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September 20, 1908 HUMANE MAN WAS SLUGGED.
Got a Bruised Head for Interfering With a Farmer.
A. R. Young, an employe at the Fulton transfer barn, 121 East Fourth street, last night was standing in front of the barn when a farmer boy rode up on a horse. The boy's father at once flew into him and began to whip him severely for riding the horse.
After the farmer had finished whipping the boy he attempted to handle the horse, which made some objections. Then he began whipping the horse. At that juncture Young took a hand and stated in stentorian tones what he intended to do. Just then something happened. A half brick was cast through the air. It may have been aimlessly or otherwise but nevertheless Young stopped it with the upper, southeast corner of his head. A gash several inches in length and a bump the size of a baseball was the result. Dr. J. Park Neal attended Young at the emergency hospital.
"Do you know who hit you?" the doctor asked Young.
"I don't know his name, no, but I know the man by sight. I am making no howl for police protection. All I have got to say is, hold this dump in readiness for an ambulance call at an early date. I have been slugged, ruthlessly pasted by a member of the horny headed Romanry and---"
"You mean horny handed yoemanry, don't you?" was asked.
"Maybe so. Anyway I was close. 'Get even' is to be the password from now on so clean up this place and get ready for work."Labels: animals, children, doctors, emergency hospital, farmers, Fourth street, violence August 23, 1908 MYSTERIOUS WOMAN IN JOHNSON CASE.
SOME BELIEVE SHE HIRED MAN TO COMMIT MURDER.
Was the Farmer's Wife in Her Way? That Is the Solution Some Buck- ner People Have -- Strange Man Seen.
No nearer solution than it has ever been is the mystery which surrounds the attempt which was made to murder Mrs. W. A. Johnson at her home near Buckner, Mo., Thursday morning. Many clue have been suggested and all of them have been followed closely by a private detective who has been put upon the case, but those clues have resulted in almost nothing. Mrs. Johnson stoutly maintains that she knows absolutely nothing of the assault which was made upon her, and if she suspects anyone of the crime she will not make her suspicions known. Her physician stated yesterday that she is growing rapidly worse and probably would not live through today.
The latest theory as to the circumstances which surround the crime is that a certain person who was seen loitering around Lake City, a small village seven miles west of the Johnson farm, Wednesday, was hired by a woman to kill Mrs. Johnson.
It is said that though this woman did not know Mrs. Johnson, she was well acquainted with the husband, who visited her when he was in Kansas City. The idea is that this Kansas City woman found Mrs. Johnson to be a stumbling block and contrived to put her out of the way. To accomplish her purpose it is thought that she hired this man who was seen in Lake City to do the deed.
What strengthens the suspicion is the fact that a Kansas City woman, with whom Mr. Johnson is said to be well acquainted, telephoned to Buckner on Thursday morning and asked concerning Mrs. Johnson. This was before the assault had become generally known in Kansas City.
The man upon whom the suspicion of some rests was seen in Lake City about noon on Wednesday. Two hours later he stopped at a farm house belonging to B. Neal, two miles east of Lake City. There he asked for work, and none being give him, he walked one mile further east to a farm owned by a Mr. Sloan. There he asked for work and was kept until nightfall. From there he followed the railroad track east. The tracks run within 150 yards of the Johnson home, and it is thought by a few that this man was the one who attempted to murder Mrs. Johnson.
THEY HAVE ANOTHER THEORY.
The majority of persons in and about Buckner, however, think that they know who the assailant is and give circumstantial evidence to back their judgment. Prosecuting Attorney I. B. Kimbrell, who has spent two days investigating the case, also holds that the blow was not struck by one who was unacquainted with the Johnson family. Mr. Kimbrell believes that money was the motive of the crime.
Though two days have been spent in investigation by the prosecutor and other county officials, there is no likelihood of arrest just yet. Mr. Kimbrell said last night that all the evidence which his office had against the person who he believes committed the crime was purely circumstantial.
Among the many questions which the prosecutor has asked persons who are connected with the Johnson family, those regarding the domestic relations of the Johnson family, remained unanswered. When Mrs. Edgar Hilt, who was reared in the Johnson home, was asked concerning domestic relations of the family, she answered: "I would rather not say anything about that. It can do no good" Many others advance the same reasons for their silence.Labels: Buckner, farmers, marriage, Prosecutor Kimbrell, railroad, violence, women August 25, 1908 MYSTERIOUS WOMAN IN JOHNSON CASE.
SOME BELIEVE SHE HIRED MAN TO COMMIT MURDER.
No nearer solution than it has ever been is the mystery which surrounds the attempt which was made to murder Mrs. W. A. Johnson at her home near Buckner, Mo., Thursday morning. Many clues have been suggested and all of them have been followed closely by a private detective who has been put upon the case, but those clues have resulted in almost nothing. Mrs. Johnson stoutly maintains that she knows absolutely nothing of the assault which was made upon her, and if she suspects anyone of the crime she will not make her suspicions known. Her physician stated yesterday that she is growing rapidly worse and probably would not live through today.
The latest theory as to the circumstances which surround the crime is that a certain person who was seen loitering about Lake City, a small village seven miles west of the Johnson farm, Wednesday, was hired by a woman to kill Mrs. Johnson.
It is said that though this woman did not know Mrs. Johnson, she was well acquainted with the husband, who visited her when he was in Kansas City. The idea is that this Kansas City woman found Mrs. Johnson to be a stumbling block and contrived to put her out of the way. To accomplish her purpose it is thought that she hired this man who was seen in Lake City to do the deed.
What strengthens the suspicion is the fact that the Kansas City woman, with whom Mr. Johnson is well acquainted, telephoned to Buckner on Thursday morning and asked concerning Mrs. Johnson. This was before the assault had become generally known in Kansas City.
The man upon whom the suspicion of some rests was seen in Lake City about noon on Wednesday. Two hours later he stopped at a farm house belonging to B. Neal, two miles east of Lake City. There he asked for work and was kept until nightfall. From there he followed the railroad track east. The tracks run within 150 yards of the Johnson home, and it is thought by a few that this man was the one who attempted to murder Mrs. Johnson.
THEY HAVE ANOTHER THEORY.
The majority of persons in and about Buckner, however, think that they know who the assailant is and give circumstantial evidence to back their judgment. Prosecuting Attorney I. B. Kimbrell, who has spent two days investigating the case, also holds that the blow was not struck by one who was unacquainted with the Johnson home, and his theory is the same as the one which has always been advanced by those who were acquainted with the Johnson family. Mr. Kimbrell believes that money was the motive of the crime.
Though two days have been spent in investigation by the prosecutor and other county officials, there is no likelihood of arrest just yet. Mr. Kimbrell said last night that all the evidence which his office had against against the person who he believes committed the crime was purely circumstantial.
Among the many questions which the prosecutor has asked persons who are connected with the Johnson family, those regarding the domestic relations of the Johnson family remained unanswered. When Mrs. Edgar Hilt, who was reared in the Johnson home, was asked concerning the domestic relations of the family she answered: "I would rather not say anything about that. It can do no good." Many others advance the same reasons for their silence.Labels: Buckner, farmers, marriage, violence, women August 22, 1908 SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHO SLUGGED HER
MRS. W. A. JOHNSON, BUCKNER, TALKS OF HER CASE.
She Is Conscious, but Doctors Have No Hope for Her Recovery -- Vil- lage People Suspect Unnamed Man.
Mystery has been added to mystery in the circumstances which surround the attack made upon Mrs. W. A. Johnson at her home near Buckner, Mo., Thursday morning. Mrs. Johnson is conscious at intervals, and during these lucid spells she talks rationally of her injuries, but is unable to throw any light upon the mystery. It had been thought that Mrs. Johnson could explain it all and the name of her assailant as soon as she was able to talk.
"I do not know who struck me," said she yesterday afternoon. "I do not know that I was slugged. If it were not for the pain in my head and the fact that everyone tells me that such is the case, I would not believe it. I did not get out of bed Thursday morning, to my knowledge, and can not understand how it happened that I was found lying on the floor. I saw no one Thursday morning, nor did I hear any noise which awakened me."
Beyond that Mrs. Johnson can say nothing of the affair. It is her belief that she has been drugged, but how or why she cannot explain. Though Mrs. Johnson's condition seemed to be improving yesterday, the physician in charge said that there was very little hope of her recovery, and Mrs. Johnson herself realizes that she may never get well.
The assault was committed on the night when Sam Eliot and his wife, who usually sleep in a house located about twenty-five feet from the room in which Mrs. Johnson slept, were away from home. It was the first time that they had been away from the Johnson farm for at least three months. This fact has led many persons in Buckner to believe that the assault was perpetrated by some one who had knowledge of the household, and knew that the Eliots were away. Absolutely no trace of the intruder or assailant has been found.
When Mr. Johnson was asked if he intended to investigate the circumstances which led to his wife's assault, he replied: "I think that there is nothing to investigate; besides, nothing has been missed from the house. If a detective were employed to look into the affair it would mean that he must talk with my wife, and that would not be tolerated right now."
It was said in Buckner yesterday that a subscription of $1,000 was being raised by the citizens in order to push investigation on their own accord. Mr. Johnson sticks steadfastly to the theory of robbery as an explanation of the slugging.
The people of Buckner, with a few exceptions, are firm in their belief that the assault upon Mrs. Johnson was an attempt to murder and that no robbery was contemplated. Most of them think that they know the person who committed the crime, but are reluctant to give names. The whole town is greatly excited. Mrs. Johnson is a woman of the highest standing, and if she ever had an enemy no one knew it.
Prosecutor I. B. Kimbrell and representatives of the county marshal's office visited the Johnson farm yesterday to investigate the assault. They learned no more than the reporter from The Journal who preceded them.Labels: Buckner, crime, farmers, Prosecutor Kimbrell, The Journal, violence, women August 21, 1908
HEAD CRUSHED BY MYSTERIOUS BLOW.
BUCKNER WOMAN FATALLY BEATEN IN HUSBAND'S BED.
HE WAS ASLEEP BESIDE HER.
SHE KNOWS WHO DID IT, BUT CANNOT SPEAK.
Lost Consciousness After Whispering, "I Know, but Can't Tell Yet." Mrs. W. A. Johnson the Victim.
Awakened from his sleep by agonized groans at 4 o'clock yesterday morning W. A. Johnson, who lives near Buckner, ten miles east of Independence, arose to find his wife sitting on the floor by their bed, her nightgown covered with blood and herself almost unconscious. When Mr. Johnson bent over his wife, she whispered faintly: "I'm hurting and sick. Let me lie down."
With that Mrs. Johnson became unconscious and has spoken no word since.
Hastily taking pillows from the bed the husband placed them under his wife's head and ran down stairs for help. When others arrived it was seen that nothing could be done for the woman until a physician had come, and Dr. N. P. Ravenscraft of Buckner was summoned. The physician found that Mrs. Johnson had suffered a severe fracture of the skull, particles of which were pressing upon the brain. the skull was splintered across the top of the head. The physician said that the blow must have been inflicted by a heavy, blunt instrument, and by a muscular person.
Wednesday night Mr. Johnson and his wife, who live on a large farm about one mile southwest of Buckner, had driven into the town with Edward Hilt and his wife to attend church. Mr. and Mrs. Hilt are neighbors of the Johnsons and had been spending the day with them. The Hilts returned to the Johnson home that night and were given a bedroom directly under the one in which Mr. Johnson and his wife slept. Henry Johnson, a nephew, 16 years of age, slept in a room which directly adjoins the room in which Mr. Johnson and his wife were sleeping. These were the only occupants of the house.
NO NOISE WAS HEARD.
The first intimation of what seems to be attempted murder was the groans which awakened Mr. Johnson. None in the house had heard sounds of blows or the falling of Mrs. Johnson's body.
Her husband, who was sleeping in the same bed with her, was not awakened by his wife's getting out of bed, or by any talking or sounds of a struggle. To all questions of what had happened to her, Mr. Johnson says that she could not reply.
It is said in Buckner that when asked if she knew who had struck her, Mrs. Johnson replied: "Yes, but I can't tell; not yet." Mr. Johnson says that he did not hear his wife make such a statement. It is feared by the physicians who attended the stricken woman that she will never regain consciousness, and so the mystery of who her assailant was may remain unsolved.
Theories as to the reason for the assault are many and various. For a while it was believed that robbery was the sole purpose of the assailant inasmuch as the Johnsons are a wealthy family and it was known that money was kept in the house, as well as other valuables. According to this theory it would seem that Mrs. Johnson was awakened by an intruder and in order to save himself after discovery by the woman, he struck her over the head.
NOTHING OF VALUE THERE.
The husband says that there was nothing in their room of great value, not as much as there was in other rooms of the house. Upon thorough investigation it was found that nothing about the premises had been stolen.
Murder, though entirely inexplicable as to reasons, is the theory which has the most followers. Near the house there are railroad tracks and many freight trains pass the place during the day and night. As no loungers were seen in the neighborhood of the Johnson home, or on the streets of Buckner Wednesday, it is believed that the person who committed the assault must have come and left by means of the nearby trains.Labels: Buckner, doctors, farmers, railroad, violence July 17, 1908 WILL FARMERS HELP CHILDREN?
Many Charges of Detention Home Have No Vacation in Sight.
Since the outing to Clay Center, Kas., last year of a number of charges of the Detention home proved so successful, Dr. E. L. Matthias of that institution is planning to have something of the same kind this year, if he can get the proper support.
"We cannot take care of the smaller boys in our Indian creek camp," said he yesterday "If farmers of this region, or towns, would agree to care for a certain number of children, it would help us a great deal. The boys we would send range in age from 6 to 8 years.
"The work is charity, pure and simple, for we have no fund to pay for the support of such children while they are in summer homes. But a summer outing of several months could easily be given these little one to allow them to escape the heat of the city if charitably inclined people in the country would help us out.
"Last year Clay Center, Kas., came to the front in good style and if we could have a similar offer this year or a number of offers to care for a smaller number of children, the problem would be easy of solution."
Dr. Mathias plans to send out a detachment this month if accommodations are provided.Labels: children, detention home, doctors, farmers, Indian creek June 19, 1908 WARNING TO HARVEST HANDS.
State Employment Agent Says "Avoid Advertised Localities."
"We are directing about 150 applicants where to go to get the harvest every day," said K. F. Schweiser, superintendent of the state free employment bureau, yesterday. "Since we can not transport the men out ourselves our usefulness is limited to some extent this year. We cannot tell how many are actually going to the fields. Up to date we have directed 1,017 men. We expect to handle 2,000 men between the 20th and the 25th of June. I have received more than 150 letters from groups of men in the East, particularly college students, asking about the harvest, and I directed them all to come to Kansas City about June 20.
"Right here I would like to say a word of warning against a certain class of private employment agencies. A man who runs a Union avenue agency came into my office yesterday and asked me to tell him where to send men to reach the harvest. He explained that he could make a very neat sum in fees by retailing the information to the workingmen who frequented the district where his office is located. In other words he was going to make the workingmen pay for information we dispense for nothing.
"I would like also to warn men intending to go to the fields from communities which advertise. Last year the mayor of one Kansas town came here, and by advertising induced many to go to his part of the country. He sent many more than were needed and the farmers were then able to squeeze down wages very low. If you want to go to the fields come to the state employment bureau and I will direct you to the best place, for I have the latest and best information, and it's free."Labels: employment, farmers, Union avenue May 16, 1908 BODY OF JOHN FAHEY IS FOUND IN MISSOURI RIVER.
Farmer Near Sibley Discovered It Thursday -- Missing Since January 31.
The body of John Fahey, missing since January 31, was found in the Missouri river near Sibley, Mo., Thursday afternoon by a farmer, James Finn, while fishing. A Buckner undertaker was called to take charge of the body, and some of the stationary of the Kansas City waterworks department was found in a pocket. From this Fahey was quickly identified, as his disappearance became widely known about February 17, when to gratify the man's wife a waterworks trench at Twelfth and Main streets was re-excavated on the theory that workmen might have buried Fahey alive while he was inspecting the pipe connections on the work there the night he disappeared.
At midnight on the night of his disappearance he called up the waterworks department to say that he had just inspected the job, and the hole was ready to be filled. A gang of eight men was sent to do the work.
Sergeant M. E. Ryan, at police headquarters, a brother of Mrs. Fahey, went to Buckner yesterday and identified the corpse positively. There was 75 cents in the trousers' pockets. The body was taken to O'Donnell's undertaking rooms, and Deputy Coroner O. H. Parker held an autopsy. No marks of violence were found which, taken with the fact that he was not robbed, would seem to indicate that the man, either by accident or suicidal intent, got into the river.
There will be private funeral services at O'Donnell's undertaking rooms this morning at 10 o'clock, with burial in Mount St. Mary's cemetery.Labels: Buckner, cemetery, death, Deputy Coroner Parker, drowning, farmers, Main street, missing, Missouri river, police headquarters, public works, Sibley, Twelfth street, undertakers May 15, 1908 BELIEVES SHE IS HIS WIFE.
Convict Writes Concerning a Poor Teamster's Daughter.
The Journal of April 28 contained a story the heading of which read, "Here's an Unfortunate Man." It told of a teamster who had to support eleven persons on $10 a week. His wife had just become hopelessly insane and he was compelled to borrow $30 from his employer.
The story said that a daughter, 20 years old, and her two children were living at home because her husband had deserted her some time before. Yesterday Colonel J. C. Greenman who handled the case got a letter from Elmer Albertin, now known as "No. 9738" in the penitentiary at Jefferson City. In inclosed the clipping from The Journal.
"I cut this story out of an old Kansas City Journal," he wrote. "While the story contains no names, I feel sure that the deserted woman with the two children is my wife. I did not desert her, but have been a victim of circumstances.
"At the time I left home I went out into Kansas and worked in the harvest fields. When, by hard work, I had saved $17 I started for home. While sitting on the platform of a depot in a small town two men came up behind me and one of them knocked me senseless. Then they robbed me. A big gash was cut in my head and was sewed up there."
The man goes on with some unimportant data and winds up with "Then I came into Missouri and now I am here for two years." He did not say what he had done or where he was sent up from.
Colonel Greenman enclosed the letter with a brief note to the man about whom the story was written and told him to give it to his daughter. If she proves to be Albertin's wife an effort may be made to get him pardoned as his family here is greatly in need of his support.
The same story was returned to The Journal by a prosperous farmer to Effingham, Kas, who offers to put the unfortunate teamster and his whole family on a well stocked farm. That letter as sent to the man yesterday by Colonel Greenman with instructions to reply direct to the kind hearted Kansas man.Labels: Col. J. C. Greenman, farmers, Jefferson City, marriage, penitentiary, teamster, The Journal April 28, 1908 HICKS ASKS BALM FOR LOSS OF WIFE.
HE SAYS GEORGE JONES HAS APPROPRIATED HER.
Hicks, a Spry Old Man of 62, Sues His Rival for $5,000, and His Spouse for a Divorce.
Although William Hicks is 62 years old he is not at all willing that his wife of 45 summers should prefer another man to him and run away with the other man. Hicks filed suit in the circuit court of Wyandotte yesterday for $5,000 damages against George Jones, a retired farmer living in Armourdale, charging Jones with alienating the affections of Mrs. Hicks and inducing her to move to the Armourdale home.
Hicks, who is a mighty spry old man for his years, lives in Hamilton, Mo. Last February, he alleges, his wife up and left him, and he has been spending his pension ever since in traveling about the country and looking under sunbonnets, hoping always to catch a glimpse of her face.
He saw it Sunday, he claims, in Jones's home. But the face wasn't under a sunbonnet. Nay, far form a bonnet; it was the merriest of Merry Widows, with roses on the upper deck. And wifie, so Hicks avers in his petition, was content to stay under the Merry Widow, which Jones bought her, and not at all ready to go back to Hamilton and have half the pension.
Hicks has two little children back in Hamilton, loaned out to relatives, until he can recover his homemaker, he swears. But even when he showed his wife the latest photographs of the youngsters she continued to be indifferent.Labels: Armourdale, farmers, marriage, visitors April 22, 1908 HORSEWHIPPINGS COME HIGH.
One Cost Farmer Klapmeyer $7,000 in Independence Yesterday.
Benjamin D. Kerr was awarded $4,000 actual and $3,000 punitive damages against James M. Klapmeyer, a wealthy farmer living near Little Santa Fe, in the circuit court at Independence yesterday, on account of a horsewhipping.
The testimony showed that the defendant met Kerr near the residence of William Short, another farmer. Klapmeyer stopped Kerr and they engaged in a conversation about trouble with another man. Klapmeyer admitted striking Kerr with a whip but stated that the matter was settled between them before any real injury was inflicted. Kerr alleged that the cracker of the whip struck him in the eye, injuring it.Labels: circuit court, farmers, Independence, Lawsuit, violence March 31, 1908 SEEKS HUSBAND FOR "MAMMA"
Girl of 12 Writes to the Kansas Farmers, Who Have Left Town.
If the fat and lean farmers from "away out" in Kansas had shown up at the matron's room yesterday they might have been entertained again. There were no marriagable women to look them over, but there were numerous telephone calls and many letters.
It having been stated in yesterday's papers that the 250-pound, good-natured man with the thin hair had picked his wife Sunday afternoon at the matron's reception, most of the calls yesterday were for the lean one with six children.
"I'll take him," said one of the many women over the 'phone', "and be glad to get him, too. I am 35 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weigh 183 pounds. I have only one handicap -- a glass eye, but I can see good out of the other one and have two good hands to work. My name is Hannah. By the way, if I get him, he can keep chewing tobacco. I wouldn't mind a little thing like that if I got a home."
"Hanna" gave her address. She said she was in "dead earnest" and would either "call for, send for, or come and get the lean one."
A little girl of 12 wrote to ask for a husband for her mother. She said: "My mamma has been a widow for five years. She is 46 years old and a good honest woman. I know she would like to have a good home, for she seems so lonesome, and I would not be much trouble. I will soon be able to look out for myself. I want to get a good husband for mamma and not let her know that I did it." The little maid tells where she may be found.
Among the letters was one from a man who wants the matron's assistance in securing a wife. "I am a lonely man of 27," he writes, "of good moral character, with no bad habits and do not drink or use tobacco. At present I am working as a janitor at ----- and get fairly good wages. The woman I marry must not be over 26 and a good, honest girl with dark hair and eyes. Such a girl I could love with all my might. I have a $300 piano and a $60 talking machine and everything to make a home bright and cheerful as possible.
The two farmers never showed up at all yesterday, and it is believed that they made tracks for home.Labels: children, farmers, police matron, romance, telephone |
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