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December 14, 1909

FAIL TO FIND EVIDENCE

AGAINST THREE YOUTHS.

Robberies or Murder Cannot Be

Traced to Dye, Shay and Clyne, in

Spite of Saloonkeeper's Son's

Identification.

Evidence gathered the past ten days by the prosecuting attorney's office, so it was announced yesterday, completely exonerates Louis Dye, Harry Shay and Ralph Clyne of the suspicion of having murdered M. A. Spangler, killed on the night of November 23 in his saloon at Twentieth and Grand.

Not only this, but the prosecutor's office is convinced that the young men are not guilty of the dozen or more robberies charged against them by the police. The investigation has been practically concluded. Two city detectives and two police officers have worked the past week to gather evidence. Nothing has been found thus far to connect the three boys with the murder.

"Their preliminary will be held before some justice of the peace," said Edward J. Curtin, an assistant prosecuting attorney, "and unless new evidence is found against them the cases will be dismissed."

"The robbery charges, too?"

"Yes, the robbery charges," replied Mr. Curtin. "There have been many persons here to identify the young men as the ones who held them up, not an identification has been positive. In every instance the person has said they thought they were the ones."

The coroner's jury yesterday recommended that Dye be held for further investigation on the murder charge. The verdict was due largely to the testimony of Sam Spangler, the saloonkeeper's son, who was present at the murder.

It is said there is a conflict between the police authorities and the prosecutor's office in the case.

Labels: Grand avenue, saloon, Spangler murder, Twentieth street

December 8, 1909

BOYS IDENTIFIED AS

SPANGLER'S SLAYERS.

ROBBERS' VICTIMS RECOGNIZE

TRIO, ONE A BRIDEGROOM.

Elevator Operators, Ages 17, 19 and

21, in Downtown Dry Goods

Store, Are Arrested -- Youngest

Weeps, Others Indifferent.

LOUIS M. DYE, RALPH A. CLYNE AND HARRY SHAY,
Three Suspects Held by Police for Spangler Murder and Recent Holdups.
(Sketched at Police Headquarters Last Night.)

Working on the "boy bandit" theory, the police yesterday evening arrested three youths, two of whom were identified as having shot and killed M. A. Spangler and wounded Sam Spangler, his son, in their saloon at Twentieth street and Grand avenue on the morning of November 23. Their names are Louis Dye, 21 years old; Ralph Clyne, 19, and Harry Shay, 17. All are employed as elevator operators in a down town dry goods store. Dye is a bridegroom.

The arrest was made at 5:30 o'clock by Captain Walter Whitsett and Plain Clothes Officers E. M. Smith and E. L. Maston.

VICTIMS VISIT STORE.

The officers visited the store in company with several recent victims of holdups and rode in the elevators with the boys as they were at work. They were arrested and taken to police headquarters. Albert Ackerman, 502 1/2 Wyandotte street, the man who was in the Spangler saloon at the time of the shooting, was summoned and in Captain Whitsett's office identified Dye and Clyne as the two who shot up the saloon.

"That's the fellow that had the gun," Ackerman stated, pointing at Dye. "The other fellow was with him. Of course they are dressed differently now, but there is no mistaking their faces."

Four others who have been robbed recently visited police headquarters in the evening and in every case identified the boys.

DRUGGIST IDENTIFIES.

W. S. McCann, a druggist, living at 1405 East Tenth street, identified Dye and Clyne as the two men who attempted to rob his store at Twenty-seventh street and Agnes avenue on the night of November 25. He said they went in the store, and that Clyne pointed a revolver at his head while Dye attempted to rob the cash register. When he showed fight they fired four shots at him and ran. He thinks that Harry Shay is the man that was left outside as a look out.

Miss Stella Sweet, 529 Brooklyn avenue, and Mrs. C. L. Flaugh, 629 Brooklyn avenue, who were held up Thanksgiving night on the steps of the Admiral Boulevard Congregational church, identified all three of the boys as the robbers.

Edward C. Smith of the Smith-McCord-Townsend Dry Goods Company declared that the three boys had robbed him on Thirty-sixth street, between Locust and Cherry streets, on the night of December 3. They took a pocket book containing a Country Club bond for $100. At that time they had handkerchiefs tied over their faces, but Smith was sure that he recognized them.

SPANGLER TO SEE TRIO.

Captain Whitsett made no attempt to cross-examine the boys last night, but ordered them locked up until this morning when they will be confronted by further witnesses, the chief of whom will be Sam Spangler, who was discharged from the general hospital yesterday. The prosecutor's office was notified and representatives will be on hand today to take their statements.

"I am sure that we have got the right men this time," stated Captain Whitsett. "They answer the description of the gang that have been doing all the robbing lately, and I am sure that it was they that held up Joseph B. Shannon last week."

None of the boys would make any statement except that they were strangers in town, only having been working for a week. During the identification process both Dye and Clyne showed indifference, while the younger boy, Shay, broke down and cried.

Dye lives at 1921 Oakland, Shay at 1242 Broadway and Clyne at 1710 East Thirteenth street. Dye was married three weeks ago, shortly before the Spangler murder.

Labels: Broadway, Brooklyn avenue, Captain Whitsett, crime, druggists, elevators, Grand avenue, murder, police headquarters, retailers, saloon, Spangler murder, Twentieth street, Wyandotte street

November 23, 1909

MIDNIGHT ROBBER

KILLS SALOON MAN.

M. A. SPANGLER MURDERED BE-

HIND HIS OWN BAR.

Drops Dead With Bullet Through

Heart -- Son Shot in Pistol Duel

With His Father's

Slayer.

While trying to grasp the revolver of one of two robbers who "stuck up" his saloon at the northeast corner of Twentieth street and Grand avenue at 12:45 this morning, M. A. Spangler was shot across the bar and instantly killed.

In a pistol duel with his father's murderer, Sam Spangler was shot through both arms.

He believes he shot the robber. The latter and his companion escaped.

The murder and holdup occurred in Spangler's saloon at the northeast corner of Twentieth street and Grand avenue about 12:45.

The Spanglers were getting ready to close the saloon for the night. Sam Spangler had removed the cash from the register and was reading the totals from the detail adder, while the father was writing them on a card.

There were two men in the saloon, Al Ackerman, a friend of the Spangler family, and an old man whose identity is not known. Both were seated at tables in front of the bar.

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.

At this juncture two men, one short and heavy set and the other tall and thin, entered the saloon. They were roughly dressed, and sauntered up about the middle of the room. The tall man walked as far as the big cannon stove at the rear of the bar, but the short man walked up to a point in front of Spangler.

Whipping out a revolver, the short man flourished it and commanded Ackerman and the old man, "Hands up and line up alongside the bar every one of you."

Ackerman and the old man and young Spangler lifted their hands in a hurry to obey the order. Not so old man Spangler. He had been in the street lunch stand business for years and he was not to be bluffed by the sight of a gun.

"Throw up your hands quick," was the second command, this time directed to Mr. Spangler. The latter evidently had been gauging the distance across the bar. Instead of throwing up his hands he lunged forward, grasping for the revolver. He missed the gun and that instant the robber pulled the trigger.

"Oh!" Spangler cried, and collapsed.

Another shot was fired at him, but it missed. The first one had passed through his heart.

SON TRIED TO AVENGE HIM.

Sam Spangler at the first shot pulled open a drawer in the back bar and grabbed a huge navy revolver. Turning around he faced the robber, and began firing. Both emptied their revolvers, the robber retreating toward the front door as he fired his last shot. Meanwhile the tall, thin robber, who had gotten half way behind the bar, turned and fled toward the rear, when young Spangler started shooting. He escaped through a rear door.

Ackerman, who had been standing near the front of the saloon, ran out of the door at the first shot. When the shooting inside ceased he started back but was met by the robber with the revolver who pressed it against his abdomen.

"Get out of my way before I kill you," cried the robber.

Ackerman got out of the way, and returning to the saloon asked for the big revolver.

Young Spangler put a shell in it by this time and Ackerman started after the robber. He chased him to McGee street and half way down to Twenty-first street pulling the trigger several times on the shell, which proved defective and failed to explode.

When he returned to the saloon, he found Sam Spangler bending over the body of his father. He had been shot in both arms and his blood was mingling with that of his father's.

WHO GOT THE MONEY?

It could not be positively ascertained this morning whether the robber got the money which Spangler had taken from the cash register and placed in a glass. During the excitement it is believed that the money was replaced in the register. This was locked and the keys were taken in charge by the police. The sum is said to have been in the neighborhood of $50.

A riot call was sent to No. 4 police station and a squad of police under Sergeant H. L. Goode drove to the saloon. Young Spangler was taken to the general hospital, where his injuries were dressed.

The body of Mr. Spangler was taken to the Stewart undertaking establishment.

M. A. Spangler was about 50 years old. He lived with his family at No. 1322 1/2 Wyandotte street. He leaves a widow and two sons, Sam and William, both grown. The widow and some relatives are in Glasgow, Mo. A telegram was sent to them immediately after the shooting.

Labels: crime, general hospital, Grand avenue, guns, murder, No 4 station, saloon, Spangler murder, telegram, Twentieth street, Twenty-first street, Wyandotte street

November 19, 1909

MOTHER CORNELIA DIES.

Assistant to Superioress at House of

Good Shepherd Passes Away.

Mother Cornelia, assistant to Mother Elizabeth, superioress of the House of Good Shepherd, died yesterday at the home, Twentieth street and Cleveland avenue.

Mother Cornelia had been ill for months, but continued with her work at the House of Good Shepherd until last Thursday. Mother Cornelia was Cornelia Thompkins of St. Louis. The family is one of the most wealthy and widely known in St. Louis. A sister, Mrs. Philip Scanlon, died several weeks ago in St. Louis.

The body of Mother Cornelia will be taken in a special car to St. Louis this morning by her parents, who are in Kansas City. In taking up her work among the inmates of the House of Good Shepherd, whose lives the sisters try to correct, Mother Cornelia gave up her family and prospects for a life of personal help and self-abnegation.

Labels: charity, Cleveland avenue, death, nuns, St Louis, Twentieth street, women

August 8, 1909

TO RAISE $700 FOR THE

HOUSE OF GOOD SHEPHERD.

Irish-American Athletic Club Will

put on Benefit Baseball Game

With Kansas Team.

The city, when it cut the street through at Twentieth street and Cleveland avenue, took forty feet of the property of the home of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. And that was not all. The sisters are now called upon to pay $700 and the Irish-American Athletic Club has undertaken to raise the money for the home by holding a benefit game at its athletic field at Forty-seventh and Main.

The game will be between the Edgerton, Kas., team, and one of the Irish-American Athletic Club teams. The Kansas team volunteered its services, and as this is considered one of the best baseball organizations in Kansas, considerable interest is shown in the contest.

One of the directors of the Irish-American Athletic Club, who formerly lived at Edgerton, says that when the Edgerton baseball team plays at a neighboring town Edgerton moves with the team. The advance sale of tickets is very encouraging to the club.

A thirty-two page programme will contain the pictures and the line-up of both teams, also a brief history of the Irish-American Athletic Club of Kansas City, portraits of some of their athletes, their officers and directors, the objects and purposes of the club, is being published. These programmes will be distributed to the members of the club and to all who attend the game next Saturday afternoon.

The athletic field of the Irish-American Club is an ideal location. The club has erected a covered grand stand; the entire ground is fenced and the baseball diamond is one of the best in the country.

It is proposed to have a quarter-mile track, handball courts, tennis courts, bowling alleys and every facility for outdoor sports and games of all kinds.

The club now has about 700 members. All are entitled to the privileges of the grounds, excepting when there is a special event of some kind. At these events everybody pays, and all who attend will put up the 25-cent admission for the grandstand seats at the game for the benefit of the Home of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

Labels: charity, Cleveland avenue, Forty-seventh street, immigrants, Main street, nuns, organizations, sports, Twentieth street

July 4, 1909

NEGRO CEMETERY CHAPEL.

Cornerstone Will Be Laid at High-

land Today.

The cornerstone of the new chapel in Highland cemetery, a burying ground for negroes at Twentieth street and Blue Ridge boulevard, will be laid this afternoon at 3 o'clock. M. O. Ricketts of St. Joseph, grand master of the negro Masons of Missouri, will be in charge of the services. The building committee is composed of: C. H. Countee, Dr. J. E. Perry, A. T. Moore, L. A. Knox, T. W. H. Williams and T. C. Unthank.

Labels: Blue Ridge boulevard, cemetery, churches, Dr Unthank, lodges, ministers, race, St.Joseph, Twentieth street

April 11, 1909

TWO CAUGHT IN ACT

OF MAKING COINS.

CLAIM THEY WERE TRYING TO

IMITATE MEDALLION.

John Burns and Charles Adams

Made Dash for Liberty When De-

tectives Entered Room -- Moulds

and "Queer" Money Seized.

MEN ARRESTED FOR COUNTERFEITING AND THE

MOLDS CAPTURED BY POLICE

With metal in the melting pot just about hot enough to pour and the moulds on a table ready to receive it, John F. Burns and Charles Adams were surprised yesterday morning in the act of making some sort of coin by Detectives James Fox and William Walsh of Captain Thomas P. Flahive's district. The men were found in the back room of a house at 1732 Oak street. They claim they were merely trying to make a medallion.

At the first intimation of danger, Burns, who was engaged in preparing the moulds, made a dash for the door, ran to the stairs and jumped to the floor below. Detective Walsh followed him, but by a misstep, lost his footing and fell from the top step to the bottom, injuring his leg.

Notwithstanding his injury he pursued the man south on McGee street to Twentieth and back through the alley between Grand and McGee. A small dog guarding the shed, angered by Burns' sudden intrusion, set up a loud barking and snarling. The actions of the dog attracted the attention of Michael Gleason, patrolman in that neighborhood, who immediately ran to the place, arriving there about the same time as Walsh. Walsh fired three shots while pursuing his man. At the station it was found the injury to his leg was so severe that it was necessary to send the detective to his home in an ambulance.

"EXPERIMENT" IS CLAIMED.

Adams, Burns' partner, was finishing his lunch when the police entered. By an oversight, the police declare, the door to the room was left unlocked. The alleged counterfeiters base their one hope of leniency on this fact, asserting that they were simply "experimenting" to find a metal with which they could get a "sharp" reproduction of a medallion by the use of plaster of Paris moulds.

In the room was found two plaster moulds, one with the impression of a silver quarter, and the other a half dollar, together with eight counterfeit half dollars. The coins were fair imitations, but lacked weight and "ringing" qualities. The edges of the coins were still in the rough, just as they were taken out of the moulds.

Files, chisels, and odd-shaped knives, together with a seal, were also found among the paraphernalia confiscated. The scale was a crude affair, made with copper wire and the tops of two tin cans. The can tops served as trays, the whole danging from a nail driven into an upright stick of wood and fastened to a pedestal.

According to Burns and Adams the scale was used to weigh the ingredients for the alloy.

"We got our ideas from books in the public library," said Burns yesterday. "In passing a jewelry store on Main street about three weeks ago w2e saw a medallion of Kansas City displayed in the window. The price was $1.75, and we got an idea that if we could reproduce that medallion for 30 or 40 cents we could make money by the sale of them.

PRAISED BY LANDLADY.

"Not wishing to go to the expense of having a die made, we used the coins , as the book from which we gained our information stated that coins could be used for experimenting purposes. We conducted our experiments openly and made no effort to conceal our actions. Mrs. Nellie Evett, the landlady at 1732 Oak street, saw our toils and the moulds in the room. Our door was never locked and anyone who wanted could come in at any time.

Mrs. Evett said yesterday that she did not know in what work the men were engaged. She dec la4red that she had been in their rooms but once or twice since they took them, six weeks ago. She said further that Burns and Adams had paid her but one week's rent since they came.

"I knew they wre out of work," said she, "and I felt sorry for them. They seemed to be gentlemanly, good boys, and I know they tried to find something to do to earn an honest living."

Captain Flahive called Burns into his private office yesterday afternoon while Mrs. Evett was present. At the end of the interview, Burns took an affectionate leave of his former landlady, pressing her hand and kissing her. Following this, Mrs. Evett was subjected to a rigid cross examination, but convinced of her innocence and ignorance of details regarding the work carried on in her rooms, Captain Flahive allowed her to go.

Labels: Captain Flahive, counterfeiters, detectives, McGee street, Oak street, Twentieth street

December 17, 1908

RIOT GUNS FOR

POLICE STATIONS.

BATTLE WITH FANATICS EXPOSED

DEPARTMENT WEAKNESS.

To Be Available When Needed, and

Not Locked Up, as Were the

Rifles During the Re-

cent Riot.

The board of police commissioners yesterday decided that it had been taught a lesson by the riot of December 8 and that it wound never again be caught unprepared. When riot guns were called for on that day, not knowing the magnitude of the trouble or how many men might be encountered at the river, a key to the gun case first had to be sought. Then there was no ammunition for the old Springfield rifles in store there, and there was another twenty minutes' delay until loads were secured from a vault in the commissioners' office. If the trouble had been more serious the town could have been sacked before police were properly armed.

Yesterday the board examined the latest make of riot gun, a weapon that shoots six loads, nine buckshot to each cartridge. It is worked the same as a pump gun, and one alone will do fearful damage, if handled properly.

It is the intention of the board to purchase a sufficient number of these guns and place them in glass cases in stations Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. Those stations are situated at headquarters (Fourth and Main), 1316 St. Louis avenue, 906 Southwest boulevard, 1430 Walnut street and Twentieth street and Flora avenue, respectively. They are regarded as the most likely districts in which riots might break out.

The glass cases containing the riot guns are to be built near the floor so that, in an emergency, they may be broken and weapons, loaded for just such an occasion, may be found ready for action.

The question of a reserve force of men to be kept on hand at headquarters all the time, was also taken up. It was decided, as a nucleus, to assign two men on duty there from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. who, with the "shortstop" man, would make three who could get into action on a moment's notice. Had that number of men been sent out to deal with James Sharp and his band of fanatics, the board believes that the result would have been different.

"We have been taught a terrible lesson," said the mayor, "and the fault should rest on our shoulders if such a thing should ever occur again and find us unprepared. Henceforth we intend to be ready for any situation that may arise."

Labels: Adam God sect, Flora avenue, Fourth street, guns, Main street, police, police board, Southwest boulevard, St Louis avenue, Twentieth street, Walnut Street

July 6, 1908

MENTAL TORTURE

DROVE TO DEATH.

BRIDEGROOM THOMASON MAY

HAVE BEEN A BIGAMIST.

FICTITIOUS MURDER TALES.

TOLD TO HIS WIFE, BUT THEY

ARE DISCREDITED.

Young Man Thought He Was Di-

vorced When He Married Miss

O'Shea -- Thomaon Known

as Joseph Pain.

Did Joseph Thomason, husband of two days, kill himself because his conscience reminded him of boyish indiscretions, or did he take his life for some other reason?

That is the problem confronting friends and acquaintances of the young man since he turned a pistol on himself because he thought himself unworthy to be the life companion of the young woman he had married. On the afternoon before the tragedy the young man told his wife that eight years before, when he was only 14 years old, he had slain another. One of these killings, he said, was justified by the unwritten law. He did not tell the cause for the other.

"I am not worthy of you," he told her.

His words troubled the bride but she did not think he meant them seriously. Only a few minutes later, when she entered the room they occupied, he shot himself. A note, on which only the word "mother" could be distinguished, was left on a table beside the bed on which he died.

A more probably reason for the suicide is advanced by the foreman at the American Sash and Door Company, under whom Thomason worked for the last year. "Thomason told me," said the foreman yesterday, "that he had been married before, when he lived down in Louisiana. He and his wife separated and he thought that she had gotten a divorce. Recently he discovered that no divorce had been granted, and that he was still a married man.But he was already pledged to Miss Pearl Alma O'Shea, now his widow, and he had not the heart to tell her. They went to Leavenworth and were married. The next day Thomason worked, but on the Fourth he had plenty of time to think it over.

"I think it was then that what he had done horrified him. He realized that he was a bigamist and, if discovered, it would be better for him and for his wife that he had never been born. He bought the pistol, told his bride a fictitious story about crimes committed many years ago, and blew out his brains."

At the sash and door factory Thomason went by the name of Joseph Pain. He was a member of the Stair Builders and Cabinet Makers' Union No. 1635, but his widow will receive no benefit because the insurance policy was allowed to lapse. Had he made a payment Friday night she would have received $200. He used the name of Pain on his union card. He made no secret about having two names, saying that Pain was his middle name.

Thomason earned $18 a week. He was in good health and so far as known had no bad habits. His wife was young and pretty. Everything seemed to point to a happy married life for the young couple.

To make the theory that Thomason committed suicide from remorse on account of alleged murders of his boyhood more improbably, his associates say he was not given to brooding. He was cheerful and liked to have a good time in an innocent way. On the night on which he killed himself a crowd had been invited for a merrymaking at the house at 3102 East Twentieth street.

Thomason's parents were notified by telegraph of their son's death. A reply was received yesterday afternoon saying that they would be unable to come to attend the funeral. They live in Hot Springs, Ark. The funeral arrangements have not been made. The body is still at home.

Labels: bigamy, Leavenworth, Suicide, Twentieth street

July 5, 1908

WEDDED 2 DAYS;

KILLS HIMSELF

FIRES BULLET INTO BRAIN IN

PRESENCE OF WIFE.

AFTER BIDDING HER GOODBYE.

NO REASON FOR JOS. P. THOMP-

SON'S ACT IS KNOWN.

Married Pearl A. O'Shea on July 2.

It Was a Mild Elopement, and

Her Parents Didn't Ap-

prove of Wedding.

One July 2 Joseph P. Thompson and Miss Pearl A. O'Shea took a trip to Leavenworth and were married by a justice of the peace.

Last night at 7 o'clock when the young wife entered her husband's room at 3102 East Twentieth street he said goodby to her and, pointing a pistol at his right temple, shot himself in the brain.

Thompson was a woodturner and worked for the American Sash and Door Company. He was 26 years old and had been in the city three years. A quiet young man, he never spoke much about himself to anyone, but there were rumors that he had once been married before.

For the last year, Thompson had boarded at the house of Mrs. Alma D'Avis, 3102 East Twentieth street, and it was there that he met the girl that afterward became his wife. Mrs. D'Avis has weak eyes, and requires the attention of a nurse. Her niece, Pearl O'Shea, was a nurse, so Mrs. D'Avis had her come and stay with her. That was two months ago. An attachment sprang up between the young people living in the same house, and the runaway marriage was the result.

After the marriage they told the girl's mother and he stepfather, John Reed, who lives at Twentieth an Harrison streets. The latter did not approve of the union at all. the girl was their only support, they said, and they had lost much of their property in the recent flood.

This is the only reason that the young man's friends can give for the suicide. Yesterday afternoon he came home, apparently in a normal frame of mind. He was not known as a drinking man, and was said to have no bad habits. He did not even own a revolver, so that he must have especially purchased the one he used.

Last night the young wife was hysterical with grief and had to have the care of physicians. The tragic ending of the short romance of her life affected her so seriously that the doctors fear for her mind.

Thompson came to this city three years ago from Hot Springs, Ark. He was a member of the lodge 73 of the West Side branch, W. O. W., and was well liked by all his associates. At no time did his actions give any trace of insanity.

Labels: boarding house, flood, Harrison street, Leavenworth, lodges, marriage, mental health, nurses, Suicide, Twentieth street

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 4, 1908

RISKS LIFE TO RECOVER CAP.

Small Boy Pulls Red Wagon in Front

of Street Car.

A toy wagon, a 10-year-old boy and a blown-away cap looming up before a Grand avenue street car just before dark last night, made things look suddenly black for the motorman.

"You didn't stop for me," the boy said, indignantly, after he had been shunted off the track, his back sprained and his left thigh lacerated.

"I thought you'd stop when you saw me, for I had to get my cap," he went on. The boy was David Marcus, son of Aaron Marcus of 42 McClure Flats. His play had taken him to Twentieth street and Grand avenue. On a street car he was taken to a physicians office Four hours later he was still suffering, and Dr. Carl V. Bates from No. 4 police station was called. He says the boys injuries are only superficial.

Labels: children, doctors, Grand avenue, No 4 police station, streetcar, toys, Twentieth street

February 24, 1908

SEARCH SEWERS

FOR JOHN FAYHEY

BELIEVING HIS BODY IS PROB-

ABLY HIDDEN THERE.

THE QUEST IS FRUITLESS

PARTY WALKS MILE THROUGH

A MAIN SEWER.

Wife of Missing Man Believes His Is

Still Alive -- She Thinks He

Has Been Injured and

Will Return.

Every manhole, every telephone cable conduit, every underground passageway, even the Walnut street sewer; every possible hiding place into which a body could be stowed, in the neighborhood of Twelfth and Main streets, was gone through yesterday by friends of John Fayhey, who disappeared from the knowledge of his fellow men three weeks ago. No trace of the body was found by the searchers. The search underground was as futile as the body hunt of previous Sundys through the outskirts of the city and in the trenches made by men in the water works department. Fayhey was last seen at 1 o'clock on the morning of February 1, with a party of drunken men, at the corner of Twelfth and Main streets. He was a foreman in the city water works department.

Jerry Ryan, engineer at the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company's plant at Twentieth and Walnut streets, was in charge of yesterday's explorations. Jerry is a brother of Police Sergeant Al Ryan and of Mrs. Fayhey. Others in the party were Patrick O'Conner and Tom Bryan, city firemen, and City Detectives Raftery and Halvey. Jerry Ryan, geared in hip rubber boots, entered every opening on Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Main and Walnut streets in the neighborhood of the spot where Fayhey was last seen. No trace of the body was found.

Then Ryan and O'Conner entered the Walnut street sewer at Thirteenth street and explored it south to where it empties into O. K. creek at Twenty-Second street. Ryan, who led the way, was provided with a safety lamp.

This lamp was carried to guard against sewer gas. It is a device imported from the coal mining district, and is valuable in that whenever it is carried into a cloud of sewer gas it is extinguished. O'Conner, who followed with a lantern, was enabled to tell, by watching Ryan and the safety light, where there was sewer gas ahead and to avoid walking into it with his lantern. Only one body of gas was met, but if the lantern had been carried into this an explosion would have resulted which probably would have killed both men. The detectivs and firemen walked along Walnut street and opened the manhole covers ahead of the two men who were walking in the sewer.

No trace of Fayhey's body or any other body was found in the sewer. Jerry Ryan said, when he came out:

"No body could lodge in that sewer. The water, although in no place over knee deep, runs with a very swift current, and would carry any body out into O K. creek. It was not necessary to explore the entire length of the sewer but I did that to make certain that Fayhey's body was not there."

When John Fayhey's wife was told last night at her home ot 1605 Olive street that the search through the sewer and the conduits had been fruitless, she only reiterated her former belief that her husband was still alive.

"I know his is not dead" she said. "I firmly believe that he has been hurt and will come home when he is able."

Police Seargeant Al Ryan, Mrs. Fayhey's brother, holds a different theory. He says:

"There is no doubt that Fayhey was killed, and that his body is concealed somewhere. We have searched Kansas City from center to circuference, above ground and under, but without result. We have telegraphed a description of Fayhey to every town down the river as far as St. Louis. I think that the men who made way with Fayhey were drunk and did not mean to kill him. I know, however, that they had an automobile with them and when they saw what they had done, they put the body into the car and took it away. Probably they threw it in the Missouri river.

"I know that Fayhey had no money to speak of on his person the night he disappeared and I believe that the men who were with him killed him in a drunken brawl without any reasonable motive. I expect that someone who knows all about the killing will come in one of these days and tell the story."

Labels: automobiles, Eleventh street, Main street, missing, Missouri river, Olive street, police, public works, Thirteenth street, Twelfth street, Twentieth street, Twenty-second street, Walnut Street

October 29, 1907

TWO COPS UNDER FIRE.

SERGEANT YOUNG AND PATROL-

MAN SHINNERS ACCUSED.

Negro Keeper of Dice Game Claims to

Have Paid for Protection -- Officers

Yet to Tell Their Side

of Case.

The trial of Sergeant Alexander Young and Patrolman "Jack" Shinners on a charge of soliciting money from the keeper of a dice game on promises of police protection, was opened yesterday before the police board. The charge against the two officers was filed by "Judge" Frank L. Jackson, a negro, residing in a house at 303 Walnut street, which is on the police fine list as a disorderly place. Jackson told the board that he had paid Sergeant Young about $200 for "police protection" and made the statement that he feared he would be "beat up" for testifying.

Every Sunday, Jackson said, he paid the two officers. The amounts ranged according to the amount of "business" in the dice game. He said the first payment was $1.50, made when the sergeant approached him in a saloon and said, "I know you're crooked, but am told you are a mighty good Indian. Now either "come clean" or "close up."

Fred Urfer, attorney for the two officers, placed neither on the stand, but will do so next Wednesday when the hearing is resumed.

The witnesses used yesterday were all for the prosecution, conducted by City Counselor Meservey. The board had difficulty in securing a statement from Harry Levine, a shoemaker of 307 Independence avenue. He said he sold Sergeant Young two pairs of shoes, but that the sergeant did not pay him. He admitted, after an hour of coaxing by the board and by the city counselor and Attorney Urfer, that he had been told not to tell the board anything about the matter. Dick Stone, a negro barber next door, paid for the shoes, Levine finally testified.

Mrs. Alice Jackson, wife of "Judge" Jackson, told the board she often gave her husband money to "pay out" and said that once she saw him give $10 of this money to Sergeant Young. Jackson said he paid Shinners because the sergeant told him he must "take care of the men on the beat." Other witness were Emma King, negress, housekeeper for the Jacksons; Carrie White, a negress, who said the sergeant forbade her opening a "place" unless she "divided," and Ed Rogers, a negro, 3101 Forest avenue.

"I told Sergeant Young I wouldn't give him a cent," said Mrs. White, "and I never did give him any money. I paid my fine just like the rest do to the clerk of the police court."

Rogers testified that Shinners had him take a painting out of his house at Twentieth and Summit streets. The painting, according to the testimony, had been given to Shinners by Jackson.

Labels: Forest avenue, police, police board, Summit street, Twentieth street, Walnut Street

June 2, 1907

BEAT MULE WITH A ROPE.

Humane Agent Arrests Boy on a

Charge of Cruelty.

While in the vicinity of Eleventh and Harrison streets yesterday afternoon W. H. Gibbens, field agent for the Humane Society, heard a whacking sound as if someone was beating on a barrel. When he turned a corner he discovered the source of the noise. George Stokes, 17 years old, driver for a planing mill at Twentieth and Cherry streets, was in the street holding onto the bridle of a mule. In his hand he had a one-half-inch rope about two feet long, on the end of which was a large knot. He was belaying the mule over the head with the knotted rope.

"What's the matter here?" asked Gibbens.

"Dern mule won't pull," he said, out of breath. "Whack -- whack" went the rope.

"Do you think you'd pull if someone stood right in front of you with that instrument of torture lamming you across the face with it -- and you had no shoes on, either, on this smooth pavement?"

Gibbens made the boy get in the wagon. He got in beside him and with a little coaxing "Maude" stepped right off, all right. He drove to No. 4 police station, where Stokes was booked for cruelty to animals. He gave bond for his appearance in police court tomorrow.

Labels: Cherry street, Eleventh street, Harrison street, Humane Society, No 4 police station, police court, Twentieth street

April 27, 1907

NO CHIMNEY WAS THERE.

Firemen Learn Something New About

Gas Grates in Flats.

Something new in gas grates was discovered by the fire department yesterday. Responsible for the discovery is the fact that natural gas makes too hot a fire for a tin flue which answers all right when artificial gas is used.

A row of two-story flats at 508 to 514 West Twentieth street is constructed with 2 1/2 inch tin pipes inside the walls to serve as flues for grates on both first and second floors. These pipes did not end in a chimney on the roof. They simply connected with ventilators. Yesterday morning, twenty-four hours after natural gas was turned on into that district the tin tube in L. Gardner's flat on the second floor at No. 510 had burned through and flames burning from there to the roof did $400 damage before the arrival of the fire department.

Labels: Fire, Twentieth street