June 29, 1908
BOY IS KILLED BY A BASEBALL
THROWN BY MARION GREEN, 11 YEARS OLD.
MORRIS CROWE IS THE VICTIM.
HE WAS ALSO 11 YEARS OLD. AN ACCIDENT.
Little Sufferer Dies as the Angelus Is Calling the Parish to Prayer. Thrower of the Ball Crazed by Grief.
While playing a game of ball yesterday morning, Morris Crowe, 11 years of age, was struck on the head by a pitched ball, and died a few hours later from the injury. Morris, with six of his playmates, was playing ball in the side yard of James Green's home, 1122 Prospect avenue. Marion Green, the 11-year-old son of Mr. Green, was in the act of throwing the ball to John Crowe, Morris's brother, when Morris attempted to cross the yard. In crossing he ran directly into the course of the ball, and before his little friends could warn him of the danger, the ball had struck him fairly on the left side of his head, just above the ear.
Morris staggered and cried for help. His brother and Marion Green ran to him just as he fell to the ground, unconscious. The lads carried Morris to the terrace and began to throw water in his face in an attempt to revive him. Marion ran into the house and told his mother of the accident. Mrs. Green came out and told the boys to carry Morris into the house, but Morris had regained consciousness and refused to go in, saying that he wanted to go home. Mrs. Green bathed the boy's face and his bruise, then bandaged his head and his friends took him to his home, 2711 East Eleventh street.
ABLE TO WALK HOME.
Morris seemed to have recovered from the effect of the blow on his head and was able to walk home with little difficulty. His conversation was rational and he ate dinner as usual. After dinner was over he began to grow rather stupid, and his mother decided that he should have medical attention. A physician was called, and said there would be no serious result from the injury, but that the lad would naturally be somewhat bewildered by so hard a blow on the head.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon Mrs. Crowe noticed that her son was growing worse, and immediately called in another doctor. This doctor informed Mrs. Crowe that there was no chance for her son's recovery, and she would better send for a priest at once. Two hours later the child was dead.
When Marion Green heard of Morris's death he became frantic and his talk was irrational. He dept repeating: "I killed him; I killed him." Neither Mr. Green nor his wife is able to do anything to quiet him, and he mourns over the death of his little schoolmate and playfellow bitterly. Mrs. Crowe said that she realized the little Green boy was entirely blameless, and that he felt the death of Morris as keenly as did she.
DIED AS BELL TOLLED.
At the time of the accident Mr. Green, who is connected with the T. Green Grocery Company, was away from home. He did not arrive until after dinner, and at that time it was not thought that Morris's injuries would result fatally. It was not until 7 o'clock that the Green family heard of the lad's death.
Just as the angelus was ringing in St. Aloysius church, which is located only a few doors west of the Crowe home, Father J. C. Kelly, four Catholic sisters, Mrs. Crowe and her family were gathered at Morris's bedside. They sank to the floor on their knees in silent prayer, only to arise and find that life had left the child's body while the angelus was calling the parish to evening prayer.
John W. Crowe, the father of Morris, is a conductor on the Santa Fe railroad and was in Texas at the time of his son's death. Mrs. Crowe telegraphed the train dispatcher of his district and received the assurance that her husband would be released from duty as soon as he could be informed of his son's death. He is not expected until tonight.
Morris and Marion Green had been fast friends. Both of them were in the same class at St. Aloysious school. Almost every day the boys of the neighborhood would gather at the Green home for games of some sort, and Morris and Marion were the favorites of the crowd.
CAUSED A CONCUSSION.
They boys who were playing ball at the time of the accident said that the ball which struck Morris was thrown with such force as to rebound from his head and strike a tree some feet distant. After striking the tree the ball again rebounded and rolled quite a distance away. The physician who attended Morris last said that the blow on the head caused a concussion of the brain and it was from the hemorrhage that death resulted.
When the news of Morris's death spread in the neighborhood, the little friends of the boy visited the Crowe home, each expressing with unmistakable sincerity, his sorrow.
Morris was one of three children in the Crowe family. He is survived by an older brother and a baby sister.Labels: accident, children, churches, death, Eleventh street, Prospect avenue, railroad, schools, sports June 26, 1908
TRIPLETS' FATHER IS UNDER ARREST.
NEIGHBORS CHARGE HIM WITH NEGLECTING CHILDREN.
He Has Seven, One of Them Being Boaz, Last Remaining of Trip- lets -- Mother of Chil- dren Dead. Martin Curry, father of the much advertised Curry triplets, was arrested yesterday afternoon on a warrant issued out of the juvenile court, Kansas City, Kas., charging him with neglecting his children. He was locked up in the county jail and will be arraigned in the juvenile court today The arrest of Curry was caused by numerous complaints made by neighbors. He has six children beside the one remaining triplet, Boaz, the two others having recently died. It is the older children that he is accused of neglecting. He stated last night that he had in no way neglected his family as far as he knows. He proposes to hire an attorney and fight the case. Under the juvenile court law neglect of children by their parents is punishable by a fine and jail sentence.
On Sunday afternoon December 22 last, triplets were born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Curry, 2543 Alden avenue, Kansas City, Kas. The babies, two boys and a girl, were all perfectly formed and unusually healthy. Curry is a laborer and, owning to his poor financial circumstances, the people of the two Kansas Citys became deeply interested in his family, especially the triplets, and hundreds of dollars were contributed by the public that the little ones and their mother should not need for anything in the way of care and attention.
The speedy and generous response of the public lifted a load of worry from the father and all went well until the death of Mrs. Curry, which occurred five weeks after the birth of the triplets. The little ones were doing splendidly at that time and the prospects for them to live were pronounced good by the family physician. At the time of Mrs. Curry's death an effort was made to have the triplets placed in a nursery where they might receive the best of care, but the father decided to trust the rearing of the babies to his 17-year-old daughter Bertha.
Ten days ago the babies were taken ill from having been fed sour milk. Ruth died on Wednesday, June 17, followed by the death of David last Sunday. Boaz, the last of the triplets, still lives, but is not in the best of health. Dr. T. C. Benson stated last night that the child was much better than it was a few days ago, and expressed the belief that it would live if properly cared for. It was Dr. Benson that named the triplets, christening them as they were born. Labels: charity, children, death, doctors, illness, juvenile court, Kansas City Kas June 26, 1908 PATSY SAVED A GIRL'S LIFE.
In Recognition of His Bravery, the Neighbors Give Him Clothes.
As a reward for his heroism in rescuing a little girl from drowning last Monday, Patsy Burrey, the 13-year-old son of Patrick Burkrey of 1956 Hallock avenue, Kansas City, Kas., was yesterday presented with a new suit of clothes by people living in the vicinity of Fifth street and New Jersey avenue.
While playing on the banks of Jersey creek near Fifth street, Anna Tate, an 8-year-old girl, fell into the water. Young Burkrey plunged in after her, grabbed her by one foot and pulled her out upon the bank. The rescue was witnessed by several men who were standing on the street above the creek. They look up a collection with which to reward the young hero.Labels: children, clothing, drowning, Kansas City Kas June 26, 1908 DROWNED WHILE SWIMMING.
Little Henry Hall Disobeyed His Mother and Was Lost.
Henry, the 12-year-old son of Joseph F. Hall, 512 Tenney avenue, Kansas City, Kas., was drowned in the backwater of the Kaw river at the foot of Reynolds avenue yesterday morning. The boy had been sent on an errand by his mother, but instead of doing his mother's bidding, he met some other boys that were going swimming in the backwater that fills the hulls in the northern part of the Cypress railroad yards. Young Hall got in over his head and was drowned in the presence of a number of young companions.
Yesterday's drowning occurred within a few hundred feet of where two other small boys met death in the water last week. The body of the Hall boy was recovered and taken to the undertaking rooms of Daniels and Comfort. Coroner J. A. Davis decided that an inquest was not necessary. Joseph F. Hall, father of the boy, is employed at the Cudahy packing house, having charge of the boiler rooms there.Labels: children, drowning, Kansas City Kas, railroad June 24, 1908 THIS IS THE 'PORT OF MISSING MEN'
SOME OF THEM HAD MONEY, SOME HAD NONE.
Two Husbands Are Worrying Two Faithful Wives and Piling Up Telephone Bills by Remain- ing Away From Home.
Mrs. Susie Poser called police headquarters by telephone from Tulsa, Ok., yesterday and asked that her husband, S. Poser, here for three weeks, be sought by the police. He is a plasterer, 30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds. He has light hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. Has been known to drink.
The mother of Samuel Keller, 17 years old, 913 Oak street, said her boy had left home Sunday morning and had not returned.
This report was among the lot of the missing: "Look out for George Wiley, 12 years old, blue overalls, blue blouse, barefooted and red-headed. Left home last Friday and not heard from since. Notify his mother at Independence avenue and Charlotte street, next to drug store."
Probably the most important person the police were asked to find, yesterday, on account of the fact that he was known to have had $868 and some valuable jewelry with him, was Frank Cook of Independence, Kas. His wife telephoned here and asked that he be located by the police.
Last Friday night Cook entered a hack at Fifth street and Grand avenue and asked to be driven to the Union depot to catch a 9 p. m. train. It was late and the train was missed.
"Bud" Landis, the driver, knew that Cook had with him a large sum of money. He drove slowly back uptown and at Seventh and Wyandotte streets called the attention of Patrolman J. F. Murphy and J. F. Brice, to the man in his hack. Cook was asleep. He had been drinking.
When searched at police headquarters, where he was booked as a "safe keeper," he was found to have $808, a valuable gold watch and chain and other jewelry. Cook was released Saturday morning and his money and jewelry returned to him. The missing man is 35 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs about 140 pounds, has light hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. His wife said he might be found in a sanitarium.
A doctor at 1306 Garfield avenue asked that the police be on the lookout for W. H. Madden, a patient who took French leave. The doctor said that Madden was demented. He wanted the man detained until he could be notified.
Bert Murray, a "patient" at the city workhouse, while working in the barn there Sunday concluded to leave. He did leave. As his time is by no means up, Patrick O'Hearn, superintendent of that institution, asks the police to locate Murray and return him, not to the barn, but to the workhouse proper.Labels: children, Fifth street, Garfield avenue, Grand avenue, mental health, missing, Oak street, police headquarters, Seventh street, telephone, Union depot, workhouse, Wyandotte street June 23, 1908 SAVE THEM FOR THE FOURTH.
Police Will Arrest Premature Shoot- ers of Noisy Fireworks.
On account of so many complaints going to Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., about the discharge of firearms and the use of explosives and fireworks in the city previous to July 4, Daniel Ahern, chief of police, yesterday sent a special order to all commanding officers in the city, drawing their attention to city ordinance 24883, governing the use of firearms and explosives in the city limits.
The orders are to arrest all persons violating the order but boys. Where those are found the police are to give them a warning and tell their parents. Then if the same boys persist in celebrating prematurely, they are to be arrested and taken before the juvenile court. All those who are old enough to know better anyway, are to be arrested and arraigned in police court.Labels: children, fireworks, juvenile court, Mayor Crittenden, Police Chief Ahern, police court June 12, 1908 POLICE WILL PATROL RIVER IN LAUNCHES.
Mounted Men Guard Flooded Whole- sale District -- Peril of the East Bottoms.
Chief of Police Daniel Ahern and Captain Walter Whitsett yesterday afternoon drove through the flooded East and West bottoms. Complaint had been made that sightseers and others had been breaking into unprotected houses and stealing.
Last night mounted men were stationed all over the West bottoms with orders to patrol the flooded district carefully. If the water goes any higher police will be placed in launches to patrol. Now an officer on horseback can reach the most important part of the wholesale district.
It was also reported to the police that in the trees near Harlem many dead cattle, horses and hogs have become lodged. The citizens in that vicinity fear the result if the animals are left there after the flood goes down. Today police in motor boats will be sent over the river to dislodge any dead stock and see that it gets into the current.
Near the Kelly mills in the East bottoms twenty-five or thirty men are at work night and day watching to see that the water does not break through the dike formed by the embankment of the Kansas City Southern railway.
"That is really the key to the East bottoms," Captain Whitsett said. "If the water once gets through there it means lots more trouble, especially for truck gardens, Currents would be quickly formed and all of that loose rich soil would go down the river as it did in 1903."
Wednesday night and last night fifteen or twenty families, by special permission, slept on the hillsides below North Terrace park. In the day the people go down and watch their property.
William Mensing, 10 East Fourth street, called at police headquarters last night and offered five or six furnished rooms for the benefit of the flood sufferers. In 1903 Mensing had a rooming house at Fourth and Main streets. While his rooms could have been rented at good prices, Mensing gave up a dozen or more to poor families and even took two families into his home.
"These rooms I have are not for men who can hustle for themselves," he said last night. "As before, I prefer to let women and children occupy them."
Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., chairman of the police board, informed the department yesterday that tents could be secured at the Third regiment. They are to be used for poor and needy families if the worst comes.
Today two gasoline launches will be placed in commission for use of the police. They will be expected to patrol the river below the Hannibal bridge and render aid to people on both sides of the river if the emergency calls for it.
The crowd on the Intercity viaduct last night -- most of the people were sightseers -- was so great that Captain Whitsett stationed four men under Sergeant Robert Greely at the entrance. Their business was to be on the lookout for crooks and to keep the people moving. Three patrolmen were placed at the Mulberry street pay station to keep order and see that no one used the "center rush" method to get through the crowd without paying.
Last night several police were patrolling the river bank from the foot of Grand avenue east. It had been reported that thieves had been breaking into wholesale houses through windows, loading their boats and landing further down the river
The police were asked last night to be on the lookout for Antonio Travesse, 6 years old, an Italian boy living at 410 Holmes street. His father, Carlos, greatly excited, reported the missing boy. He said that when last seen his baby was going toward the river.
Harlem could not be reached by telephone last night. In the afternoon it was said that the water there had flooded the only remaining stores. Last night's report from there was that the river was getting lower, and that most of the wise citizens over there, who had passed through the terrible 1903 flood, will save all of their household goods and stocks of merchandise. Some were moved to this city and some of the stocks are still there, very high up with the counters and shelves nailed down.Labels: boats, Captain Whitsett, children, East bottoms, flood, Grand avenue, Hannibal bridge, Harlem, Holmes street, immigrants, Mayor Crittenden, military, Mulberry street, Police Chief Ahern, West bottoms June 11, 1908 HE'S A TEMPORARY ORPHAN.
Lee Rogers, 6 Years Old, Separated From His Parents in the Flood.
Lee Rogers, 6 years old, is the first boy to lose both his parents in the present flood, and he is being cared for at the detention home until such time as his father and mother can be found. The Rogers lived in Armourdale until Monday. On that day when the flood threatened their home, Mrs. Rogers came to Kansas City, Mo., to find a new home, and the father went away to help buil dikes. The boy was left in the care of Mrs. Mary Dunbar, 567 North Fourth street, Armourdale, and she, too, had to make a hasty retreat to the Missouri side of the river as the waters began to rise. She brought the Rogers boy with her, and being unable to find his mother turned him over to the superintendent of the detention home last evening.Labels: Armourdale, children, detention home, flood June 11, 1908 HE ABUSED MAYOR'S PARDON.
B. F. Scott Said to Have Beaten Wife on Day of His Release.
Several days ago Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., pardoned from the workhouse a man named B. F. Scott. Scott had been sent there May 5 to serve out a $500 fine -- one year -- for abusing his wife.
According to F. E. McCrary, Humane agent, the minute Scott was released he began a search for his wife. Finding her at 2811 North Freeman avenue, Kansas City, Kas., Scott is reported to have immediately raised trouble. He is said to have whipped his wife and assaulted Miss Daisy Rody, his niece. Both the wife and niece are reported to have been severely bruised and beaten. Then Scott, so it is said, grabbed his infant child and fled.
Yesterday afternoon Andrew Cole, a Humane officer from this side, went to Kansas City, Kas., and with W. W. Lacy, a truant officer, arrested Scott. They say he will not tell what became of the child. He was arrested at the wife's home, and the officers said she begged that he not be harmed.Labels: children, custody, domestic violence, Humane Society, Kansas City Kas, Mayor Crittenden, workhouse June11, 1908 LITTLE GIRL IS A SUICIDE.
Daisy Garnier, 14 Years Old, Shoots Herself -- No Cause Known.
Daisy Garnier, aged 14, the adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Garnier, 1213 Minnesota avenue, Kansas City, Kas., shot and instantly killed herself yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock at the home of her adopted parents. The girl in some manner obtained a revolver and, going into the basement of the house, placed the pistol to her head and fired a ball through her brain. No cause for the suicide is known.Labels: children, Kansas City Kas, Minnesota avenue, Suicide June 10, 1908 PLEASED WITH M'CUNE HOME.
County Judges Find Things in First Class Shape There.
Conditions at the McCune home for boys, located a few miles from Independence, were found to be satisfactory by two of the three judges of the county court who visited there yesterday for the purpose of making an inspection. Judges J. M. Patterson and C. E. Moss, accompanied by Frank Ray, the architect, and William Southern of Independence, county examiner for Jackson county, made the trip of inspection.
"We are much pleased with the way Thomas N. Hughes, manager of the home, has conducted its affairs," said Judge Patterson last night. "We found seventeen boys at the home and they seem to be happy and contented. The boys have a garden in which they raise many vegetables and this keeps them busy and out of mischief. Yesterday Mr. Hughes was putting some shingles o n the house and five of the boys seemed to enjoy helping him.
"We are planning to erect a temporary barn or shed in which the boys can play on rainy days and which can be sued as a sleeping room in case the home becomes crowded. We are also planning the erection of a series of cottages, but this work probably will not be taken up before net fall."Labels: architects, children, Independence, Judges June 5, 1908 RAN HIMSELF TO DEATH.
Sport of Cruel Boys Led to Tragedy in a Cat's Life.
A little black cat which A. G. Lackey, 421 West Thirty-fifth street, owned is dead. This will perhaps be good news for the gang of hoodlums that tied a can to the tail of "Blackie" and laughed to see him run. After the cat got out of range he kept on running, judging from his appearance, and he got as far as his home several times.
"He would not let any of us go near him," said Mr. Lackey. "Unlike a dog, which, similarly treated, runs home for help, a poor cat seems to lose faith in all human beings after being put to torture. So my poor old pet simply ran himself to death trying to get away from that, to him, terrible instrument that was trying to beat him to death. 'Blackie' came home at last to stay, and he died the next day. I have only one regret to add to the one about his death -- I wish the whole army of boys who think it sport to impose on a cat or a dog could have seen the dismay expressed in the eyes of that unfortunate cat as he dragged itself to my feet to lie there and die. They would be friends of dumb beasts the balance of their lives.
"Poor old 'Blackie,' he never hurt a boy in all his little useful life, and yet boys killed him."Labels: animals, children, Thirty-fifth street 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 June 2, 1908 CLAREMORE WANTS CHILDREN.
Oklahoma Town Sends for Kansas City Boys and Girls.
The Chamber of Commerce of Claremore, Ok., has offered to care for a number of Kansas City children free in order to demonstrate to the people of the West that the noted mineral waters there have curative properties superior to any in the West. The following letter was yesterday received by Mayor Crittenden;
June 1, 1908
Hon. T. T. Crittenden, Mayor, Kansas City, Mo.
Dear Sir; -- The fact has never been extensively advertised, but at the city of Claremore, Ok., there flows from artesian wells the most wonderful curative water yet discovered in the world for the cure of skin diseases of all kinds, eczema, rheumatism and stomach trouble. In ever city in the United States there are hundreds of poor children suffering from skin diseases and afflictions of the eyes, whose lives are torture and misery. The parents of these children cannot afford to send them to this watering place for treatment, consequently, knowing the hundreds of cures that have been performed by this wonderful water, the Chamber of Commerce and the good women of Claremore, Ok., desiring to relieve the suffering of these little ones, make you the following proposition:
Through the Young Woman's Christian Association of Kansas City, the Chamber of Commerce of Claremore, Ok., desires that you select twenty poor children, afflicted by any form of skin disease, eczema, sore eyes, rheumatism or stomach trouble, send them to Claremore, Ok., and the Chamber of Commerce and the good women of Claremore, Ok., will take care of them, see that they are given every are and treatment of this wonderful curative water.
God, in His infinite wisdom, having sent us this wonderful curative, we firmly believe that it is our duty to place it at the disposal of as many of the suffering and afflicted as possible. It is our intention to make this same offer to every large city of the United States, and we respectfully request that you place this matter in the hands of the Young Women's Christian Association of Kansas City and that they at the earliest possible date make known to the Chamber of Commerce at Claremore, Ok., their desires in co-operating with us in this humane work All we ask is that the city sending these poor children pay their railway fare between their home city and Claremore, Ok., and return; the citizens of Claremore will do the rest.
Claremore, Ok., is on the main lines of the Rock Island-Frisco railway system and the Missouri-Pacific Iron Mountain route direct from Kansas City. I am, sir, your obedient servant,
P. C. LAVEY,
Secretary Claremore Chamber of Commerce, Claremore, Ok.Labels: charity, children, health, Mayor Crittenden, organizations, railroad May 28, 1908 TEACHERS FEARED A TORNADO.
Dismissed Pupils Yesterday When Black Clouds Appeared.
Fearing that the black cloud which approached Kansas City from the northwest yesterday morning was bring a tornado, Miss Emma J. Lockett, principal of the Linwood school, Linwood and Woodland avenues, dismissed the 735 children under her care, and sent them scampering to their homes.
But she first called up P. Connor, the weather forecaster. After being assured that the coming storm was not a twister, she remembered how many times she had failed to take an umbrella when he said "Fair today," and had come home dripping, so she was not satisfied, but tried to call the school board. After several ineffectual attempts, the board's telephone being in use at each time, she noticed that the cloud was much nearer. At the rate it was coming, the children could barely have time to get to their own roofs before trees began to be uprooted. She rang the dismissal bell, telling her charges to go home at once.
But Mr. Connor was right, and Miss Lockett very sweetly admitted it after the cloud had passed. School was resumed at the afternoon hour.
The Catholic sisters in charge of St. Vincent's academy, Thirty-first street and Flora avenue, also dismissed their 250 pupils when the threatening clouds appeared.
In 1886 the Lathrop school, Eight and May streets, was partly wrecked by a storm. Several children were killed.Labels: children, Eighth street, Flora avenue, Linwood avenue, May street, schools, Thirty-first street, weather, Woodland avenue May 26, 1908 DROWN IN SWOLLEN CREEK.
Kansas City Girl and Little Brother Are Among Victims.
TRENTON, MO., May 25. -- (Special.) Mrs. Benjamin King of Brimson, Mo., Miss Anna Coakley, aged 18, and her 5 year old brother, the latter two of Kansas City, were drowned while attempting to cross Sugar creek near Brimson, about 6 o'clock last night. In the carriage were three other persons who escaped, Benjamin King, husband of the drowned woman, and his daughter and grand-daughter. They were attempting to cross the stream, which was swollen by heavy rains, on a low wagon bridge, which was covered with water. Mr. King, who was driving, miscalculated the distance and drove off the bridge. The buggy was washed down stream.
The bodies of Miss Coakley and her brother were recovered with the vehicle. Mrs. King's body has not been recovered.
Mr. King, who is about 60 years old, made a heroic rescue of his daughter and grand-daughter while his wife sank before his eyes. Mr. King is an agent at Brimson for the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City railroad.
Miss Coakley and brother were visiting Mr. and Mrs. King.Labels: children, death, drowning May 23, 1908 MATHIAS IS GUARDIAN OF MANY SMALL DOES.
PROBATION OFFICER HAS AN- OTHER ADDED TO HIS FAMILY.
Girl Who Played Piano for a Ghost Show Is Also in the Juvenile Court Because She's So Nervous.
It would take Dr. E. L Mathias several hours to figure how many miniature John Does and Mary Roes he is the guardian of. And he won't figure the total, but merely tells reports to "cut it out."
Every time a woman brings a foundling into the children's court Judge H. L. McCune, after making some disposition of the child, either leaving it with the foster mother or sending it to the county nursery, appoints Dr Mathias guardian. He got another one yesterday.
An attendant at the McKenzie nursery at 1607 East Ninth street brought the baby into court. It slept serenely, while Judge McCune looked it over and remarked judicially:
"Very pretty baby. Where did you get it?"
"She was left at the nursery along with this letter," replied the attendant, handing the judge a note.
"Andrew, eh? A miss, did you say it was? All right" -- turning to the clerk -- "change the young lady's name from Doe to Andrews. Make her a ward of the court. Dr. Mathias is appointed the guardian. The nursery may keep the -- Miss Andrews as long as the attendants are kind to her."
Then Dr. Mathias did a gallant thing. He gave the baby Christian names in honor of the women of the court: "Helen Agnes Andrews" -- Helen for Mrs. Helen Smith, and Agnes for Mrs. Agnes O'Dell.
"I wonder if that means that Mrs. O'Dell and I will have to buy the Doe baby its clothes," Mrs. Smith whispered.
Mrs. O'Dell followed the nurse and child to the door and gave the baby a farewell pat.
"What color are its eyes?" she asked. "I ought to know, now that she's named after me."
"They're blue yet," replied the nurse.
SHE PLAYED PIANO IN THE GHOST SHOW.
It looked like a story when a girl's mother said she ran away from home rather than take music lessons, and once had climbed on the roof of the house to hide from the music teacher. The reporters had the name and address written down, when "Mother" O'Dell, probation officer, sent this note:
"Ina is a good girl. You must not print her name or address."
There is a touch of sadness in the girl's story, too. Her father left home recently, and as there were five littler ones for her mother to support, Ina remembered her music lessons and went to work as a piano player at the ghost show at Fairmount park. She didn't come home one night, and her mother had her brought into court. She is 16 years old.
"She's a good girl, only she gets nervous," said the mother.
"I'd get nervous myself if I played a piano in a ghost show. Stay away from the park, my girl, and we'll get you a better place to work."Labels: children, courtroom, custody, doctors, fairmount park, Judge McCune, mental health, Ninth street May 22, 1908 SARAH MORASCH IS GUILTY OF MURDER.
CONVICTED OF POISONING A 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL.
Sent Poisoned Candy by Mail to Ella Miller, Who Did Not Eat It Be- cause It Was Bitter -- Her Sister Was Killed.
Mrs. Sarah Morasch must spend the remainder of her life in the Kansas penitentiary for the murder of her 4-year-old niece, Ruth Miller. The jury which heard the evidence in Mrs. Morasch's second trial reached a verdict of guilty at 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The case had been on trial since May 4. There was no verdict in the first trial.
When the verdict was read Mrs. Morasch held her usual composure, and merely laughed.
The case went to the jury at 4 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, and from the first ballot to the one which settled the fate of Mrs. Morasch the jurors stood eleven to one for conviction. At noon yesterday George E. Horn, foreman of the jury, asked for the testimony of Charles Miller, father of the dead girl. A few minutes later a knock was heard on the door of the jury room. "We have agreed," said Foreman Horn, and the twelve jurors filed in the court room and took their seats.
On the afternoon of February 13, the Miller children were in their home, 634 Cheyenne avenue, Armourdale. A knock was heard on the door and the postman, Henry T. Keener, handed Ella Van Meter, better known as Ella Miller, a package weighing about a pound. It was wrapped in white paper and bore the inscription: "Ella Miller, 634 Cheyenne avenue, Armourdale. A knock was heard on the door and the postman, Henry T. Keener, handed Ella Van Meter, better known as Ella Miller, a package weighing about a pound. It was wrapped in white paper and bore the inscription: "Ella Miller, 634 Cheyenne avenue, corner of Cheyenne & Packard avenues. From the S. & S. girls."
The box was opened, and found to contain a pound of chocolate candy, which she says tasted bitter, and gave some to the other children who gathered around her.
A few minutes later Ruth, who had eaten more of the candy than the rest, was seized with cramps while playing in the back yard, and was taken into the house. She died before the nearest physician, Dr. Zacharia Nason, who lived a block distant, could be summoned. He pronounced the death as due to strychnine poisoning.
The fact that Mrs. Sarah Morasch bore a grudge against Ella Miller, who had once laughed at he, and that immediately after the little girl's death, she had gone to Harrisonville, Mo., caused suspicion to be directed to her. She was arrested at the Missouri town.
The testimony of handwriting experts was a strong factor in the conviction.Labels: Armourdale, children, courtroom, Death of Ruth Miller, doctors, murder, poison May 22, 1908 CLUB WOMEN PLAN OUTING FOR THE POOR CHILDREN.
Fifteen Organizations to Give Them a Day in the Woods at Swope Park.
Mrs. Henry N. Ess, state chairman of the philanthropy committee of the Missouri Federation of Women's Clubs, has received the indorsement of the Second district executive committee to give the children of the poor of Kansas City an outing of one day at Swope park.
Mrs. Ess presented her plans at the recent meeting in this city of the Second District Federation, composed of the counties of Platte, Carroll, Clay, Jackson, Ray, Lafayette, Cass and Johnson. Jackson is represented by the following fifteen federated clubs, all of which are enthusiastic over the plan for a children's club day at Swope: Anthenaeum, Central Study, South Prospect, Every Other Week, Bancroft, Ruskin, Tuesday Morning Study Class, Women's Reading Club, History and Literature, Alternate Tuesday Club, Council of Jewish Women, Magazine, Portia, Clionian and Keramic.
Nor is the movement confined to only federated clubs, but all women's clubs of the city are invited to join in celebrating and making a success of the big picnic for the juvenile poor of this city on Saturday, June 13.
Th membership of these clubs will aggregate 1,000 members and each woman has been asked to pledge herself to take at least two children from the poorer districts of the city, out to Kansas City's open country show place, Swope park, and give them an outing in the green fields. Each woman is to provide the lunch and entertainment for her little charges and is to give them her personal attention all day, and plan for their enjoyment. It will mean that several thousand children will make merry June 13 at their first attendance of a real "open" session of a woman's club.
All children ranging in ages from 6 to 12 years old will be eligible to this treat until the proper number has been reached, the assignment of two children to each club woman.
The event promises to be not only an exceptional treat for unfortunate children of this city, but will demonstrate the practical possibilities of the woman club movement, which reaches out and beyond the mere delving into Isben, Browning or Shakespeare, and shows the real good which can be accomplished by Kansas City's bright women when they take a notion to do a thing.Labels: charity, children, organizations, Swope park May 22, 1908 TOOK MORE THAN A TOOTHFUL.
Schoolboy Disregarded Mother's Di- rections in Use of Carbolic Acid.
Lloyd Thomas, 11 years old, 2035 East Thirty-fifth street, was told by his mother to put some carbolic acid in the cavity of an aching tooth. That was about 8:30 a. m Tuesday. Lloyd had never used that drug before and knew nothing of its potency.
Lloyd, instead of trying to put a drop into the cavity, turned up the bottle and filled his mouth with the acid. It burned so that he swallowed it. Presently he became unconscious and the family became alarmed. Dr. W. A. Shelton, who lives lose by at 3435 Brooklyn avenue, was summoned and gave the boy a powerful antidote, not before his throat and esophagus had been badly burned by the acid, however. Yesterday the boy was better, but is not yet out of danger. He is the son of Robert Thomas, a real estate man. Lloyd is a school boy.Labels: Brooklyn avenue, children, doctors, poison, real estate, Thirty-fifth street May 22, 1908 THEY WHITTLE THEIR DESKS.
Boys With Knives Have Defaced 3,000 in Public Schools.
Even in these days of scientific school discipline the boy with the jack knife is still active, and as a consequence the shool board last night instructed the secretary to ask for bids for 3,000 new desks to replace the old ones which have been defaced by the enthusiastic small boy with his new Christmas knife.
Bids for teachers' tables, chairs and stools will be asked at the same time.Labels: children, schools May 21, 1908 COW DRAGS CHILD TO DEATH.
Boy Forgot Mother's Warning and Tied Rope Around Him.
"Henry, be careful now, and don't wrap the rope around your body," was the warning given 10-year-old Henry Smith by his mother, when the lad left yesterday morning to take the family cow to pasture.
A half hour later the boy was found unconscious near a greenhouse on the Spring Branch road. His skull was crushed and his body covered with bruises. The cow's stake rope was wound around his body. He died a few minutes later without regaining consciousness.
Persons who saw the boy taking the cow to pasture say he led the animal for some time and then tied the rope around his body. A short time later the cow, probably frightened by something along the roadside, began to run, and before the lad could free himself, she jerked him off his feet. The frightened animal ran about a quarter of a mile. The boy's screams were heard as he tried to loosen the rope.
The body was removed to the Carson morgue in Independence. Henry was a son of Perry Smith, a house mover, who lives at 306 East Lexington avenue, Independence.Labels: animals, children, death, Independence, undertakers May 20, 1908 MORASCH CASE WILL GO TO THE JURY TODAY.
Accused Woman Again Says She Fled Because Taggart Threat- ened Her.
Arguments were begun in the case of Mrs. Sarah Morasch, accused of having poisoned 4-year-old Ruth Miller on February 12, by attorneys in the Wyandotte county district court yesterday afternoon. The case will go to the jury today. This is Mrs. Morasch's second trial.
The defendant, who has shown remarkable nerve throughout the long sessions, was put on the witness stand early yesterday and kept there until evening.
The two small children of Mrs. Morasch, with her almost constantly since the beginning of the second trial, were not in the court room yesterday. Nellie and Hattie, 10 and 16 years old respectively, had become tired of standing, first on one foot and then on another, listening to prosaic and endless banterings between the attorneys in a heated atmosphere and gone off to play in the court house back yard. The east windows, however, were opened occasionally during the day, then while the defendant battled for her life the voices of the children could plainly be heard as they romped about on the grass, but the mother never once seemed to notice it.
The story told by the accused woman did not vary greatly from the one told at the first trial and at the preliminary hearing in Judge Newhall's court. She denied assertions made by some farmers who live near Belton and Peculiar, Mo., to the effect that she and Blanche had passed along that route on the way to Harrisonville and had said she worked on some ranch in the neighborhood.
In Harrisonville, she said, she had obtained employment for herself at a restaurant. She worked there only one day and the receipts amounted in full to only 35 cents. Her employer then gave her 45 cents and discharged her Although her wages were 10 cents ahead of the receipts, she testified that she thought this a good business showing for a Harrisonville restaurant.
While telling the jury of Prosecutor Taggart's attitude to her in his private office a few nights before the flight to Harrisonville when, it is alleged by the defense, he got extremely nervous and frightened the defendant, Mrs. Morasch laughed. She was then asked by the county attorney if she had felt more nervous on that occasion that at the present one when she is being tried for her life. She said that she had been more nervous. She was then dismissed and the arguments for the state by Assistant County Attorney Higgins followed.Labels: children, courtroom, Death of Ruth Miller, murder, women May 20, 1908 2-YEAR-OLD BOY RAN AWAY.
Restored to His Mother After an Anxious Search.
For two long hours yesterday there was a distracted mother in Kansas City. That was Mrs. R. J. Nie of 432 Bales avenue, whose 2-year-old boy, Raphael, had disappeared. She missed the little tot shortly after noon and searched the neighborhood, but could get no trace of her offspring. In the meantime Patrolman O'Connor had found the baby at Independence and Bales avenues, ambling along as if he had business on his hands. Raphael made no objection when the officer took him in tow and seemed delighted at the long car ride to police headquarters.
When placed in charge of Mrs. John Moran, the little fellow began a tour of inspection of the quarters. When he landed inside the cell in the ante room Mrs. Moran shut the door on him, thinking to scare him. Raphael liked the cell as a "play house" and indicated that the door be left locked.
After Mrs. Nie had scoured the neighborhood she thought of the police and called up to see if they had her boy. They certainly had, she was told, and he was having a nice visit. Mrs. Nie boarded the first car for the city and soon Raphael, still in a good humor, was delivered to her.Labels: Bales avenue, children, Independence avenue, jail, missing, police, police headquarters, police matron May 17, 1908
BABY'S BODY IN A SHOE BOX.
Boys Found It Floating in O. K. Creek -- Police to Investigate.
While playing on the banks of O. K. creek, near Twenty-fifth and Summit streets yesterday afternoon some boys saw a shoe box floating in the stream. They fished it out and opened it. When they found that the box contained a baby's body the boys ran home and reported the find.
The body was that of a boy, which evidently had lived two or three days, the coroner thinks. The coroner has asked the police to investigate.Labels: children, death, Summit street, Twenty-fifth street May 17, 1908 HIS CHILDREN SAW HIM DROWN.
Hector Bonne, a Belgian Gardner, Lost His Life in the Blue.
In the presence of his family of four children, Hector Bonne, a Rosedale gardener, was drowned while fishing in the Blue just south of Dodson last evening about 7 o'clock. He had taken his children for a day's visit at an uncle's, Charles Cula, near the Harrisonville bridge, not far from where the accident occurred.
Several men were fishing there and some were intoxicated. Bonne waded into the water banteringly with his clothes on, and all seemed to think when he dropped out of sight that he was making fun for the children. But he had stepped off a ledge and was drowned without coming up. In a few minutes the dead body was recovered by R. H. Hopkins, a farmer, who was there fishing. Bonne was a Belgian. Deputy Coroner O. H. Parker sent R. V. Lindsay, a Westport undertaker, for the body. With his wife and children, Bonne lived just beyond the end of the Rosedale car line.Labels: Blue river, children, Deputy Coroner Parker, Dodson, drowning, fishing, immigrants, Rosedale, undertakers May 14, 1908 WANTED HER CHILD ARRESTED.
Because She Played in Street, Having No Other Place to Play.
The great necessity for a playground in the North end was shown by an incident which took place at police headquarters last night. A mother, greatly incensed and trembling with anger, appeared at the station pushing before her a little girl of 11 years. She was crying bitterly and protesting.
"I have told you I would do it and I am going to keep my word," said the mother. Then to Sergeant Patrick Clark she said: "I want this girl locked up. She will play on the streets when I have told her not to."
"I haven't got any place else to play," said the little girl, between sobs.
"Where do you live?" asked the sergeant kindly, as he placed his arm about the child's back.
"At Missouri avenue and Main," she said, calming a little.
"How long have you lived there?" she was asked.
"All my life," she replied.
"Where else can the child play but on the street?" Clark asked the mother. "You take her home now and both of you enter into a bargain. You give this little girl so much time every day to play. All children have got to play or else they are not children. And you, little one, when your mother gives you a certain hour in which to play, will you come in when the time is up? There, I knew you would. Now both of you go home.
Mother and daughter left the station arm in arm.Labels: children, Main street, Missouri avenue, North end, police headquarters May 13, 1908 BROKE HER HAND ON HIS FACE.
Mrs. Ridings Resented an Insult to Her 9-Year-Old Child.
Robert Eades, a laborer for the Holmes Construction Company, was fined $50 in police court yesterday for insulting 9-year-old Ethel Ridings in front of a rooming house at 9 West Fifth street Monday night. Mrs. Clara Ridings, the little girl's mother, appeared in court with her right hand in a sling.
"When Ethel told me what he had done," she said, "I slugged him one, so hard that I broke my hand. I didn't mind that, for I certainly socked him a good one."
Eades's face showed the result of Mrs. Riding's blow. His cheek was dislocated where she landed. He was arrested soon after. Eades denied that he had said anything to the child.Labels: children, laborer, police court, violence May 10, 1908 SAYS HE DIDN'T WANT TO DIE.
James Rowland Revises His Story Now That He Is Well.
James Rowland, 14 years old, 1516 Harrison street, was discharged from the general hospital yesterday afternoon as out of danger. He was taken to his home by his father.
Young Rowland is the boy who, late last month, was knocked from the north approach of the Hannibal bridge and fell thirty feet. A step on the baggage car of the Rock Island train which struck him fractured his skull on the left side and the fall broke and dislocated his right arm. Drs. J. P. Neal and H. R. Conway trephined the lad's skull at the emergency hospital an hour after the accident, and to that quick work the boy owes his life. They removed several pieces of bone which were pressing on the brain.
On the night the boy was injured, he was walking across the bridge from Harlem when James Knowlden, a farmer, called to him and said, "Look out! There's a train coming across the bridge."
Not seeing the train himself, and, being of a joking turn of mind,, Rowland called back: "Oh, I don't care. I want to die anyway." On that account it was believed that the boy had tried to commit suicide. He says now that he made the remark just in fun and did not see the train until it was upon him.
Rowland said that on that day he played "hookey" from school and was induced by a boy called "Rusty" to go to Harlem. After reaching there, Rowland changed his mind and concluded to go home. He had only 5 cents left and intended to go home by way of the toll bridge. He walked onto the trestle approach instead of the wagon road below.Labels: children, doctors, general hospital, Hannibal bridge, Harlem, Harrison street, railroad, Suicide May 9, 1908 RUNAWAY GIRLS ARE CAUGHT.
Returned to Smallpox Hospital After a Jaunt About Town.
The two girls, Edna Sickler, 12, and Grace Kaufman, 13 years old, were returned to quarantine at St. George hospital near the Milwaukee bridge late last night. Edna Sickler was the first to arrive at 9 p. m., in company with her father, Edward Sickler. At 11:15 o'clock Grace Kaufman was taken back by the guard, Morris S. Sharp. Both girls escaped from quarantine where smallpox patients are confined and were gone thirty-four and thirty-six hours, respectively.
While the police were supposed to be looking for them a citizen who had seen their descriptions in Friday's Journal called up the smallpox hospital and told Dr. George P. Pipkin, in charge there, that he believed both girls were with the Kaufman girl's father at Twenty-ninth and Spruce streets.
The girls reported that they walked from the smallpox hospital to the end of the Fifth street line -- both had previously begged a nickel from their mothers -- and transferred until they had reached the vicinity of Twenty-ninth and Prospect. There, as if by prearrangement, they met Frank Kaufman, Grace's father. He took the girls with him to cut grass on Prospect avenue between Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth and took them home with him in the evening.
Dr. Pipkin said that Kaufman would be prosecuted for harboring a person with a contagious disease without reporting the fact. Kaufman told Sharp that the girls said they had been discharged.Labels: children, doctors, hospitals, Prospect avenue, smallpox, streetcar, The Journal, Twenty-eighth street, Twenty-ninth street May 8, 1908 TWO GIRLS ESCAPE FROM PEST HOUSE.
UNFUMIGATED, THEY ARE WAN- DERING ABOUT THE STREETS.
POLICE LOOKING FOR THEM.
ONE GIRL IS 12 YEARS OLD, THE OTHER IS 13.
Edna Sickler and Grace Kaufman Elude the Guards and Go Visit- ing, No One Seems to Know Where.
If you should meet two girls, one 12 years old, light hair, blue eyes with a squint in her right eye, wearing a red calico dress and red coat, and the other 13 years old, dark hair, eyes and skin, and wearing a gray coat and dark skirt, it might be advisable, if you are not equipped with a fumigating apparatus, for you to climb a tree or jump in a well until they have passed.
Girls of this description took French leave of St. George's hospital in the East Bottoms yesterday about noon. The city's smallpox patients are quarantined there. The 12-year-old girl is named Edna Sickler. Her home is at 6415 East Fourteenth street and her mother and two small brothers, 3 and 7 years old, are still in quarantine. Grace Kaufman is the 13-year-old. Her home is at 2307 East Eighteenth street and her mother and a sister 11 years old are still at the hospital.
"The girls have been down here nine days," said Dr. George P. Pipkin, who has charge of the hospital. "Both of their cases were very light, but they are endangering the public as they left here wearing the same clothes in which they came and were not fumigated. I have given their descriptions to all the police stations and want them returned here at once."
With five other children the two girls were playing about the hospital grounds about 11 o'clock yesterday. Telling the other children that they were going up the river bank to gather flowers they disappeared. As that is a custom, nothing was thought of the incident until the girls failed to show up for dinner at 11:45 o'clock.
Fearing that some accident had happened them the mothers went in search but got no trace of them. Then the matter was reported to Dr. Pipkin who, with Morris S. Sharp, a guard, made a search in the immediate neighborhood. That, too, was fruitless. Sharp then took the wagon and drove toward town. From a man working near the Crescent elevator in the East bottoms he learned that the girls had passed there, seemingly in a great hurry to reach the Fifth street car line, just about noon. Then the matter was reported to the police.
From the mothers Dr. Pipkin learned that both girls had been given a nickel in the morning. They wanted to buy a candy at a little store nearby, they said. The doctor also learned that the girls had taken particular pains to wash up in the morning, and one of them complained that her dress was not clean.
Sharp came to the city and went to the girls' homes, but they had not shown up there. When he went to a flat near Twenty-eighth and Wabash avenue, where the Kaufman girl's father worked as janitor he was informed that Kaufman had been gone two days. Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman are separated. When informed that her husband had gone, sh said she feared that the girl was with him. The father and three sisters at the Sickler girl's home said they would inform Dr. Pipkin if Edna came home.
Men at the smallpox hospital are watched very closely, but it has never been deemed necessary to place a guard over children. They have always been given as much freedom as possible as it was known to be good for them. These two girls are the first to ever run away from the institution. The police believe the girls are still in the city and hope to land them back at the hospital today.Labels: children, clothing, doctors, East bottoms, Eighteenth street, health, hospitals, smallpox, Twenty-eighth street, Wabash avenue May 7, 1908 HIS MOTHER'S ERRAND TOOK HIM TO HIS DEATH.
Eugene Lane, 7 Years Old, Killed by Santa Fe Train on Belt Line Trestle.
While returning to his home at 3810 East Fifteenth street yesterday evening about 6 o'clock, Eugene Lane, age 7 years, was caught on the long trestle of the Belt line railroad near Thirteenth street and Jackson avenue and killed. The boy was struck by an eastbound Santa Fe passenger train while midway on the trestle and the impact of the engine threw him against one of the iron uprights, crushing his skull.
Eugene Lane was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lane, who live at 3810 East Fifteenth street, and had ben sent to a neighbor's house on an errand for his mother. The boy had been in the habit of using the trestle in making journeys to and form the neighborhood to which he was sent, but had forgotten that a train was due when he attempted to cross the trestle yesterday afternoon.
Edward Lane, the father of the boy, has a blacksmith shop at 3406 East Fifteenth street. The boy was an only son.Labels: Belt line, blacksmiths, children, death, Jackson avenue, railroad, Thirteenth street May 7, 1908 STRUNG THEM UP BY THUMBS.
For Cruelty to His Chidren B. F. Scott Is Fined $500.
B. F. Scott, a stone mason living at 1301 Belmont street, was fined $500 by Police Judge Kyle yesterday. His wife told the court they had been married ten years which were "ten years of frightful misery and mental suffering."
She said Scott often, to punish the children, had placed two of the back to back, tied their hands together and then tied them to a nail overhead and gone away and left them. The mother said she always cut them down as soon as Scott departed, as she was afraid to do so before.Labels: Belmont street, children, domestic violence, Judge Kyle, marriage, police court May 6, 1908 FIRE DAMAGES ELECTRIC PARK.
BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN IN- CENDIARY -- LOSS $20,000.
MUSIC PAVILION IS BURNED.
OPENING OF PARK WILL NOT BE DELAYED.
Indications Point to a Deliberate At- tempt to Burn the Buildings. Oil Used to Start the Fire.
Fire, supposed to be of incendiary origin, completely destroyed the music pavilion, one side of the German village and part of the promenade at Electric park, Forty-sixth street and Tracy avenue, last night about 9:30 o'clock. The damage is estimated at $20,000.
Flames were first seen pouring out of the northwest corner of the music pavilion and it is believed the fire was started in that vicinity. Harry Alexander, who lives at Forty-sixth street and Virginia avenue, was one of the first to discover the fire and turned in an alarm. He stated that within twenty minutes after he first discovered the fire the music pavilion was a mass of flames, and in a few minutes more was burned to the ground. The roof fell within fifteen minutes after the fire was discovered.
As soon as the fire was discovered the Electric Park fire department, members of which live near the park, turned out and made an attempt to subdue the fire, but it was beyond their control. Jack Hutson, a watchman at the park and one of the firemen, was overcome by smoke and had to be carried to the office. He recovered in a short time.
OTHER BUILDINGS SAVED.
Firemen from No. 22 hose house were the first to arrive, and by fast work managed to get the flames under control before they spread to the other buildings. They were assisted by several other companies which arrived later The music pavilion was completely demolished. It is next to the German village, and the side wall connecting them was destroyed. Part of the promenade in front of the building was destroyed.
That the fire was of incendiary origin is the belief of the fire department, M. G. Heim, one of the owners of the park, who arrived soon after the fire started, and the watchmen. The park has a private electric plant, and all currents were turned off the buildings so that the fire could not have originated from that source. No workmen have been in the pavilion or adjoining buildings for weeks, and nothing was in the pavilion to have caused the fire.
George Barker, a laborer living at 4501 Tracy avenue, made a statement at the park that he saw two negroes running from the scene of the fire shortly after the flames were discovered, but later stated that two children claimed they saw the negroes. He did not know the children's names.
HEIM SAYS "INCENDIARY."
M. G. Heim stated that he believed the fire must have been of incendiary origin. "There was no current on the electric wires in the music pavilion and nothing that could have caused a fire there," said Mr. Heim. "The saloon is to be established in another building, not far from the music ha, and it may have been the intention to destroy that building, but the attempt was not a success. The damage is about $20,000."
A squad of police was sent to the park after the fire and ordered to watch the buildings until morning to see that no further attempts were made to burn the buildings.
A score of workmen will be put to work early this morning clearing away the debris and preparing the music hall for the opening which will take place May 17. Mr. Heim stated that the fire will not postpone the opening of the park. A temporary open air shell will be erected for the band and the wall on the side of the German village will be rebuilt.
SAYS OIL WAS USED.
Jacob Baas, night watchman for the south side of the park, is positive in his belief that the fire was not only incendiary, but that a good quantity of oil was used in starting it. At 8:45 o'clock he made his rounds with a lantern, and there was perfect stillness and darkness all over the grounds. Being chilly, Baas went into his shack on the south and to the rear of the "boat tours" concession. He barely had time to light a fire and remove his shoes when a sheet of flame across the grounds above the music pavilion caught his attention.
When he rushed out there was far more smoke than flame -- great clouds of blackness that seemed to suggest that much of the interior was burning before the flames showed on the outside. Baas's immediate decision then was that "a plenty of oil must have been used to get that kind of a quick start."
His belief is that the start was below the German village back of the band stand, though when he got close the fire was spread so generally that there was nothing about the fire itself to suggest where it started.
Manager Rohrer of the People's Amusement Company, who lives at 4507 Tracy avenue, came upon the grounds soon after this, and with Jack Hutson, head night watchman, whose station is in the office near the gate, did what could be done to manipulate the company's fireplugs and hose. Hutson was practically overcome by getting into the thick of the smoke.
H. Smith and B. C. Smith, brothers, who work at the park days and board at 4619 Tracy avenue, saw Edward Solberg, park electrician, shut off all electricity early in the evening as he was leaving the park, and there is no possibility that the fire could have started from the electric wiring.
CHILDREN IN PERIL.
Sam Benjamin, the park manager, who lives in the clubhouse on the grounds was with his wife at the Majestic theater when told of the fire. An old negro servant had been left alone with the two small children of the family. All were in bed and the woman being hard of hearing, it was some time before she and her charges were aroused. Early in the fire the roof of the clubhouse caught, but a sudden downpour of rain quenched the blaze before it had a good start. Had it been a dry evening the clubhouse, starting to burn at this time, would probably have been in ashes before the intervening structures, and have rendered the rescue of the nurse and children difficult.
THEY CLIMBED THE FENCE.
After midnight last night M. G. Heim and the park manager, Sam Benjamin, discovered what they believed to be proof that incendiaries caused the fire. Two men had climbed the eight-foot board fence in the rear of the pavilion, using a large overhanging elm tree to aid in scaling the wall. Barbed wires along the boards had been cut and the footprints of the two men were plain, leading from the foot of the tree to the northwest corner of the pavilion, where Baas, the watchman, thought the fire must have started. The footprints were measured and watchmen left to guard them until morning, when the police will have opportunity to make minute observations of the prints.
Electric park, at its present location, was opened only a year ago this month. It comprises twenty-eight and one-half acres in extent, and represents an investment, M. G. Heim said last night, of $500,000.Labels: arson, children, Electric park, Fire, Forty-sixth street, Tracy avenue, Virginia avenue |
