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August 15, 1908

WILL FORGET THE PAST.

Union Soldiers Will Attend Reunion

of Quantrell's Men.

The annual reunion of Quantrell's men will be August 21 and 22, at Blue Springs. There will be a basket dinner on the schoolhouse lawn the first day and on the second officers will be elected and reminiscent speeches made.

The Quantrell men have broken over the long established rule and have this year invited Union soldiers to meet with them and forget the animosities of a half century ago. The people of Blue Springs are preparing to give the blue and the gray a reception . Many of the soldiers who wore the blue expect to attend the reunion and show their friendliness to the men who fought on the other side fifty years ago.

Labels: Blue Springs, Civil War, picnics, Quantrell, veterans

July 15, 1908

WILL HANDLE SILVER TROWEL.

Judge J. Patterson to Cement Cor-

nerstone of Poor Farm Buildings

Final arrangements for the laying of the cornerstone at the new county poor farm building will be made Friday afternoon,when the committee which has the matter in charge will hold a meeting. J. D. Jackson, superintendent the farm, is chairman.

It has already been decided to observe the day, July 29, with a picnic, which will be in the nature of a county holiday, for all the county offices will be closed. Noel Jackson will be master of ceremonies and J. M. Patterson, presiding judge of the county court, will handle the silver trowel which is to be presented to him. Choice of mementos to be placed in the stone will be made by the Rev. C. W. Moore. The following have been invited to speak at the cornerstone laying:

Senator William Warner, Attorney General H. S. Hadley, Governor Joseph Wingate Folk, Champ Clark, H. M. Beardsley, Judge John F. Phillips, Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., Judge H. L. McCune, the Rev C. W. Moore, the Rev. S. M. Neel, the Rev. George Reynolds, the Rev. William J. Dalton, Rabbi H. H. Mayer and Llewellyn Jones, mayor of Independence.

Labels: cornerstones, Governor Folk, Herbert Hadley, Judge MCune, Mayor Crittenden, ministers, picnics, poor farm, Senator Warner

July 12, 1908

MEETING AT BONNER

WAS A HUGE JOKE.

"GRAND RALLY" TURNED OUT

TO BE NEGRO PICNIC.

Candidates From K. C., K., Who Had

Provided Money for the Fried

Chicken and Watermelon,

Are a Sore Bunch.

The first crate of lemons, those of the nice large sour juicy variety, was opened yesterday and passed around among about forty candidates seeking nomination at next month's primaries. The distribution took place in a grove just outside the town where a "grand old rally" was to take place. The candidate had all contributed money to help defray the expense with the understanding that the event would be of much political importance and one long to be remembered.

It will be remembered all right by those candidates who donated to the cause, as the biggest joke played on them in all of their political experience. The managers of the affair had promised to have Cyrus Leland, W. J. Bailey and other speakers of prominence as the principal orators of the day.

When the candidates reached Bonner on a Union Pacific train at 11 o'clock and asked where the big rally was being held, they were surprised with the answer, "What rally?"

"Why, the big Republican meeting today."

"Oh, yes, now that I think about it, I did hear something about a meeting that was to be held here, but none of us people know anything concerning it.. We have been trying to find out something about it ourselves. There is a negro picnic being held out in the grove north of town."

The candidates started out on foot to locate the picnic grounds. Upon their arrival at the grove they found a number of negroes enjoying themselves in the shade of the trees The men who had collected the money from the candidates to defray the expenses of the "big rally" announced that Leland and Bailey were unable to be present. Other speakers billed for the occasion were also conspicuous by their absence. The candidates were very much disappointed, but circulated around the grounds until the first train bound for Kansas City arrived.

The candidates declared that they had been "stung" by some of their colored constituents. Some of them took turn about kicking each other, while others laughed it off, claiming that it might have been worse. It seems that no arrangements had been made for the meeting, other than the collection made from the candidates. Before the candidates left the grounds, however, F B. Dawes of Leavenworth, who happened to be in Bonner on business, delivered a short patriotic address which was followed by brief talks by four of the candidates.

In anticipation of a political meeting Samuel Hackley of Kansas City, Kas., was on the scene with his box kites with large banners bearing the names of Taft and Sherman and the picture of Mr. Leland.

The candidates were all of one mind -- they had been jobbed, that was all.

Labels: Kansas City Kas, picnics, politics, pranks, race, railroad

July 9, 1908

NEWSBOYS AT FAIRMOUNT PARK.

Were the Guests of Union's President and

Park Management.

As the guests of President Sam Milinkowsky and the officials at Fairmount park, about 100 newsboys, members of the Newsboys' Union No. 1, enjoyed a picnic at Fairmount park yesterday. The boys made the trip to the park in a special car and spent the day at the various amusements and in games of their own. They were given the privilege of visiting the merry-go-round, moving picture show, rocky road to Dublin and mystic cave in addition to the swimming in the lake. Ice cream and cake were served as refreshments.

In the afternoon contests in footracing were held. Abe Sheftel won the dash for boys under the age of 8 years, Max Ducov that for boys under 10 years, Joe Sheftel for boys under 12 years, Tom Cohen for the boys under 14 years and Alec Greenberg for boys under 16 years. Each dash was 100 yards.

Labels: children, fairmount park, picnics, sports

July 1, 1908

CHILDREN REIGN IN

SWOPE FOR A DAY.

WOMEN ENTERTAIN 300 LITTLE

GUESTS THERE.

Gathered From All Parts of the City

and Carried to the Park in Spe-

cial Cars -- Day of Feast-

ing and Games.

Pathos was interwoven with the pleasure of almost 300 poor children on the occasion of their first annual outing under the auspices of the Federation of Women's Clubs at Swope park yesterday, but the event probably will be remembered by all participating as one of the most enjoyable of their lives.

Children of many nationalities were there from every section of the city. The majority had been arrayed for the occasion, but a few went as best they could. Sunday behavior, too, accompanied the merrymakers, and the ladies in charge had little or no difficulty.

At designated meeting points in various sections of the city the little ones, whose ages ranged from 6 to 13 years, were met by special cars at an early morning hour, and later were unloaded at the gates of the park with baskets of good things, hammocks, swings and other articles designed to add to the pleasure of the day, all of which had been provided by ladies of the various city clubs, shortly after which a large shaded spot was taken possession of and the fun began.

Until noon there was singing, dancing, racing for boys and girls and other sports appealing to little folk in which all participated and enjoyed, but the principal event of the day was the feast, a feast the like of which probably never had been dreamed of even by the most daring of those present.

THE ABSENT ARE REMEMBERED.

When the word was given to unpack the baskets the task was accomplished in record time by the girls, during the course of which many a luscious cookie or lump of sugar mysteriously found its way into watering mouths and not over-fed stomachs. Within a short time spreads had been laid on the grass, all were seated and the signal given to "pitch in," which was done immediately.

Some ate slow, others fast, but all ate with relish. Before long much of what had been provided had disappeared, but not all into the mouths of hungry children. There were thoughts of loved ones at home who could not attend the feast, and many a dainty morsel was hidden under skirts or in coat pockets to be taken to hard working mothers, sick brothers or sisters or unfortunate fathers. Indeed, there were many instances of children eating sparingly so that they might be enable to take baskets home, hence the pathos.

After the feast, playing was resumed until at such time as all were gathered together to indulge in singing many of the familiar national songs, the accompaniments to which were rendered by Mrs. Dr. J. A. McLaughlin and Miss Margaret Hart, and for a time the woods rang with song from almost 300 throats.

ENDED IN SONG.

The singing stimulated the children as nothing else during the day had. Boys who probably had never before made an effort because of bashfulness, stood arm in arm with each other or with girls, their mouths open and singing at the top of their voices. The singing, which was heard all over the park, proved contagious and within a short time many other picnic parties had been attracted and joined in. Probably never before had there been such a gathering, and it is exceedingly doubtful if ever there will be a repetition.

When evening came the crowd was found tired and ready to depart. No difficulty was experienced getting all together, and on schedule time the cars left the beauty of the country for the conjested sections of the city.

The clubs whose members participated in the day and who were responsible for the outing are: Eternal Progress, South Prospect Study, History and Literature, Anthenaeum, Portia, Women's Reading, Women's Progress Reading, Bancroft, Central Study, Tuesday Morning Study Class, Every Other Week, Alternate Tuesday, Council of Jewish Women and the Melrose Fortnightly.

The arrangements of the day were in charge of Mrs. Harry Kyle, district chairman, and Mrs. H. N. Ess, state chairman of the Federation of Women's Clubs.

Labels: charity, children, organizations, picnics, streetcar, Swope park, women

May 22, 1908

CLUB WOMEN PLAN OUTING

FOR THE POOR CHILDREN.

Fifteen Organizations to Give Them

a Day in the Woods at

Swope Park.

Mrs. Henry N. Ess, state chairman of the philanthropy committee of the Missouri Federation of Women's Clubs, has received the indorsement of the Second district executive committee to give the children of the poor of Kansas City an outing of one day at Swope park.

Mrs. Ess presented her plans at the recent meeting in this city of the Second District Federation, composed of the counties of Platte, Carroll, Clay, Jackson, Ray, Lafayette, Cass and Johnson. Jackson is represented by the following fifteen federated clubs, all of which are enthusiastic over the plan for a children's club day at Swope: Anthenaeum, Central Study, South Prospect, Every Other Week, Bancroft, Ruskin, Tuesday Morning Study Class, Women's Reading Club, History and Literature, Alternate Tuesday Club, Council of Jewish Women, Magazine, Portia, Clionian and Keramic.

Nor is the movement confined to only federated clubs, but all women's clubs of the city are invited to join in celebrating and making a success of the big picnic for the juvenile poor of this city on Saturday, June 13.

Th membership of these clubs will aggregate 1,000 members and each woman has been asked to pledge herself to take at least two children from the poorer districts of the city, out to Kansas City's open country show place, Swope park, and give them an outing in the green fields. Each woman is to provide the lunch and entertainment for her little charges and is to give them her personal attention all day, and plan for their enjoyment. It will mean that several thousand children will make merry June 13 at their first attendance of a real "open" session of a woman's club.

All children ranging in ages from 6 to 12 years old will be eligible to this treat until the proper number has been reached, the assignment of two children to each club woman.

The event promises to be not only an exceptional treat for unfortunate children of this city, but will demonstrate the practical possibilities of the woman club movement, which reaches out and beyond the mere delving into Isben, Browning or Shakespeare, and shows the real good which can be accomplished by Kansas City's bright women when they take a notion to do a thing.

Labels: charity, children, organizations, picnics, Swope park

May 16, 1908

THEY WANT LONE JACK PICNIC.

Lee's Summit People Say Their

Town's the Proper Place.

A movement is on foot among the people of Lee's Summit to move the Lone Jack picnic thi syear to a point closer to a railroad, and they have suggested that Lee's Summit would be a good place to bring it. This has caused the farmers around Lone Jack, who have profited by reason of the picnic, to register an objection to the change. They claim that it would lose its significance to hold it anywhere else except near the battleground. The picnic has not been held on the battleground proper for the past twenty years.

Labels: Civil War, Lee's Summit, Lone Jack, picnics

September 23, 1907

DIED IN AN AMBULANCE.

John P. Johnston Attacked With a

Hemorrhage That Resulted Fatally.

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

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

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

August 24, 1907

IT DIDN'T BOTHER THEM.

"QUANTRELL" MEN AND WOMEN

KEEP UP THE MERRY MAKING.

Attempt of One Man to Shoot An-

other, After a Three-Cornered

Struggle, Looked Upon as

a Sort of Joke.

It was scarcely an hour after David Edwards had shot at Jim Cummings yesterday noon, and "shot to kill" to use Edwards' own words, as he lay in jail, that Miss Feta Parmer, one of the hundred women at the Quantrell raiders' reunion at Wallace grove, who saw the shooting at close range, said:

"Oh, it's nothing! I turned around to see who was fighting and then went on about my business."
"It didn't amount to anything," another woman said. "The old men just had a quarrel."

The shooting truly did not terminate fatally, because Edwards missed Cummings and the stray bullet merely grazed the feet of two other men, but it would have broken up almost any other picnic. But the veterans of the Quantrell raids, their wives and daughters, forgot all about it in fifteen minutes and resumed their merrymaking. Even Cummings, the man shot at, treated the matter as a joke. Cummings was with the James brothers during their bloody days and has seen some real fighting. The only person who seemed excited was Jack Noland, a negro, who was Quantrell's hostler. When Edwards fired, Noland got behind a tree.

"I won't prosecute Edwards," Cummings said. "I understand that he has called me a thief and all that, but I'll let it pass. I'm not afraid of him. He was standing less than three feet from me when he pointed the revolver at my head and fired, and all he did was to hit the other men on the feet. He'll never have a better chance to kill me again, and if he couldn't succeed this time he can't do it later."

MARSHALL PREVENTS BLOODSHED

Joseph Stewart, deputy marshal and bailiff of the criminal court, helped prevent bloodshed. He was standing beside Cummings, talking over old times, when Edwards caame up and got into a quarrel with Cummings. Edwards pulled a revolver out of his pocket and fired a shot. Cummings stepped forward and grabbed his hand. Edwards jerked the imprisoned hand free and threw it around Cummings' neck, pointing the barrel of the pistol down Cummings' spine. Stewart grasped the pistol, sticking his thumb through the aperture back of the trigger to keep Edwards from shooting Cummings in the back, and tried to wrest the weapon from his hand. In the struggle the three men fell. Edwards still holding the weapon and pulling on the trigger, which wouldn't work with Stewart's thumb caught in it.

Kit Rose, a brother-in-law of Cole Younger, intervened. He searched Cummings to see if he, too, had a gun, and then Rose and Cummings jerked Edwards' revolver from his hand. Stewart's thumb was badly bruised in the struggle.

BULLET STRUCK BYSTANDER.

The bullet was afterwards found. It had struck the toe of W. H. Perkins' shoe, glanced hit the rung of a chair and athen stuck in the sole of Dr. Oliver C. Sheley's foot, but did not have force enough left to break the skin. Dr. Sheley lives in Independence. Mr. Perkins is from Oak Grove. Perkins has the bullet as a souvenir of the occasion.

Edwards was detained at the county jail last night, and slept in the deputy marshal's bedroom. He will be sent to the Confederate Veterans' home in Higginsville today.

There are four or five stories of how the trouble between him and Cummings arose. Edwards says Cummings had been threatening him ever since a year ago last Halloween night, when a pet raccoon was stolen from his room at the Confederate home. He accuesed Cummings of the theft and Cummings became sore.

They have had quarrels since. Both men are inmates of the Higginsville Confederate home. Edwards was with Quantrall a year, and assisted in the burning of Lawrence, Kas. He is 73 years old, while Cummings is but 56. Cummings was one of the followers of the James boys.

Labels: doctors, Independence, Lawrence, picnics, Quantrell, veterans, violence

August 14, 1907

BENEVOLENCE THEIR OBJECT.

Convention of United Brotherhood of

Friendship in Progress.

Mayor Beardsley yesterday at the Second Baptist church, Tenth and Charlotte streets, addressed the delegates to the convention of hte United Brotherhood of Friendship, a negro oranization. An orphans' home is supported at Hannibal, Mo., at a cost per annum of only 20 cents per member. An additional modern fourteen-room building at the home is soon to be erected at a cost of $5,000. Altogether $24,000 has been spent by the order in the state for benevolent purposes in the past year. Officers will be elected tomorrow.

S. B. Howard, a resident of Independence, is said to be in line for election as grand master. Friday at noon there is to be a parade through the downtown streets, and in the afternoon an indoor picnic at Convention hall.

Labels: Charlotte street, Convention Hall, Mayor Beardsley, picnics, race, Tenth street

August 11, 1907

BALLOON RACE AT FAIRMOUNT.

Many Other Features There to At-

tract the Pleasure Seekers.

The return balloon race between L. M. Bales and A. L. Curtiss, postponed last Sunday on the account of unfavorable weather, will be held this afternoon at Fairmount. The balloon race today will be an interesting feature in that considerable rivalry exists between the two aeronauts, and their meeting today will be one that each has looked forward to for several seasons.

Fairmount offers, besides its regular part attractions, a place for a quiet, restful outing close to the beauties of nature. The expanse of shade and grass and waterway presents a pretty scenic display, while on the lake boaters may find enjoyment and sport, while the bathing beach meets all requirements ofr the enjoyment of swimming.

Picnickers are offered every facility and accomodation for a pleasant outing on the picnic grounds in the north section of the park, near Cusenbary Springs, and where check stands are provided for baskets and other luggage.

Each afternoon and evening concerts are given by Hiner's Third Regiment band. For this afternoon and evening's concerts, two programmes of standard, popular and classical numbers will be given.

Labels: amusement, fairmount park, music, picnics