January 6, 1909 PIPE OF PEACE AT THE DEPOT.
Ten Omaha Indians Take Council. Smoke From Same Bowl.
Ten grunts, twenty puffs of strangely scented smoke from one pipe, a look of satisfaction on ten faces, completed the round of good fellowship among a band of Indians, who, with their families, spent several hours at the Union depot yesterday. They were Omahas on the return trip to their reservation near Omaha, Neb., from a few weeks visit with their fellow tribesmen in Oklahoma.
The chief of the band carried a large pipe which he filled carefully. With the true Indian hospitality he lighted the pipe, took two puffs and passed it on to the next member of the party, and so on until the ten, gathered in a circle for the smoke, had each taken two puffs. Then the pipe was restored to the pocket of the chief of the band, each Indian said something and then began the stroll from one end of the depot to the other.Labels: Native Americans, oklahoma, Omaha, Union depot, visitors December 22, 1908 POLICE CAN'T UNRAVEL THIS.
Jupiter Brothers Do Their Tricks at Station, Mystifying All.
"You may be able to do that act on the stage, but I don't believe you can get away with it when your audience is gathered close around you," said Joe Steibel, assistant manager of the Orpheum, to the Jupiter brothers after he had seen their cabinet trick Sunday afternoon. Mr. Steibel, like all press agents, is of a suspicious nature.
"We'll do it anywhere on earth," retorted "Bud" Jupiter. And Mr. Steibel took the next car to the police station, where he made arrangements for the brothers to put on their act before the police.
The brothers arrived at police headquarters yesterday morning. They carried a gas pipe frame, an iron chair and a black cloth. The frame was erected, the cloth was thrown over it and the chair was put inside the cabinet.
"Bill" Jupiter sat in the chair and his brother tied him and sewed the sleeves of his shirt to the legs of his trousers. A crowd of policemen examined all the apparatus, searched the men and approved the knots and the sewing.
The curtain hung so the policemen could see the tied man's feet. The curtain was closed, and through a hole in it he stuck his head. Immediately, hands began to appear from holes all over the cabinet. They were evidently Mr. Jupiters hands, but they appeared and reappeared so quickly that it seemed as though there were a dozen.
Then the hands began to hand out flowers, carnations, roses and lillies. A tamborine, bells and a zither were handed in and these were played all at once.
The curtain was drawn back and Mr. Jupiter was found to be securely tied and the threads were not broken.
The Jupiter brothers are from Pond Creek, Ok. They used to do this trick for the benefit of the neighbors and had no idea that their act was of value until an agent for the Orpheum circut discovered them.Labels: Central police station, oklahoma, police headquarters, theater, visitors December 22, 1908
POLICE BREAK INTO AN INDIAN ROMANCE.
ELOPING COUPLE FROM PRYOR CREEK ARRESTED HERE.
The Girl Declares She Is 18, and That Her Father Wants Her Single So He Can Use Her Land.
Young hopes were blighted and an elopement nipped in the bud late yesterday afternoon, when a telegram was received at Central police station from Sheriff L. S. Dallas of Mayes county, Okla., asking that Dora Fair, a quarter-blood Cherokee Indian lass, and Louis Rodgers, said to be part negro and part Indian, be held until further notice.
The couple were arrested by detectives in the Union depot the moment they alighted from the northbound train. The girl was dressed in a blue serge dress. Because of an extraordinary shortness of her skirt she appeared much younger than 18, which she gave as her age. She was pretty, too, and an abundance of dark hair hung below her waist. Rodgers also looked the typical half-breed Indian.
Miss Fair and her lover were taken to police headquarters, the girl being placed in the detention room, Rodgers getting an iron-bound den in the basement.
"It's all a mistake and it's cruel to keep us from getting married when we have gone to such trouble to get here where we supposed no one would look for us," sobbed Dora to Police Matron Joanna Moran last night. "I am sure it was my father who sent the telegram. He never wanted me to get married at all, he never did. My mother, who was a pure-blooded Cherokee, ran away from us when I was a baby and father married again. He always liked me. I own the land he farms, or tries to farm, near Pryor Creek.
PACKED UP AND SKIPPED.
"I have known Louis since I was a little girl and we had grown very fond of each other before he came back from the West this last time. He used to work for father, but they had a disagreement several months ago so Louis skipped out for Montana.
"Several times I told father I loved Louis and wanted to marry, but all I got for my pains was advice not to marry. He always tried to joke me out of the notion. When I saw he never would be serious about my relations to Louis, we packed up our duds and skipped.
"The plan was to come to Kansas City first, get married and then go to Montana to the beet fields where working men like Louis can get good wages, or about $75 a month. That would have been enough to support us with the rent off my farm and the $600 Louis had saved.
"But my father was very angry, as we knew he would be, when he heard about our running away. When he is out of patience he will say and do anything, so in order to stop us I guess he sent word to the officers here that Louis was a negro with kinky hair and I was only 16 years old, which is wrong. Louis is brother to my father's wife, or my step-mother, and there is no negro blood in him. I was 18 last January 15."
HE'S AN HONEST LAD.
Before the Fair girl was taken to the detention room at the station she was kept for several hours at the Helping Hand institute. She cried continually and would not be pacified.
"I want to find Louis!" she kept crying. "We were to be married today and it is getting late. He must be waiting for me somewhere. What will he think!"
Rodgers was called from his cell to be examined by Police Captain Walter Whitsett last night. He told a straight story. corresponding in every particular to that of his sweetheart. When he was returned to the cell the captain said he thought the boy was a good worker and honest and intended to marry the girl all right and would have done so if left alone yesterday.
According to Rodgers his father and mother were both fullblooded Cherokee Indians.
Sheriff Dallas is expected to appear at Central police station sometime this afternoon. It is thought extradition papers will not be necessary.Labels: Captain Whitsett, Central police station, Helping Hand, Native Americans, oklahoma, police matron, romance December 11, 1908 SAYS HIS BELIEF WAS WRONG.
But Sharp Doesn't Want to Be Hung Before He Can Set His Followers Right.
"Oh, it's terrible, terrible," James Sharp repeated over and over between questions asked of him by the police officers on the way to the city. Inspector Charles Ryan asked Sharp to tell why h e had attempted to overpower the police. "Well, brother, it was the Lord's will. The Spirit led me," he answered.
"Are you in the habit of carrying guns when you are preaching?"
"Ever since we fought the police in Canada, we have had guns. You know, we have been persecuted all over the country, and we decided that we would not stand for it any more. I believed it was the spirit moving me or a revelation. When the Humane officer came in he brought it out of me, and I thought I was doing right. Then the spirit led me to take the followers of the faith and go and preach. An officer came out and I was arguing with him. He was about convinced that we were right. If that tall young man had not pointed that pistol at me, there would not have been anyone killed. You know, it is the spirit that moves you, the flesh can't do anything."
"Honestly, captain, I believed that we were doing right and that it was God's will. When the bullets commenced to hit me then I had a revelation. The Lord was either not with us or was on a vacation. Now I know my faith was wrong, that I was mistaken. I am glad to be back and want to stand for anything that God wills. If I was in the wrong, then I should be punished for it.
"I SUPPOSE I'LL HANG."
"Do you know what is going to happen to you for killing those officers, Sharp?" he was asked.
"No, but I suppose they will hang me or send me to the penitentiary for life. The people must feel pretty hard against me, and I don't believe you will get me to jail if they see me, but it is God's will.
"I would like to see my wife and tell her to give up the fiath, for she won't believe I want her to unless I tell her. Then I want to live long enought to write a letter to my followers explaining my failure and asking them to live right and be law-abiding people. If the police put them in jail they should go peaceably. It is hard on those poor innocent police officers who were drawn into that terrible fight, without knowing what it was about.
HIS FAITH IS GONE.
"I had a nice farm in Oklahoma and was doing well when I believed I was called. Now I have no money, my children have left me and I have murdered innocent men. I can hardly believe I have any faith. I don't even believe in the Bible now."
Sharp said he taught his followers that he was Adam, who was David, or Jesus Christ. "But I guess the Lord is against me," he said.
Before leaving Olathe Sharp presented to Sheriff J. S. Steed with the knife he carried, bu the Kansas City officers brought it with them. They will use it as evidence against Sharp in the trial for attempting to kill Sergeant Patrick Clark. The handle of the knife had been broken by a bullet hitting it while he was fighting in the middle of the street.
Sharp was shot twice and his clothing was struck three times by bullets. He received a flesh wound along the edge of the palm of the left hand and the three fingers on his right hand were badly cut by a ball. A hole was mde through the brim of his stiff hat and a ball passed through the lapel of his overcoat. Another bullet went t hrough the right leg of his trousers. Sharp said he did not know he wsa shot until he walked away from the fight.
THINKS HE IS CRAZY.
Just before reaching police headquarters Sharp told the police that when he got his religion at first people said he was crazy, and added: "They must have been right or I have two or three follies in my head I will have to get out."
Leaving the street car the religious fanatic asked the officers to proteect him and not let a mob hang him before he can write an open letter to his followers. He said he did not care what they did with him then. "I want to make restitution," Sharp said. "If those officers were poor and had families I want them to have my money and divide it between them."Labels: Adam God sect, death penalty, guns, mental health, ministers, oklahoma, Olathe, Sheriff Steed December 10, 1908 OFFICER MULLANE IS SINKING.
At Midnight He Was Not Expected to Survive Until Morning. Clark Is Better.
Captain Walter Whitsett went to St. Joseph's hospital last night to see Sergeant Patrick Clark and Patrolman Michael Mullane, wounded in the riot of Tuesday afternoon. Clark is doing nicely, with chances far in his favor for recovery, but Mullane is low, and was not expected to survive the night. At midnight he began to sink.
To Captain Whitsett, Sergeant Clark was grappling with the big fanatic who had the knife and gun. She ran in behind me, but I paid little attention to her until I felt the sting of the bullet.. In the struggle I was cut across the right eye."
If this is the case Sergeant Clark was shot by Lena Pratt for, according to her own statement made last night, she was the only one of the girls who carried a revolver. The ball entered Sergeant Clark's right shoulder blade, ranged upward and lodged in the shoulder. Two X-ray photographs were taken of the shoulder yesterday in an attempt to locate the exact position of the ball, but they were not very successful. He has recovered sufficiently from the shock to be operated upon today, say his physicians, Drs. Eugene King and W. A. Shelton. His right eye will have to be removed and then follows the great danger, as is the case in all such operations, of affecting the other eye. The greatest of care will have to be taken of him after such an operation.
When Captain Whitsett called to see Patrolman Mullane he was admitted by the latter's brother, Jack Mullane, an insurance agent. He was allowed to remain only a few minutes. The brave officer, who had battled against such overwhelming odds from the fact that he had absolutely refused to shoot the woman and girl who were firing at him, turned painfully on his bed and said, "Hello, captain, what's the matter? What have I done?" Then he was quiet for a moment, and, reviving, said: "I have three little children at home. My God, what of them! For my little girl's sake I'm glad I didn't shoot the woman and girl. I could have killed them, and they have killed me."
Then he sank again into a semi-conscious state. The gallant officer is making a braver fight for his life than he made in the thickest of the riot, and in his occasional conscious moments declares that he will live for the sake of his wife and children.
A. J. Selsor of 2412 Benton boulevard, the bystander who was shot in Tuesday's riot, cannot recover.
The bullet entered his body at the right side, passing through the fleshy part of his arm just above the elbow, ranged slightly downward and broke the spinal cord.
Mr. Selsor has been a resident of Kansas City for about ten years. He is 72 years of age. Previous to coming to Kansas City, he lived at Gallatin, Mo., and was engaged in banking and farming.
When his daughter told him that the papers referred to him as a "retired farmer," he said it was a mistake; he is merely a "tired" farmer. Besides his daughter, Mrs. Godman, he has three other children, who are either here or coming. They are: Mark Selsor, connected with a magazine in New York; Mrs. H. F. Cox, dramatic art teacher with the Harvey Dramatic Company of Chicago; Frank Selsor, owner of a drug store in Muskogee, Ok.
At last midnight Louis Pratt, lieutenant of James Sharp, alias "Adam God," was still alive. He is in the general hospital with a bullet in his brain, and his legs pierced with balls. One leg was amputated Tuesday night. He cannot recover.Labels: Adam God sect, Benton boulevard, Captain Whitsett, Chicago, children, doctors, farmers, general hospital, hospitals, New York, oklahoma, police, violence December 9, 1908 THIS STRANGE WOMAN DID NOT WEEP AT LOSS OF CHILD.
Della Pratt Was More Concerned Over Whether She Had Offended "Adam."
Little Feeling seemed to enter the heart of Della Pratt over the loss of her little daughter, Lulu, who was shot by the officers as the fugitives were trying to escape in a skiff, and still less over the condition of her husband, who was seriously wounded at the battle at Fourth and Main streets. Most of her concern seemed to center about whether she had met the wishes of "Adam" in not making a successful resistance against her pursuers. Yet, withal, she seemed far from a heartless woman, and her thin face showed unmistakable traces of something akin to refinement.
Undoubtedly her mind was crazed by the cunning preachments of the man, "Adam," or Sharp, had every member of the band under his thumb. They believed that they should obey his every word implicitly and, though the seemed to have freely accorded him such unquestioned leadership, he was shrewd enough not to demand too much from them, and treated them with a certain brand of consideration.
Her statement to the prosecuting attorney was substantially as follows:
"I was born in Illinois, but raised in Texas. My husband and myself got the light several years ago in Oklahoma and met Adam and Eve and Purcell in that state. We then went around together, preaching in many different parts of the country.
HAD TROUBLE BEFORE.
"On or about September 16 we left Bismarck, N. D., in our house boat, floating down the Missouri river stopping at the various towns and cities along its banks, to preach. We had more or less trouble in most of the places we visited with the local officers.
"My husband and I had five children, four girls and a boy, ranging from 4 to 14 years of age. Three years ago we met James Sharp and Melissa Sharp, or Adam and Eve, in Oklahoma, where they had got the "light." We had already got our 'light,' however, form my husband's brother, before we met the Sharps, whom we believed we should find. When I was about 13 years old I was converted as a Baptist, but later joined the Holiness sect, yet in all things did not believe as they.
"Last year we wintered in Pelan, Minn., where a man named Ed, I think his last name was Fish or Fisher, joined us. We got to Kansas City a seek ago tomorrow. The first night it was too cold to preach, and the second most of the party visited around at several missions here. On the third night we began preaching at the mission at 300 Main street.
"Several months ago Adam told us that we must arm ourselves against the 'serpents' and that we should never submit to being put in jail again. The men folks up to that time had been imprisoned a number of times, and we vowed never to submit again. A young boy named Willie Engnall came into the faith in Minnesota and brought two pistols with him. We had five pistols, two rifles and a double-barrel shotgun. All except what Willie brought with him were bought by the men folks. The men and children took these weapons with them every day when they went into a town to preach.
"The first I knew of the trouble today was when my two little girls, Lena, 12 years old, and Mary, 11, came running down the river bank and cried out to me, 'They're after us.' "
"A little after that a negro policeman came down to the houseboat and threw his gun on me. I got one of the Winchester rifles and told him not to come on the boat. I did not shoot, for I wanted them to bring Adam down to the houseboat, so that he could tell me what to do.
SHE WANTED ADAM.
"I talked to some man who said he was the chief of police, and some citizens. I asked them to bring Adam down there, but they wouldn't do it, so I stayed in the tent on the deck of the houseboat. Later I took the two children and went into Ed's skiff, which was tied to the houseboat, with the intention of getting away from the noise and crowd, and with that plan that I might be able to get to talk with Adam, or, if I could not get him, I wanted to get the advice of Eve.
"When they began to shoot I thought it was just to scare me, and I wouldn't give myself up. Then I saw blood on my child Lulu's ear and knew she had been hit. At that I cried out to Mary, who was rowing the boat, and swung myself over the edge of the skiff into the water so as to protect myself form the bullets and Mary did the same. I was so numb from cold when the policemen came up in their boat that I could not climb into the boat without help."Labels: Adam God sect, boats, guns, Main street, ministers, Missouri river, oklahoma, police, Texas, women December 8, 1908 HE APPEARED, DOGS LEFT.
Police Judge Figures Out the Answer and the Fine's $500.
Harry Yost, who said he was a veterinary surgeon from Stilwell, Kas., was fined $500 in the municipal court yesterday on a technical charge of vagrancy. Detectives Andy O'Hare and Samuel Lowe, who arrested Yost, said that whenever the latter appeared in the neighborhood where there was a fine bred dog, the animal promptly disappeared.
L. S. Howe, 1507 Benton boulevard, said that shortly after his dog disappeared Yost came to his home to see if there was a reward for it. He also said that Yost had been seen in the neighborhood and left about the same time the canine disappeared. The detectives said that many valuable bird dogs had been stolen in this city and shipped to other places and sold. Fox terriers which were stolen here were sold in this city, as they are hard to identify.
The detectives have been seeking a pedigreed bird dog which was stolen from Jesse Worley, a newspaper man, and say it was shipped to an Oklahoma town and sold. They intimate that Yost knows something about the disappearance of this dog.Labels: animals, Benton boulevard, crime, detectives, oklahoma, police court November 22, 1908 FARMER INTO A MAN HOLE.
Man From Oklahoma Experiences Perils of a Big City.
F. W. Wright, a farmer of Henryetta, Ok., met with an unusual accident at Twelfth and Main streets at 4:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. While walking east on Twelfth street Mr. Wright stepped upon the covering of a manhole which turned, letting him into the sewer opening up to his arm pits.
When examined by Dr. R. N. Coffey at the emergency hospital Mr. Wright was found to be suffering from a contusion of the right chest and a severe abrasion below the right knee. Mr. Wright is 69 years old and the accident shocked him. He was able to leave the hospital later.Labels: accidents, doctors, emergency hospital, Main street, oklahoma, Twelfth street October 10. 1908 TRAGEDY BREAKS UP A VAUDEVILLE TRIO.
ALL BECAUSE AILEEN WROTE A SWEET LITTLE NOTE.
It Was to a Married Man, and the Forest Park Beauties, in Colors Which Made a Noise, Get Into Court.
Notice is hereby given that the partnership mentioned below, heretofore at Forest park, has been dissolved by order of court:
D'ARMOND SISTERS Dorothy -- Aileen Song and Dance Soubrettes Vaudeville
A letter caused it all. This missive, couched in tender terms, was from Aileen D'Armond, otherwise Aileen Clemm of 1515 East Twelfth street, to F. K. Weston, or John King, manager of the flicker-flicker theater at Forest park, where the "sisters" gave afternoon and nightly exhibitions of terpsichorean and musical skill (See billboards for further adjectives.).
Dorothy, or, more properly, Grace Stafford, had nothing to do with the mailing of missives. It was companionship that brought her into the juvenile court yesterday afternoon with Aileen and Mrs. Henry C. Clemm, mother of one of the"sisters."
There might have been no trouble at all if Weston or King -- his wife called him King -- had not been married. But wives will see their husband's letters, and things began to happen shortly after Mrs. King got her eyes focused on the written page.
COMPLAINED AGAINST AILEEN.
To the probation officer for her with a complaint against Aileen, who confesses to being 14 and who, until last year, was a pupil at the Humboldt school. Result, the D'Armonds and the mother of half of them before Judge H. L. McCune. The case was heard in chambers.
Such an insight into theatrical life as was given by the two girls. For her part, Grace Stafford, or Dorothy D'Armond, had a word or two to say from the depths of a deep blue poke-bonnet-scoop combination, trimmed with blue and white feathers.
"How much do you make a week?" asked the judge.
"I have been offered $30, but would not take it because I would have to appear alone," she said with the wisdom of 19 years. "I make $15."
And then Grace, who is a comely girl, told the judge of how, as her parents wanted her no longer after she was 15, she had struck out for herself. She had done housework, and was making a success of it on the stage. In the end, as she expressed a desire to go home, but said in the same breath that she would not be welcome there, Mrs. Agness Odell of the Detention home was detailed to care for her and find her a home. Her parents live in Oklahoma.
With Aileen it was different. It developed that she was an impressionable girl. As her "sister" said:
""Mr. King was so influensive. He seemed to have Aileen hypnotized."
However, this could not serve as an excuse, Judge McCune being a non-believer in the occult.
It turned out that Mr. Clemm is at Braymer, Mo., where he has the management of a store. Mrs. Clemm expressed her disinclination to move to Braymer, preferring the city. In the end, choosing between rejoining her husband and having her daughter sent to Chillicothe, she voted for Braymer.
"I'M AFRAID SHE'LL KILL ME CHOILD!"
The mother and foster mother got a scolding from the judge for dressing the girls, one in vivid blue and her own child in bright red.
"Red always was so becoming to her," she pleaded. The judge was obdurate in favor of quiet tones for dress.
Up to this point the hearing had progressed quietly enough. But when it was announced that Mrs. King was about to appear, the sisters and Mrs. Clemm plainly were flustrated.
"I am afraid she will kill my child," said the mother in genuine alarm. "She has threatened to take her life."
So Mrs. King, a frail little woman, testified with an officer of the court at each side, ready to stop any offensive maneuvers. She said her husband was now tractable and providing for her, paying no more attention to the girl.
"I did say to the girl that 'when I get through with you you won't be such a pretty soubrette behind the footlights," she admitted, "but nothing more, Aileen dear."
When it was all over, Mrs. King thanked the court, thanked George M. Holt, deputy probation officer, thanked everybody, and went her way. As for King, who had sat all afternoon in the courtroom, he was not called nor did he linger after adjournment.Labels: children, clothing, courtroom, forest park, Judge McCune, juvenile court, marriage, oklahoma, theater, vaudeville, Weston, women September 26, 1908
MOTOR CAR USED IN A KIDNAPING.
MRS. THOMAS SPIRITED HER SON OUT OF LEAVENWORTH.
BROUGHT CHILD TO
THIS CITY.
ATTORNEY JOHN HAYES, JR., AR- RESTED BY KANSAS OFFICERS.
Was Mistaken for a Detective Who Had Gone With Mrs. Thomas When She Kidnaped Her Child. 
MRS. AGNES BOSS THOMAS.
Kansas City Woman Who Kidnaped Her Child in Leavenworth Yesterday, Guarded by a Detective in an Automobile.
Agnes Boss Thomas, who was a witness in the Humes-Richards alienation of affection suit, yesterday, under guard of a private detective patrol, went to Leavenworth in an automobile and carried off her baby, Theodore C. Thomas, Jr., while the 5-year-old child's school teacher looked on, powerless to do anything. Mrs. Thomas brought the baby to her home, 119 East Thirty-fourth street, where Theodore, Jr., is still resting and awaiting a probable habeas corpus proceeding. The little fellow's attorneys, Kelly, Brewster & Buchholz, are in waiting, too, and John Hayes, Jr., who was mistaken for a detective by the Leavenworth police force, is out on bond.
Mrs. Thomas was divorced from her husband in July, 1906. Mr. Thomas received the divorce while his wife was abroad, both being represented by attorneys. In the settlement by the court at Pawnee, Ok., it was stipulated that Mr. Thomas was to have the custody of the child except one month in each year and that if the mother wished the child during this month she should go after and return him at the proper time.
THEODORE C. THOMAS.
The Kidnaped Child
Recently when Mr. Thomas wished to go to Mexico he left Theodore, Jr., with the child's grandmother in Leavenworth. When the time rolled around for Mrs. Thomas to have the child for her one month of the year, the baby's grandmother decided she should not have him. On account of her connection with the Humes-Richards case, the grandmother said Mrs. Thomas could not have the baby for the one month provided for by Judge Baynard T. Hainer in the Oklahoma courts.
Yesterday Mrs. Thomas decided to get her baby, and employed an automobile and a bodyguard and went after him. Living strictly up to the letter of the decree, which said she could get the baby by going after him, Mrs. Thomas employed F. H. Tillotson of the Hayes-Tillotson Detective Agency, to see that no force was used against her. The two went to Leavenworth and called at the school house where the baby, Theodore, Jr., is receiving his first lessons. Mrs. Thomas stepped to the door, asked the child's teacher to see him, and then simply carried him home, as she claims the court said she has a right to do.
In the meantime, John Hayes, Jr., an attorney of Kansas City and son of former Kansas City Police Chief John Hayes, was in Leavenworth on legal business. The police force of Leavenworth, recalling that the big man in the automobile was of the Hayes-Tillotson agency, just arrested young Hayes and held him for ransom. He proved his innocence and was finally let go on bond.
Mrs. Theodore Thomas, the mother of the child, was formerly Agnes Boss, the daughter of a prominent Congregational minister here, and was reputed to be the most beautiful and most accomplished girl in the city. After being educated in the high school here she went to Vassar. She was a splendid musician, an artist of some ability, and was a leader of society here.
She was married to Theodore Thomas, son of a wealthy and very prominent Leavenworth physician, about eight years ago. Six years ago the son was born to them. At that time Mr. Thomas was conducting an ice plant in Atchison, Kas. Later they moved to Oklahoma, and at Pawnee, Ok., a divorce suit was instituted by the husband.
The decree was granted Mr. Thomas, giving him also the custody of the child.
After the divorce, Mr. Thomas brought his boy to Leavenworth and placed him in the care of his mother, Mrs. M. S. Thomas. She has become very much attached to the child and was prostrated with grief this afternoon. The little boy was just 6 years old a few weeks ago and started going to school last Monday. The mother has come here on several occasions with different attorneys and attempted to get the grandmother to give up the child.
Several months ago Mrs. Theodore Thomas came into prominence by starting to lecture on theosophy. She is well educated and speaks well, and it is said she made quite a hit. Mrs. Thomas is still a very beautiful woman.
Labels: attorney, automobiles, children, custody, detectives, Divorce, ice, kidnapping, Leavenworth, oklahoma, Police Chief Hayes, women September 25, 1908 WILD WEST FOR AUTOISTS.
Miller Brothers Entertain Kansas Cityans at 101 Ranch.
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE RANCH, OK., Sept. 24. -- (Special.) So tempting was the programme arranged at Miller Bros.' 101 ranch by the Longhorn Club, and so desirous were the Kansas City autoists in the Southwestern Reliability run to see all the Wild West features on the bill., that the officials of the contest voted to lengthen the scheduled stop at the ranch an hour and a half. This was the the first change of the schedule since the run started. It was made necessary by the enthusiastic clamor of the autoists who were prepared for and received the greatest treat of their trip at the ranch.
The cars had made a hard morning run over roads that were seas of mud, but from Bliss to the ranch the race-course-like pikes afforded the first opportunity of the day for smooth riding. The cars arrived in ones and twos after 12:30 o'clock, and as fast as they came in the famished autoists were seated at a banquet table where all the good things of the ranch were served.
Later there was a programme of "sure enough" Wild West events -- steer riding, roping, broncho busting and fancy riding.
There was a badger fight which was the real sensation of the day, the badger being pulled from his lair by Ted Collier of Kenosha, Wis., driving a Rambler car. The autoists were compelled to tear away at schedule time, but the officials had a great trouble getting them to leave. Several arranged to return to the ranch for a visit after the completion of the tour.Labels: amusement, automobiles, oklahoma September 24, 1908 M'DONALD LAID TO REST.
Appropriate Respect Paid to Memory of Dead Marshal.
The funeral of Martin McDonald, marshal of the North division of the city court, Kansas City, Kas., who was shot to death by Ernest Lee, whom he was trying to arrest at the latter's home Monday, was yesterday afternoon from the McDonald home, 425 Haskell avenue. The services were conducted by the G. A. R. and the A. O. U. W., and were largely attended by friends and city and county officials. Interment was in Mount Hope cemetery.
The body of Lee, who killed himself after murdering Marshal McDonald, will be sent to Ames, Ok., where the dead man's mother, Mrs. Ella Rader, lives.Labels: cemetery, Funeral, Kansas City Kas, murder, oklahoma, Suicide September 18, 1908
FORTY-ONE CARS WILL RACE TO OKLAHOMA.
START WILL BE MADE EARLY TOMORROW MORNING.
Eight Days Will Be Consumed in Making the Return Trip. Rules Governing the Start. The forty-one entries in the automobile touring contest were assigned places last night at a meeting of the Automobile Club at the Coates house. The first car to start on the tour will be the pilot car carrying W. G Coumbe and H. G. Blakely, officials in charge of the tour. The car, which will be a six-cylinder Stevens-Duryea, will leave the north end of the lake in Penn Valley park shortly before 7 o'clock tomorrow morning. The other cars will follow each other at intervals of two minutes, the first entrant leaving Penn Valley park at 7 o'clock.
It was given out at the meeting last night that every entrant must make out a report of the condition of his car at the start. The club will furnish two blank reports to each entrant. It is presumed that all cars will be in good condition when starting, but if there be some defect the report must be made before the start in order for the entrant to be able to avoid the starting defect as a penalty in the course. The second blank must be filled out and carried on the tour until taken up by the committee in the official car.
The tour will be to Oklahoma City, Ok., and will extend over a period of eight days. Many of the entrance have announced their desire to take friends and members of their family with them. Each entrant must make out a list of all who will ride in his car and leave one copy of the list with the officials at the start and give the other copy to the committee en route.
The following is the official list of the entrants:
1. Official car.....Stevens-Duryea
2. J. F. Moriarty.....Stevens-Duryea
3. D. B. Munger.....Peerless
4. H. E. Rooklidge.....White Steamer
5. Winfield Demon.....White Steamer
6. A. C. Wurmser.....National
7. C. A. Muehlebach.....Pope-Hartford
8. P. C. Rickey.....Stevens-Duryea
9. W. L. Walls.....Studebaker
10. H. G. Kirkland.....Overland
11. Frank E. Lott.....Premier
12. E. H. Jones.....Maxwell
13. Fletcher Cowherd, Jr. .....Corbin
14. C. J. Simons.....Maxwell
15. E. P. Moriarty.....Chalmers-Detroit
16. R. C. Greenlease.....Cadillac
17. W. S. Hathaway.....Maxwell
18. H. E. Rooklidge.....Reo
19. H. E. Rooklidge.....Premier
20. E. P. Moriarty.....Chalmers-Detroit
21. T. C. Brown.....Peerless
22. Charles B. Merrill.....Moon
23. J. F. Moriarty.....Chalmers-Detroit
24. Frank Woodward.....Knox
25. E. P. Moriarty.....Chalmers-Detroit
26. Frank Woodward.....Knox
27. W. S. Hathaway.....Maxwell
28. H. F. Wirth.....Buick
29. E. P. Moriarty.....Chalmers-Detroit
30. H. G. Kirkland.....Brush
31. J. E. Anderson.....Rambler
32. George Hawes.....Stoddard-Dayton
33. H. F. Gleason.....Gleason
34. A. O. Hunsacker.....Acme
35. Charles Norris.....Ford
36. C. A. Boyd.....Ford
37. L. A. Robertson.....Franklin
38. C. F. Ettwein.....The K. C. Wonder
39. Frank Woodward.....Knox
40. G. W. Graham.....Stoddard-Dayton
41. T. B. Funk....Ford
The rules governing the course of the tour will be furnished each entrant at the start.Labels: automobiles, oklahoma August 26, 1908 RAT POISON KILLED A BABY.
Little Harold Hunt Suffered Six Days After Eating It.
After six days of unconsciousness from having eaten rat poison, Harold Hunt, 2 years of age, died at the Mercy hospital early yesterday morning. The day after the baby ate the poison it was taken to its home in Prior Creek, Ok., by its mother and received treatment from six physicians. Sunday the child seemed to grow much worse and its parents hurried it back to Kansas City, where it might receive expert medical attention. Mrs. J. J. Erwin, the mother, took the baby to the general hospital, where she was told that the child would receive better attention at the Mercy hospital, that being especially a hospital for children. The mother took the advice, but the child was beyond medical aid.
Mrs. Erwin had been visiting her mother at 216 West Sixteenth street, and it was at that place where Harold ate a biscuit which had been sprinkled with rat poison.Labels: children, death, Mercy hospital, oklahoma, poison, Sixteenth street, visitors August 2, 1908 SHERIFF WOULDN'T TAKE HIM.
Although G. G. Gaines Said He Was the D. D. Dillon of Oklahoma.
S. A. Elrod, under sheriff of Lawton, Ok., arrived in Kansas City last night from Jefferson City with requisition papers for G. G. Gaines, who was believed to be D. D. Dillon, wanted by the Oklahoma authorities on a charge of illegally selling whisky. Gaines was arrested on July 27 by Detectives J. J. McGraw and J. B. Keshlear. It was said that he had attempted to obtain money on a raised postoffice money order.
A circular received by the detective department contained a picture of a young man named D. D. Dillon and offered a reward of $100 for his capture. Gaines was accused by the detectives of being Dillon and admitted that he was. The Oklahoma authorities were notified and Sheriff Elrod came to Missouri for the prisoner. When Gaines was taken before the sheriff the inspector of detectives was surprised to hear the sheriff say that he was not the man wanted. Gaines still claims that he went by the names of Dillon in Oklahoma as well as by Gaines. He has letters addressed to D. D. Dillon. Sheriff Elrod departed for Lawton last night without the man.Labels: crime, detectives, oklahoma, visitors July 27, 1908 HALF BREEDS ARE EASY MARKS.
They're Just About Giving Away Their Valuable Oklahoma Land.
The hotel registers were prolific yesterday with the names of guests from Oklahoma. This appeared significant from the fact that restrictions were removed Saturday at midnight from 10,000,000 acres of Indian lands and that many attempts have been made to have the half breed Creek Indians sign over their homesteads. These operations have been carried on largely in Kansas City and there have been as many as 100 half breeds in the city during the last three days. Andrew S. Nelson of Muskogee was among yesterday's visitors.
"The removal of restrictions on this land has caused a great stir in real estate circles," Mr. Nelson said. "It means that thousands of half breeds are going to give up all they have, including their homesteads, for a mere pittance. They don't realize what they are doing now but when the trifle that they get now is gone they will realize what chumps they have been. Thousands of dollars will be turned over in Oklahoma in the next few days in this land deal, and all of it may not be done legitimately, either."Labels: hotels, Native Americans, oklahoma, visitors 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, oklahoma, organizations, railroad May 13, 1908 WIFESLAYER FEELS REMORSE.
"She Was the Best Woman in the Whole World," Says Fletcher.
E. C. Fletcher, the teamster who stabbed his wife to death Monday night on the front porch of her father's house, 530 West Eighth street, is still being held by the police pending action by the coroner's jury. The coroner said last night, however, that he ha not yet set the date for the inquest so it may be necessary for the prosecutor to file a charge against Fletcher without waiting for such action. That possibly will be done today.
When Fletcher was placed under arrest his first words were:
"I hope she ain't hurt much."
Later Bert S. Kimbrell, an assistant prosecutor, took his statement. he talked freely because he did not know his wife was dead. "Yes, I hit her," he said. "I guess I had a knife in my hand at the time. Yes, it was a knife. I love her and hit her because she would not come back to me and go to Oklahoma away from her relatives and this d--- town. I just hit her once but I lost my temper."
The bloody knife with a blade three inches long was found on Fletcher. He admitted that it was the one with which the murder was done. When told that his wife was dead he said simply, without the sign of a tear or the least emotion, "Well now I am awfully sorry for that, for I certainly loved that woman. She was the best woman in the whole world."Labels: domestic violence, Eighth street, murder, oklahoma, teamster May 12, 1908
MURDERED WIFE IN JEALOUS FIT.
SHE DIED IN HER AGED FATHER'S ARMS.
STABBED ON PORCH OF HOME.
E. C. FLETCHER, THE MURDERER, IS CAPTURED BY POLICE.
E. C. Fletcher, a teamster 37 years old, after being separated from his wife for one week, called at the home of her father, John Harlow, 630 West Eighth street, last night about 8:30 o'clock, ostensibly to talk over going to Oklahoma. In the house was a man named Edward Lewis, another teamster, who had gone to the house to see Harlow about putting him to work. Fletcher asked his wife to come down stairs to talk. When they reached the porch she was heard to scream for help. He had stabbed her just above the heart. She died an hour later.
Fletcher ran south to Ninth street, chased by a negro who had witnessed the act. He was seen at Ninth and Holmes streets a few minutes later, running east. The aged father ran to the porch and held his daughter in his arms until the police ambulance arrived. She sank so fast that Drs. J. P. Neal and R. A. Shiras deemed it necessary to give her a transfusion of salt solution at the emergency hospital to take the place of the blood she had lost. She did not regain consciousness and died without making a statement or even telling her name. The knife blade entered the left side just above the heart and is believed to have severed the aorta.
HE IS CAPTURED.
Detectives Keshlear and McGraw were on the scene soon after the murder and went to work on the case at once.
Patrolmen Holly Jarboe and J. P. Withrow, headquarters men, learned that Fletcher roomed at 211 West Fifth street and went there to watch for him. At 12:15 o'clock they were joined by Detectives Brice, Murphy, Boyle and Walsh. As they stood talking, Walsh exclaimed:
"Here he comes now," and ran toward a man who had just turned the corner. It was proved to be Fletcher. He surrendered without resistance.
Fletcher was taken to police headquarters and Bert Kimbrell, assistant prosecuting attorney, was sent for to take his statement. The murderer had been drinking and was not told that his wife was dead until he had finished his statement. He expressed hope that he had not hurt her.
"I don't know why I struck her. I love he so. I don't know what I was doing," was the sum of his declaration to Kimbrell.
The knife with which he killed his wife was found in his pocket. It was a common clasp knife, with a three-inch blade.
HE OFTEN BEAT HER.
Mrs. Emma Fletcher was 33 years old and a pretty woman. She had been married to Fletcher for seventeen years, but had no children. He was a drinking man, the father says, and often beat his wife and as often left her. Her mother died about the time of her marriage and she and Fletcher had always lived with Harlow.
"He left Emma the last time a week ago while we were living at Thirteenth and Summit streets," said Harlow. "We have often had to move on account of his treatment of her. Tuesday we moved to 630 West Eighth street. Ed Lewis came to see me tonight about getting me a job and we were all in the room on the second floor when Fletcher knocked at the door.
" 'What do you want?' Emma asked him.
" 'I just come to talk to you about going with me to Oklahoma,' Fletcher said. 'I've got the money to take you if you want to go.'
"Then he saw Lewis sitting there and his eyes flashed fire. He told Emma to get her shoes and come outside and talk the matter over. As she left I heard him say, 'I'd rather see you dead than with another man.' I heard them walk quietly down the stairs to the porch and then my daughter screamed. I just thought he had beaten her again as he had so often and ran to her side I could see he had been drinking."
"I WANT TO DIE, TOO."
While the father, grey and feeble, was telling his story to Captain Whitsett he did not know that his daughter was dead. HE would up his sad narrative with: "When I put her white face on my arm I thought she was dead, but I guess he's just cut her. Can any one tell me how she is?" he asked, looking from one to another.
"She is dead," Captain Whitsett informed him in a low tone.
"God be merciful," cried the old man, tottering backwards into a chair. "If she is dead, I want to die, too."
He found that her body had been taken to Freeman & Marshall's morgue and left for there, saying he wanted to be with her during the night.
OTHER TOWNS NOTIFIED.
Fletcher has been working for James Stanley, a contractor, who is building a church at 752 Sandusky avenue, Kansas City, Kas. Surrounding towns had also been telephoned to be on the lookout for him in case he should catch a train out. He was believed to be making for the Belt line tracks when last seen.
P. W. Widener, from whom Harlow rents at 630 West Eighth street, told the police that he had just entered his home about 8:30 p. m., when he heard a knock and saw Fletcher at his wife's door talking to her.
"I heard them go down stairs together," he said, "and almost immediately heard her scream. She was lying on the porch, stabbed, when I reached her. Fletcher was chased to Ninth street and lost sight of."
Widener related that when Harlow rented the rooms he said his son-in-law often raised "a little rumpus when drinking," but did not pay any attention to it. He said it had often caused him to move.
Fletcher has a brother, Arthur Fletcher, living somewhere in the city. Harlow has one more daughter, Mrs. Clara Coleman, who lives in the West bottoms in Kansas City, Kas., but he did not know where.
Coroner George B. Thompson said that an autopsy would be held today and an inquest later.Labels: Captain Whitsett, Coroner Thompson, detectives, doctors, domestic violence, Eighth street, emergency hospital, Fifth street, Holmes street, marriage, murder, Ninth street, oklahoma, teamster, undertakers April 4, 1908 LITTLE "PAT" IS VERY SICK.
Leavenworth Woman Offers to Adopt the Little Foundling.
It was learned yesterday that little "Pat," the foundling left in a hallway at 584 Harrison street late on the night of St. Patrick's day, is in very poor health at St. Anthony's home, where he was taken later by a police matron. Sister Cecelia has hopes, however, that he will pull through all right He has been suffering from jaundice and the exposure following his desertion did him no good.
A young married woman from Leavenworth, Kas., who said she had read in The Journal of the finding of the little waif, called at the matron's room and offered to adopt the baby. She was referred to St. Anthony's and in that way the illness of little "Pat" was heard of. The woman said that she and her husband, who recently moved from Oklahoma to Leavenworth, expect to locate here. They are childless and and had settled upon little Pat as a likely child to adopt.Labels: children, Harrison street, Leavenworth, oklahoma, police matron, St Anthonys Home, The Journal March 30, 1908 OUT OF WORK, TOOK POISON.
Jacob Kohn, Sick and Discouraged, Ends Life With Acid.
A man, believed to be Jacob Kohn, committed suicide in room fourteen at the Plaza hotel, Missouri avenue and Delaware street, Saturday night, and the body was found at 9 o'clock yesterday morning by Sara Ridgeway, the housekeeper. Coroner George B. Thompson says that during his term of office no other Jew has taken his own life in Kansas city and that the crime is almost unknown among men of Jewish belief
Kohn, in a farewell note, directed that the Jewish Society of Kansas City take charge of his remains. The society will bury the body, but it cannot be laid in a Jewish cemetery.
Kohn's farewell note, which he wrote just before drinking carbolic acid, as the pencil left on the table bears witness, reads:
"To whom it may concern -- This is my second attempt at suicide. I
think I shall succeed this time. I am in poor health, am unable to get
work and have no friends and no money. Give my body to the Jewish
Society. -- Jake Kohn."
Mrs. Ridgeway says that Kohn came to the hotel Saturday night late and registered as John Johnson. She had never seen him before. He paid for his room. Shortly before 9 o'clock yesterday morning when a maid was unable to get into the room to tidy it, Mrs. Ridgeway, who was called in, was informed from a man who had spent the night in room 15 adjoining, that he had heard the man in room 14 groaning and rolling around during the night. Upon that statement Mrs. Ridgeway called the police, who forced the door and found the body.
Coroner Thompson was notified and sent the body to Freeman and Marshall's morgue. Not a penny was found in the clothes. There was nothing to identify the man, excepting the signature on the note. In the pocket were cards from business houses and factories in many Kansas and Oklahoma towns. Kohn was evidently a laborer and had been in these towns looking for employment.Labels: Coroner Thompson, hotels, laborer, oklahoma, poison, race, Suicide, undertakers March 23, 1908 WILD WEST SHOWS IN ENGLAND.
Colonel Cummins Says Britishers Never Tire of Them.
Colonel Frederick Cummins, otherwise known as Chief La-Ko-Ta of the Sioux tribe of Indians, was a guest at the Baltimore hotel yesterday. Colonel Cummins is an Indian only by adoption. Chief Red Cloud of the Sioux having conferred that title upon him in 1891, but he knows s much, or perhaps more, about the Indians of this country than any other man living. He is now at the head of a Wild West show and is here recruiting, the show for a season's tour of Europe, opening in Liverpool sometime in May.
"The English especially are interested in anything that comes out of the great Wild West," Colonel Cummins said at the hotel last night. "Other men have made fortunes in this business in Europe and fortunes are yet to be made there in the same business. A Wild West show will draw larger crowds in the cities and towns of England than any other attraction imaginable. These shows are a novelty and the public never gets tired of seeing them."
Colonel Cummins is making an extensive tour of the country for the purpose of securing material in recruiting his show. While in Oklahoma recently he bought all of the famous Pawnee Bill's horses and all of Colonel Zack Mulhall's horses except Governor, Lucile's pet. He left here last night for the Indian reservations in South Dakota where he will obtain eighty Indians for his show. The United States government requires a bond of $500 for every Indian taken off the reservation. This bond is required to insure the return of the Indian to the reservation in excellent physical and moral condition.
"The Indian is not hard to manage," Colonel Cummins said. "I know their every trait of character and as long as they are well fed and clothed we never have any trouble with them. In all my experience with the Indians I have never had trouble with one of them"
By reason of his long life among them, Colonel Cummins is known to most of the Indian tribes of the country. He has had an Indian show of some kind at nearly every national ind international exposition since 1890.Labels: Hotel Baltimore, Native Americans, oklahoma, visitors February 27, 1908 WOMAN COMMITS SUICIDE.
Mrs. Hickey Dies at Emer- gency Hospital.
Mrs. Margaret Hickey, 41 years old, took carbolic acid with suicidal intent at 517 May street last night and died fifteen minutes later after she had been taken to the emergency hospital. She was the wife of W. D. Hickey, a bartender, who has been employed in Oklahoma. Hickey visited here a month ago. Mrs. Hickey had been living at the May street address for a year.Labels: emergency hospital, May street, oklahoma, Suicide February 25, 1908 CONSTABLE SETS PRISONERS FREE
POLICE MELODRAMA IN WHICH CASEY IS COMEDIAN.
TWO CONFIDENCE MEN ESCAPE.
THROUGH CONSTABLE'S MED- DLING, AFTER ONE IS SHOT.
Two confidence men, who had fleeced J. W. Burrows, and Oklahoma ranchman, out of $1,000, were captured last night after an exciting chase, in which several shots were fired, and then, after being in the safe custody of two officers, made their escape at Eighth and Delaware streets through the alleged interference of Roy Casey, a constable of Justice Remley's court.
Both confidence men were arrested by Detective Lyngar, who captured the smaller of the swindlers as he was emerging from a Leavenworth car at the Junction. The larger of the confidence men jumped through the car window and fled down Delaware street. Lyngar, dragging the smaller prisoner with him, gave chase and finally fired at the escaping prisoner. The bullet entered the right arm and the man fell exhausted near the rear of the American Bank building.
Lyngar, determined to catch his man, turned the uninjured prisoner over to Patrolman Regan, and then grabbed the second man. The officers and prisoners then started for the call box at Eighth and Delaware streets and it is here, witnessees say, that Casey interfered.
STOPS THE POLICEMAN.
Casey, in company with David S. Russell and C. E. Reckert of the city engineer's office, pushed through the crowd that had gathered and stopped Lyngar. Casey's explanation is that he did not know Lyngar was an officer and thought that he was going to shoot Patrolman Regan, who was marching in front with the injured prisoner. O. P. Rush of 3015 Olive street and L. R. Ronwell of 1902 East Thirty-first street witnessed the affair and told the police that they heard Lyngar tell Casey that he was an officer.
At any rate an arguent ensued. Patrolman Regan, who was holding his prisoner by the collar of his overcoat, turned around to ascertain what the trouble was. In an instant the inured prisoner slipped out of his overcoat and dived into the crowd. Regan pursued him, firing three shots at the criminal as he ran west on Eighth street. None of the bullets seem to have taken effect.
These shots created fresh excitement and Lyngar, furious with Casey's interruption, loosened his hold on the other man. In an instant the prisoner had jerked away from the officer and was lost in the crowd.
RAPPED CASEY'S HEAD.
The only satisfaction Regan and Lyngar got was in arresting Casey. Regan rapped him twice over the head and Lynar took the constable to the Central station, where he was released on $26 bail. Casey had been attending the Republican convention.
The inured thief not alone lost his overcoat, but in plunging through the crowd lost his hat and undercoat as well. He was traced as far as Second and Wyandotte streets, where he purchased a new hat and coat. Then he ran toward the Kansas City Southern yards.
STOLE $1,000 FROM BURROWS.
Upon the complaint of J. W. Burrows, Oklahoma ranchman, that he had been swindled out of $1,000 by the two confidence men, Detectives Lyngar and Lewis were assigned to the case. Lewis was called away, so Lyngar accompanied by Burrows, made the investigation alone. At the Junction, Burrows espied the two men inside a Leavenworth car at about 9 o'clock. Lyngar went after them. The larger of the men, finding the front entrance of the car shut off, jumped through a window. The smaller attempted to brush by Lyngar, but the detective grabbed him It was following this that the chase began, which ended in Casey's intererence and the escape of the men.
The coat lost by the injured prisoner contained a book which indicates that he lives in the vicinity of the Union stock yards in Chicago.
About 1 o'clock this morning police officers found the coat of the smaller of the two confidence men, from which he also slipped when he escaped from the officer's grasp. It was in Brannon's saloon, on Delaware street, near Eighth.
When the smaller "con" man squirmed out of the garment it fell in the crowd, which parted to allow him to pass. It is not known who took it to the saloon. It is the theory of the police that the $1,000 stolen from the ranchman was in the pocket of the little man's coat when he was captured. It wasn't there when the coat was found.Labels: Central station, Chicago, clothing, con artist, Delaware street, detectives, Eighth street, Leavenworth, oklahoma, Olive street, railroad, saloon, Second street, the Junction, Thirty-first street, Wyandotte street January 26, 1908
WILL BE TREELESS IN FIFTY YEARS.
Condition Which Foresters Say Confronts Southwest.
Lumber dealers of Kansas City and the states of Missouri, Knasas, Arkansas and Oklahoma generally, are centering all interest upon their twentieth annual convention, which is to begin in the city Tuesday morning. Between 1,500 and 2,000 of them have notified Secretary Harry A. Gorsuch of their intention to attend. Among these, at least 500 will be women, perhaps teh largest percentage of women that ever atended a purely commercial convention in this city.
All the indications point to the most important series of meetings in the history of the association during the three days the convention will last. Matters of such weighty imporance as the government efforts at forest preservation and the institution of the parcels post will occupy a great deal of the time, and the discussions upon these are to be led by some of the most important authorities upon the subjects to be secured in the whole United States. It is expected that these will attract not only the lumbermen of the Southwestern district, but of the entire West.
Overton Price, chief assistant forester of the department of the interior, will be the chief speaker upon the matter of forest preservation. His talk will be particularly interesting in view of the recent statistics compiled about the forests of Arkansas, one of the most important to the Southwestern district. It has been ascertained that there are about 100,000,000,000 feet of standing timber in that state, of which 20,000,000,000 is pine. In the year 1906 the total cut in that state was 2,000,000,000 feet, the largest in history. It is estimated that at this rate, in fifty years this will all be cut, assuming that growth will be offset by the deforestation and waste.
In Mr. Overton's address he will outline the plan whereby the government proposes to eliminate the extravagant wastes with which the forests in that state have been slaughtered. A large delegation from Arkansas will be present to learn the plans proposed and to secure hastiest cooperation with the government.Labels: conventions, oklahoma December 18, 1907 HE WEARS SQUIRREL TAILS.
In Other Respects George Daily, In- dian Policeman, Is in Style.
After having been separated from his mother for about 30 years, George Daily, an Otoe Indian, who is a police officer on the Red Rock reservation in Oklahoma, passed through Kansas City last night en route to the Crow reservation in Nebraska to pay is aged mother a visit. She was the squaw of an Indian chief named Seetone, who was at the head of a tribe in Nebraska many years ago, and she is now 74 years of age. Daily was but 10 years old when he went to Oklahoma. He was educated in the schools of Oklahoma.
At the Union station last night he was dressed as the average American, except that his long black hair was braided, wrapped with green ribbon, with tails of squirrels hanging to the bottom of the braids.Labels: Native Americans, oklahoma, Union depot October 10, 1907 HONEYMOON WAS SHORT.
Mrs. Coppinger Declares the Man She Married Is a Bigamist.
"I want a warrant for the arrest of my husband, Ambrose Coppinger. He is a bigamist. We were married last April and the following month he deserted me and since then I have learned he has another wife living in Oklahoma from whom he has never been divorced. I have communicated with her and we both want him arrested."
The above information was imparted to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Higgins in Kansas City, Kas., yesterday by Mrs. Mary Coppinger of Rosedale. She stated that Coppinger is 52 years old and was married to his Oklahoma wife in 1875 and lived with her until a year ago.
"Where is Coppinger now?" inquired Prosecutor Higgins.
"I don't know. I only wish I did. I was only acquainted with him a short time before we were married, but our honeymoon was of even less duration."
Mrs. Coppinger was told that until information leading to his present whereabouts was obtained it would be useless to issue a warrant. She promised to try and locate Coppinger.Labels: marriage, oklahoma, Rosedale September 22, 1907 MEEK WHEN IN COURT.
Changed Attitude of a Bad Man From Oklahoma.
"I am a bad man from Texas and Oklahoma. I don't really hanker to kill anyone, but I might stick this knife into somebody and just turn it around a few times. I feel like doing that just to keep up my 'rep.' "
Martin Garrett, the man who made the foregoing remark Friday night at Sixth and Broadway, and who was later arrested with an open knife in his hand, was as meek as a lamb when he was arraigned in court yesterday.
His remarks had been directed to William Williams, an inoffensive citizen, who was eating a sandwich while Dennis Guffey tried to act as a peacemaker. All were arrested. The "bad man from Texas and Oklahoma" was fined $15 and the others discharged.Labels: Broadway, oklahoma, Sixth street, Texas, visitors September 18, 1907 FRANK JAMES A FARMER.
WILL SETTLE ON 160 ACRES IN OKLAHOMA.
During Visit in City Missouri's Form- er Bandit Declares It Is Non- sense to Say That Quan- trell Still Lives.
Frank James, the former Missouri bandit, who has lived a reformed life since the bank raid at Northfield, Minn., which ended so disastrously for the James and Younger boys, has turned farmer. He spent yesterday in Kansas City with his nephew, Jesse James, Jr., an attorney, and talked of his plans.
For some time James, now 64 years old, has lived on the old homestead in Clay county, thirty miles from Kansas City. He hunted in winter and in summer was employed as a starter at race tracks. Recently he purchased a farm of 160 acres in Oklahoma and will go there October 1 to make his home. Frank is a well-preserved old man, but looked rather pale yesterday and the penalties of declining years appeared not far away in his future.
"Of course Quantrell is dead!" the brother and advisor of Jesse James and the Younger crowd during their years of border ravages exclaimed when the recently published rumor that the former Guerrilla chieftain is alive was mentioned.
"There is no question of his death. Why, I was at his side when he fell. In a pitched battle between the Quantrell command and Federal soldiers in Kentucky in the spring of '65, Quantrell was wounded. His command was hard pressed, but rallied around their leader. The boys wanted to take up Quantrell and make a dash for the hills, where, they told him, if escape were possible, they could nurse him back to health.
" 'No,' said Quantrell, 'I am as good as dead. Leave me and get to the hills yourselves. If I am dead, the next thing to do is save the living ones.'
"The last I saw of Quantrell he was paralyzed from the waist down and imploring his men to leave him alone. He died three hours later w here he had fallen and was left on the battlefield.
"The statement that he is still living is nonsense."
Frank James left last night for Kearney, Mo, at 5 o'clock.Labels: attorney, banking, James Gang, nurses, oklahoma, Quantrell September 1, 1907 AGAIN HIS WIFE.
JOHN AND ELLEN ROBERTS RE- MARRY AT 75 YEARS. THEY WERE ONCE DIVORCED.
MET ACCIDENTALLY AND EV- ERYTHING WAS FORGIVEN.
Went to the Preacher and Vowed Eternal Love and Obedience. Start for Oklahoma, Where Roberts Is a Wealthy Cotton Planter.
John O. Roberts, a farmer, who has lately grown rich in the Oklahoma cotton-planting district, came to the city yesterday to see his children and unexpectedly met his divorced wife, Mrs. Ellen Roberts, at the home of his daughter, Margaret J. Roberts, 1206 Oak street. The old folks are 75 years old, respectively. There was a reconciliation, a hasty marriage and the two left for Oklahoma City last night.
Some years ago, when the Roberts family was not so well fixed financially, there was a quarrel and a separation and the aged wife returned to her girlhood home at Braymer, Mo., That was nine years ago. After giving up all hope of a reconciliation, Mrs. Roberts, six years ago, asked and was granted a divorce.
In the meantime John O. Roberts was too busy in the cotton fields to think about his broken home. The industry was new in Oklahoma, and he put his heart and soul and a little money in the planting. Crops were good and the cotton district began to reek with wealth. Roberts was tehn an aged man nbut he toiled night and day, and after laying by a good store in his home bank, set out for Kansas City to look up his children. He arrived yesterday.
By chance Mrs. Roberts had come from Braymer to visit their daughter at 1206 Oak street and she confronted the aged husband when he called. It did not take long for Roberts and his former wife to make up the old quarrel and they sought the marriage license clerk. The clerk recorded the age of each at 75 years.
The Rev. Barclay Meador, pastor of the First Christian church, performed the ceremony in his study at 11 o'clock in the morning and the two had luncheon together -- once more husband and wife, they parted last night for the Oklahoma farm which made it possible for them to be reunited.Labels: Divorce, marriage, ministers, Oak street, oklahoma |
