News Items from The Kansas City Journal ~ Old News That's New to You from Vintage Kansas City.com

January 27, 1910

HER PARTY CLOTHES RUINED.

But Gertie Harris Couldn't Fix the

Blame on Discarded Suitor.

"My name is Gertie Harris, and I want a warrant."

Norman Woodson, an assistant prosecuting attorney, interrupted late yesterday afternoon while working at his desk, looked up to see a blonde girl, 17 years of age, standing before him with fire in her eye.

"What is the trouble?" asked Mr. Woodson, laying down his pen.

"I want a warrant for a young man -- his first name is Harry. He and I used to go together. Last week we had a fight. I made a date to go to a dance with another fellow tonight --"

"I don't care for the history of your life; give me the facts," interrupted the assistant prosecutor.

"I guess this made Harry mad," continued Gertie, nonplussed. "Last night while I was away from home someone broke into the house. Before going to bed last night I looked in my wardrobe. What should I find but all my party clothes cut to shreds. My dancing pumps were ripped. In fact, nearly every dress I have was ruined."

"But are you sure Harry did this?"

"I am sure he did, though I did not see him," continued Gertie. "He did it to keep me from going to the dance tonight. He was awfully jealous of me, anyway."

The assistant prosecutor told her he could issue no warrant, as she could not positively swear that it was the jilted sweetheart who ruined her party clothes.

Labels: clothing, romance

January 27, 1910

FATHER'S FEARS UNFOUNDED.

Italian's Effort to See Girl Starts

Black Hand Story.

Fearing that he was about to become a victim of a Black Hand plot, Petro Marsala, a wealthy Italian living at 410 Oak street, appealed to the police for protection yesterday. Detectives immediately investigated the case and reoprted that Marsala's apprehensions were for the most part unfounded.

Petro has a 13-year-old daughter whose name is Dora. She recently had an ardent suitor, Sam Valenta, who proposed marriage to her. The father promptly interposed an objection and ordered Sam to desist his attentions. Volenta's feelings were hurt and it is said that he wrote imploring letters to Dora and finally formed the habit of frequenting the Marsala premises in an effort to see the girl.

Then Marsala seemed to take alarm. He had heard that Valenta had relatives who were said to be members of the Black Hand society. Neighbors told him they had heard rumors to the effect that Sam and some accomplices plotted to kidnap Dora. No arrests have been made.

Labels: black hand, children, detectives, immigrants, Oak street, romance

January 21, 1910

NO LOVE NOTES IN

THIS GIRL'S SUIT.

Cigar Stand Manager, Young

and Pretty, Sues Rich

Saloon Keeper.

Miss Mabel Reeder, young and pretty, manager of the cigar stand in the lobby of the Savoy hotel, yesterday filed a suit in the circuit court against John E. Johnston, a saloon keeper at 810 Main street, demanding damages in the sum of $25,000 for alleged breach of promise of marriage. Johnston is said to be well-to-do.

It was on December 1, 1905, Miss Reeder asserts in her complaint, that Johnston promised to marry her. Since then, she alleges, he has discontinued his attentions and has informed her that he does not intend to marry her.

According to the complaint, the engagement of Miss Reeder and Johnston became publicly known and, it is set forth, Johnston's failure to perform his part of the agreement embarrassed, humiliated and wounded her "in feelings, affections, womanly pride and sensibility," and, it is added, her "prospects for life and eligible marriage are blasted."

"This isn't one of those love letter cases," said Miss Reeder last night in her rooms at the Tomlinson apartments, Eleventh and Broadway, "because I haven't any love letters to present. I would just love to give you a story, but I can't for several reasons. One is that my lawyer, Frank P. Walsh, tells me not to talk.

KNEW HIM IN WICHITA.

"You see, Mr. Johnston and I are from the same town, Wichita, Kas. We have known each other a long time and it was there that we became engaged. He was the proprietor of a hotel and I was working at the cigar stand in the hotel. We both came to Kansas City a couple of years ago and Mr. Johnston started a saloon here.

"I am unable to tell you why Mr. Johnston broke off his engagement with me. I don't know whether there is another girl in the case. He has known that I contemplated bringing this suit, because he was notified. Really, now, there isn't anything sensational about this case, and I want to escape all the notoriety I can."

Johnston refused last night to discuss the action brought against him by Miss Reeder.

"Let Miss Reeder do the talking now," he said, "and I will have my say later."

Labels: Broadway, cigars, circuit court, Eleventh street, Frank Walsh, Lawsuit, Main street, romance, saloon, Savoy, Wichita

January 13, 1910

SOLDIER DICK AND

GIRL ARE PARTED.

"WAIT 'TIL I'M 21" HE SAYS,

"I'LL BE TRUE," GIVES

CHESSIE.

"Mooning" Around Third

and Main When Arrested

by Policeman.

CHESSIE NAVE AND RICHARD WILIFORD.

Chessie Nave is 16, and Richard Wiliford is 20, but they each felt a great deal older and more responsible than when they arrived in Kansas City yesterday morning on an early train, with a wish and a determination to get married. they didn't feel so old nor so responsible last night. This is the way of it:

Last Tuesday the young people ran away together from Lexington, Mo., where the young man is a student in Wentworth Military academy. The girl is just a girl. they were accompanied on their matrimonial excursion by two friends, Grace Nave, a cousin of Miss Chessie, and Calvin Cook of Bartlesville, also a student in the military academy. The plan of the eloping kittens was to get a marriage license in Kansas City, Kas., where officials dealing in Cupid's paper are generally supposed to be gentle and kind. They missed the direction and went "mooning around the vicinity of Third and Main streets at an early hour yesterday morning. There a policeman found them.

The police had been notified that the young people were headed toward Kansas City with some kind of a prank in veiw, and the policeman saw them and happened to remember. He nailed them.

HIS FATHER ARRIVES.

Joel Wiliford, Woodford, Ok., father of Richard, had also been notified of his son's unceremonious leave in company with a little girl in skirts. The old gentleman hopped a train and got to Kansas City about as soon as the elopers. He dropped into central police station about the time that Richard and Chessie, Grace and Calvin were making a botch of trying to argue the police into the belief that while the resemblance was probably great, it was not absolute.

Papa Wiliford tried moral persuasion on his son. Nothing doing. Son was obdurate. What's the use of trying to make a soldier of a fellow, anyway, if you expect him to give up his girl at a mere parental command Richard said a soldier should never surrender. And he further declared he wouldn't. So into the dungeon cell went he, like any real, spicy, belted and buckled Don Juan of old. His good friend Calvin went along with him, but not from choice.

As for the girls, they saw life as it is from the matron's room Thus stood the matter all day. Richard would not desert the principles of academic soldiering, and Chessie vowed she would be as true as "Beautiful Bessie, the Banana Girl, or, "He Kissed Me Once and I Can't Forget." Then came Nash Ruby, brother-in-law of Chessie. He came From Lexington. He looked real fierce.

HERDED BEFORE CAPTAIN.

Forth from the dungeon cell marched Soldier Richard, and friend Calvin. Down from the matron's melancholy boudoir minced Chessie and Grace. They were herded into the office of Captain Walter Whitsett, where more moral suasion was rubbed on.

Richard, during the afternoon, had agreed with his father upon a compromise, bu which he was to return to school and finish his education. Later he took it all back. And w hen he saw Chessie he said:

"I'm going to marry you, Chessie, even if I never become a great general."

"That's where you're wrong," mildly said Papa Wiliford.

Then Chessie put in her word. But it didn't move anybody at all. Unless it was Nash Ruby, Brother-in-Law Nash. "You'll come along home with me, miss," said he. Chessie subsided. But when it came to parting, Richard uttered his defiance. "I'll be 21 before long," said he, "and then we can marry."

"I'll be true to you," sobbed Chessie.

Brother-in-law Nash led her away to catch a train for Lexington. this morning Richard will go to Woodford, Ok., with pa. Friend Calvin went home last night. That's all, except it is said Chessie made a face at her future father-in-law.

Labels: Captain Whitsett, Central station, Lexington, Main street, oklahoma, police matron, romance, Third street, visitors

January 13, 1910

BIGAMIST PAROLED

FOR FAMILY'S SAKE.

Benjamin Franklin Hughes
Must Support Family and

Avoid Primrose Path.

Benjamin Franklin Hughes, 51 years old, formerly a real estate agent of this city, pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon in the criminal court to a charge of bigamy and was sentenced to six months in the county jail. Hughes was paroled on condition that he would support his wife and family and follow the straight and narrow path. He is to report April 4 to Judge Ralph S. Latshaw of the criminal court.

With bowed head and trembling voice, Hughes stood before the bar of justice and told of his mishaps. He admitted that he had acted a "silly, old fool," but promised, with tears in his eyes, to reform and devote his years to his wife and children. Mr. Hughes has secured a position as a real estate salesman in Illinois. He stood alone in court, deserted by his friends and disowned by his wife and family.

"It is not for your sake, because under ordinary circumstances I would have sent you to jail, but for the sake of your wife and family that I parole you," said Judge Latshaw. "They have suffered as much as you; they are disgraced because of your foolhardiness. It was not so much for the crime of bigamy that you deserve punishment, but a far worse crime -- infidelity to your wife, and family."

Hughes's defense was that he was forced into an unfortunate alliance with Miss Vairie Wilder, aged 17 years, who lived with her mother, Mrs. Cora Westover, 1622 Madison street. The real estate agent married the girl in Kansas City, Kas., early last month when he had a wife and family living in this city.

THOUGHT HIM WEALTHY.

Hughes charged that Mrs. Westover compelled him to marry her daughter. he said she thought he was a wealthy widower. Hughes and the girl met last April, and immediately Hughes became enamored of her. Then he furnished rooms in a flat on Troost avenue and lived with her there.

"I spent hundreds of dollars," he said, buying her clothes and presents. "I was forced to pay this girl's board at home, and all her expenses. Now I am broke and have exhausted my credit.

"When I asked to take the girl to Excelsior Springs for her health, Mrs. Westovermade me deposit $15 with her. Besides that I was forced to pay all the expenses while in Excelsior Springs. We stopped at a $4 a day hotel.

"After the girl got in trouble, Mrs. Westover demanded that I marry her, thinking all the time that I was a wealthy widower. I thought Miss Wilder an innocent young girl and that I alone was responsible. I wanted to do the right thing so I decided to marry her. I thought I would be able to keep it a secret from my family. But the farther I went the more trouble I found. Then the girl faced me and my wife with her charges. I was a fool. Who knows this better than I? A silly old fool."

"Yes, you were a silly old fool," interrupted Judge Latshaw. "Your conduct is inexplainable. How could you expect to gain the love of this young girl? You, with deadened passions, shoulders bending under the weight of years, and with deep-wrinkled brow. Every furrow in your brow was an unfathomable chasm, dividing you from her. The law of nature ordained ages ago that a man of your age could not win the love of a fresh young girl, as is Miss Wilder. It would have been like the union of January and May, as impossible as the laws of nature themselves to overcome. But the fool that you are, you followed your fancies.

" 'Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive,' said the poet.

UNNATURAL ROMANCE.

"The farther you went the deeper your feet sank into the mire. Did you hope to win this girl's love? Do you think that she ever cared for you? It is natural for the young to love the young, and for both to despise the old -- the doting, old fool. With one hand she caressed you and with the other hand she was seeking to take the money from your pockets. It was not you but what your money could buy that she wanted.

"But the crime you committed against this girl and later your becoming a bigamist were the least of your offenses. You violated the trust of your wife. What could be more disgusting or inhuman than a man with a good, pure woman at home, totally forgetting his obligations and duties that marriage has brought upon him.

"When the exposure comes they must suffer the same as you. when the name of Hughes is held up for ridicule, made the subject of ribald just, not you alone suffer, but your wife and family also. No wonder the woman whom you swore to cherish and love, despises and hates you. No wonder you are a disgusting sight to her eyes.

"But I think this one experience has cured you. If you fall again you must end with a suicide's grave or the felon's cell. Go out into the world and start anew. you cannot forget the past, because with your sensitive nature and cultivated tastes, the consciousness of your wrong-doing must remain with you forever. You must retrieve your past black record. The rest of your days should be spent in working for your wife and family, the ones who have suffered so greatly because of your misdeeds. If when you come back here, I find you are not supporting your family, you will be sent to the county jail to serve the sentence just imposed on you. Go and make good."

Labels: bigamy, criminal court, Excelsior Springs, Judge Latshaw, Madison street, real estate, romance, Troost avenue

January 11, 1910

HELD AS SUSPECTS

IN HEIRESS CASE.

KANSAS CITY POLICE THOUGHT

THEY HAD FOUND MISS-

ING COUPLE.

Arrested as They Disem-

barked From Train From

Excelsior Springs.

MARIE HORTON, ALIAS HENRIETTA VON ETTEN.
Reed's Companion and for a While Believed to Be Roberta De Janon.

While the Kansas City police were arresting a man and a woman suspected of being Ferdinand Cohen and Roberta De Janon, respectively waiter and heiress, ho eloped from Philadelphia more than one week ago, the real Cohen and De Janon were being taken into custody in Chicago.

The Kansas City suspects were arrested by plain clothes officers from Central station as they alighted from a train from Excelsior Springs at the Union depot yesterday afternoon. Information leading to the arrest was given to Captain Walter Whitsett of the Central police district by R. E. Mackey of the Pickwick apartments at Excelsior Springs by long distance telephone. Patrtolmen John Torpey and T. H. Gillespie were awaiting them at the depot.

They were taken to police headquarters and examined by Captain Walter Whitsett. The man gave his name as H. J. Reed, and address as Chicago. He said he had been for some time in the gas fixture business with offices in the Holland building in that city. On his person was found $1,200 in currency, and letters addressed to H. J. Reed and H. J. Ross. He said he was not married to the woman in whose company he was arrested. He said he had known her for eight years. He refused to make any other statement.

H. J. Reed, of Chicago or Salt Lake City.

H. J. REED.
Arrested Under Suspicion That He Might Be Ferdinand Cohen.

Men from the Pinkerton detective agency who have been working on the De Janon elopement case declare that Reed resembles the missing waiter, Ferdinand Cohen, in almost every respect, and asked that he be held until information could be secured from their Philadelphia office.

WOMAN TALKED FREELY.

Reed's companion, although visibly worried over the fact that she was detained, was willing to talk. She said she was Marie Horton of Detroit, Mick., but after cross-questioning declared taht her real name is Henriette von Etten. According to her story she was born in Vienna, Austria, and was married in that country to a man who was at one time connected with the foreign embassy at Washington, D. C. She left her husband and went to the Pacific coast eight years ago, where she met Reed, who, she stated, was at that time conducting a place in Seattle, Wash. She says Reed is suing his Seattle wife for divorce. In March, 1909, she went to Detroit, where she conducted a rooming house. She came to Kansas City two weeks ago and met Reed. They lived in a hotel on Baltimore avenue until they went to Excelsior Springs. They intended going on to Salt Lake City.

Two big trunks, a dress suit case, a valise and a handbag were brought from the baggage room at the Union depot by the police officers. The contents were emptied and examined, but no further indenifying evidence was obtained.

Pinkerton men and the police were soon convinced the woman is not Roberta De Janon. The eloping girl is only 17 years old, while the woman at present in custody appears to be 25. Marie Horton has several false teeth, while Miss De Janon has none.

SHORT STAY IN EXCELSIOR.

The man and woman had spent Thursday night at the Elms hotel. They registered as H. J. Reed and wife of Chicago, and rented rooms Friday in the Pickwick apartments, saying they would remain a month. They kept close to their room during their stay. Considerable wine was delivered to the rooms. The woman was in Kansas City Saturday.

They gave no reason for leaving here hurriedly. When asked by another guests of the apartments to show credentials as to who he was the man exhibted papers from Salt Lake City and Tacoma, Wash., but had nothing to show he was from Chicago.

Labels: Baltimore avenue, Captain Whitsett, Chicago, detectives, Excelsior Springs, romance, Union depot, visitors

December 16, 1909

HUGHES ADMITS TWO WIVES,

BUT PLEADS NOT GUILTY.

Arraigned Before Justice Remley,

and Trial on charge of Bigamy

Set for January 11.

Benjamin Franklin Hughes, admitted bigamist and real estate agent, was arraigned yesterday morning in Justice Theodore Remley's court on the charge of bigamy. He pleaded not guilty, and was released on $1,000 bond. His trial was set for January 1.

In a statement made to Norman Woodson, assistant prosecuting attorney, Mr. Hughes admitted that he had two wives living.

"I confess I have two wives," said Mr. Hughes. "The first one I married in Osborne, Mo. Rev. James E. Hughes, my uncle, a pastor in the Baptist church, married us. I have never been divorced from this wife.

"Seven days ago, December 7, I married Miss Valerie Wiler of Kansas City. Judge Prather of the Wyandotte, Kas., probate court married us."

Why did Mr. Hughes marry Miss Wiler and expect to escape prosecution? This question cannot be answered by the prosecuting attorney's office. It is said that he was advised not to, before it was known that he had a wife living. Mrs. Clay, matron of the industrial school for girls at Chillicothe, is quoted as saying she advised him not to, and so did other persons connected with the case. When Mrs. Clay brought the girl here from Chillicothe December 3, to meet Hughes and plan the marriage, the girl was kept at the detention home. It was after an investigation of the case that the advice against marrying was given.

The report was brought to Mrs. Clay that Miss Wiler was in love with another man. Hughes was told that if he married her that she would probably leave him soon and marry the young man who kept company with her, after she and Hughes became acquainted.

Hughes, so it appears from the statement made by Miss Wiler, had a second affinity after he became enamored with her. He rented a flat at 807 Troost avenue, early in August, and he and Miss Wiler lived there together three days and two nights. It was at this juncture Mrs. Cora Westover, the girl's mother, heard of her daughter's wrongdoing and had her sent to the industrial school in Chillicothe.

"After I was taken away," says Miss Wiler in her statement to the prosecuting attorney, "Mr. Hughes got another woman to live with him. They occupied the flat together for some days following."

Labels: bigamy, Judge Remley, romance, Troost avenue

December 3, 1909

CALLED ON THE POLICE TO

ARBITRATE LOVE AFFAIR.

John Kenyon of McLouth, Kas.,

Wasn't Sure of His Ground, So

Asked Advice.

Meets an Unromantic Police Sergeant.

The intervention of the police spoiled a runaway marriage yesterday. John Kenyon, a farmer of McLouth, Kas., 84 years old, walked into police headquarters yesterday morning and, producing a letter from his fiancee, Mrs. Ada Cross of Frankfort, Ind., sought the advice of Chief of Police Frank Snow as to his matrimonial affairs. The chief refused to arbitrate and advised John to return to the farm.

Kenyon left headquarters, but a few hours later returned and this time called on the desk sergeant to referee. The sergeant, a big unromantic man, thought that Kenyon was a fit charge for the police matron and after depositing his valuables, some $20 in cash and a bank book showing a healthy balance, in the office safe, Kenyon was escorted upstairs.

Kenyon went to bed, but was not permitted to rest long in peace. Mrs. Ada Cross, in company with several real estate dealers, soon appeared on the scene. They wished to pay the old man a visit and informed Captain Whitsett that Kenyon was negotiation for the purpose of a rooming house on Twelfth street opposite the Hotel Washington. The captain then took a hand in the administration of the old man's finances. Mrs. Cross, on being questioned, admitted that she was engaged to be married to Kenyon and that he had promised to indorse her note for $2,500 for the purchase of the property. She stated that if it had not been for the intervention of Walter Kenyon, the old man's son, who made a trip from McLouth for the purpose of breaking up the marriage, the couple would have appeared before a justice of the peace Sunday.

Labels: Captain Whitsett, Police Chief Snow, police headquarters, police matron, real estate, romance, Seniors

November 13, 1909

WED TO STOP A "JOLLY."

Mr. Sherwood and Miss O'Connor

Made a False Report True.

Because their friends "jollied" them so much about a false marriage report, printed a month ago, J. C. Sherwood, Jr., and Miss Eileen O'Connor settled the matter by being married last Saturday, the ceremony being performed in Kansas City, Kas., by Rev. M. J. McAnnany of St. Peter's church, and being kept secret until yesterday.

Mr. Sherwood is the son of J. C. Sherwood, vice president and auditor of the Central Coal and Coke Company, and is 21 years old. Mrs. Sherwood, who is 18 years old, is the daughter of Captain Thomas O'Connor of the Kansas City, Kas., fire department.

The young groom is still living with his parents at 100 East Thirty-eighth street, and the bride at her father's home, 1302 College avenue. No housekeeping plans have yet been made.

Labels: churches, ministers, romance, Thirty-eighth street, wedding

October 3, 1909

ALLIGATOR JOE TO WED.

Public Ceremony at Electric Park

Next Monday Night.

Warren Baxter Frazee, professionally known as "Alligator Joe," of Palm Beach, Fla., and Miss Cleopatra Nancy Croff of Carthage, Mo., yesterday obtained a marriage license and will be married publicly Monday night before the throng attending the Missouri Valley fair at Electric park. The prospective bridegroom gave his age as 34 and the bride-to-be 19. When she becomes Mrs. "Alligator Joe" it is said that the bride will act as her husband's helpmate by selling infant alligators as souvenirs.

Labels: animals, daredevils, Electric park, romance

September 22, 1909

BODIES OF VICTIMS

TO REST IN ATCHISON.

FUNERALS OF MRS. STOLL AND

WILLIAM JACOBIA TODAY.

Interment of Principals in Monday

Night's Murder and Suicide

to be Made at Former

Residence.

With the burial in Atchison, Kas., today of the victims of the tragedy enacted Monday night at the home of S. F. Stoll, 3617 Tracy avenue, in which Mrs. Sadie Stoll was murdered by William Jacobia, who later committed suicide at his wife's home, the last chapter of their story will have been concluded.

Mrs. Stoll's body was taken to Atchison at 6:30 o'clock last night. It will be buried beside that of her father, who died several weeks ago.

Mrs. William Jacobia, 3235 Forest avenue, will this morning take the body of her husband to Atchison where he will be buried. The wife and child will be the beneficiaries of life insurance carried by Jacobia. The life insurance was partly placed in fraternal organizations. Jacobia carried about $5,000 insurance upon his life. The fact that he left no will gives his wife and son all of his personal property. The insurance is all he left.

That Jacobia formed the Linwood Investment company for the sole purpose of placing his property beyond the possibility of being taken from him in a suit for the alienation of the affections of Mr. Stoll's wife was denied yesterday by his attorney, W. F. Guthrie. Mr. Guthrie for a time acted as trustee of the property owned by Jacobia for the latter and his wife, and later assisted in the financial separation between them.

While Mrs. Stoll refused to give up Jacobia, and give all of her love to her husband, she is said to never have countenanced any idea of leaving her husband and children. While she informed a friend that she loved Jacobia, she said she w ould stay at home on account of her two boys. For a year she drifted along in this fashion, meeting Jacobia daily, and when suspected by her husband pacifying him.

Those persons intimate with the family relations of the Stolls said yesterday that Mr. Stoll never knew of the friendship that existed between his wife and Jacobia, though he became suspicious on many occasions. At such times he is said to have spoken to his wife regarding the rumors he heard, but she always talked him out of his suspicious mood, and it ended by Mr. Stoll apologizing for his mistake. The night of the murder and suicide Mr. Stoll told one of h is intimate friends that he had seen his wife with Jacobia on but two occasions.

The report that Mrs. Stoll's father, J. P. Brown, had assisted in meeting the expenses of the Stoll household was denied yesterday. It was admitted that he often made presents of various sums of money, but that he gave the money to his daughter because she was a favorite.

Albert Stoll, the 14-year-old son who was in the house at the time his mother was murdered, yesterday asserted that he did not know what subject was being discussed by his mother and Jacobia during the quarrel.

Albert did not inform his fatherr of the clandestine meetings because of the love for his mother. The older son, Sam, also failed to tell his father for fear he would kill either Mrs. Stoll or Jacobia and thus create a scandal that might otherwise be dept from the public.

Attorney W. F. Guthrie last night made a written statement in which he denied that Stoll had ever employed him to bring an alienation suit. Speaking for Mr. Stoll, the attorney said that the druggist had never hired detectives to shadow his wife or Jacobia. the attorney said that Mr. Stoll had accused a man of being too intimate with his wife while living in Atchison, and that it became public. The affair caused people to lose confidence in Mr. Stoll, and he was forced to seek another location.

A denial was made by the attorney, who was also attorney for Mrs. Stoll's father, that Mr. Stoll ever received or expected any sum of money from his father-in-law as the price of his continuing to live with his wife.

Labels: children, druggists, Forest avenue, murder, probate, romance, Tracy avenue

September 18, 1909

MARRIES A MILLIONAIRE.

Miss Florence Oakley Received Stage

Training in Kansas City.

A romance which began over a year ago in the Auditorium theater, Los Angeles, Cal., culminated Thursday at San Rafael, just out of San Francisco, when Miss Florence Oakley, leading woman at the Liberty theater, Oakland, was married to Percival Pryor.

Miss Oakley is a Kansas City girl, and off the stage was known as Miss Florence McKim. Mr. Pryor is the only son of Judge J. H. Pryor, a millionaire of Pasadena, Cal.

While the engagement has been announced for some time, the young couple slipped away form the theater in Oakland in the afternoon and drove to San Rafael in a motor car where they were married. Mr. Pryor is 24 years old and his bride 20.

When Florence McKim, now Mrs. Pryor, was but 10 years old she appeared here in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and made such a hit that she attracted the attention of Miss Georgia Brown, who has a dramatic school. From that time until her first engagement with the Carlton Macy stock company of Cleveland, O., she was a protege of Miss Brown. The young woman had talent and her rise was rapid. While under contract with David Belasco in New York and waiting to be placed, Miss Oakley received an offer of $225 a week from the Blackwood Stock company of Los Angeles to become a leading woman and accepted. It was her guiding star that sent her there, as through that engagement she met, loved, became engaged to and now has married the only son of a millionaire, and "Father" is said to be very fond of her.

"Florence was a dear little girl and a born actress," said Miss Georgia Brown, her instructor, last night.

Labels: California, New York, romance, schools, theater, wedding, women

September 14, 1909

CURTAIN RUNG DOWN

ON MEXICAN ROMANCE.

MISSING HUSBAND APPEARS;

SENORA HOBBS IS HAPPY.

American Street Preacher, Who

Wedded Heiress, Was Driven

From City, But Returns to

Claim Wife and Child.

A wife's faith in her husband was vindicated yesterday when John Hobbs, a Seventh Day Baptist street preacher and incidentally a watchmaker, came to Kansas City from Dorchester, Neb., to claim his wife and child, whom he supposed to be in La Crosse, Kas., but who have been at the Helping Hand institute since August 29. Mrs. Hobbs, a pretty Mexican woman, came here in search of her husband practically in a destitute condition. Her 6-months-old babe was ill and the grief-crazed wife refused to eat or sleep during the first few days, believing her missing husband either was ill or dead.

The husband believed his wife and child were in La Crosse, where he left them, when he came to Kansas City in search of work. He traced them from the Kansas town here. Mrs. Hobbs is one of eight heirs to an estate in Mexico, said to be worth $1,000,000. During her search she refused to communicate with her relatives, or ask for financial aid.

WAS A MEXICAN ROMANCE.

"Didn't I tell you that he would find me," excitedly exclaimed the little Spanish senora over and over again to Mrs. Lila Scott, the matron, and Mrs. E. T. Brigham the assistant superintendent at the Helping Hand, when her husband with a package of letters and telegrams he had sent her, appeared at the institute.

About a year and a half ago pretty Amelia Lastra of Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico, met and fell in love with John Hobbs, an American missionary of the Seventh Day Baptist church in Mexico. Their religions differed and her family objected to the marriage but that counted for little. After the ceremony the young couple moved to another part of Mexico. While there Mrs. Hobbs learned that her father, Felippe Lastra, who owned two silver mines, was dead. Under the Mexican law the estate can not be divided until all of the heirs have given consent. Mrs. Hobbs is one of eight heirs.

Hobbs and his bride finally went to La Crosse, Kas., where the husband worked for a few weeks and then came to Kansas City where he expected to make a home for his wife and child. From that time until yesterday all trace of him was lost.

FORGOT FORWARDING ADDRESS.

When Hobbs found his wife he carried a bundle of letters. They had been sent to La Crosse, Kas., where he had gone to find out why his wife did not reply to his letters or to the telegrams he had sent her. He said he had been preaching on the streets in Kansas City and was one of the street preachers arrested the latter part of August. He said he was given hours to leave the city and as he had no money had to walk. He made his way to Dorchester, Neb., where he got work and then sent for his wife.

It developed after he had explained his absence that Mrs. Hobbs had failed to notify the postoffice in La Cross her forwarding address. The couple left for Nebraska last night.

Labels: Helping Hand, immigrants, marriage, Mexico, ministers, romance

September 11, 1909

LOVE KNOWS NO BARRIER.

Christian and Hebrew Elope to Live

in Kansas City.

NEW YORK, Sept. 10. -- Cupid mocked religion and nationality, as well as the parental objection, when Leon Cohen of Long Island wed Miss Myrtle Rhoads, the pretty 22-year-old daughter of Mrs. Hulda C. Rhoads. The young couple eloped, were married and left tonight for Kansas City, their future home.

The parental objection to a Jew could not be overcome, so Miss Myrtle decided to run away. She is a member of St. Ann's Catholic church and a talented musician.

Young Cohen is 28 years old and a member of the clothing firm of Cohen & Son of Sayville, L. I. He expects to establish a business in Kansas City.

Labels: Jews, New York, romance, wedding

September 8, 1909

FALLS IN LOVE WITH

ICE MAN AND ELOPES.

YOUNG GIRL CAUGHT BEFORE

KNOT CAN BE TIED.

Kitchen Romance of Ruth Risley

and Otis Pemberton Ruthlessly

Shattered by Father Send-

ing the Girl Away.

A romance that commenced in the visits of the ice man this summer to the home of G. M. Risley, a dentist at 2628 Myrtle avenue, ended yesterday when Ruth Risley, the 17-year-old daughter, eloped with Otis L. Pemberton, 23 years old. The young couple went to Kansas City, Kas., but on account of the youthful appearance of the girl, the marriage license was refused. When Dr. Risley heard the news and located his daughter, he promptly sent her to Butler, Mo., to join her mother.

"It won't do any good," the girl said firmly when she was placed aboard the train. "It won't be much more than six months until I'm 18 and then I can do as I please."

It wasn't exactly love at first sight, for the young man had tramped through the kitchen several times before the daughter of the household realized that he was good looking and that he was more cheerful than the average ice man who grumbled when he had to carry ice to the far end of the ho use. The ice man's visits were sometimes prolonged and in time the young folk began to converse in a friendly manner.

ELOPEMENT IS PLANNED.

Miss Risley discovered to her satisfaction that the young man talked in a pleasant manner, and was in no way inferior to her classmates at the Manual Training High School.

Evening calls followed and the family began to notice that the well dressed young man who was so attentive bore a striking resemblance to the ice man who came every morning. When the parental storm broke, plans for an elopement were made.

"We can get married in Kansas," was Pemberton's comforting assurance. "Just say that you are 18, and it will be all right."

It wasn't so easy when they faced the man in the recorder's office.

"Yes, I'm 18," said the girl, falteringly.

The man behind the desk grinned in a tantalizing manner and expressed his doubts. Then a lot of questions followed, and in the end Miss Risley admitted she was only near-18. There was nothing to do but return to the Missouri side, which the young couple did.

"Perhaps my mother will help us," said the young man, so they went to his home at 2717 East Fifteenth street. A strange man met them at the gate.

"I AM A DETECTIVE" -- FOILED!

"My name is L. D. Jennings, city detective," explained the stranger. "Sorry that I have to take you to the police station."

It didn't do any good to remonstrate and the would-be elopers accompanied the officer to police headquarters, where they were met by Dr. Risley, who wasn't in an altogether amiable frame of mind.

"You will join your mother at once," he said when he was told that they had not succeeded in tying the wedding knot. "No more of this foolishness."

Labels: dentists, detectives, Fifteenth street, Myrtle avenue, romance, schools

September 2, 1909

TO WED BROTHER'S WIDOW.

License Issued to J. M. Vanderveer

and Mrs. W. P. Vanderveer.

John McMath Van Derveer of Clanton, Ala., yesterday secured a license at the county clerk's office in Kansas City, Mo., to marry the widow of his brother, William P. Van Derveer, who died April 26, 1907, in Kansas City. Mrs. Van Derveer, who lives with her father, Joseph McGrath, a policeman, at 810 Colorado avenue, Kansas City, Kas., was not at home yesterday. Her sister, Miss Anna McGrath, stated that she knew Mrs. Van Derveer intended to marry her dead husband's brother but did not know where they were to be married.

"My sister, Leona, married William P. Van Derveer April 14, 1906," Miss McGrath said. "He was a soap salesman for the Swift Packing company. They lived at 1000 Glenwood avenue in Mt. Washington. He died a year and twelve days after their marriage, of typhoid fever. His wife took the body to Clanton, Ala., where his father owns a large plantation. At the funeral of her husband, she met John McMath Van Deveer, his brother. She remained a few months with her husband's parents, and then came back home to live. Later Mr. Van Deveer came up here to visit, and the engagement followed. They will live in Alabama."

Labels: Kansas City Kas, Mt. Washington, romance, typhoid, wedding

August 16, 1909

ONE GIRL IS GRATEFUL.

"Ella" Sends Flowers and Fruit to

Woman Who Saved Her.

Dear Matron -- Here is a basket of the nicest peaches I could find. Hope you will enjoy them. ELLA.

This note accompanied a basket of fruit which reached the Depot matron, Mrs. Ollie Everingham, yesterday. It came from a Western Kansas town, and back of it lies a little story of a girl saved from the wiles of the city.

A year ago "Ella," whose other name Mrs. Everingham has forgotten, came to Kansas City from Southern Missouri. She was an unsophisticated country girl and she wore a rose on her left side. The matron learned that she was waiting for the man who had promised to marry her, but whom she had never seen.

Their acquaintance had been brought about through a matrimonial paper and their courtship was carried on through correspondence. She had a packet of his letters, in which he declared his love for her and in which he said that he had an excellent position with one of the banks. She had her little marriage dot, something like $100, tightly done up in a bit of handkerchief. The man whom she was looking for was also to wear a rose.

One of the detectives at the depot heard the girl's story and an hour later he caught sight of a man wearing a rose who was evidently looking for someone. It did not take the detective long to ascertain that it was the girl's supposed fiancee. The stranger discovered that he had been talking with a detective, excused himself and got away.

It was hard to tell "Ella," who then declared she would not go home. She said she would go out to Kansas and live there. Since then Mrs. Everingham has received at various times boxes of flowers and fruit from the grateful girl.

Labels: depot matron, detectives, romance, Union depot, visitors

August 9, 1909

WIFE FLIRTS, HUSBAND SAYS.

Demanded Special Police to Follow

Woman to Park.

Hardly a night goes by without some person telephoning or calling in person at police headquarters and making requests that are not listed in the police manuals as among a copper's duties. If a refusal is met with it is not unusual for the officer's job to be threatened by the person making the request.

Last night was possibly a bit quiet but Lieutenant M. E. Ryan, in charge at headquarters, received two demands to detail officers to perform work that is commonly turned over to the private detective agencies. The first request was made by a woman who demanded that a policeman be sent out on Admiral boulevard and take her husband home. She had found him calling upon another woman, and the wife wanted him escorted home after he declared he would return later in the evening.

Demand No. 2 was made a few hours later. A man hurried into the station and walking up to the desk inquired for the Chief of Police. As the chief was not there he asked for the captain and was informed that a lieutenant was about his size. He then asked to have a plain clothes man follow his wife out to one of the parks during the evening and keep an eye on her actions.

"Guess you will have to do your own trailing," Lieutenant Ryan remarked.

"Gertie always flirts when I am not with her," the man said in further pleading for a policeman to spy for him.

"Then watch her," the lieutenant answered as he told the shortstop to put the man out of the station.

Labels: Admiral boulevard, marriage, police headquarters, romance

August 1, 1909

MISS HENRIETTA TILL WEDS.

Eloped to St. Joseph With Edmond

Kuenster Last Monday.

Last Monday morning Miss Henrietta Till, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Till, 4404 Campbell street, started for Lake Crystal, Minn., to spend the remainder of the summer. She was expected to arrive there Tuesday morning, and in due time there arrived in Kansas City the expected telegram from Lake Crystal:

"Arrived safely. -- Henrietta."

Yesterday afternoon there came a second telegram, this one to The Journal, dated St. Joseph, saying that Miss Till had been married by Father O'Donnell of the Holy Rosary church in St. Joseph Monday to Edmond Kuenster, a clerk in the Kansas City Bell telephone office. Kuenster had been paying attentions to Miss Till for a year, and it was understood there would be a wedding in the fall.

Asked if there had been opposition to his daughter marrying Kuenster, Mr. Till said there had been on his part, which probably accounted for the elopement.

The first the Till family knew of the marriage was Thursday afternoon when Kuenster called up the Till residence and said he was talking from St. Joseph, where relatives of his mother live. The new Mrs. Kuenster confirmed the report.

After that came news from another source that on Monday afternoon Kuenster and Miss Till, accompanied by a member of one of the Tootle firms in St. Joseph, went to the acting bishop of St. Joseph for a dispensation to allow the runaways to be married there. This was granted and the pastor of the Holy Rosary church performed the ceremony.

Labels: Campbell street, romance, St.Joseph, telegram, telephone, wedding

July 17, 1909

TO WED LOVER IN HOSPITAL.

Nellie Lylee Will Marry James Bar-

ton, 'Tho He Can't Recover.

One of the prettiest romances of the year will culminate tonight in the marriage of James T. Barton and Nellie E. Lyle at the Bell Memorial hospital in Rosedale, Kas. The hospital is to be the scene of the wedding because the groom is an inmate of the institution and not able to leave his bed.

While working in a stone quarry at Mankato, Kas., in 1906, a rock fell upon Barton's back and broke it. His life was despaired of, but he recovered sufficiently in March, 1907, to be taken to the Bell Memorial hospital, where he has been ever since. Physicians give no encouragement for his ultimate recovery and so far have only succeeded in keeping him alive.

Soon after the groom was brought to Rosedale there arrived in the Kansas suburb Miss Nellie E. Lyle from Moberly, Mo. She was the stricken man's fiance, and desired to be near her sweetheart. Securing employment she has lived near the injured man, and has done much to make his life in the hospital pleasant.

W. A. Drew, city marshal of Rosedale, yesterday appeared at the court house in Kansas City, Kas., and secured a marriage license for James T. Barton, 32 years old, of Corbett, Wyo., and Nellie E. Lyle, 26 years old, of Moberly, Mo. A nurse at the hospital last night confirmed the rumor of the marriage tonight, but the superintendent said he knew nothing about it.

Labels: accident, hospitals, romance, Rosedale, wedding

July 12, 1909

THEY'D BETTER BE MARRIED.

Otherwise, Police Are Told to Arrest

Atchison Boy and Girl.

Somewhere in Kansas City yesterday, Nettie Scott, 17 years old, whose home is in Atchison, Kas., was eluding possible detection and assisted in her aim by one believed to be Will Schaffer of the same Kansas town. The chief of police of Atchison wired the Kansas City police to find them if possible.

The telegram requested the police to arrest and hold the two unless they have been married. It is believed the pair ran off to get married but as yesterday was Sunday it is probable that they waited until today before attempting to secure a marriage license.

Labels: romance, runaway, telegram

June 14, 1909

CAN'T BE MARRIED ON SUNDAY.

Young Couple From Smithville Com-

pelled to Postpone.

"It's a blame shame people can't be legally married on Sunday because it is a legal holiday," Mark Pate of Smithville, Mo., remarked to his sweetheart, Lovie Burge, as the two left police headquarters last night. The young people arrived in Kansas City from Smithville with the intention of being married.

A trip to the court house to secure the license revealed to the pair that trouble was ahead of them. Some one directed them to the county jail, but the deputy marshals pleaded ignorance as to marriage licenses and recommended police headquarters. Arm in arm the couple entered the station and inquired for a license.

"Bonds are the only legal papers we handle," Lieutenant M. E. Ryan informed them.

Then the officers became interested in the young people and by suing the telephone finally reached the county recorder, but he refused to issue a license on Sunday. A minister had been tentatively engaged to perform the ceremony by Holly Jarboe, desk sergeant, who later commanded the order.

The Smithvillians left the station discouraged, but said they would secure a license early in the morning. They came to Kansas City to avoid the "cut-ups" of their home town.

Labels: courthouse, Holly Jarboe, police headquarters, romance, smithville

May 25, 1909

LEAVES AGED LOVER

ON WEDDING EVE.

PRETTY MRS. JOHNSON DECIDES

NOT TO MARRY.

When Mrs. Lulu Johnson, who is 43, on her wedding eve left in the lurch her fiance of 60, Alexander Quist, a rich retired farmer of Rock Island, Ill., to whom she was to have been married here last night, she blighted a middle-aged romance which started last January in Amarillo, Tex.

Besides his hopes of happiness, Mr. Quist told Inspector of Detectives Edward Boyle last night that she took with her jewelry, diamonds and clothing valued at $1,000.

If the plans of the police are carried out Mrs. Johnson will be taken from a Chicago train at Louisiana, Mo., at an early hour this morning, and asked to explain.

GOT LICENSE ONCE BEFORE.

Quist, who is very wealthy, went to Amarillo in January on real estate business. While there he met Mrs. Johnson, a handsome widow who was more than pleased with the Illinois farmer. In less than a month she had consented to marry him, and by the middle of February they had started to Kansas City where, he says, they intended to unite at once.

The license, Quist says, was secured when they arrived in Kansas City, but after due consideration, Mrs. Johnson concluded that she needed more time to prepare her trousseau. She therefore deemed it advisable to return to Texas, while her aged lover went back to Rock Island. Before parting, however, Quist says he gave her diamond earrings valued at $300, a diamond ring which cost $200 and enough cash to bring the bill to about $700. With the license in his pocket he departed in a happy frame of mind.

During March and April, the two corresponded regularly, and on May 19 Quist concluded to return to Amarillo, as he was certain that the wedding finery must be finished. Sure enough, everything was in readiness, and two days ago the two started for Kansas City a second time. As the license had been secured in Missouri, both agreed that the proper place for marriage would be in Kansas City.

BUT SHE CHANGED HER MIND.

They reached Kansas City yesterday morning. After ordering luncheon at the Blossom house, the bride-to-be concluded to run up town and visit the shopping district. She would return by 6 o'clock, she said, after which they would secure a clergyman who would undoubtedly be glad to perform the marriage ceremony. Before leaving Quist says he gave her currency which brought the bill to about $1,000, he later estimated.

After strolling about the city yesterday afternoon, he returned to the Blossom house a few minutes before 6 o'clock. At the desk he was given a letter, which he opened with indifference, though he noticed the handwriting was Mrs. Johnson's.

He began to take a lively interest when he read the following note:

"Dear Ducky -- I hate to write this, but I must. Time has shown me that we could not be happy together, so I must leave you. Don't say anything about this and the folks in Amarillo will never know the difference. Ever your loving, LULU. P. S. -- Thanks."

At the Union depot he learned that a woman answering Mrs. Johnson's description had purchased a ticket for Pittsburg, Pa., and had boarded a Chicago & Alton train. He then conferred with the detective department.

"Yes, I mean to have my property back," he declared at police headquarters. "She may have made a fool of me, but I'm going to get even with her."

Labels: Blossom house, jewelry, railroad, romance, Texas, Union depot, visitors

May 9, 1909

MANY WOULD MARRY

GARVIN FOR $80,000.

GIRLS OFFER TO HELP HIM

EARN UNCLE'S BEQUEST.

From Town and Country Letters

Come In, and He Answers

All -- Some He Goes

to See.

PAUL GARVIN.
Who Must Marry in Order to Obtain $80,000 Left Him by a Rich Uncle in Colorado.

Cupid is working over time in the case of Paul Garvin, the young man who is to inherit $80,000 upon his marriage. Far and near his darts have sped, and touched the hearts of kind young woman who hate to see him lose that inheritance simply because he has never been so fortunate as to fall in love. Affinity feelers have been turned loose and the daily mails bring scores of letters to Mr. Garvin from those who would help him out of his predicament.

And Mr. Garvin is not sitting idly by. He is answering all of the letters which he receives, and has made calls upon many of those Kansas City girls whose sympathy for him has been awakened by the bright shining light of $80,000. Withal, Mr. Garvin has not yet left the grand passion and is still heart, if not fancy, free.

HAPPY IF HE'D CALL.

"I am more determined than ever to get married," said Mr. Garvin last night in his room on the northwest corner of Fourteenth and Oak streets. "I appreciate the interest which some of the girls have taken in the matter, and now my chances for matrimony and money look much bigger to me."

Mr. Garvin guards all of his letters carefully, and will not disclose the identity of the writers. Some of them, with names and addresses omitted, he has given to The Journal and of the lot, the following are representative.

This is one from a young lady who is very enthusiastic:

GIVEN CHOICE OF TWO.

"Dear Friend: I have been thinking of you for some time, and it would be the happiest time of my life if you would call me up. My phone number is Main ---. Just tell me who you are, and then if you don't remember me, I will explain everything. Yours lovingly, A TRUE FRIEND. P. S. Please call me tomorrow about 10:30."

Mr. Garvin did call and found the stenographer a charming personage.

Here is one from two girls evidencing a desire to "split the pot:"

"Our dear Mr. Garvin: My cousin and I are two charming young ladies, and are looking for a husband -- you can have your choice. If interested write to --------."

Mr. Garvin is struck by the tone of the letter, and its peculiar humor. He thinks that a wife with a sense of humor is probably the best kind to have. He will answer the letter.

From Excelsior Springs comes a work of art. It is the most comprehensive of all the letters received by Mr. Garvin and one which he highly appreciates. It says:

WHY NOT TRY EXCELSIOR?

"Sir: I read in the paper this morning that an uncle had left you an amount of money on condition you married. You say, or were quoted as having said, that you didn't know of anyone who would have you. Really, if no one in Kansas City will have you, and if you are as good looking as the paper said, it might be a good idea for you to try Excelsior Springs.

"Unlike you, I have seen several who would have me, but non whom I especially liked.

"Now, let me tell you that I am not beautiful, but I think that I am not so ugly as some I have seen. I am not very old, only 19; have a good education. I have blue eyes, light hair (brown) and am not very tall (a little over five feet). This is my first attempt, so will not describe myself in full. Neither will I give my correct name. If you wish to answer, all right. I think it will break the monotony of the times and perhaps afford a chance to help you secure your $80,000. Maybe it will give you a chance to visit Excelsior, anyway. Hoping to hear from you in the near future. I am, sincerely yours---"

GIVES NAME AND NUMBER.

The writer of the following letter is perfectly frank and gives her correct name and address. As a result, Mr. Garvin has become somewhat enamoured of her, having seen her two or three times. The writer is said to be a daughter of a real estate man, and lives in the South Side.

"Kind Sir: Mr. Garvin, I would like very much for you to come out and call and join our crowd.

"I don't want you to think queer of me by writing you without prior introduction, but hope that I shall meet you personally some time in the near future. I live out south and my telephone number is South ---- at ----- Thirty-ninth street. Closing, I remain, yours truly -----.

Here is one from a girl on the anxious seat who lives in Mendon, Mo."

"Mr. Paul Garvin: I seen in The Kansas City Journal that you would wish to marry, and if you would like to start correspondence, I would wish to correspond with you, and my description is Blue eyes & light hair, my height is 5 feet 3 inches, age 17. Answer real soon."

THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

It would hardly be possible for the incident to pass without the appearance of some good Samaritan, who, from the kindness of his heart, desires to aid Cupid in all his undertakings, the born matchmaker. Here follows a letter form one of this kind, from a physician in Kansas City:

"Dear Sir: I am not conducting a matrimonial bureau, nor was I ever connected with such. I am a doctor of medicine with a fairly lucrative practice in this city, and seeing the article in the Kansas City Journal, I desire to proffer my assistance to you without any monetary recompense whatever.

"I am doing this without the knowledge of the young lady in question and am doing it solely because I think she will suit you as a life partner.

"This young lady is from one of the foremost families in the state and has mad her way in the world alone, being left an orphan at an early age, she had advanced from an ordinary clerk to a position of stenographer in one of the oldest and most reliable abstract firms in Kansas City.

"She is petite and a brunette, without any of the false charms so common to the girl of today. She is modest, of a quiet disposition, having a first class education and a pretty, innate beauty as distinguished from the artificial.

"This letter is written you in her behalf and she is entirely unaware of it. If you take kindly to the suggestion, address me at the enclosed address and I will introduce you to her, not permitting her to know of the strange circumstances under which she met you. Trusting to hear from you at your earliest convenience, I remain, yours very sincerely, --. --. -----, M. D."

Labels: orphans, romance

April 30, 1909

CAUGHT IN A TRAP

OF HER OWN MAKING.

MRS. REYNOLDS FAKED NAME

OF MAN WHO EXISTED.

Like a chapter from a novel is the story of the complications Mrs. Bessie A. Reynolds wove when she set a snare for a suspicious husband. The Reynolds live at 925 McAlpin avenue, Kansas City, Kas. The husband is a foreman at the Proctor & Gamble plant. Mrs. Reynolds is the mother of five children, the oldest of whom is 19.

The dove of domestic peace has not been a continued guest in the Reynolds home for some time, due largely to the circumstance that the head of the family absented himself from home on Sundays, or of evenings and made no explanation to his wife as to where he had passed the time.

"One day," says Mrs. Reynolds, "my husband accused me of liking some other man better than I did him and I said, 'That's so; there is another man.' I only wanted to make him jealous -- there is no other man, but he was so persistent that I finally decided to fix up a name and leave it where he would see it."

THOUGHT THE NAME FICTITIOUS.

Mrs. Reynolds wrote the name of Frank P. Courtney, La Junta, Col., in a small book in her handbag and her husband duly found it. Without saying anything to his wife of his discovery, Reynolds wrote to the postmaster at La Junta and asked him if Frank Courtney received his mail at that office. The answer came back that he did. Thereupon Reynolds wrote to Courtney asking him what he meant by meeting his wife. Courtney replied that he was not acquainted with Mrs. Reynolds; that he had not been in Kansas City for several years, and then had only passed through the town. Reynolds consulted with his wife's sister, who lives in St. Joseph. Without divulging her intentions, the sister wrote to Courtney, using Mrs. Reynold's name. The sister also doubted the existence of a man named Courtney, but when in due time she received a letter from him in which he stated that he was puzzled to know what all the fuss was bout, she no longer questioned his existence and immediately posted off to tell her sister, Mrs. Reynolds, what she had learned.

WIFE WRITES A LETTER.

It became Mrs. Reynolds's turn to take a hand in the letter writing. She wrote to Courtney, explaining the circumstances of her husband's letters and expressing surprise over the coincidence that she had given her husband a supposedly fictitious name and address which proved to be that of a real personality. Several letters passed between Courtney and Mrs. Reynolds before the tangle was straightened out to their satisfaction.

In the meantime Courtney left La Junta for Sterling, Col. He claimed to be a chauffeur. In Sterling a puzzling diamond robbery occurred and the next heard of Courtney was in Denver, where he was arrested on suspicion of theft. He confessed to the Sterling robbery. When he was searched at the Denver police station the following letter from Mrs. Reynolds was in his pockets:

HER LETTER TO COURTNEY.

"Dear Sir: I feel as though I owe you an explanation of how I have so innocently drawn you into my affairs. I hope when you have read this you will forgive me. In the first place, I never saw you, or heard tell of you, but will trust to your honor as a gentleman to keep the contents of this letter a secret. You will see it is a very personal letter. I am Mrs. Bessie Reynolds, mother of two grown children, and have decided to take a hand in this letter writing. My husband is insanely jealous of me and has indeed made my life almost miserable.

"Two years ago I made the acquaintance of a man who proved to be a gentleman and who befriended me in a way I could not ignore and can never forget, and whom I grew to like very much.

"Now, understand me, I do not say love. My husband forbade me to speak to him. I, perhaps, saw more of this man than I should. As I told you before, he is a gentleman, and is the case always, someone had to tattle. My husband demanded the name of the man whom I cared more for than him.

GAVE HIM FAKE NAME.

"Thinking if he thought I did care for someone else, and hoping he would be kinder to me, I told him yes, there was someone. At last, in desperation, I, not knowing that you or any other man of that name existed, and to turn his mind from my friend, I simply made out in my mind the name of Frank P. Courtney. Then, of course, he demanded to know where he lived, and, as I wanted to put this imaginary man out of his reach as far as possible, and having told him that Mr. Courtney was a railroad man, knowing La Junta was a terminal, I told him that town. And I thought everything was O. K. until he marched in with the letter from this La Junta postmaster, saying that you did exist and received your mail there.

"Well, I will just leave it to your imagination as to my feelings when I found out you did exist. I just almost collapsed right there. In the meantime my sister in St. Joseph, knowing why I had told so many stories, or lies, if you choose to call them by their right name, wrote you in my name to prove to my husband that you did not exist.

"She almost died when she found out you were a sure-enough, very much alive man.

CALLED POSTMASTER IDIOT.

"I told my husband when that old idiot of a postmaster wrote him you were there that I had storied at first. I could not make him believe, and pleaded with him not to write to you for I was afraid that you might be married and it would bring trouble to you and your wife. I was also very much ashamed to have you know anything of this affair. I never can tell you how sorry I am to have caused you the annoyance I evidently have.

"I will ask this favor of you, if not too much trouble to you: Will you write me what my husband wrote you? Now, I don't want him to know I have written you, so I will post the postman as regards La Junta letters, and I will appreciate an early reply to this, as I wish very much to know where I stand in your estimation. It hardly seems possible that you are a sure-enough man and do exist when I just made you up out of my mind.

"Hoping if we ever meet it will be as friends. I remain confidentially yours, MRS. BESSIE A. REYNOLDS."

"NEVER AGAIN," SHE SAYS.

"I was never more surprised in my life than when I discovered that a man named Courtney really existed," said Mrs. Reynolds last night. "I am sorry I wrote the letter, but I was angry when I found my husband had written out there to see if the name he found in my pocketbook was that of the man whom I had foolishly told him I cared more for than I did for him. It has taught me a lesson about writing letters that I will never forget."

Mrs. Reynolds is a handsome woman of the Spanish blonde type. She is a member of a Kansas City, Kas., Baptist church and has lived here for fourteen years.

Labels: Denver, Kansas City Kas, marriage, romance, women

February 27, 1909

HEARTS MUST BEAT AS TWO.

Unromantic Parent Foils an Elope-

ment and Intended Marriage.

ST. JOSEPH, MO., Feb. 26. -- An unromantic parent is responsible for an unperformed marriage ceremony here today. As a result, the hearts of Samuel Robinwizt, 19 years old, and Lucille Ward, a year his senior, both of Kansas City, must continue to beat as two, for the time being at least.

She came to St. Joseph, her former home, and young Robinwitz followed her. He, in turn, was followed by his father. The boy was delivered to his fond parent, a merchant, who took him back to Kansas City.

Labels: romance, St.Joseph

February 15, 1909

SMALLPOX VICTIMS

DISCUSS LIFE OF JOB.

SYMPATHY AT LIBERTY FOR

THE BIBLICAL CHARACTER.

William Jewell's Afflicted Students

Keep in Touch With the World

Via Telephone -- Love

Letter Relayed.

"Hello! Hello! Is this Liberty? The gymnasium of William Jewell college, I mean?"

"You mean the pest house, don't you?" said the man at the other end. "You do? I thought so."

"Well, how is everything at the pest house today?"

"Fine and dandy. Eight new patients brought in this morning, and they're doing fine. What's that? The Sunday dinner? Great, only Doc has put the lid on meat diet, and there was nothing doing in the chicken line. Smallpox patients, you know, are not allowed to eat flesh meat."

"Any excitement today?"

"Excitement? Surest thing you know. We had Sunday school at 9:30 this morning and preaching at 11."

"Who did the preaching?"

"Yours truly, the speaker, The Journal's regular correspondent at Liberty. Knew I was in the smallpox jug down here, too, didn't you?"

"Well, that is interesting; what did you preach on?"

" 'As He Thinketh in His Heart So is He.' "

"Anything else?"

JOB UP FOR DISCUSSION.

"Yes, young people's meeting this afternoon. The topic: 'What I Have Learned from the Life of Job.' Yes, and maybe we don't sympathize with that well known and popular character, too. Tee-hee."

The William Jewell college is still in quarantine, but the William Jewell pesthouse, so-called, is one of the jolliest spots in Liberty. For several days past the "gym" of William Jewell has been dedicated to Red Cross purposes, and some forty students, down with a mild attack of smallpox, have been having the best time they have experienced since the football season closed.

Information from the William Jewell "gym" must come by long distance telephone. The Journal's correspondent is among those present and vaccinated, and he is doing his little best under the difficulties.

In addition to the baseball teams, the handball flives, the quartet and band, the smallpox victims are seriously considering the advisability of establishing a detective bureau, with a view to ascertaining who is the guilty mark that brought the dread disease to Liberty.

WHO'S THE GUILTY ONE?

In times past William Jewell students, after their Christmas vacation, have brought back some funny things, but the student who brought back this fairly well developed case of smallpox probably was not trying to spring a joke. That some student did bring the malady back among his home products is nearly certain. But who did it?

The pesthouse band was not working yesterday, the day being given over mainly to religious exercises, but the strenuous and merry programme will be inaugurated again this morning.

Last Saturday night the pesthouse boys had a time that made the unafflicted on the outside world green with envy. One student delivered an oration on "The Romans in Carthage (Mo.)"; the pesthouse quartet sang several popular and classic songs and the pesthouse band made a melodic disturbance that could be heard as far east as Main street.

SHY ON FLOOR SPACE.

There have been so many beds added to the "gym" that they are shy on floor space and the basketball games will have to be abandoned. The weather may put a damper on the ball games, and as the college authorities put the ban on pinochle and seven-up, the students will be forced to chess and checkers for excitement unless the sun comes out and gets busy.

The several love-sick students in confinement are having the sorriest time of it all. They can write letters to their sweethearts afar, but as the nervous heroine has often said: "Now that I have written the note, who shall take it?"

It was Hocksaw himself who used to say: "I will take the note," but Hockshaw wasn't in quarantine.

DICTATES LETTER BY PHONE.

One young man who doesn't care particularly who knows his business dictated a letter over the telephone to a friend downtown, the friend copying the letter with violet ink and mailing it to the nerve-strained, restless maid who had been vainly waiting at the other end of the romance and wondering what had happened.

There are sixty cases of smallpox in William Jewell by actual count. It is the intention of the faculty to reopen the college a week from today and students in the "gym" have likewise been notified to get well. Reports indicate that they have been having entirely too good a time.

Dr. W. B. Hooser is in charge of the patients. "Doc," as he is affectionately addressed by every one of his patients, has had the smallpox, so that he is not in danger. He has also won the vote of every afflicted man by giving the positive assurance that there will be no pox marks on the face or body.

Labels: doctors, illness, Liberty, music, romance, smallpox, telephone, The Journal

January 29, 1909

LETTERS TO NORD

THAT RING TRUE.

GIRL IN SWEDEN PLEADS FOR

HERSELF AND CHILD.

Pitiful Tale of Lost Illusions Told in

Sequence -- Nord Says He Can't

Keep Women From

Loving Him.

He just can't help it if women will fall in love with him and propose matrimony. That is the way in which Charles E. Nord explains his personal charm, which has been the cause of letters from women in many cities.

Nord is now in the county jail. He was committed some weeks ago on the charge of passing a check when there were no funds in the bank to make it good. This he explains by saying that he deposited another man's check to cover the paper he gave, but that the other person's check was thrown out by the bank, and hence not placed to his credit.

Of all the letters found in Nord's room, four from a young woman in Nikkala, Sweden, are the most pitiful after learning of his career. The letters, written in the Swedish language, begin with dreams of a hopeful life in the future, and then tell of the sad heart of the young mother when her loved one fails to write in answer to her pitiful appeals.

BEGS TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED.

The first letter, evidently written immediately after her return from the United States, is full of love messages. She deplores the fact that she ever left America and her dear Charles, and asks that he send for her soon.

A short time later she writes another letter telling of her happiness, and of the expected heir to the Nord estates in America. She begs her "husband" to let her acknowledge her marriage to her mother and father, and if he refuses her that, for him to send her enough money to go to Stockholm to live.

Acting under the impulses that govern a young mother the girl, who still has faith in Nord, writes him a long epistle breathing undying faith and love for him. She goes into raptures over their little girl and says that her hair is just like her father's. Three pages are devoted to the little one's intelligence and sweetness.

THE DEATH OF HOPE.

Then as it dawns upon the foreign girl that she is being forgotten by the man she loves she attempts to draw him back if possible. The last letter explains that she is in a strange city, having gone to Stockholm, and being unable to procure employment, is in dire distress. She begs that he do something for her and their child. Then the heart-broken girl gives up all hope and ceases writing.

Nord is a big Swede. With a few days' growth of jail beard and the inevitable lines that come with incarceration, he presents no great charms.

WOMEN JUMP AT CONCLUSIONS.

"It is getting so that when you show a woman a little attention she jumps at the conclusion that you intend to marry her," said Nord yesterday. "Every fellow has, to a degree, the same experiences in that line that I had. I believed in showing them a good time, especially while I lived in Chicago, but I never married anybody. And I don't intend to."

Of course Nord was modest about himself. He said his sumptuously furnished offices might have something to do with the air of prosperity which impressed his admirers. Then again, with a matter of three dozen shirts, something like eighteen suits and other apparel to be counted only in dozens, he was the bright twinkle in the feminine eye.

Yesterday, as on the day of his arrest several weeks ago, Nord said his transactions would show nothing wrong. All his efforts to get money, he said, were directed solely towards exploiting his cobalt mine in Quebec. He says the deposit of ore is very valuable and that he needed money to develop it.

Labels: con artist, immigrants, jail, romance

January 28, 1909

LETTERS TELL OF

LOVE AND LUCRE

WOMEN LIKE NORD, BUT WANT

THEIR MONEY BACK.

2,000 FOUND BY POLICE

KANSAS CITY APPARENT WEST-

ERN LIMIT OF OPERATIONS.

Trusting Females Assure Nord of

Their Faith in Him and Men-

tion Cash in Loans or in

Mining Schemes.

Nearly 2,000 love letters written to Charles E. Nord, arrested in Omaha January 13 and charged with passing a bogus check on C. H. Reardon, 2602 Brooklyn avenue, found among his effects yesterday by Detectives Robert Phelen and Scott Godley, show that he preyed upon the affections of women in all parts of the country. Nord is now in the county jail, awaiting trial.

Some of the writers of the letters offer up their lives if necessary for his love, and others asked the return of money received from them. Nord apparently had the faculty of inspiring love in all women with whom he came in contact.

Jane Ida Bell, Halleybury, Ont., met Nord and fell in love with him. She had a little money in her own name, and purchased a half interest in a mining claim. Her brokers were informed of her little flyer, and Nord decamped.

LEFT HER HOME FOR HIM.

One writer, who signed her name as Jane, lived at 1223 Irwin street, Pittsburgh, Pa. She wrote to Nord in the most endearing terms. She pleaded with the man to sell his office furniture in Buffalo and come to her and marry her. She promised to work and assist in paying the household expenses. Her family objected, and she left home and went to work as a bookkeeeper for $12 a week.

On account of her confidence in him, Nord, from the letter, seems to have succeeded in getting the girl to loan him $25. Again he asked for $25, but she did not have it and informed Nord that she had sold her furniture to give him the money the first time he asked for hit. Then, losing her position, she wrote Nord, telling him sh e was starving.

THIS ONE WOULD PAY HIM.

An annuity of $100 a month was offered to Nord by Ida M. Stern, 5519 Madison street, Chicago, Ill., if he would only marry her and allow her to love him the rest of her life. She said she had that much guaranteed and they could live on it until his mines panned out.

Then Mary L. Berry got into the game, and Nord loved her $1,000 worth, or at least she says she signed his note for that amount. Mrs. Anna Heerhold, Irving Park, Ill., says she gave him a check for $500 and failed to ever hear from him again.

It remained for a Kansas City girl named Ida M., who formerly lived at 305 Wabash avenue, to represent the extreme western line that Nord's emotional and financial operations extended to. She loved him well enough to trust him for a loan, and then says she burned out the telephone wires in a futile effort to make him repay her.

In all of the letters the women write him they express the utmost faith in his love and fidelity, but wonder why he fails to keep his word. The police recovered nearly 2,000 letters written to Nord, and all of them speak of money obtained, either as loans or on mining schemes.

Labels: Brooklyn avenue, Chicago, con artist, detectives, forgery, Omaha, romance, Wabash avenue