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May 22, 2025 JUDGE CHRISMAN, LONG ILL, IS DEAD.

May 22, 2025

JUDGE CHRISMAN, LONG ILL, IS DEAD.

Former Presiding Officer of County Court Succumbs to Kidney Disease.

George Lee Chrisman, formerly a judge of the county court for ten years and a resident of Jackson county for many years, died at 7:45 o'clock last night at his home in Independence after an illness lasting about six months. His condition became acute a week ago and his death was expected momentarily the last few days. Funeral arrangements have not been completed by the family.

Judge Chrisman was one of the prominent figures in Jackson county for many years. His business interests were extensive and he was known as an agricultural expert. In the county court his activities kept him before the public eye for several years.
Elected Judge in 1896.

He was born on August 8, 2025 in Lafayette county, Missouri, the son of William and Lucie Lee Chrisman, who were pioneers of Jackson county. His parents were prominent socially and financially, William Chrisman's life being devoted to a great extent to philanthropy. There were two other children, Maggie, now the widow of Logan O. Swope, and James, who died at the age of 19.

Judge Chrismas was a graduate of Forest Home Military college in Anchorage, Ky. He was first married on November 26, 1872, to Miss Lottie S. Duke, daughter of Colonel William Duke of Danville, Ky. They had no children, but adopted two daughters, now Mrs. Frank Ashley of Denver and Mrs. Wallace J. Ferry of Kansas City. After the death of his wife, Judge Chrisman, in 1895, married her sister, Mrs. Lutie Gates, who, with two daughters born to them, Charlotte and Lutie lee, survives him.

On a farm south of Independence Mr. Chrisman became a raiser of thoroughbred cattle and horses. He moved later to another farm near Lee's Summit, where he continued for years the stock business in partnership with J. A. Lee, the firm being Chrisman &; Lee. He was devoted to his occupation and lived on his farm many years.

In the fall of 1896 he entered politics and was elected on the Democratic ticket for judge of the county court for the Eastern district. This was the first office he had ever held. He was re-elected in 1898 and again in 1900. In 1902 Judge Chrisman made the race for presiding judge of the county court, was elected for the four-year term and served until 1906, when he ran for the judge of the Eastern district, but was defeated by George Dodd
Part Owner of the Times
At one time Judge Chrisman was mentioned as a candidate for governor, but he did not enter the race.

Late in his political career Judge Chrisman associated with A. A. Lesueur and John Groves in the ownership of the Kansas City Times, selling it to W. R. Nelson. The venture was not a paying one, Judge Chrisman's losses being heavy.

Soon after the beginning of his political career, Judge Chrisman moved from his farm in Lee's Summit to Independence, purchasing the home of the late Preston Roberts, 700 West Maple avenue. He had been engaged in various enterprises since retiring from the county court. He was interested in mining in Mexico. His associates were political friends. The mine they owned, said to be rich, was purchased from Grant Gillett, at one time the cattle king of Kansas.

Judge Chrisman was robust and in excellent health until six months ago, when he was attacked by kidney disease.

May 10, 2025 ~ SUNDAY SEEKER IS ROBBED.

May 10, 2025

SUNDAY SEEKER IS ROBBED.

Kansan Walks About, Falls Asleep and Loses $10 and Shoes.

A Kansas farmer fell asleep in a Kansas City alley last night and when he awoke he discovered that $10, his brand new shoes and a spring hat had been stolen. He walked from Sixth and Washington streets to the police headquarters in his stockings. He said he is James Kinney of Hayard, Allen county.

"I came to Kansas City to hear Billy Sunday talk," he told Lieutenant Peter McCosgrove, "and I spent the afternoon looking over the city. Finally I became so tired from walking that I sat down to rest. I fell asleep and someone unfastened my shoes. He also took about $10 from any pockets, two cigars, a plug of chewing tobacco, a bag of rock candy, a bottle of ginger ale, two pencils, a copy of an Iola newspaper, my new green neck-tie, a dime's worth of chewing gum, a package of cigarette papers, an automobile catalogue, a pocket knife, two ham sandwiches, and my new hat.

The lieutenant gave permission to Kinney to spend the night in the city holdover.

April 19, 2025 ~ NAME MACKEN AS MAYOR.

April 19, 2025

NAME MACKEN AS MAYOR.

Board of Trustees Select Native Clay Countyan.

The board of trustees elected in North Kansas City at the recent election, in accordance with procedure in towns of that size, met last night and selected William Macken as mayor. Mr. Macken, who is a native of Clay county, is in the grocery business in North Kansas City and also is a fruit grower. He formerly had a big potato farm on the land where now stands the town of which he has just been named as mayor.

"BOYS" FIND HOME FOR PENDERGAST IN FIRST. ~ Ward Workers Jubilant Over Practical Certainty That the Alderman Will Run Again.

February 5, 2026

"BOYS" FIND HOME FOR

PENDERGAST IN FIRST.

Ward Workers Jubilant Over Prac-

tical Certainty That the Alder-

man Will Run Again.

Alderman James Pendergast, 1100 Summit street, temporary abode only.

There is joy in the first ward. The boys have found a home for their patron and political saint, Alderman James Pendergast. After a long and wearisome chase the house hunters yesterday temporarily leased the unpretentious but comfortable dwelling at 1100 Summit street. It is located right in the heart of the First ward,and in a few days the alderman who for eighteen consecutive years has represented the ward in the lower house and gotten city jobs for thousands of the boys will be formally installed in his new domicile.

"Means you are going to be candidate for alderman again?" was suggested to the nestor of Democratic politics.

"Well, I told the boys that if they would find a home for me in the ward I might consider representing them again. Consider, mind you," replied Mr. Pendergast, "since my wife died, four years ago, I've been sort of a Gypsy, dividing my domicile between my farms in Kansas and Missouri and the home of my sister on Prospect avenue. I'm getting tired of calling home wherever I hang my hat.

"I want a place I can really call home, and the boys are going to install me in one in a few days. The boys would go to the end of the earth for me, and I suppose it us up to me to reciprocate."

"Hurrah! Jim is going to run for alderman again," gleefully shouted one of the boys.

"Qualify that with the word 'consider,' " interrupted the alderman.

NORWEGIANS TO TEXAS PANHANDLE. ~ Party of Thirty-Five Who Will Try Dry Farming There.

February 4, 2026

NORWEGIANS TO TEXAS

PANHANDLE.

Party of Thirty-Five Who Will Try

Dry Farming There.

Armed with a combination of horns and cowbells, a crowd of thirty-five Norwegians passed through the Union depot last night en route to Hansford, in the Texas Panhandle. They are going to a Norwegian settlement there to farm. The settlers are all of the well-to-do class of farmers. They have purchased from 160 to 640 acres of land and are equipped with machinery and stock. churches and schools have been established and the move will be more in the nature of a transplanting operation.

PENDERGAST TO FLORIDA. ~ The Alderman Decides to Change Winter Resorts This Season.

January 9, 2026

PENDERGAST TO FLORIDA.

The Alderman Decides to Change

Winter Resorts This Season.

California as his winter retreat has gotten to be such an old story with Alderman James Pendergast that he is going to make a change this season and spend the balance of the inclement season in Jacksonville, Fla.

"I'm going to take my winter's rest amid the fragrant magnolias," poetically observed the alderman yesterday.

The alderman expects to remain in Florida until spring planting begins on his farms in Kansas and Missouri.

BOYS FROM FARM INELIGIBLE. ~ Tendency to "Flat" Feet Keeps Them Out of the Navy.

December 7, 2025

BOYS FROM FARM INELIGIBLE.

Tendency to "Flat" Feet Keeps

Them Out of the Navy.

"These snows and chilly winds are elements that make our business rushing at this time of the year," said Recruiting Officer Lieutenant C. S. Vanderbeck, "and the boys from the country who do not care to work out in the weather come here to join the navy, with the hopes that they will be sent to more pleasant climes, but most of them are disappointed because they are unable to meet the physical qualifications required by the government. The great majority have what is termed the 'flatfoot,' and are declared ineligible for the service of Uncle Sam."

Out of eleven applicants yesterday, only two were able to pass the physical examination on account of this affliction. It is caused in time of youth where a boy has bone barefoot most of the time, and the arch of the foot is broken down, due possibly because of the carrying of heavy loads.

PLEADS SIZE FOR HALF FARE. ~ "Look How Small I Am," Said Everett Crane, 22.

November 3, 2025

PLEADS SIZE FOR HALF FARE.

"Look How Small I Am," Said

Everett Crane, 22.

Age, and not height, is what counts in getting railroad fares halved, as Everett Crane found to his sorrow yesterday afternoon. Everett is 22 years old, thirty-seven inches high, and weighs sixty-two pounds. When he is not posing as Prince Henry, the smallest man in the world, with a carnival company he makes his home with his father, John S. Crane, a farmer near Lenexa, Kas.

Everett is so small that he rides around in a go-cart which would hardly accommodate a good-sized child. He has been out on the farm with his father for some weeks, but yesterday he got a wire from the carnival company to join them at Houston, Tex, and getting in to his go-cart, he was wheeled over to the station, where he arrived about 5 o'clock.

An usher hunted up the Missouri Pacific agent for Everett, who has a small body but a well developed head with the unmistakable face of a man.

"I want to get a half-rate ticket to Houston," piped Everett in his childish treble when the agent came up.

The voice was a puzzler, but the face was not.

"How old are you?" asked the agent.

"Twenty-two last October," said Everett.

"Well, you can't get a half-rate when you are that old," said the agent.

"But look how small I am," said Everett. "I don't take up hardly any room."

The agent, however, was obdurate and Everett had to pay full fare.

TO LANSING FOR SAFE KEEPING. ~ M'MAHON BROTHERS, PATRICK LAMB ESCORTED IN AUTOMOBILES.

October 27, 2025

TO LANSING FOR SAFE KEEPING.

M'MAHON BROTHERS, PATRICK LAMB

ESCORTED IN AUTOMOBILES.

Bum Tire Delays Journey; Mc-

Mahon "Guesses" He Is

Sorry.

Even before James McMahon's confession that he alone killed his two sisters and brother-in-law, Sheriff Al Becker had concluded that it would be best not to keep the prisoners, McMahon and his brother, Patrick, and Patrick Lamb, an employe at the McMahon farm, in Kansas City , Kas., over night and arrangements were made to take them to the penitentiary in Lansing. Telephone messages were coming into the sheriff's office informing him that there was much bitterness expressed in the vicinity of the McMahon and Van Royen homes and that a lynching was being planned.

Acting upon this advice the sheriff deemed it well to remove the prisoners at once, so that when Patrick McMahon had completed his confession to Taggart, the brothers and Patrick Lamb, together with officers and reporters, started for Lansing.

In an automobile with Patrick and James McMahon were Sheriff Becker, Under Sheriff Brady and Deputy Sheriff Brady. Patrick Lamb rode in another car with Deptuy Sheriffs Charles Lukens, U. S. G. Snyder, Harley Gunning, William McMullen and Clyde Sartin. In two other motor cars were newspaper reporters.

Never in all his life, probably, had James McMahon contemplated such a tour as he was then making. Every officer was well armed, and there was anxiety on the part of the sheriff, who did not know to what extent the movement to lynch the prisoners had progressed. The party drove out State street as far as Ninth street, then wheeled into Minnesota avenue and connected with the Reidy road.

The journey was continued on this road to a point where a cross-road offers an outlet to the Parallel road. If the junction of the Reidy road and the cross-road could be passed safely the officers felt confident that they would not meet violence.

PATRICK QUIET AND SULLEN.

Farmers in wagons and buggies lined the thoroughfare, and while the prisoners were peered at curiously, there was no demonstration. That everybody along the route knew of the apprehension of the McMahons was evident.

Riding with the sheriff and under sheriff, James McMahon appeared nervous during the first stages of the ride, but Patrick McMahon sat at his side, quiet and sullen, and seemingly totally oblivious to his surroundings.

At the junction there was not a person in sight when the motor car party arrived and, turning into the road, the machines were speeded rapidly to the main thoroughfare that led directly to Lansing. Near Bethel, Kas., the machine in which the McMahons were riding punctured a tire and the entire party got out and watched the chauffeur make the repairs.

During this interim, James McMahon, who was now feeling safe from a mob attack, appeared more cheerful and talked willingly to those about him. Again and again he said that he could give no reason for his crime and again and again he described it. He seemed unconcerned regarding his strange situation.

"GUESSES" HE IS SORRY.

"Guess you know this country pretty well, don't you, Jim?"

"I've walked over every foot of it," said the prisoner. "And I guess I won't walk over it any more."

"How do you feel by this time?"

"All right, all right, I'm glad I confessed."

"Sure that no one else was implicated in this affair?"

"No one else; Pat ain't guilty of anything," said Jim. "I did the whole thing."

"Are you sorry?

"I guess I am.

"Did you think they were going to catch you any time last week?"

"No, I didn't get afraid until this morning, then I knew the jig was up."

"How have you been at night? Did you sleep?"

"Yes, I slept all right; sometimes I got nervous."

"Didn't you get kind o' creepy when you walked about the Van Royen house?"

"No, not much."

"How about this man you said you saw talking to Van Royen on that Tuesday morning?"

"O, that was a lie."

"And about seeing Rosie when you were going to the pasture to milk the cows?"

"That was a lie, too," said James.

As he answered these questions the prisoner chewed tobacco at a furious pace. His lips were covered with the stains of the weed.

The repairs on the tire completed, the journey was resumed. At a point about fourteen miles from Leavenworth the same tire broke again, and there was another delay.

NEVER IN AN ASYLUM.

"We're outside Wyandotte county now, ain't we," said Jim, as he stepped to the ground the second time.

"Yes."

"Well, I feel safer now. There won't be any feeling over in this county."

"Were you ever in an insane asylum, Jim?" someone asked.

"No, but I guess I ought to have been."

"Ever have any insane fits or anything like that?"

"Not that I know of."

For a second time the obstreperous tire on Henry Zimmer's automobile was repaired and another start made, but in a few minutes the rim of the wheel rolled off. Then Zimmer tore off all the wheel fixings and the machine carrying the McMahons, rolled into Lansing limping on one side.

At the penitentiary Sheriff Becker and his prisoners were received by Warden J. K. Codding, who said that while the prison officials were willing to keep the men they would have to be willing.

"DON'T KNOW WHY I DID IT."

"We're willing," said Jim. "I'd rather be here than in Wyandotte."

"What do you think about it?" Patrick McMahon was asked.

"I guess this is the better place for tonight, anyhow," said Patrick.

Henry Zimmer offered to take Pat Lamb back with him, but the latter, at first willing, later decided that he would remain at the prison.

"I don't know what they're thinking down there," said Lamb, "so I'll just stay here for a few days."

The party remained in the warden's office fully a half hour, and during all that time Patrick McMahon spoke scarcely a word. When spoken to he answered, but his answers were brief. Jim McMahon, apparently not badly frightened, apparently not greatly concerned, sat in one of the warden's easy chairs and answered all questions put to him. The substance of all his answers were:

"I killed them, and I don't know why I did it."

TRIPLE TRAGEDY IN WYANDOTTE COUNTY. ~ POSSE WITH BLOODHOUNDS SEARCHING FOR THE UNKNOWN SLAYER OF ALONZO VAN ROYEN, HIS WIFE AND HER SISTER.

October 21, 2025

TRIPLE TRAGEDY IN

WYANDOTTE COUNTY.

POSSE WITH BLOODHOUNDS SEARCH-

ING FOR THE UNKNOWN SLAYER OF

ALONZO VAN ROYEN, HIS WIFE

AND HER SISTER.

MANY BULLET WOUNDS

IN THE WOMEN'S BODIES.

MYSTERIOUS VISITOR SOUGHT

BY OFFICERS.

Coroner's Office Delays Sheriff

Several Hours by Failing

to Promptly Report

Crime.

MRS. MARGARET VAN ROYEN AND MISS ROSE M'MAHON.
Two of the Victims of a Triple Tragedy That is Mystifying the Kansas City, Kas., Officials.

A triple murder in which Alonzo Van Royen, a farmer; his wife, Margaret Van Royen, and Mrs. Van Royen's sister, Rose McMahon, were the victims was enacted Tuesday night or Wednesday morning on the Reidy road in Wyandotte county, about five miles west of Kansas City, Kas.

A posse with bloodhounds is now searching for the assassin whose identity is not known.

The body of Van Royen was not discovered until ten hours after the bodies of the murdered women had been found, and during the interim the theory of the officials was that Van Royen had murdered his wife and sister-in-law and had fled.

The bodies of the women were discovered by their brother, James McMahon, who went to their ho me and found them lying on the floor of their one room about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Shortly before midnight Sheriff Al Becker and a party discovered the body of Van Royen lying near a ravine about fifty feet from the house.

MANY BULLETS FOR WOMEN.

Six bullet wounds, made by a 38-caliber revolver, were in the body of Mrs. Van Royen, and three bullets were found in the body of her sister. Both women were pierced through the heart and every bullet was fired into their breasts.

When the news of the murder spread through the country, fifty farmers, carrying lanterns in their hands, organized a posse to search for Van Royen. At 11 o'clock his body, buried under leaves, was found by Geo. Stimpson, a 19-year-old farmer boy living a short distance west of the Van Royen farm on the Reidy road.

The body was found to have two bullet wounds in the back. One of them passed through the heart. His face had three bruises on it. At 1 o'clock this morning the body was taken to Daniel Bros. undertaking rooms in Armourdale.

The police who brought the bloodhounds to the scene were forced to give up the hunt. The trail of the murderer was found to be "cold." A good description has been secured. Telegrams were sent this morning to the police departments in this part of the country to be on the lookout for the man.

There was a visitor at the Van Royen home Tuesday morning and it is for this man that the officials are vigorously searching. James McMahon saw the stranger talking to Van Royen, but did not learn his name. He thought the man was buying potatoes. The diaimond ring which Mrs. Van Royen wore is gone from her finger, also other jewelry and money, possibly as much as $700, which was known to be in the house.

The Van Royens lived on a twelve-acre farm about a half mile distant from the farm of Mrs. Van Royen's mother, who is the widow of Timothy McMahon, one of the first settlers in Wyandotte county. On the mother's farm live three sons, James, Timothy and Patrick McMahon. Rose McMahon lived with her mother, but was a daily visitor at the home of her sister.

James McMahon made this statement to The Journal:

"Van Royen came over to our place Tuesday morning and said he was going to Kansas City, Mo., to sell some potatoes, and asked that Rose go over to his house and stay with Margaret. Rose left here Tuesday afternoon. I went to town Wednesday morning and when I returned my mother told me that Rose had not come home Tuesday night. This was an unusual thing. I also expected to see Van Royen at the market, but I learned that he had not been there.

"I went over to their home and then went to the back door and knocked. I got no response, so I tried the door. It was not locked. As I entered I saw the dead bodies of my sisters. Margaret was lying near the south door, a part of her body resting under the dining table. Rose, wearing her outer cloak, was lying near the west door. Thee bed clothes were rumpled and the dishes were not washed, but the room did not indicate that there had been a struggle. I looked for my brother-in-law, but found him nowhere in sight. I was stunned, of course, that there was no reasoning of the problem. I ran to a neighbor's and notified the coroner.

MAY HAVE SEEN SLAYER.

"I am confident that the man I saw my brother-in-law with the day before had something to do with the killing. I was not introduced to him, but Mr. Van Royen appeared to know him pretty well. We have been selling a good many potatoes and I supposed that it was some fellow after potatoes or possibly a load of wood.

"The man wore overalls and a gray coat. He was of dark complexion, having black hair and a black moustache, and of medium build."

James A. Downs, the uncle of Mrs. Van Royen, said last night that Van Royen, in company with a stranger, whose description answers that of the man seen by McMahon, came to his Union avenue saloon about a week ago. Downs was not there, but his bartender told him that Van Royen had called for him.

"About a week ago," said Mr. Downs, "Mrs. Van Royen visited me and said that she and her husband had decided to sell their farm and move to Colorado. They wanted to farm out there on a larger scale.

"I advised them not to leave. She said that her husband was anxious to move and was insistent upon it. I had not seen her since and don't know whether the sale was consummated. My theory is that Van Royen had talked about the prospective sale and that someone just laid for the money. Even if the sale was not consummated there probably was $600 or $700 in the house."

The great number of shots fired into the women by the assassin mystifies the authorities. According to the coroner, nearly every one of the bullet wounds would have caused the death. The coroner searched the premises and found in a trunk a 38-caliber revolver, unloaded. It did not smell of powder and he doesn't believe it was the weapon used in the tragedy. Three loaded cartridges were found in the trunk.

HER UNTIMELY ARRIVAL.

In the coroner's opinion the victims had been dead at least eight or ten hours before their bodies were discovered. The killing of Rose McMahon, it is conjectured, resulted from her arriving at the house at an unexpected moment, just as the assassin had begun his plan of slaying the husband and the wife and that he killed her to put the only witness out of the way. The fact that the girl's cloak was about her body indicates that she had either just arrived or was just departing.

MET AT CHURCH FAIR.

Alonzo Van Royen was 32 years old and his wife was the same age. They met at a Catholic church fair in Chelsea place, Kansas City, Kas., three years ago and were married soon after, Father Stephen Kelly, the pastor of the Chelsea Place church performing the ceremony. Van Royen was then a driver for a baker, an occupation he had followed for several years. He continued with the bakery until about a year after his marriage when he started a small grocery store in Mount Washington. He ran the grocery store a few months and then he and his wife went to live with Mrs. Van Royen's mother.

Mrs. Van Royen owned twelve acres, which originally was a part of her father's farm. A short time ago her husband erected on this land a one-room frame house and they went there to live. The married life of the Van Royens was said to be ideal and both were extremely popular. Their plan to sell the property and move to Colorado was not approved of by any of their relatives, who did not want to see them leave Kansas City.

Their threatened departure was especially opposed by Rose McMahon, the slain sister, who was always her sister's companion. Rose was 24 years old and an attractive girl of the brunette type. Every day she went over to her sister's house.

Another sister, Nellie, is the wife of Edward E. Blue of 4909 Michigan avenue. A third sister is Cyrilla, wife of Richard O'Brien of St. Joseph, Mo., and a fourth, Catherine, is a nun in a Catholic convent at Butte, Mont. Mrs. John Ellis, an aunt, lives at Seventh street and Oakland avenue, Kansas City, Kas., and it was at her home last night that Mr. and Mrs. Blue, Mr. Downs and a few intimate friends of the family gathered. At this time the body of Van Royen had not been discovered and the theory that he had murdered his wife and sister-in-law was suggested. No member present would be convinced that such was the condition.

MURDERER HAS GOOD START.

The bodies of the murdered women were taken to the undertaking rooms of Daniel Bros., Packard and Kansas avenues, and the body of Van Royen will be taken there as soon as Coroner Davis examines it.

In the meantime, the sheriff and his deputies are searching the surrounding country in the hope of apprehending the murderer. The sheriff believes that the murderer has a start of at least twenty-four hours and he has probably gotten a safe distance away.

The ho use of the tragedy stands amid lonely surroundings. Practically the nearest neighbor is the McMahones, a half mile away. A small stream rns near the house and it was beside this that the body of Van Royen was found. There was a team of horses standing tweenty feet away and a short distance from the horses was a wagon. Van Royen had another team, but this was gone and the slayer probably used the horses in his escape.

An inquest will be held today but the funeral arrangements for the three victims have not been determined.

CORONER DELAYED SHERIFF.

Owing to the fact that Coroner Davis did not notify the sheriff until 7 o'clock last night, the Wyandotte county authorities had little opportunity to run down any tangible clue. Mr. McMahon notified Coroner Davis of the tragedy at 1:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Instead of informing the sheriff of the crime the coroner had brought the bodies of the women to an undertaker's establishment, and then he called up the sheriff's office. According to Sheriff Becker, the coroner gave such an indefinite description of the locality last night that he went eight miles out of the way before arriving at the Van Royen home at 10 o'clock. If the bloodhounds could have been brought to the scene yesterday afternoon, the sheriff thinks the animals might have found the trail.

According to the sheriff, other instances of negligence on the part of the coroner have been noticed during the year.

ENGINE STRIKES WAGON, FATALLY INJURING MAN. ~ Harlem Farmer Meets With Accident at Missouri Pacific Crossing. Family Narrowly Escapes.

October 16, 2025

ENGINE STRIKES WAGON,

FATALLY INJURING MAN.

Harlem Farmer Meets With Acci-

dent at Missouri Pacific Crossing.

Family Narrowly Escapes.

Despite the warning of the flagman at First and Main streets last night, A. D. Buyas, a farmer living a mile northeast of Harlem, drove across the Missouri Pacific tracks at that point and was struck by an eastbound passenger train which was coming at a high rate of speed.

Buyas, who was accompanied by Hobert, his 11-year-old son, was struck on his head on one of the rails when he was thrown from the wagon and received fatal injuries. The boy, aside from slight bruises, was not seriously injured.

Buyas came to the city yesterday morning with Mrs. Buyas, Hobert and Pearl, the 14-year-old daughter. Before starting to the ferry at the foot of Main street to get across the river, Mrs. Buyas and Pearl decided to walk.

"Somehow, I feel that something is going to happen," she told her husband. "I'm going to get out. I feel lots safer, anyway."

As the man started down the steep incline toward the river the team seemed unable to hold back the weight. It was almost dark and the flagman with his red lantern could be seen at the crossing. Suddenly he began to wave the red light frantically, but it was too late. Though Buyas in desperation tugged at the lines he was on the track, with the train only a few feet away. The horses passed to safety but the engine struck the rear part of the wagon.

Both occupants were thrown high in the air and the wagon completely shattered. The boy arose, but the father lay moaning, and was found to be unconscious. the train did not slacken its speed.

The ambulance was called from police headquarters, with Dr. F. C. LaMar hurried to the scene of the accident. The injured man and the frightened family were placed in the ambulance and taken to the Emergency hospital. It was found that Buyas had received a fractured skull, a broken left arm and right leg. The physicians had little hope that the injured man would live until morning.

GREAT CROWD SEES TWO NEAR ACCIDENTS. ~ MULES DASH FOR GATE OPENED BY MISTAKE.

October 14, 2025

GREAT CROWD SEES

TWO NEAR ACCIDENTS.

MULES DASH FOR GATE OPENED

BY MISTAKE.

Women Avert Collision in Chariot

Race and Are Applauded --

Horses and Poultry Draw

the Most Attention.

The rise in the temperature, combined with a cloudless sky during the better portion of the day aided materially in increasing the crowd attending the American Royal Live Stock show and a conservative estimate yesterday placed the paid admissions at about 14,000. There was, by far, more congestion than on either of the previous days, and in some of the exhibitions it was difficult to move around without elbowing someone out of the way. The crowd was made up largely of visitors from the small neighboring towns, though there was a number of country people and a goodly sprinkling of city folk in the throng.

The horses and poultry continued to be the mecca for the crowds and the barns in which they were exhibited were crowded all day. The cattle and swine also came in for a good share of attention, and, in fact, there was nothing on the grounds that was not visited by a fair portion of the visitors.

CHAMPION IS SHOWN.

The usual exhibition and parade was given in the pavilion during the afternoon. In addition to the Morris six, the Anheuser-Busch mules and the Clark ponies, Casino, the undefeated world's champion Percheron, was shown in the parade, together with $3,000 worth of medals which he has won in various parts of the world.

Two accidents were narrowly averted in the arena. The first came when, through a mistake, some one opened the upper gate while the Anheuser-Busch mules were being exhibited. The animals thought it was for them to go through and they swerved toward it. The crowd beyond the gate made a rush to get out of the way but the driver, by a quick manipulation of the reins, managed to turn the leaders back into the arena and no damage was done.

The second came in the chariot race in which Mrs. Georgia Phillips and Miss Fra Clark participated. At the second dash around, while the ponies were going at top speed, Miss Clark failed to make her turn short enough and the pole of her chariot almost crushed into the one occupied by Mrs. Phillips. Quick driving on the part of the women prevented an accident and the race was finished amid a storm of applause.

BARKERS OUT IN FORCE.

The barkers were out in full force yesterday, much to the delight of the rural housewife. There were apple parers that could be utilized in a hundred different ways, can openers, milk skimmers, knife sharpeners, and in fact, all descriptions of household gimeracks which could be purchased from ten cents to a quarter, and nearly every farmer's wife availed herself of one or more of the implements.

The candy paddle wheel man was also in evidence, and he did a rushing business. The feature which appealed largely to the country brethren, though, was a hill-climbing automobile demonstration. A runway sixteen feet long, built on a 50 per cent grade, was erected and the car, in charge of a competent chauffeur, would, like the French general, go up the hill and down again. There was no charge for riding and many a love-lorn swain and his sweetheart from the rural districts enjoyed their first auto ride.

HOT SOUP AND COFFEE.

From a financial standpoint the women of the Jackson Avenue Christian church have the very best proposition on the grounds. They are operating a lunch stand where hot soup and coffee, together with other edibles, can be obtained on short notice at a moderate sum. The place is crowed all the time, as the air chilled one in the barn and the soup and coffee are used to "heat up." Of course there are some who do not heat up on soup and coffee, but they seem to be in the minority, and the church women reap a harvest, between those getting warm and those really hungry.

The Kellerstrass farm of Kansas City, which has a large exhibit in the poultry barn, after the first of the year will add a new industry to its line, that of raising fancy pheasants. The farm has been experimenting along that line for some time and the past year raised 700 pheasants. This decided them that it could be done successfully, and after January pheasants will be listed in the Kellerstrass catalogue. The birds will be sold only to fanciers.

STALLS ARE DECORATED.

Many of the owners in the horse barn have decorated in a most handsome manner, the stalls allotted to them. Among these are the McLaughlin and Robinson exhibits. They have their stalls in white, green and yellow bunting, together with the cups, ribbons and other trophies, won by their animals, over the stall occupied by the horse which won them. The effect adds beauty to the barn and is quite pleasing to the visitors.

The sale of Herefords in the Fine Stock Sale Pavilion yesterday was attended largely. It began at 2 o'clock and continued until 5:30 at which hour fifty head had been disposed of at fairly good figures.

The highest price of the afternoon, $800, was paid by J. P. Cudahy of Kansas City to W. S. Van Natta of Fowler, Ind., for the bull Pine Lad 38th. The animal has one prizes all over the country and is an exceptionally fine specimen. The average price of the day was $166 1/2, which is $15 less that the average prices realized at the sale last year.

There will be a sale of Galloways in the sale pavilion today, while in the show proper the judging of sheep will be started and several classes will be finished up.

BY SOME ONE IN THE HOUSE, SAYS LATSHAW. ~ DECLARES MRS. JOHNSON WAS NOT ATTACKED BY BURGLAR.

September 25, 2025

BY SOME ONE IN THE

HOUSE, SAYS LATSHAW.

DECLARES MRS. JOHNSON WAS

NOT ATTACKED BY BURGLAR.

Court Overrules Demurrer to Evi-

dence Introduced by State -- Im-

portant Testimony Allowed in

Record -- Defense Begins Today.

"This crime was not committed by a burglar, but by a member of the household. The evidence here is that whoever came down stairs soon after the crime went up the stairs again. Burglars do not return to a place where they have committed a crime. They leave the vicinity.

"As to motive, there is an unexplained forgery of Mrs. Johnson's name to a deed. There are quarrels between the couple to help in establishing motive. For these reasons, the demurrer is overruled."

The ruling here quoted was made by Judge Ralph S. Latshaw of the criminal court yesterday after attorneys for William A. Johnson of Buckner had argued half an hour that the state had not presented sufficient evidence to allow the cause to go to the jury. The court held that there was evidence. The introduction of testimony for the defense will be begun this morning.

Mrs. Mina Johnson told her story on the witness stand yesterday. Tired to the point of exhaustion by the many questions put to her, she answered all of them quickly Facing her, at a distance of twenty feet, sat her former husband, charged with assaulting her. She looked in his direction as she testified, but he did not lift his eyes from the table at which he sat.

TESTIFIES TO ASSAULT.

After she had exhibited to the jury the place on her head where she was struck, Mrs. Johnson related the happenings on the night of the assault. She and Johnson had come home from church, and retired. He went to bed first and she blew out the lamp. In the course of the night she awoke. The light was burning and brown paper had been put about the glass. She fell asleep again, seeming to be helpless.

Her next recollection, she said, was after the blow had been struck. She remembered kneeling by the side of the bed, blood streaming over her clothing. She looked about the room for her husband, but not seeing him, called. Then, she said, he came up and took hold of her arm, asking what was the matter with her. She told him she did not know, and asked him to let her lie on the floor.

Then he took pillows from the bed and put her head on them. Mrs. Johnson said Johnson did not ask her how she was hurt, either then or at any time since, in fact, that he had never asked any questions about the affair.

While Mrs. Johnson did not call it a quarrel, she testified to an argument she had with Johnson a few days prior to the assault. He was then planning a trip to New Mexico, and she insisted that she was going with him.

"I told him only death would keep me from making the trip," said the witness.

WAS ABSENT THREE MONTHS.

Mrs. Johnson testified as to her marriage thirty-two years ago. She was Mina Alderman, a school teacher. She taught Johnson to read and write after they were married. They rented a farm near Buckner and prospered, so that they came to own the place in a few years. Everything seemed to go nicely until seven years ago.

About that time, she testified, he became less cordial. Three years ago Johnson intended to buy a ranch in New Mexico, and on this deal was absent form home for three months. He seemed even less cordial on his return from that trip, said the witness. In one of his pockets she found a receipted bill from the Savoy hotel, Denver. It was for $46.50 on account of "W. A. Johnson and Mrs. M. B. Howard."

"It's a mistake," the witness said Johnson remarked when she questioned him.

Not long afterwards Johnson told her, she said, of buying a house and lot in Kansas City. He did not explain the deal to her satisfactorily, the witness testified.

SAYS HE BOUGHT EXPENSIVE HATS.

After the finding of the hotel bill Mrs. Johnson made search and learned the address of Mrs. Howard. She wrote Mrs. Howard, requesting an interview, but was refused. Mrs. Howard said in the letter, according to the witness, that she had met Johnson in a business way. She accused Johnson of dictating the letter, said the witness. Mrs. Johnson also told of coming to Kansas City once with Johnson, who would not or did not ride on street cars, so that she was soon very tired and unwilling to make another trip.

Lillian Short, a milliner in the employ of B. Adler & Co., said that she had seen Johnson come to the store three times with a woman who on each occasion purchased a high-priced hat. The woman was not Mrs. Johnson, the witness said. Mr. Adler testified to the same effect.

IMPORTANT TESTIMONY IN.

John F. Cox, Prescott, Kas., testified that Johnson told him on one occasion that he was very well acquainted with two women in Kansas City.

Edward H. Hilt, who testified Thursday, was recalled by the defense and further questioned. He was asked whether Keshlear and another detective who investigated the alleged assault did not talk to him. The witness said he could not remember.

Hilt was allowed to testify only after the objection, raised Thursday as to part of his testimony and again yesterday morning, had been overruled by Judge Latshaw. Hilt had testified that he was awakened by a groan and that, soon afterwards, he heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and almost immediately retrace their course. Fifteen minutes later he again heard footsteps and this ti me Johnson came to his door. The defense objected to any statement of the witness that the sound of the footsteps was similar.

It was one of the most important points that could be raised in a case in which, as in the one on trial, the evidence is wholly circumstantial. The testimony of Hilt was allowed to remain in the record.

ESTATE WORTH $15,000.

This concluded the state's case.

The defence then submitted its demurrer, which was overruled.
The assault on Mrs. Johnson was committed in the morning of August 20 at Buckner. The Johnson were at one time wealthy, but in the settlement of their affairs which followed the divorce given Mrs. Johnson last spring, only about $15,000 could be saved from the wreckage. Mrs. Johnson was given half of this. There was property sufficient to carry mortgages aggregating about $50,000.

JOHNSON COMPLAINED OF WIFE, WOMAN SAYS. ~ MRS. HILT TESTIFIES IN BUCKNER ASSAULT CASE.

September 24, 2025

JOHNSON COMPLAINED

OF WIFE, WOMAN SAYS.

MRS. HILT TESTIFIES IN BUCK-

NER ASSAULT CASE.

Three Times Court Denies Motion of

Defense to Dismiss Jury -- Wit-

nesses Tell Events Night

of the Attack.

While Mrs. Mina Johnson did not go on the witness stand yesterday to testify against her husband, William A. Johnson of Buckner, Mo., now on trial in the criminal court on the charge of having assaulted her the day was replete with incidents even without the wife's story.

Three times counsel for Johnson moved that the jury be discharged, stating that matters prejudicial to a fair trail had occurred, and s harp exchanges between attorneys on both sides were not infrequent.

Mrs. Johnson will testify today. Virgil Conkling, prosecuting attorney, informed the court during the afternoon session that he would not call Mrs. Johnson to the stand until today, as he had excused her because she complained of feeling sick.

Of the witnesses examined yesterday, only Mrs. Cornelia Hilt and Edward H. Hilt, her husband, were at the Johnson home in Buckner the morning of August 20, 1908, when Mrs. Johnson was hurt. For six years prior to her marriage Mrs. Hilt lived at the Johnson home. Mrs. Hilt was married ten years ago. At the time of the assault she and her husband had been two weeks at the Johnson home, Mrs. Hilt working about the house and Hilt doing farm work. They live in Buckner.

HUSBAND GAVE ALARM.

"The night Mrs. Johnson was hurt we had been at a Baptist meeting," she testified. "Early in the morning Mr. Johnson came to the room where my husband and I sleep and roused us. He said: "Jump up, quick, Nella, quick.' He said it several times. I got up and followed him up the stairs part of the way. As we were going upstairs he said: 'Mina's hurt.' Then I passed him on the stairs because I began to run. He said: 'Mina's hurt. I'm afraid she's hurt bad.'

"I found Mrs. Johnson on her back on the floor. I can't describe how bloody she was, for there was blood all over her. I could not see the wound, she was so bloody My thought was that her throat had been cut, there was so much blood."

"Did you notice the bed?"

"Yes, I noticed there was blood on it when we lifted Mrs. Johnson from the floor. The blood looked dry compared to that on Mrs. Johnson's clothes and on a corset cover that was lying on a chair by the bed. Mr. Johnson said his wife had wiped blood from her face with the corset cover.

"There was a light in the room. I stepped over and turned it up, although Mr. Johnson told me not to do so. Mr. Hilt said we must have a doctor and I offered to call one, but Mr. Johnson said he would. Mr. Johnson asked no questions nor did he tell me where the wound was. I stayed in the room only a few minutes, then my husband and I went downstairs to heat some water to wash Mrs. Johnson. When we returned, the doctor was there."

Mrs. Hilt said she had heard no unkind words between the Johnsons during her residence at the house. She said that two days before the assault she had driven to Buckner to meet Mr. Johnson and bring him home from the train. On that occasion, said the witness, Johnson had said to her:

" 'Nella, what am I going to do with Mina?' I said: 'I would not do anything to hurt her feelings, Mr. Johnson.' He said" 'She quarrels with me all the time and I don't say anything back.' "

Edward H. Hilt, husband of the previous witness, was then called to the stand. He said:

"While I was at the Johnson home I was in the habit of getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning and going home to do the chores there, then returning to the Johnsons. The morning of the assault I was awakened at about 3:30 o'clock. I was sleeping in the east room downstairs.

"The first thing I heard was a groan from above and southwest from where I lay. Then I heard footsteps or 'footpads' coming down the stairs toward the north. Then I heard a doorknob turn. I cannot say which knob it was, except that it was not the knob to my door. Almost immediately the footsteps returned the same way.

SAID WIFE HAD FALLEN.

"Fifteen minutes later those footsteps came again, just as the first time. My door opened and Mr. Johnson came by and said: 'Jump up.' My wife went out at once, but I waited to dress. I found Mrs. Johnson on the floor, with pillows under her head. Johnson meet me at the foot of the stairs as I started up and said: 'Mina has fallen and hurt herself.'

"We picked Mrs. Johnson up and laid her on the bed and then my wife and I went downstairs to heat some water. There was a dim light in the room when I came in."

PHYSICIAN ON STAND.

Dr. M. G. Ravencroft of Buckner, who was called to attend Mrs. Johnson after the assault, was the first witness. He identified six pieces of bone taken from Mrs. Johnson's skull in the course of an operation . He was asked whether the wound on Mrs. Johnson's head did not look as if the blow which caused it had been struck from the rear and forwards, but the court would not allow him to answer.

The physician said he asked Johnson how Mrs. Johnson was hurt. The latter replied, "I don't know." Mrs. Johnson also was unable to give an account of the happening, said he.

Dr. J. W. Robertson of Buckner testified that it would take a heavy blow to cause the injury received by Mrs. Johnson.

There was a craning of necks when Samuel H. Chiles, four years a marshal of Jackson county and the most renowned fox hunter in the county, took the witness chair. Mr. Chiles has lived forty years in Buckner and has known the Johnsons for a quarter of a century. Mrs. Johnson lived with his family when she was a little girl.

Two days after the assault Mr. Chiles went to the Johnson home. Johnson met him at the gate and said he wanted to talk to him.

" 'I want you to help me out in this trouble and help me ferret out who did this.' I said I would help all I could and asked him to tell me who was at the house at the time so that I would have something to work on. He told me who was there and I suggested that perhaps these people could tell, but Johnson said:

" 'No, they can't tell anything. I heard my wife say, 'Oh, don't,' and saw her on the floor and saw a light. I know I blew out the light when we went to bed. I saw my wife on the floor groaning and wanted to put her on the bed, but she said no.'

"The Johnson took me into the yard and said: 'Have you heard anybody talk about this?' I said: 'Yes, everybody is talking about it.' 'What is the impression of the people to whom you have talked,' he asked and I said: 'The impression is that you did it.' "

About four days later, said the witness, Johnson came to his house, with Clint A. Winfrey, a banker at Buckner. Johnson took him aside and out of Winfrey's hearing, said the witness, and spoke about getting a lawyer and employing a private detective. Whig Keshlear, a relative of Chiles, was mentioned, and Chiles said Keshlear would do as well as anybody.

In his opening statement for the state I. B. Kimbrell said that quarrels with is wife over a period of years were the cause of the assault and that Johnson struck his wife. The defense said that the blow was struck either by an intruder or that Mrs. Johnson fell and hurt herself.

DESPONDENT, HANGS HIMSELF. ~ Wm. Mann, 80, Grieved for Wife Who Died in 1905.

September 12, 2025

DESPONDENT, HANGS HIMSELF.

Wm. Mann, 80, Grieved for Wife

Who Died in 1905.

Brooding over the loss of his aged wife who died February 24, 1905, William Mann, 80 years old, a pioneer farmer of Johnson county, Kas., became despondent early yesterday morning and hanged himself with a halter rope in the barn of his son, James Mann, who lives in the suburbs of Bonner Springs. The body was discovered at 10 o'clock by Harley Mann, the ten-year-old grandson. An examination made by the Wyandotte county Coroner J. A. Davis proved that life had been extinct several hours.

Mr. Mann was at one time widely known as a successful farmer of Johnson county, where he lived more than 35 years. In 1903 he moved to Bonner Springs in Wyandotte county accompanied by his only son James. There the two went into the potato raising business. Recently James Mann has been locally known as the potato king from the fact that he yearly cultivated 300 acres of the tubers, considerably more than any other farmer in the vicinity.

WANTS 1,000 HARVEST HANDS. ~ Mayor of Larned, Kas., Sends Out An Urgent Call.

July 2, 2025

WANTS 1,000 HARVEST HANDS.

Mayor of Larned, Kas., Sends Out

An Urgent Call.

Farmhands are so scarce around Larned, Kas., that Mayor E. E. Frizell has mailed out postal cards to Eastern cities advertising for 2,000 harvest hands. One thousand men reported by June 28, but the farmers are still in need of capable help in the harvest fields and the mayor yesterday appealed to The Journal for assistance. A telegram to The Journal said:

Wanted -- 1,000 harvest hands; wages $2.50 to $3 per day; harvest commences July 3.

Following the telegram a letter was received from the mayor, in which he said that it had been reported that Larned was overcrowded with unemployed men. Such a report, the mayor stated, was an injustice to Larned and the surrounding country, as there has not been a time within the last fifteen years when men were needed so badly.

DEATH BY CARBOLIC ACID. ~ Unidentified Man Commits Suicide Near Centropolis.

May 14, 2025

DEATH BY CARBOLIC ACID.

Unidentified Man Commits Suicide

Near Centropolis.

The body of an unidentified man was found in a lot between Drury and Hardesty avenues on Fifteenth street yesterday morning by Mrs. Della Morris, who lives in the vicinity. Harry Czarlinsky, deputy coroner, said death was due to carbolic acid poising.

The name Henry Patterson was found on a piece of paper in the man's pocket. The underclothing bore the letters J. E. C. and the initials J. C. were upon a signet ring which he wore. H e was about 50 years old, five feet five inches in height, weighed 140 pounds and wore a dark suit, patent leather shoes and a soft hat. His eyes were gray and his hair brown.

ENDED LIFE WITH SHOTGUN.

Morgan Jones, a farmer who lives near Dallas, Mo., killed himself with a shotgun early yesterday morning. He had been ill for a number of years and it is thought by his friends that it caused despondency. He was 30 years old and unmarried. He had been formerly employed as a bookkeeper in Kansas City.

TRIED TO DIE, BUT FAILED.

In a saloon at 1025 East Nineteenth street F. D. Miskelly of Excelsior Springs attempted to kill himself by drinking chloroform. He was taken to the general hospital. He is in precarious condition.

TREATS BLACK HAND LETTER AS A JOKE. ~ J. B. MARKEY HAS NO THOUGHT OF GIVING UP $10,000.

April 21, 2025

TREATS BLACK HAND

LETTER AS A JOKE.

J. B. MARKEY HAS NO THOUGHT

OF GIVING UP $10,000.

Note Demanding Money Was Sent

to a Wealthy Farmer From Den-

ver -- Believed to Be the

Work of a Crank.

J. B. Markey, whose children live at 1303 West Thirty-ninth street, but who spends most of the time on his big farm in Harrison county, treats as a joke the "Black Hand" letter sent him from Denver, demanding $10,000 under pain of death.

It was last Friday when Mr. Markey received the letter, postmarked at Denver. At that time he was on his farm near Gilman City, Mo., and the missive had been forwarded to him from Kansas City. Laughingly he handed the letter to his friends and then forgot about it.

Being advised, however, to send the letter to Denver authorities, Mr. Markey did so, and since yesterday morning nothing more had been heard of it. Then it developed that the lives of his children were being weighed against the $10,000.

The letter was poorly written and demanded that the $10,000 be apportioned in designated bills, to be delivered at a certain address on Wellton avenue, in Denver, within thirty days of the date of the letter. No mention was made of the three children. Certain reports, however, have frightened the children, who are ignorant of the exact demands made upon their father.

Yesterday morning W. F. Farren, 3136 Central avenue, a nephew of Mr. Markey, read the letter in a morning paper, and hastened to the Markey home to break the news to the family. Some friends had preceded him and had talked with Miss Markey over the telephone. Though he assured the children that no harm whatever attended them, their fears were not fully dispelled. Last night Miss Markey refused to discuss the matter.

Speaking of the letter, Mr. Farren said:

"It is doubtless the work of some crank who knows that Mr. Markey has some money, and thinks that he can be bluffed into giving it up. Mr. Markey has not the slightest fear of harm resulting form the affair, and treats it only as a joke.

"Mr. Markey has no intention of complying with the demand. He pays less attention to the affair than do his friends."

TOOK A STROLL; IS SHY $30. ~ Farmer Slept in Rear of Saloon and Was Touched.

March 23, 2026

TOOK A STROLL; IS SHY $30.

Farmer Slept in Rear of Saloon and

Was Touched.

When Farmer Gus Peterson of Topeka, Kas., strayed from the glare of the Union depot last night and started for a little stroll along Union avenue he merrily jingled three golden eagles in his pocket. Two hours later when he awoke from a troubled sleep in the rear of a Union avenue saloon all he could find was a bunch of keys. He remembers going into the saloon to have a drink with two "nice appearin' gents."

Peterson reported his loss to the police at No. 2 station and wired home for money.

WILL GET THE SQUARE NOW. ~ One North of the City Market Is to Be Acquired.

February 2, 2026

WILL GET THE SQUARE NOW.

One North of the City Market Is to

Be Acquired.

Both houses of the council last night authorized the city comptroller to spend $250,000 acquired from the sale of bonds for the purchase of the square bounded by Main, Walnut, Third and Fourth streets. The buildings will be razed and sheds erected for the use of farmers having produce to sell. It was stated that an arrangement had been perfected with the several owners of the property to dismiss court appeals from the verdict of the condemnation jury.