett and other police officers last night, telling somewhat of their past and present record, also giving an interesting account of how they pulled off their jobs.

The two men met each other on the streets several days ago and their acquaintance grew steadily. Both lived in a low rooming house at 507 Grand avenue and it was there that they perfected their plans for the safe robbery which they perpetrated Tuesday night.

For several days past Hart has made a hiding place of the Hannibal bridge. In that locality he kept his tools and prepared the nitroglycerin which he used to blow the safes. He said that had he been successful in his robberies here he intended taking his loot to that place and burying it at the roadside, where he has now over a pint of nitroglycerin stored away.

The only other safe blowing job which Hart has tried in Kansas City was Sunday night when he attempted to blow open the safe in the Ernst Coal and Feed barns at Twentieth and Grand avenue. At that time, however, he was interrupted by police officers and barely escaped arrest. He was not successful in this attempt. Two or there days previous to this Hart entered and robbed a wholesale house located near Fifth and Delaware streets. He got only a few dollars in currency.

WHERE HE HAS WORKED.

In tell of his work at the safe-blowing, Hart said: "I have been at this business for the past year or two, and in that time I have robbed safes in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Nebraska and Missouri. The biggest haul I ever made was from a bank in some town in Oklahoma. I had to get through four large front doors which were loaded with concrete, but was successful, and sent the money I made in that deal to my mother. I often sent her the biggest part of my makings. She thought I got it honestly. No, I won't tell you her name or where she lives," he replied to a question from the police captain.

"Sometimes I would bank the money I got from the safes," he continued, "but it never got me anything. I am worse broke now than I was when I was living honestly. The job we pulled off last night was to get me money to pay my board.

"When I got the safe all soaped and ready to blow," he said in reply to a question of where he went when the explosion took place, "I usually stand just on top of the safe. There is no danger of any hurt up there, for the explosion always blows out, not up. If it has made too much noise, I most always have time to jump down and pull out the money boxes before anyone gets there, and then make my getaway."

Hart is a man of thirty or more names. He refused to tell his right name to police officers, saying that G. W. Hart was just as good as any. Among the names given were Maycliffe, Miller, Pope, Brown and Simpson. Hart has served a term of years in the Ohio state penitentiary, having been sent there on the charge of assault with intent to kill. He shot a brakeman who tried to eject him from a freight train on which he was stealing a ride. The brakeman was not seriously injured. With this exception he has had no other prison record, being only 26 years of age.

HE'S GREEN AT IT.

William Riley, the other yeggman, was more reticent about his part in the affair of Tuesday night. He claimed that it was his first attempt at safe blowing and admitted that he was rather amateurish about the business. Though he has not done much along the yegging line, he has a much longer prison record than his partner. Most of his matured life has been spent behind prison bars. He is now 47 years old. He was first convicted of highway robbery in Jackson county and sentenced to five years in the state prison. He had not been released from that term many months before he received a sentence at Springfield, Mo., for a term of two years, charged with grand larceny. Besides this he served four years more in the Missouri penitentiary for grand larceny, having been convicted at Sedalia.

When the two men were arrested Tuesday night the woman who keeps the rooming house in which they lived, and Ernest Vega, a Mexican roomer, were also arrested. Hart and Riley have both testified that these two were entirely innocent of the affair, and have asked for their release. It is probable t hat they will be released this morning, as the time limit for investigation of prisoners is over.

Hart will accompany a squad of police officers to his hiding ground at the runway of the Hannibal bridge this morning, when the nitroglycerin, which he has buried there, will be removed. It is lying on the roadside, just under the surface, and it is feared that the wheels of some farm wagon might accidental cause an explosion if it is not removed at once.

Labels: Captain Whitsett, crime, Delaware street, Fifth street, Grand avenue, Hannibal bridge, highway robbery, immigrants, penitentiary, railroad, Sedalia, Sixth street, Twentieth 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

April 1, 1908

ELECTION WAGERS ARE SMALL.

Money Is Offered With Few Takers,

Pendergast's Odds.

Bets were being freely offered yesterday at even money as to the result for mayor and candidates on the main city ticket. The bulk of the cash seemed to be in the hands of the Crittenden supporters. Bets of $500 even on the Democratic nominee went begging, but smaller ones of $10, $20 and $50 were quickly called. A well known contractor visited the city hall, saying that he had $2,000 to bet on Crittenden in any sums convenient to Beardsley's supporters. After betting $50, the contractor ceased his bluffing, but promised to call again.

In a pool hall on Delaware street these bets were posted yesterday:

One hundred dollars, even, that Crittenden beats Beardsley.

Fifty dollars, even, Baehr, Republican, beats Ridge, Democrat for city treasurer.

One hundred dollars to 45 that Pendergast, Democrat, beats Rodman, Republican, for alderman of First ward.

Twenty-five dollars, even, Green, Republican, beats Hayes, Democrat, for alderman of Eighth ward.

Fifty dollars, even, that Woolf, Republican. beats beats Norton, Democrat, for alderman of Third ward.

Thirty dollars to $50 that Green beats Hayes.

Twenty-five dollars, even, that Kyle, Republican, beats Casey, Democrat, for police judge.

Labels: billiards, city hall, Delaware street, gambling, Mayor Beardsley, politics

March 25, 1908

LOCKED IN SALOON -- HORRORS!

Terrible Fate, Which Confronted Tom

Morgan When Rescued by Police.

One o'clock has so broken up the practice of spending the night in saloons that when Tom Morgan, 616 East Fifth street, had a chance last night to remain a lone guest among the intoxicants of Zimmerman's place, 719 Delaware street, he telephoned for help to get out. He didn't even take a drink before he resorted to the telephone.

At Home telephone headquarters the Western Union clock said 12:30 when a buzzer registered from the Delaware street saloon.

"Number?" purred Central.

"I want out," a husky voice came back.

"Out of where?"

"Out of here."

"Where is here?"

"Oh, I went to sleep in the back room of Zimmerman's saloon here on Delaware street and the bartender locked up without finding me."

Central held the line and called police headquarters. When she had got Patrolman A. O. Darbow on the phone and posted him she put on Morgan.

He was excited. Darbow didn't seem to be in a hurry, and after he had promised release and hung up the receiver Morgan called the station again.

"You didn't tell me how soon you'd come, officer," he said. "I'm lonely and nervous and cold"

"Well, see if you can't find something there to calm yourself with, and a liquid stove, perhaps, and something smooth and cheerful and friendly on the back bar."

"Good suggestion, old man. Hadn't thought of it. The time won't seem so long now, but don't tarry."

"Only waiting for a detective to blow in with a pocketful of skeleton keys and burglar tools and we'll be right up."

Twenty minutes later Darbow and Detectives Godley and Phelan liberated the prisoner.

There was the suggestion of a skate in Morgan's leg actions as he sought his bearings, but he soon was on a bee line for Fifth street.

Labels: alcohol, Delaware street, Fifth street, police, saloon, telephone

February 25, 1908

CONSTABLE SETS

PRISONERS FREE

POLICE MELODRAMA IN WHICH

CASEY IS COMEDIAN.

TWO CONFIDENCE MEN ESCAPE.

THROUGH CONSTABLE'S MED-

DLING, AFTER ONE IS SHOT.

Two confidence men, who had fleeced J. W. Burrows, and Oklahoma ranchman, out of $1,000, were captured last night after an exciting chase, in which several shots were fired, and then, after being in the safe custody of two officers, made their escape at Eighth and Delaware streets through the alleged interference of Roy Casey, a constable of Justice Remley's court.

Both confidence men were arrested by Detective Lyngar, who captured the smaller of the swindlers as he was emerging from a Leavenworth car at the Junction. The larger of the confidence men jumped through the car window and fled down Delaware street. Lyngar, dragging the smaller prisoner with him, gave chase and finally fired at the escaping prisoner. The bullet entered the right arm and the man fell exhausted near the rear of the American Bank building.

Lyngar, determined to catch his man, turned the uninjured prisoner over to Patrolman Regan, and then grabbed the second man. The officers and prisoners then started for the call box at Eighth and Delaware streets and it is here, witnessees say, that Casey interfered.

STOPS THE POLICEMAN.

Casey, in company with David S. Russell and C. E. Reckert of the city engineer's office, pushed through the crowd that had gathered and stopped Lyngar. Casey's explanation is that he did not know Lyngar was an officer and thought that he was going to shoot Patrolman Regan, who was marching in front with the injured prisoner. O. P. Rush of 3015 Olive street and L. R. Ronwell of 1902 East Thirty-first street witnessed the affair and told the police that they heard Lyngar tell Casey that he was an officer.

At any rate an arguent ensued. Patrolman Regan, who was holding his prisoner by the collar of his overcoat, turned around to ascertain what the trouble was. In an instant the inured prisoner slipped out of his overcoat and dived into the crowd. Regan pursued him, firing three shots at the criminal as he ran west on Eighth street. None of the bullets seem to have taken effect.

These shots created fresh excitement and Lyngar, furious with Casey's interruption, loosened his hold on the other man. In an instant the prisoner had jerked away from the officer and was lost in the crowd.

RAPPED CASEY'S HEAD.

The only satisfaction Regan and Lyngar got was in arresting Casey. Regan rapped him twice over the head and Lynar took the constable to the Central station, where he was released on $26 bail. Casey had been attending the Republican convention.

The inured thief not alone lost his overcoat, but in plunging through the crowd lost his hat and undercoat as well. He was traced as far as Second and Wyandotte streets, where he purchased a new hat and coat. Then he ran toward the Kansas City Southern yards.

STOLE $1,000 FROM BURROWS.

Upon the complaint of J. W. Burrows, Oklahoma ranchman, that he had been swindled out of $1,000 by the two confidence men, Detectives Lyngar and Lewis were assigned to the case. Lewis was called away, so Lyngar accompanied by Burrows, made the investigation alone. At the Junction, Burrows espied the two men inside a Leavenworth car at about 9 o'clock. Lyngar went after them. The larger of the men, finding the front entrance of the car shut off, jumped through a window. The smaller attempted to brush by Lyngar, but the detective grabbed him It was following this that the chase began, which ended in Casey's intererence and the escape of the men.

The coat lost by the injured prisoner contained a book which indicates that he lives in the vicinity of the Union stock yards in Chicago.

About 1 o'clock this morning police officers found the coat of the smaller of the two confidence men, from which he also slipped when he escaped from the officer's grasp. It was in Brannon's saloon, on Delaware street, near Eighth.

When the smaller "con" man squirmed out of the garment it fell in the crowd, which parted to allow him to pass. It is not known who took it to the saloon. It is the theory of the police that the $1,000 stolen from the ranchman was in the pocket of the little man's coat when he was captured. It wasn't there when the coat was found.

Labels: Central station, Chicago, clothing, con artist, Delaware street, detectives, Eighth street, Leavenworth, oklahoma, Olive street, railroad, saloon, Second street, the Junction, Thirty-first street, Wyandotte street

February 25, 1908

DEATH DEEPENS MYSTERY.

P. A. M'Millan, Blind, Was Shot in

Rooming House.

P. A. McMillan, a blind man, who was found in the stairway of a rooming house at 601 Delaware street the night of January 16, suffering from two bullet wounds, died last Sunday night at the general hospital. McMillan was shot through the neck and chest. An autopsy yesterday morning deeloped that it was the neck wound that caused the man's death.

Although McMillan was shot more than a month ago, the police have been unable to uncover the mystery of the strange tragedy. Stella Arwood, keeper of the rooming house, was arrested the day following the shooting, and a charge of felonious assault was made against her. She is now out on $1,200 bail.

There were no witnesses to the shooting, as far as the police know, and the officers admit taht definite evidence against the woman is lacking McMillan was able to tell the police that someone whom he did not know led him into the stairway.

Labels: Delaware street, general hospital, rooming house, visual impairment, women

January 18, 1907

HE SAYS A WOMAN SHOT HIM.

Blind man May Not Recover From

His Wounds.

T. A. McMillen, the blind man who was found in a stairway at 601 Delaware street late Thursday night bleeding from a bullet hole in his neck and another in his chest, lies at the emergency hospital in critical condition. He insists that he was shot by a woman as he ascended that stairway. Stella Arwood, a woman who runs a rooming house at 601 Delaware,who was arrested soon after McMillen was taken from the hallway, was arraigned late yesterday afternoon before Justice Shepard on a charge of assault with intent to kill. Her plea was not guilty and she was released on a bond of $1,200 to appear in the same court next Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. The shooting still remains a mysterdy to the police. McMillen is said to have been seen in a saloon in company of an unknown man shortly before he was shot.

James Gibson and William Bulger of 1031 Cherry street, who formerly lived in Harrison county, where they knew McMillen, saw in The Journal yesterday an account of his accident, and called on him at the emergency hospital. From them it was learned that the blind man had been married twice. His first wife is dead, but a son, Albert McMillen, now lives in Gentryville, Mo. . Ten years ago he married Miss Jennie Strong in Harrison county, but they soon separated. They had a son, Winford, now 9 years old, who is with his mother in Washington, where she is married to a railroad engineer named Crosby. George Strong, a brother-in-law of McMillen, used to live at 341 Haskell avenue, Kansas City, Kas. McMillen, has been blind about five years. He was formerly a painter, but since he lost his eyesight he has been a book canvasser.

If McMillen does not die from his injuries he may become paralyzed in part of his upper extremities.

Labels: Cherry street, Delaware street, Judges, rooming house, The Journal, violence, visual impairment

December 21, 1907

HE WAS DETERMINED TO DIE.

Man Thought to Be Charles Corbett

Killed by Sightseeing Car.

A man believed to be Charles Corbett, a railroad laborer from Rossville Station, Ill., was run down and instantly killed by a "Seeing Kansas City" car at Eighth and Delaware streets about 3:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. There were a dozen or more witnesses to the man's death. It is said Corbett was under the influence of liquor.

Harry Criner, 707 Washington street, and William Houser, who gave his address as the Santa Fe cutting house, were standing waiting for a car when Corbett started across the tracks. "Houser grabbed hold of the man," said Criner, "and eh jerked away from him. Just then, seeing the car approaching, I stepped forward and the man was so intent on crossing that he struck me across the nose for trying to interfere with him."

There was nothing in the dead man's pockets but what appeared to be a laborer's transfer from Rossville Junction, Ill., on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad, to some other point. The name of Charles Corbett is on that. The same name appears in several places in a small account book he had. Not a cent of money, not even a pocket knife, was found.

The dead man probably was 30 years old, five feet seven or eight inches tall, and weighed about 135 or 140 pounds. He had dark hair, blue eyes, fair complexion and smooth face. He wore a blue flannel shirt, blue overalls and black trousers.

The records at police headquarters show that twice this week a man by the name of Charles Corbett was held for safe keeping. Both times he had been drinking heavily and once went into the station himself claiming that he was being followed. From the description given them of the dead man the police are sure that it is the same one.

Fritz Braden, conductor, and Lowry Burke, motorman, of the car, were arrested by Sergeant James Hogan and Patrolman John T. Rogers. At headquarters they refused to make a statement to Captain Whitsett and were sent to the county prosecutor. They were released after their names had been taken. They promised to be on hand when wanted.

Labels: Captain Whitsett, Delaware street, Eighth street, laborer, police, railroad, Seeing Kansas City, streetcar, Suicide, Washington street

November 23, 1907

THEY STOLE MANY PENNIES.

Young Men Also Liked Whisky and

Saloon Cigars.

Confessing that they had robbed five places since last Wednesday night, Benjamin Green, Earl Durbin and Emery Luzelle, all young white men, were arrested early yesterday morning at Sixth and Delaware streets.

Green wore two overcoats and Luzelle had in his pockets three quart bottles of whisky and two boxes of saloon cigars.

They admitted having robbed the following places of the things enumerated:

Saloon of Clem Mees, 612 Walnut street, 600 cigars, 2 overcoats and 500 pennies stolen.

Saloon of George Fawkes, 714 Walnut street, $20 in cash, 1 overcoat and 1 jack-knife stolen.

Saloon of Thomas Larson, 114 West Fifth street, 50 cents in postage stamps and 1 gold ring stolen.

Shooting gallery of George Dunn, who was robbed Wednesday night, applied to the police board that afternoon for permission to carry a revolver because he had no safe in his shooting gallery and did not think it safe to carry his day's receipts home with him without the protection of a pistol. His application was refused. He left his money in his place of business and was robbed.

Labels: cigars, crime, Delaware street, Fifth street, saloon, Sixth street, Walnut Street

November 15, 1907

DEATH RATHER THAN BLINDNESS.

Probable Cause of the Suicide of

Leo Mainhardt.

"I believe I am going blind. I can't see to read the paper at night at all."

Before Leo Mainhardt, the cigar dealer, left his store at 601 Delaware street Tuesday night that was a remark he made to one of his clerks. It is the belief of his business associates that he may have wandered about the streets until 12:00 when he went to the Centropolis hotel, engaged a room, then committed suicide.

Mr. Mainhardt's eyesight was rapidly failing and he was constantly worrying about his inability to see.

Constant worry over his ailment," Mrs. Mainhardt said this morning, "is the only cause to which I can attribute his act. He has never said anything that would indicate that he intended to commit suicide, however."

The funeral will be held this afternoon at the house, 1322 Euclid avenue.

Labels: Centropolis, cigars, Delaware street, Euclid avenue, retailers, Suicide, visual impairment

September 28, 1907

MISTOOK IT FOR FIRE.

Sky in the West Had Appearance of

a Conflagration.

"We haven't enough hose and ladders to reach that fire," remarked Fire Alarm Operator Gilpatrick last night.

"What fire is that?"

"Oh, no fire at all; just a red light in the sky over west. The wires have been hot for three hours with inquiries about the location of the blaze. This is one night I have been busy without any fires."

"Why should people be alarmed at a glowing sky?" was asked.

"The excitement has not died down from the Altman buiding and the Eighth and Delaware fires, I suppose."

And then an alamr came in from a real fire at Twenty-third and Park, which caused a further congestion of business.

Labels: Delaware street, Eighth street, Fire

August 23, 1907

ITALIAN BAND TO GO ALONG.

Professor Cantanzara's Musicians to

Accompany the Sieben Excursion.

Henry Sieven, wharfmaster of the port of Kansas City, and his excursion party, will set sail for St. Louis on the steamer Chester at 4 o'clock next Monday afternoon. The boat will heave anchor at the foot of Delaware street. Mr. Sieven said yesterday that he had received invitations from Lexington, Miami, Boonville, Jefferson City, Hermann, Washington and St. Charles, asking his tourists to visit their towns.

Prof. John Cananzara's Royal Italian band, which is to accompany the excursionists, serenaded the newspaper offices last night. There are twenty eight musicians in this organization and they play excellent music under the capable leadership of Prof. Cantanzara.

Labels: arts, boats, Delaware street, Jefferson City, Lexington, music, newspapers, St Louis, Steamboat Chester

June 19, 1907

HUSBAND READY WITH FISTS.

He Fell on A. Lundberg Before a

Patrolman Arrived.

"I arrested this man at Ninth and Delaware last night for grabbing a Mrs. H. P. Stilwell," said Patrolman McFarland, in police court yesterday when A. Lundberg was arraigned and fined $3 for disturbing the peace.

"Did he have that face when you arrested him?" asked Judge Kyle, referring to Lundberg's battered countenance.

"Sure," siad the officer, casually; "the husband gave him a rapid trimming before I got him."

Labels: crime, Delaware street, Judge Kyle, Ninth street, police, police court

April 1, 1907

W. B. THAYER DEAD

WELL KNOWN BUSINESS MAN
SUCCUMBS TO PNEUMONIA.

HAD BEEN ILL THREE WEEKS.

CAME TO KANSAS CITY THIRTY-
SIX YEARS AGO.

Was Secretary and Treasurer of the
Emery, Bird, Thayer Dry Goods
Company -- Leaves Widow and One Son --
Funeral Not Arranged.

William B. Thayer, secretary and treasurer of the Emery, Bird, Thayer Dry Goods Company, died of pneumonia last night at 8:20 o'clock at the Thayer home, Forty-sixth street and Warwick boulevard. He had been ill for several weeks and for the past few days his friends and relatives had abandoned hope for his recovery. The end came peacefully.

Mr. Thayer had rested fairly well during the day, but those who have been constantly at his bedside realized that the end was only a matter of a short time. The illness which terminated in his death was contracted by him about three weeks ago. It first started from a slight cold which developed into pneumonia, necessitating an operation on his lungs for congestion. After the operation he seemed to temporarily improve and hope was entertained for his ultimate recovery. However, about a week ago he suffered a relapse and from that time he gradually became weaker. He was surrounded by his wife and son, a brother and a number of other relatives and friends at the time of his death.

Mr. Thayer was prominent in business circles in Kansas City. In 1901-1902 he was president of the Commercial Club. Prior to that, for two terms, he was vice president of that organization, and for two terms was president of the Kansas City Club.

He was 56 years old, and came to Kansas City thirty-six years ago from Kentucky. He secured a position in the mercantile establishment of Bullene, Moore & Emery, then at Seventh, Main, and Deleware streets. In 1884 he was taken into the firm becoming the junior member, the firm then being known as Bullene, Moore, Emery & Co. On November 1, 1895 the title became Emery, Bird, Thayer Dry Goods Company. Much of the success of this firm is credited to the sound business judgement of Mr. Thayer.

Aside from his gigantic buisness cares and responsibilities, Mr. Thayer had found time to attend to the duties of citizenship and always took an interest in education and the progress of Kansas City. He was a director and treasurer of Convention hall during the period of its reconstruction.

Mr. Thayer was born in Louisville, Ky., but with his paernts later moved to Danville, Ky., where he received his early education. He took the acedemic course at Central college and was graduated with honors.

About twenty-five years ago he married Miss Sallie Casey of Louisville, Ky., who, with a son, William B. Thayer, Jr. survives him.

Mr. Thayer was a thirty-third degree Mason, Scottish Rite. Funeral arrangements have not yet been completed.

Labels: business, Convention Hall, death, Delaware street, history, lodges, Main street, retailers, Seventh street

March 18, 1907

STABBED A HACK DRIVER.

J. A. Smith Assaulted While Witnessing
Fight Between Two Men.

While watching a fight between two men at Fifth and Delaware streets about noon yesterday, J. A. Smith, a hack driver, 25 years old, of 414 Main street, was stabbed twice in the left side by one of the belligerents. He was treated at the emergency hospital in the city hall and sent to his home.

Labels: city hall, Delaware street, emergency hospital, Fifth street, hospitals, Main street, violence