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January 12, 1910

ITS MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR.

Girls' Industrial Home Cared for

1,927 Persons in 1909.

At the annual meeting of the Industrial Home for Girls Association held at the home, 2940 Highland avenue, it was stated that the year 1909 was the most successful in the seventeen years of the home's existence. During the year it has cared for 1,925 girls, one boy and one old woman.

The Industrial Home, which was formerly the Door of Hope, organized originally to care for wayward girls. A year ago it bought the premises it now occupies for $7,000, of which all but $300 is paid. the report for the year shows receipts of $4581.20 and expenses $4,347.97.

The new officers elected yesterday were:

President, Mrs. E. L. Chambliss; vice president, Mrs. John B. Stone; recording secretary, Mrs. George r. Chambers; corresponding secretary, Mrs. George E. Ragan; treasurer, Mrs. J. M. Moore; board of managers, Mrs. J. W. Stoneburner, Mrs. George A. Wood, Mrs. William Waltham, J. M. Givvons, E. R. Curry, Miss E. Ellis, Miss Ella Albright, Miss W. H. Buls, Mrs. W. Matthews, Mrs. J. Fulton and Miss Foster.

Trustees -- R. D. Middlebrook, Judge J. H. Hawthorne, J. N. Moore.

Advisory board -- I. E. Burnheimer, H. R. Farnam, Porter B. Godard, Rev. W. F. Sheridan, Judge E. E. Porterfield.

House surgeon -- Dr. H. O. Leonard.

Matron -- Mrs. S. E. Dorsey.

The retiring president, Mrs. George A. Wood, expressed her thanks to all who helped to give the girl inmates a merry Christmas.

Labels: charity, Highland avenue, Judge Porterfield, women

October 29, 1909

NEGRO COP SHOOTS A NEGRO.

Victim, With Shattered Leg, Falls

at Wife's Feet in Kitchen.

His right leg shattered by a bullet from a negro policeman's pistol which struck him as he stood in his own kitchen door, Martin Young, also a negro, fell at the feet of his wife as she was eating supper last evening.

Young, who lives at 1126 Highland avenue, was playing poker earlier in the day near Tenth street and St. Louis avenue, it is claimed, and the game was raided, but he managed to escape. Patrolmen Gray, Tillman and Campbell, all negroes, in plain clothes, surrounded his home. Tillman went inside while Campbell guarded the front of the house and Gray the rear.

Wilson went out of the back door and seeing the officer standing behind a fence started back. Gray shouted at the ma but as he made no attempt to stop, immediately shot him down.

Labels: gambling, Highland avenue, police, race, St Louis avenue, Tenth street

July 7, 1909

NEGROES MAINTAIN GUARD.

Grizzled Veterans With Springfields

Patrol Dynamite District.

Two ancient negroes, A. L. Jones and Percy Williams, last night did sentry duty in front of the row of cottages on Highland avenue, between Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth streets. It was in this vicinity that a house was wrecked by dynamite early Monday morning after it had been let to negroes.

The negroes who mounted guard last night had both seen service in the civil war in the capacity of teamsters. They were armed with old regulation Springfield rifles. As they paced slowly up and down the plank sidewalk they swapped stories of war times, or kept step to "hay-foot! straw-foot!" according to a system said to have been employed by the drill masters of '61.

"Seems powerful lonely out here," said one of the sentinels, bringing his weapon to parade rest when accosted by a lone reporter in the twilight of a flickering arc lamp.

"When are you relieved?" was asked.

"Not until morning."

"Going to carry that heavy rifle around with you all the time?"

"Certainly; this is soldiering," was the answer.

No clues as to the dynamiting have been discovered by the police of No. 6 station.

Labels: Civil War, guns, Highland avenue, race, Seniors, Twenty-eighth street, Twenty-seventh street

July 6, 1909

ESTABLISH PATROL

IN NEGRO COLONY.

REPORTED BLACK RESIDENTS

HAVE ARMED THEMSELVES.

Arrange System of Signals to Call

for Assistance If Further At-

tempts Are Made to Dyna-

mite Houses.

Negroes who live in the vicinity of Twenty-seventh street and Highland avenue, near the vacant house at 2707 Highland which was wrecked by dynamite at 4 o'clock yesterday morning, presumably as a warning to real estate men that Twenty-seventh street is the negro's farthest point south in that portion of the Tenth ward, have organized for protection, and are reported to have armed themselves. Last night they declared they would not act hastily, but that it bodes ill for anyone to attempt to repeat the dynamiting of Monday morning.

Last night Everett Robinson, whose wife is a white woman, and G. F. Parsons patrolled the colony. They arranged a system of signals by which they could get assistance if needed.

OBJECT TO "INVASION."

White residents of that neighborhood as a rule deplore the dynamiting, but they are a unit in objecting to what they call a "negro invasion" of a white residence district, and they declare that every possible effort should be made to rid the neighborhood of the blacks.

The house dynamited yesterday morning is the property of the King Realty Company. It is the third house from the corner, and is the only vacant one of four cottages. The dynamiting was carefully planned and almost wrecked the house. The explosive was placed in the center of the house and a fuse was led through a rear window. The explosion lifted the roof, wrecked the interior and tore out a portion of the wall. Bric-a-brac and dishes in the adjoining house, occupied by G. F. Parsons, were broken.

The noise of the explosion awakened people for a block. For a time the negroes in the colony were panic-stricken. The police and firemen who arrived on the scene calmed them when they searched the house and discovered no more explosives.

WON'T BE INTIMIDATED.

During the day the negroes talked over the situation, and they made up their minds they would not be intimidated. They say they will remain in the homes which they are purchasing and that the authorities will protect them.

When these houses were finished last spring and it was learned that they were to be sold to negroes, warnings were posted on them, declaring that the negroes should not occupy them. But little attention was paid to these notices. About the same time a real estate man built a row of houses on Twenty-eighth street which he advertised for sale to negroes. A mass meeting was held and he was induced to change his mind. They have since been sold to whites.

The dynamiting yesterday morning came as a surprise to the negroes and also to the white residents of the neighborhood. So far as could be learned yesterday no active steps against the negro invasion of the neighborhood had been taken recently and it was suggested it was possible that the person who used the dynamite probably was inspired from a meeting in the Tenth ward Saturday night.

WILL PROTECT THEIR HOMES.

The negroes of Highland avenue are emphatic in asserting that they will remain in the homes which they are purchasing.

"We have to live somewhere," declared the white wife of Everett Robinson. "My husband does not make a large salary and we put what little money we had in this home. I have not heard of anyone who is anxious to give us our money back and I know that my husband is going to protect his wife and babies from an attack."

Parsons, whose home adjoins the wrecked cottage, declared that the negroes in that section are law abiding, but that they have armed themselves, and that if any further attempt is made at dynamiting it will go hard with the dynamiters.

"I am buying my home here," he declared, "and I am not going to be intimidated."

The "warning to negroes" notices which were printed in the evening newspapers was a copy of a notice tacked on a negro's door last spring. No notices of any kind have been served on the negroes since.

Labels: explosion, Highland avenue, race, real estate, Twenty-seventh street

May 27, 1909

OLD NEWSPAPER MAN DIES.

Edwin Gilbert Erwin Was Founder

of Jackson County Judge.

EDWIN G. ERWIN

Edwin Gilbert Erwin, formerly a reporter on The Journal and for many years a Jackson county newspaper man, died at his home, 1317 Madison street, yesterday morning, of diabetes. He was 48 years old. Mr. Erwin was born in Cleveland, Ill., and had been in the newspaper business practically all his life.

Physically Mr. Erwin was a large man, and during his life in this county was called by the sobriquet of "Judge." In 1898 Mr. Erwin was employed as a reporter on The Journal. Erwin, however, was not satisfied unless editing a paper of his own. After a year and a half on The Journal he moved to Independence with his family , and founded the Jackson County Judge. He held the position of editor on this paper until two years ago.

His relinquishment of the Jackson County Judge was caused by his failing health, due to an attack of diabetes which slowly wasted him away until he was but a shadow of his former self. Last March the family moved to the Madison street address from Independence. The end came after Mr. Erwin had been confined to his bed for two weeks.

Besides his father and widow, three daughters and one son survive. The daughters are Mrs. Frank F. Syne of Sioux City, Ia., and Miss Georgia and Miss Louise of this city. The son is Lester G. Erwin. Two sisters, Mrs. U. G. Osborn of 3424 Highland avenue and Mrs. Eugene Neal, who lives seven miles east of Independence, survive.

Funeral services will be held from the home this afternoon at 2 o'clock. Rev. William Haupt of the Independence Episcopal church, will officiate. Burial will be in Forest Hill cemetery.

Labels: death, Highland avenue, newspapers, The Journal

April 11, 1909

WERE THROWN FROM CART.

Young Girls Escape Injury When

Frightened Pony Ran Away.

While driving a pony cart on Thirty-third street, near Highland avenue, Jeanette McNatha, 14 years of age, and her companion, Helen Hershberger, 16 years of age, were thrown from the cart, the result of a runaway.

While passing Highland avenue the pony became frightened at an automobile and ran west on Thirty-third street for two blocks. Both girls were thrown from the cart by its coming in contact with a tree. Neither was injured. Miss McNatha lives at 1010 East Thirty-third street, and her companion at 1002 East Thirty-third street.

Labels: accident, animals, automobiles, children, Highland avenue, Thirty-third street

January 2, 1909

TEAMSTER CRUSHED BY WAGON.

Denver Speery Is Killed at the Help-

ing Hand Quarry.

While driving a wagon loaded with rock from the rock quarry of the Helping Hand institute, Highland and Lexington avenue, at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon, Denver Speery, 19 years old, 711 Locust street, fell from the wagon and was killed by the wheels running over him. He dropped the reins and leaned forward to pick them up, and lost his balance. He was killed instantly.

Labels: accident, death, Helping Hand, Highland avenue, Lexington avenue, Locust street, teamsters

October 7, 1908

DOOR OF HOPE'S NAME

CHANGED.

It Is "Industrial Home for Girls" Now.

During a meeting of the board of directors of the Door of Hope Association yesterday the name was changed to the Kansas City Industrial Home for Girls, by which title it will henceforth be known. The meeting days were also changed from the second and fourth to the first and third Tuesdays of each month. This home, which for the past sixteen years has been situated at 2940 Highland avenue, has accomplished a wonderful work. It has sought out and harbored unfortunate young women, and in many instances have the influences brought to bear resulted in the girls becoming good Christian women able to support themselves.

Mrs. G. A. Wood, president of the home, has held the office since the home was started.

Labels: charity, Highland avenue, organizations, women

August 27, 1908

ARREST JOHNSON

ON GRAVE CHARGE.

BUCKNER MAN ACCUSED OF AS-

SAULT ON WIFE.

WOMAN IS EXPECTED

TO DIE.

SHE FEARS HER HUSBAND, AND

ASKED FOR PROTECTION.

Prisoner Did Not Expect Arrest -- He

Says He Can Prove His Inno-

cence Easily, but Will

Not Talk of Case.

Charged with having assaulted his wife with intent to kill her last Thursday morning, W. A. Johnson, who lives near Buckner, Mo., was arrested yesterday afternoon and brought to Kansas City, where he was placed in the county jail. The arrest was the outcome of much investigation of the circumstances which surrounded the mysterious assault made upon Mrs. Johnson Thursday morning, and the result of Johnson's strange actions in his home since the morning of the assault.

From the beginning there have been few persons in Buckner who have not believed that Johnson knows more of the attempt to murder his wife than he gave out, and there has been much talk in Buckner of using mob violence.

When Johnson was arrested yesterday afternoon he was at the home of Clint Winfrey, two miles north of Buckner. He was taken there late Tuesday night at his wife's request, she saying she could not rest easily as long as her husband was in the house.

T. E. Beckum of Buckner was the arresting officer. When told that he was under arrest, according to witnesses, Johnson's face lost its expression. His hands and feet worked nervously and without evident purpose.

"You know your duty, Tom," he said slowly, without looking at the constable; "and you must do it. I am ready to go."

"Do you want to read the warrant?" asked Mr. Beckum, producing the paper.

HE DREADED JAIL.

"No, it is not necessary," answered the arrested man.

As the party, which consisted of Johnson, Beckum, Whig Keshlear and J. W. Hostetter, turned to go to the surrey, which was standing by the gate, Johnson hesitated and asked falteringly:

"Will I have to go to jail and spend the night there?"

Upon being told that such would be the case the suspected man almost broke down. He insisted that some arrangement be made whereby he need not be put behind the bars just yet. At Johnson's request Clint Winfrey and T. E. Beckum called up Prosecuting Attorney I. B. Kimbrell and asked him if it was necessary for Johnson to go to jail. Mr. Kimbrell promised that he would look into the matter after the prisoner had been brought to Kansas City.

On the way to Kansas City, Johnson spoke of his arrest but few times. On one occasion he requested that the warrant be read to him. After Mr. Beckum had complied Johnson muttered, "All right, all right."

Upon the second occasion, Mr. Hostetter had spoken of a neuralgia pain in his jaw and Johnson lifted his head from his hands and said:

"My heart aches far worse than your jaw, Hostetter, and it can't be cured."

The party drove into Independence from the Winfrey farm, passing wide of Buckner, since there had been much talk of mob violence. At Independence they stopped at a hotel for a short while and there Johnson was asked if his arrest was unexpected by him.

SAYS IT'S A SURPRISE.

"It was a great surprise, and wholly unexpected," he said. "But I think I had better not talk just yet. If I was at home on the farm I would be glad to answer any question that you want to ask, but until I have talked with my lawyers I had better be quiet. I am not running on my ignorance, nor do I boast of my wisdom, but I think that I will be able to clear up a few things soon.

"Right now I can scarcely collect my thoughts, my brain is in a whirl and I have been under a great nervous strain for the last four or five days. "

Beyond these few remarks Johnson would say nothing. During the half hour that they were in Independence, Johnson remained standing, always shifting about in an extremely nervous manner.

From Independence to Kansas City the party rode on the electric car and all of the prisoner's conversation was in regard to the scenery through which he was passing. Not once did he refer to his arrest.

On East Eighth street between Highland avenue and Vine street is where the woman in the case lives. As the car reached Woodland avenue Johnson, who had been sitting on the north side of the car, crossed to a seat by the window where he could see the house as he passed. As the car reached the place Johnson looked up into the windows of the house until it had passed out of sight. He said not a word.

MRS. JOHNSON IS DYING.

Mrs. Johnson is reported as failing rapidly. The physicians late last night stated that there was small chance for her to live through the night. Symptoms of meningitis have appeared and Mrs. Johnson has become delirious. The nurse and the women of the Johnson household are in constant attention. If she should die, the charge against her husband would be changed to first degree murder, and he would be held in the jail without bond. As it is, he hopes to furnish satisfactory bail this morning.

The arraignment and preliminary hearing will probably be this morning.

The people of Buckner soon learned of Johnson's arrest and most of them seemed to be greatly relieved, while a few thought that the action was a bit hasty on the part of the state. It was taken, however, at the indirect request of Mrs. Johnson, who, it is stated by a relative, greatly feared her husband.

It was given out yesterday for the first time officially that there had been much discord in the Johnson family for the past four or five years, but that none outside of the immediate family knew of the domestic troubles.

Johnson's endeavors to be released from the jail last night were without avail. As he walked into the jail he looked straight ahead of him and spoke to no one. After the cell door was locked he stood silently an gazed at the floor. Mr. Kimbrell stated last night that he could do nothing definite in the case until he learns of the condition of the man's wife. Johnson may be held without arraignment until tonight.

No visitors whatever are allowed in the Johnson house and every effort is being made by physicians to save the woman's life. Dr. N. D. Ravenscraft, who has been attending Mrs. Johnson since the night of the assault, said last night that Mrs. Johnson is worse than she has ever been since the attack. He expresses no hope for her recovery.

Labels: Buckner, doctors, Eighth street, Highland avenue, Independence, jail, Johnson assault case, nurses, Prosecutor Kimbrell, streetcar, Vine street, women

August 20, 1908

MARY PARMELIA SQUIER DIES.

She Was Widely Known as an Au-

thor and Educator.

Miss Mary Parmelia Squier, 52 years old, author and educator, died at her home, 3507 Highland avenue, yesterday afternoon. She was born in Belmont county, O., and was the daughter of E. K. Squier, pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian church in Pittsburg, Pa. She graduated from the high school there and attended the University of Chicago and took a degree. She also attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of music and graduated there. For ten years she taught in the ward schools of Chicago and one year in an Illinois college. She then moved to Kansas City, where her cousin J. J. Squier, owner of the Squier manor, was living, and opened a private school. She conducted this school until two years ago, when she retired to start a bi-monthly magazine. Its name is Home Education and it is printed in Chicago. Miss Squier was editor.

Miss Squier was interested in many movements for the bettering of social conditions, but particularly in the bettering of the Chicago schools and in taking the appointment of teachers out of politics. She spent much of her time in that city and had traveled extensively in other parts of the country.

Miss Squier wrote serious articles for many magazines besides her own, and was a member of clubs in Chicago. The funeral services will be held tomorrow at Marshall, Mo., where her parents are buried. A brother, Charles S. Squier, lives in this city.

Labels: Chicago, death, Highland avenue, schools

July 5, 1908

FOURTH REAPED

SMALLER CROP

NOT AS MANY ACCI-

DENTS AS USUAL.

ONE BOY NEARLY BLINDED.

MYRON KING INJURED BY IM-

PROVISED CANNON.

Toy Pistols, Cannon Cracker and

Gunpowder Claim a Number

of Victims -- Noisy across the Line.

As the result of an untimely explosion of an improvised cannon, Myron King, the 16-year-old son of A. J. King, 1705 Linwood boulvard, received painful and serious injuries about the face yesterday afternoon possibly blinding his right eye. Myron and about fifteen of the neighborhood boys and girls were gathered in the front yard of H. G. Brown's residence, 3219 Highland avenue, shooting off various kinds of fireworks. After all of the firecrackers had become exhausted, some of the boys decided to use a tomato can as a cannon. It was touching off this cannon that the King boy received his injuries.

The can was about half loaded with black powder and slugs, and then plugged with paper. A small priming hole was drilled through the top of the can and firecracker fuses sere used as a fuse. Myrom stooped over the can to light the fuse. As he struk the match the sulphur tip flew off, falling on the powder which had been placed about the priming hole. There was an explosion, and the powder and tin struck the lad full in the face.

Myron staggered back, grasping blindly at the air. His companions ran to him, and the little girls set up a scream which attracted the attention of the whole block. Mothers, whose boys were in the crowd, ran to the scene of the explosion.

Mrs. G. P. Kincade, 3220 Highland avenue, thinking it was her son who had been injured by the explosion, started to run to Mr. Brown's home. She got no further than the front steps of her own home when she fainted in her son's arms. He had come hurrying home to assure his mother that he was safe.

"DON'T SPOIL THEIR FUN"

None of the King family was at home at the time, so the wounded boy was taken into Mr. Brown's home and several physicians were summoned at once. Among them was Dr. J. W. McKee, an oculist. The boy's face was completely blackened by powder and was badly cut in several places. Immediately the physicians and the oculist began to pick out the grains of powder from the lad's face and eyes, and when they had done as much as was possible at one operation, he was taken to his home.

At the time of the accident Myron requested that his parents not be notified until they returned home, saying: "There is no use to spoil their fun today. The accident has happened and it would do no good for them to come home right now." Nevertheless the physicians thought it best that they should be home to take care of the boy as soon as possible, and they were called from Elm Ridge, where they had gone to see the races.

Concerning the boy's condition, Dr. McKee said: "Myron will have a hard fight for the sight of his right eye. It was badly burned with powder and is in a precarious condition. It is impossible to say at this time just what may be the outcome There is still some powder left in the eye and it was not practicable to remove it this afternoon. His left eye is in good condition and it will not take much treatment to make it as good as it ever was."

MAY LOSE ONE EYE.

The physicians who attended the boy say that his condition is not serious. They fear only infection from the can and powder. Most of the particles were removed from Myron's face yesterday afternoon.

According to the physicians and occulist it will be some time before Myron can use his eyes to any extent. It was said that it would take at least three days to determine just the extent of the injuries done to the right eye, and if it can be restored it will take much treatment and a hard fight on the part of the oculist and boy.

Labels: children, doctors, Elm Ridge, explosion, fireworks, Highland avenue, holidays, Linwood boulevard, toys

July 4, 1908

FOURTH BEGAN MORE

NOISY THAN EVER.

BEFORE MIDNIGHT, EVEN, THE

NOISE WAS UNBEARABLE.

No "Quiet Zone" Around Hospitals or

Anything Else -- Giant Crackers

and Torpedoes on the

Car Tracks.

"The racket and noise made by the Fourth of July eve celebrations is something awful, and we are going to call up the police to see if it can't be stopped," said one of the sisters at St. Joseph's hospital at 11 o'clock last night. "There has been loud and disturbing noises all the evening and just now one fanfare was finished up that was incessant for fifteen minutes. It is awfully trying on the patients."

"The annoyance from the discharge of nerve wrecking contrivances is becoming unbearable and our patients are complaining," was the report from Agnew hospital.

"Men and boys have been putting torpedoes on the tracks of the Holmes street car line all night long, and the whole neighborhood seems to be well supplied with dynamite fire crackers," reported the general hospital.

"We have one patient who has become hysterical from the din that is being created in the vicinity of the hospital building. Men and boys are putting something on the car tracks that, when it explodes, shakes the windows," was the report from the South Side hospital.

"The noise is awful and there seems to be no end to it. We wish the police would get around here and put a stop to it," was the complaint from University hospital.

Other hospitals reported like disturbing conditions, and the quiet zones which the police promised were not within the limits of Kansas City last night. Soon after sunset the booming of big and little fire crackers, the placing of the nerve-wrecking torpedoes on street car tracks were of common occurrence and there was not a section of the city that was free from the din and disturbance of the noise creators. Down town streets which in past years were as quiet on the eve of the national holiday as a Sunday, were particularly in a state of turmoil and deafening noises, and no apparent effort was made on part of the police to put a stop to it. From the river front to the limits south, east and west, the roar of all descriptions of fireworks was continuous, and in the residence districts sleep was out of the question.

Chief of Police Daniel Ahern had made promises that there was to be a sane 3rd and Fourth of July, and he issued orders to his command to arrest all persons that discharged or set off firecrackers, torpedoes or anything of the like within the vicinity of hospitals or interfered with the peace and quiet of any neighborhood. How well Chief Ahern's subordinates paid attention to instructions can be inferred by reports from the hospitals and the experiences of citizens all over the city.

The first to make history by celebrating too soon was Joseph Randazzo, and Italian boy 17 years old. He had reached a revolver with a barrel eighteen inches long. At Fifth street and Grand avenue Randazzo was having a good time chasing barefoot boys and shooting blank cartridges at their feet. After he had terrorized a whole neighborhood William Emmett, a probation officer, took him in tow and had him locked up. That was at 9:45 p. m. When he had a taste of the city bastile he was released on his promise to be good. But he has yet to appear before Judge Harry G. Kyle in police court.

Nearly an hour after this the police of No. 6 were called upon to get busy. A negro named L. W. Fitzpatrick, who lives near Fourteenth and Highland, moved his base of operations from near home and began to bombard Fifteenth and Montgall and vicinity with cannon crackers varying in length from twelve to eighteen inches. Just as he had set off one which caused a miniature earthquake he was swooped down upon by the police and he did not get home until $10 was left as a guarantee that he would appear in court and explain himself.

Probably the greatest surprise came to Otto Smith and Edward Meyers, 14 years old. Armed with 25-cent cap pistols they were having a jolly time near Nineteenth and Vine when a rude and heartless policeman took them to No. 6 station.

They were "armed," and it was against the law to go armed. On account of the extreme youth of the lads they were lectured and let go home.

Mrs. Mary Murphy, 65 years old, who lives at 2025 Charlotte street, was standing on the corner of Twenty-first and Charlotte streets last night when a groceryman who conducts a store on the corner offered her a large cannon cracker to fire off. Thinking it was a Roman candle, the old lady lighted the cracker and held it in her hand.

She was taken to the general hospital, where it was found that her hand had been badly burned. The hand was dressed and she was taken to her home.

Labels: Charlotte street, children, Fifteenth street, fireworks, Fourteenth street, Grand avenue, Highland avenue, holidays, Holmes street, hospitals, No 6 police station, Police Chief Ahern, Vine street

June 25, 1908

FORMER MAYOR HUNT

DIES IN LEAVENWORTH.

HE WAS QUARTERMASTER OF

NATIONAL SOLDIERS' HOME.

In 1879 He Served This City as Mayor

and Began Many Improvements.

His Experiences Here in

the Early Days.

After two weeks' illness from uraemic poisoning, Lieutenant Colonel R. H. Hunt, a former mayor of Kansas City, died at the Soldiers' Home in Leavenworth yesterday morning. Colonel Hunt was 68 years old, and up until his last illness he had been a man of marked vitality.

About one year ago Colonel Hunt was appointed from private life to the post of Quartermaster at the Soldiers' Home, and he was serving in that capacity when he died. Colonel Hunt was a widower and is survived by two nieces. They are Mrs. John Stearns of Kansas City and Miss Mamie Hunt of St. Louis.

Funeral services will be held Friday morning in the chapel at the Soldiers' Home in Leavenworth. The burial in the national cemetery will be attended with regular military honors.

Special cars will be run to the Soldiers' Home tomorrow morning to carry friends to the funeral. The cars will start from Tenth and Main streets at 8 o'clock.

Robert H. Hunt was born in Shannon, Kerry County, Ireland, in 1839, and came to America at the age of 10 with his father. Kansas City was reached even in very early days, and the spirit of individuality which all his long life afterwards made him conspicuous, asserted itself in the father and son, for they left Kansas City for Western Kansas to get where they could not see slaves. The father soon went on about his business, leaving the boy to make a living for himself.

This he first did by carrying the water pail on a section for the construction of the railroad. Twenty years later, he was working 2,000 men himself, one of the big railroad contractors of the West. Between the time of his carrying the dipper and building part of the Rock Island, the Santa Fe and the Missouri Pacific, young Hunt went to a college. He worked his passage through it, and got out in time to go into the war to serve with Rosecranz, Thomas and Grant; to join Ewing and to become chief of staff under General Samuel R. Curtis.

IN LOCAL BATTLES.

Most of his service with the colors was on the border between Missouri and Kansas. Hereabouts, with General Curtis, he directed the artillery movements of the fights of the Little Blue, Big Blue, Westport, Osage, Newtonia and Mine Creek. It was at this last battle that General "Pap" Price was crushed and General Marmaduke was captured.

Colonel Hunt enlisted in a Kansas regiment, but left it during the war and became a staff officer. Afterwards he got back into a Kansas regiment, the Fifteenth cavalry, of which he was Major. The regiment had two colonels, C. R. Jennison and afterwards Colonel Cloud, while George W. Hoyt, afterwards a brigadier, was the lieutenant colonel. Robert H. Hunt was the senior major of the command.

There is a book published on "The Battle of Westport" by Rev. Paul B. Jenkins, formerly of this city, in which no mention whatever, in the slightest word, is made of Colonel Hunt.

"But he was there," said Colonel Van Horn yesterday, "and directed the artillery. I was related by marriage to General Curtis, commanding the Union forces here. He appointed me to his staff and directed me to prepare fortifications for the city. In that way I located and had the rifles ready and the encroachments dug. I saw a handsome young officer riding in and about, coming frequently to general headquarters for orders or with supports, and, struck by his magnificent bearing, asked his name. I was told it was the chief of staff, Colonel Hunt. What began as an acquaintance has lasted until now. As there is no battle in which the artillery is not the objective point, and as Colonel Hunt was commanding the artillery at the Battle of Westport, as I know from my own observations then, I know that he was in the fight; yet Mr. Jenkins made no mention whatever of him in what he declared to be a record of the battle."

The obscuring of Colonel Hunt by the Jenkins book is not unique. Other leaders in the engagement were similarly treated by the local historian.

A PRIEST HIS TUTOR.

The end of the war saw Colonel Hunt located in Kansas City, to engage in contracting. When first young Hunt landed in this country the priest of the parish they settled in took him up and began training him for service on the alter.

The good priest in this way taught him Latin. To the last days of his life Colonel Hunt kept his Latin fresh and, by means of a dictionary he would read Latin books. He regarded it as an accomplishment and was proud of it. But he never boasted of it. Reading Latin, born a Catholic and Republican in politics though an Irishman. Colonel Hunt made the acquaintance of the Rev. William J. Dalton, native of St. Louis, child of Irish parents, a Latin scholar and a clergyman of the church of Rome. The two remained friends to the last.

Father Dalton is a Republican in politics. Father Dalton came to Kansas City just as Colonel Hunt was closing his term as mayor, "but I was here early enough," said Father Dalton yesterday, "to hear the whole town commending him for his tremendous strides. Energy had marked every week of his administration, and today we have substantial evidence of it. With but little to do anything at all with, Mayor Hunt did much. He was at the very forefront of everything, calculating on the future warranting all his energy."

HE STOPPED A HANGING.

"At the very forefront of everything," says Father Dalton, and so it would appear. There walks about town today a little old man with a scar on the back of his neck. He built the retaining wall which keeps Bluff street from sliding into the Missouri river. There was trouble one Saturday afternoon about the pay, and the men undertook to lynch the contractor. They actually got a rope around his neck and started with him to throw him over his own retaining wall.

The city hall then was where it is now, only in a one-story brick that might have been a country feed store. Mayor Hunt got word of the crisis, picked up a pamphlet he had in his scant library, jumped into a saddle that was not his own and soon was in the ob. He literally rode into it and from the back of his horse read the riot act. That constitutional performance made him a summary marshal and there was no lynching. If there had been there would have been a wholesale killing by the force of twelve marshals Kansas City then had, old "Tom" Speer their chief.

During Colonel Hunt's administration Kansas City was the head of the Fenian movement. "No. 1," a mysterious Irish patriot, and Captain "Tom" Phelan, well remembered here and today alive in a home somewhere, were to fight a duel with broadswords over the troubles of Ireland. Colonel John Moore and Colonel John Edwards, both newspapermen, were to act as seconds. The principals went into training in rooms in a store on West Twelfth street. The morning the duel was to have been fought Colonel Hunt personally smashed in the doors of the training rooms and arrested the belligerents. There was an encounter, but he mayor, being a peace officer and a fighter himself, won. There was no duel.

HIS RIOT ACT AGAIN.

The forum of Kansas City in those days was Turner hall, afterwards Kumpf's hall, standing as late as 1886 where Boley's clothing store now stands. A political row there sent Mayor Hunt to that place with his copy of the riot act. He would tolerate no mob law while he was mayor. He always asserted his authority to the utmost.

When the figures are all totaled up it will not be found that Colonel Hunt left much of an estate. He married a Miss Hoyne of Chicago. In the '70s Colonel Hunt was worth so much money that he was able to borrow $50,000 from the late Thomas Corrigan for a period of ten months. He was able to pay it back within two weeks. He might have been worth $200,000 or $500,000. Estimates made yesterday ran from one to the other of these figures. He built a mansion at Independence and Highland. The house is there now, a pastel in dull red of what it once was. The plot has been nibbled down to next to nothing.

BRILLIANCE OF HIS HOME.

Colonel Hunt's father had been a small farmer in Ireland. All of his days in this country had been spent in railroad camps or in the field with troops. When Colonel Hunt opened his mansion on Independence avenue he did so with the brilliance of an hereditary aristocrat. Handsome in person, he had handsome ways. There was a wine cellar where it ought to be, and the drawing room, and from one to the other of the Hunt mansion was complete. Kansas City has never seen brighter scenes than those witnessed while Colonel and Mrs. Hunt kept open house on Independence avenue.

Nobody knows where Colonel Hunt's fortune went. It went like the summer wind that sinks with the sun. There was no speculation, no wheat end to the story, no boom collapse, no expensive household bills. The fortune simply disappeared, though Colonel Hunt always, to his intimates, lately insisted that he held valuable securities which would in a few years put him on his feet. But he did not get on his feet.

Times did not prosper fast enough Colonel Hunt stood in need of a billet and Senator Warner gave it to him. He had him appointed quartermaster at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, near Leavenworth, a position he held for about a year. Within a year of three score and ten, Colonel Hunt walked like a youth. Almost six feet in height, no man in his forties and of similar physique walked straighter, faster nor further. His hair and long beard were merely turning gray. He could pass for a man of 55. He lived as he moved, energetically. He liked young people; old people with old stories troubled him. The young people would not take him up because they did not know about the things he knew most of, and the old ones -- his own years -- were too old to take anybody up. So Colonel Hunt was neither here nor there. That was why he had to ask an asylum at the hands of his old military, political, professional and personal friend, Senator Warner.

TOO SLOW FOR HIM.

"It killed him," said Father Dalton. "The life was too dull for him. He wanted to beat sixty times to the minute and he found himself in a clock which had a pendulum going twenty to the minute.

"Where he was accustomed to moving cannon, they set him buying buttons, and able to move troops all up and down the border with the celerity of Forest, they put him to watching veterans crawl across their parade ground. Mops and counting cases of blouses to the tune of a droning beat made Colonel Hunt settle back in a chair that most men look for at sixty, and conserve themselves till riper in years, and so he collapsed. I saw him on Monday, and then he showed he was going away.

"He entered the army at Leavenworth in his young life, left the Fort and the army in his middle age, and went back to Leavenworth and the army to die in his old age. May his soul rest in peace."

And so he is to be buried in Leavenworth, in the military grounds there. Only members of the home may be buried in the military cemetery, excepting by express permission, and that permission is granted sometimes in the instance of officers. Yesterday application was made to Senator Warner, one of the board of managers and it was promptly given. Internment is to be made on Friday, at ten o'clock. Those desiring to attend the funeral will have to leave Kansas City by the 8 o'clock trolley car. President C. F. Holmes has arranged to run a special car at 8:01 Friday for the accommodation of Senator Warner, Surveyor C. W. Clarke, General H. F. Devol, Brevet Brigadier General L. H. Waters and a number of other high officers of the civil war.

Labels: Bluff street, Chicago, Civil War, Colonel Van Horn, death, Father Dalton, Highland avenue, history, immigrants, Independence avenue, Leavenworth, Main street, ministers, railroad, Senator Warner, streetcar, Tenth street, Twelfth street, veterans

June 3, 1908

WHAT LARKS THERE'LL

BE IN THE BIG ROOM.

WHEN IT'S OPENED FOR PLAY

AT MERCY HOSPITAL.

Little Patients Look Forward to the

Day With Impatience -- A

Gleam in Their Mel-

ancholy Lives.

"Wait till our new playroom's done." That is what the little boys and girls, inmates of the Mercy Hospital, Fifth street and Highland avenue, are saying. Everything now centers about that large new playroom which is almost completed, and every morning and afternoon the nurses have to take the children back into the new building and let them feast their eyes on the room which is to mean so much fun to them.

Some of the little patients in the hospital have been there for seven months, and in some cases there are not many signs of improvement. Their lives are not full of pleasure, and it is seldom that visitors who take more than a patronizing interest in them are seen. The little fellows feel that they are being made spectacles of and they can see the pity in their visitors' eyes. That is not what they want; they want comradeship. Their games are few, and in bad weather they must stay indoors. For this reason they look forward to the large playroom with such promise of rainy day pleasure.

At present there are eleven patients in the hospital, ranging from 10 days to 8 years in age. The older children are unusually bright and quick to learn, and in the most instances they desire to keep up their school work while in the hospital. Slates and school books have been provided for that purpose and the nurses take turns in teaching them. Few of the children, except the infants, are confined in beds, and so they find ample time to play at their games.

Running games are on the "blacklist" among them for one of their number is a cripple and cannot move without the aid of crutches. The children themselves have passed the rule that no game which calls for running or jumping shall be played, and so most of the time is spent in telling stories and piecing card maps.

"You see Joey, he's got hip d'sease, and it ain't fair to him if we play tag cause he'd have to sit and look," said one little girl in telling about their games.

But the nurses take the most interest in the infants. Maybe it is because every unnamed infant which is brought to the hospital is named for one of the nurses. There are Anne, Ruth, Carmen and Marjorie. Then the male infants are named for the doctors or particular friends of the nurses, such as Ralph and Billy. Billy is the pet of the hospital. He belongs to a mother and father who wish he did not belong to them, and consequently they are never seen about the hospital. Billy is 2 years old and is almost blind, totally in one eye. He can not talk, but his actions are so pathetic, say the nurses, that "you just can't help loving him." And so Billy gets the cream.

Miss Virginia Porter, superintendent of the hospital, says that older children are all well behaved and that they grow fond of the hospital and nurses. Even though they come of parents who do not love them, for the most part, Miss Porter tries to teach them that they should love their home and their parents above all else. The children all show the effect of this teaching, for when one little girl in the hospital was asked if she would rather stay in the hospital or go home, her little face grew long and she said: "I'd rather go home, I guess, for Mrs. Porter says that homes are the best places in the world."

Labels: children, Fifth street, Highland avenue, hospitals, illness, nurses, visual impairment

May 11, 1908

FATHER SAW HIS

BOY GO TO DEATH.

CARL RUEHLE FALLS FROM RAP-

IDLY MOVING CAR.

CLOTHING CAUGHT IN FENCE.

UNFORTUNATE LAD DRAWN UN-

DER HEAVY WHEELS.

Parent Tried to Save Him, but the

Boy's Coat Gave Way and

His Life was Quickly

Crushed Out.

While returning with his father after an afternoon spent in Fairmount park, Carl Ruehle, a 16-year-old boy, was dragged from the front step of a crowded car by his coat catching in a picket fence beside the track at Twelfth street and Mersington avenue last evening about 7 o'clock, and thrown beneath the rear trucks, and instantly killed.

The approaching rain caused a rush to the incoming cars at the park, and young Ruehle and his father, G. C. Ruehle, a blacksmith at Twelfth street and Highland avenue, had been barely able to force their way on the car, the father standing upon the platform, and the boy gaining a foothold on the step. Irvin Menagerie, the motorman, put on full speed soon after he left the park, and the boy leaned far out to get the breeze full in his face, saying that he enjoyed it.

"Be careful, Carl," the father said when he leaned particularly far out. "You might hit your head against a post or fall off. Perhaps you'd better get up here on the platform with me."

"There's not room on the platform," the boy replied. "I'll be careful."

This conversation took place but a minute before the accident. Between Myrtle and Mersington avenues the street car track goes through a cut about four feet deep, and on each side is built a fence to deep persons from driving into it from the road. The car was going rapidly, and young Ruehle once more leaned out to catch the breeze, bystanders say, and before his father could again warn him the car had reached the cut.

The boy's coat was not buttoned, and the wind caught it in and bellied it out. Before young Ruehle could draw his coat back one of the pickets had caught in a fold of the cloth, and was dragging him from the step. He cried out, and clung to the rail with all his might but could not keep his hold.

At his son's cry the boy's father grasped at him, and succeeded in getting hold of part of his clothing. He clung until the cloth parted, the back of his right hand being deeply cut and bruised from striking against the sharp corners of the car in trying to hold on.

The boy was instantly killed. He was an employe of the Hallman Printing Company, and lived with his parents at 1313 Lydia avenue. The body was taken to Newcomer's morgue after an examination by the coroner.

The father was taken to D. V. Whitney's drug store, at Twelfth street and Cleveland avenue, and his wound dressed. Lynn Turpin was the conductor and Irvin Menagerie the motorman on the car, which is No. 234.

Labels: blacksmiths, death, fairmount park, Highland avenue, Lydia avenue, Mersington street, Myrtle avenue, printers, streetcar, Twelfth street, undertakers

April 4, 1908

SHE TRIES SUICIDE

AFTER THREE WEEKS.

MARRIED LIFE IS BITTER TO

16-YEAR-OLD BRIDE.

Mrs. Rowena Townsend Drinks Bi-

Chloride of Mercury at Her

Father's Bedside -- She

May Die.

Three weeks of married life, one week of separation and an attempt to commit suicide last night, ended a chapter in the life of Mrs. Rowena Townsend, 1101 Michigan avenue. Mrs. Townsend is 16 years of age and was married to Edward Townsend, who is but four years her senior, at the home of her mother on the night of March 4. Townsend is a shipping clerk in the Kansas City Elevator Company.

After the young couple were married they made their home with the bride's parents and, to outward appearances, were perfectly contented. The mother, Mrs. James Smith, said that she had never seen a happier couple and that she began to regret having made objections to the marriage. After three weeks of this apparent bliss, Townsend failed to return to his home after working hours. Mrs. Smith then asked her daughter if there had been any trouble between them and Rowena replied that she did not care to discuss the matter; that it was an affair strictly between themselves and that she would never tell anyone what the trouble was.

After Townsend's disappearance Rowena did not seem to be in particular low spirits and went about the house laughing and singing; she never mentioned her husband's name. Yesterday afternoon she went down town after having told her mother that she was going shopping, and purchased two ounces of bi-chloride of mercury. She did not return home for supper, but her mother was not disturbed, believing that the girl had gone out to dine with one of her girl friends.

Shortly after 8 o'clock Rowena returned and walked into the room where her aged father was lying, dangerously ill; looking long at him, she turned her back and drank the contents of the phial which she had purchased. Immediately she began to choke and strangle. Mr. Smith called his wife, who was in another room. She hastened to answer her husband's summons and found her daughter lying on the floor by the bed.

Mrs. Smith thought that her daughter was in a fit, and dragged her out into the hall to the front door. There she removed the girl's wraps and hat and loosened her collar. The neighbors, hearing the sound of excited voices, hurried to the assistance of Mrs. Smith, with whom Rowena was struggling violently, declaring over and again that she must die.

Dr. B. W. Green, Twelfth street and Highland avenue, was called in and took charge of the girl. In her unconscious state she grew delirious and told how she had been deceived by her husband, whose affections for her had cooled so soon after the wedding. Dr. Green was unable to pronounce his patient entirely out of danger up to a late hour this morning.

Labels: doctors, Highland avenue, marriage, Michigan avenue, Suicide, Twelfth street

March 15, 1908

TO BE A CITY CHURCH.

New First Congregational Gives
Welcome to Strangers.

DR. ALEXANDER LEWIS.

"It is not right that we should become self-sufficient in our growh and numbers, consequently forgetting our duty to the stranger within our gates."

The Rev. Alexander Lewis spoke these words two weeks ago when the first services were held in the parish house of hte First Congregational church at Independence boulevard and Highland avenue. So doing, he silenced the criticism which of late has been the portion of churches; namely, that the stranger is not welcome.

Nor is there any reason why the congregation should not be proud of its new home Th main building is not yet completed and for several months services will be held in the parish house, which fronts Highland avenue. This wing seats 1,000, while the chruch proper will accommodate 500 more than this. West of the church the parsonage will be built. th entire propety will then represent an expenditure of nearly $165,000.

THE FIRST CONGREGAITONAL PARISH HOUSE.

The parish house clearly indicates the purpose of the congreagation to make the in stitution a city and downtown church, rather than one which dreaws its embership from any one section of the city In the basement there is to be a small gymnasium for the use of boys and girls, with shower baths, lockers and a bowling alley. The complete plant will provide a large dining room, kitchen and all other conveniences of a large downtown church.

Dr. Lewis said recently, in speaking of the new institution and its plans:

"The neighborhood church cannot help but succeed, while the city church, such as the new First is to be, must force success. There is a place and work for one church of each denomination inthe heart of ansas City. The lesson of New York is repeated. One by one the downtown churches were abandoned, but a later reaction set in and large churchs are now maintained downtown."

For years the First Congregational had its edifice at Eleventh and McGee streets. That property was sold some time ago While the Highland avenue site seems some distance from downtown, it is only twelve minutes' walk or five minutes' ride from Grand avenue. It will not be many years before Highland avenue will be considered downtown. It is then that the big downtown church will be called upon to do its real work for the life of a great city.

Labels: churches, Eleventh street, Grand avenue, Highland avenue, Independence avenue, McGee street, ministers, New York

January 8, 1907

MANY OBJECT TO PLAYGROUNDS.

Some Say They're to Be Too Near

Railroad Yards.

Many property owners east of Main Street, north of Independence avenue and west of Highland are contemplating a petition to the board of park commissioners to protest against two sites said to have been chosen as playgrounds. A committee selected for the purpose reported Monday that it would recommend two sites, one bounded by Tracy and Lydia avenues, Second and Third streets, and another bounded by Gilliss, Campbell, Third and Fifth streets. The former is said to have been selected for a playground for negroes.

Many of the residents in the districts adjacent are complaining as they say both sites are too close to the railroad tracks. They claim that boys will be constantly tempted to "hop trains."

Property owners in the space bounded by and Forest avenues, Missouri avenue and Pacific street are the biggest objectors. A petition probably will be started in that neighborhood today.

"Twice this block has been selected by a committee," said a property owner in that block yesterday. "At least that was published and it gave rise to the report that our property was to be condemned for park or playground purposed. Many of us had sales consumated, even to the point of a deposit being made. No one would buy our property with the condemnation proceedings staring them in the face."

Labels: Campbell street, Fifth street, Gillis street, Highland avenue, Independence avenue, Lydia avenue, Main street, Missouri avenue, Pacific street, Park board, race, Second street, Third street, Tracy avenue

October 4, 1907

NEGRO BISHOP'S ADVICE.

Rev. Isaac Lane, Educator, Counsels

Sobriety and Economy.

Rev. Isaac Lane of Jackson, Tenn., senior bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal church, preached to a gathering of negroes in their house of worship at Nineteenth street and Highland avenue last night.

The subject of the discourse was "Housekeeping," and was in a general way advice and counsel as the the relation that the husband and wife should bear to each other and to the family, for the prosperity, material and spiritual, of all concerned. The speaker deplored the fact of so many of the wives and mothers of his church being employed away from their own homes, to the detriment and neglect of their own children. he counseled economy, sobriety and education as the three things essential to the progress of the negro race, and quoted statistics to prove the race was becoming more prosperous through adherence to the three rules mentioned.

Bishop Lane is the founder and president of Lane college in his native town of Jackson. He stopped over night in Kansas City on his way to the annual conference of his church, which will be held at Topeka next week.

Labels: churches, Highland avenue, ministers, Nineteenth street, race, Topeka, visitors

September 23, 1907

DIED IN AN AMBULANCE.

John P. Johnston Attacked With a

Hemorrhage That Resulted Fatally.

"Boys, I'm bleeding to death," announced John P. Johnston, 35 years old, to a party of friends whom he approached at Twelfth and Highland last night. He was subject to hemorrhages from the lungs, and had just returned from a picnic held in the country. While his companions waited outside for him to return from the interior of the saloon, Twelfth and Highland, he was attacked with a hemorrhage. An ambulance was called, and in it Johnston was being conveyed to emergency hospital when he died.

Johnston lived at 1701 East Twelfth street, and was a member of the Eagles. Coroner Thompson sent the body to Raymond's morgue, Kansas City, Kas.

Labels: Coroner Thompson, death, Highland avenue, picnics, saloon, Twelfth street, undertakers

August 19, 1907

WAS SISTER OF YOUNGER BOYS.

Mrs. Emma Leach Dies as Result of

Street Accident.

Mrs. Emma Leach, 54 years old, a sister of Bob and Cole Younger, who lost her right leg in a street car accident at Twelfth street and Highland avenue last Friday afternoon, died at the general hospital yesterday afternoon.

Mrs. Leach was standing on the cornier waiting for a car, when as it approached a huckster wagon drove up just as she walked out to board the car. A man who swung onto the front end of the car struck her, causing her to fall against the wagon, and then to the ground. As she tried to arise, her leg was thrown out across the track, and a wheel passed over it, crushing it at a point above the knee.

She was treated by an ambulance surgeon and removed to the general hospital, where the leg was amputated.

Labels: death, general hospital, Highland avenue, James Gang, streetcar, Twelfth street

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