100 Year Old Weblog: January 2009

CITY SWEPT BY A 75-MILE GALE. ~ SIX-HOUR AVERAGE VELOCITY HERE IS 60 MILES.

January 30, 1909

CITY SWEPT BY

A 75-MILE GALE.

SIX-HOUR AVERAGE VELOCITY

HERE IS 60 MILES.

BIG WIND RECORD BROKEN.

MUCH DAMAGE TO SIGNS, ROOFS

AND PLATE GLASS.

Trains on All Roads From Thirty

Minutes to Eight Hours Late.

Wire Communication Is

Also Hampered.

With seventy-five mile velocity registered at intervals and a sixty-mile average for the six hours from 6 o'clock a. m. until noon, the gale that swept Kansas city yesterday broke all local big wind records for the last twenty years.

According to Weather Observer P. Connor today will be as cold, possibly colder, than yesterday, although the wind will have fallen. There was further development of a low barometer last night between Davenport, Ia., and Chicago, Ill., which indicates that the wind may continue hurtling over the northern prairies to fill the vacuum left in the atmosphere in the Southeastern states. This will not so much affect Kansas and Missouri as the Atlantic seaboard, however, for the barometer is nearer normal here.

"We got our first hint of the coming high wind when the wire told us that the atmospheric pressure in Montana supported a column of mercury 30.68 inches high, while in Western Kansas it held up only 29.10 inches. The normal pressure is thirty inches, so there was a decided lack of an equilibrium, the heavy air of Montana and Canada rushing down here to fill the space left by the expansion of the air from the past three or four days of warm weather.

DAMAGE IN BUSINESS DISTRICT.

At times yesterday morning and forenoon the wind attained a velocity which was almost cyclonic. Signs, which had seemed securely fastened, were whirled from store fronts, small buildings in the suburbs were overturned, and glass fronts smashed in, the whole aggregating a loss which probably will reach several thousand dollars.

People passing along the principal streets of the two Kansas Citys were subjected to multiple dangers, in which falling billboards, slippery streets and dangling live wires figured. Consequently the shopping was light, as the women stayed indoors.

When the gale reached its highest speed, near 10 o'clock, it became dangerous for a woman to step outside her door. Skirts and overcoats acted like sails, and many people of both sexes were bruised by being dashed against obstacles.

TRAINS TIED UP, WIRES DOWN.

Trains on all the railroads entering Kansas City were from thirty minutes to eight hours late yesterday. The engineer who brought his train in only thirty minutes or an hour late was complimented on his god work. The storm played havoc with the telegraph poles and lines, and the snow was banked over the tracks in places. Trains were tied up for hours in places waiting for orders.

Telegraph lines were down in all directions. Of the twenty-seven wires running out from the Union depot office of the Western Union, only three were in working order yesterday. These three wires were to Fort Scott, Atchison and St. Joseph.

Trainmen long in the service said yesterday that it was the rawest storm experience they had ever encountered. Progress was slow and there was so much switching to be done because of the care necessary to exercise when running practically without orders.

At Birmingham, Mo., a few miles out of Kansas City, Burlington trains were tied up for some time because the telephone poles were down and across the track. That wasn't the worst part of it. A car of telephone poles was piled near the track at Birmingham. The wind picked these poles up and piled them on the track. It gave the trainmen plenty to do to clear away the debris.

HE CONCLUDED TO STAY IN. ~ Traveling Man Is Convinced That Wind Was Strong.

January 30, 1909

HE CONCLUDED TO STAY IN.

Traveling Man Is Convinced That

Wind Was Strong.

August Meyer, a traveling salesman, placed his arms around one of the large columns in the Hotel Baltimore yesterday afternoon and acted as though he was trying to lift the center of the ten-story building from its foundation. He didn't succeed in doing that, so he placed his shoulder against the column and attempted to shove it over.

"What the deuce are you doing, Gus?" one of his friends asked.

"Well, I want to go to Ninth and Main, and I don't want to walk," Mr. Meyer explained. "So I just figured if a fellow couldn't lift the Hotel Baltimore from its foundation or shove over one corner of it, he couldn't buck that wind. I'm going to stay in."

NEGRESS ADOPTS WHITE BOY. ~ But She Can't Have Him While Living In Missouri.

January 30, 1909

NEGRESS ADOPTS WHITE BOY.

But She Can't Have Him While

Living In Missouri.

Color lines were drawn sharply in the juvenile court yesterday. Mrs. John May, a negro woman, adopted Guy Colby, a white boy, 8 years ago in Lynn, Mass. He is now 11. The adoption was legal in every way, according to the Massachusetts statutes, but Missouri laws do not recognize such a relationship.

Probation officers discovered that Guy, a white boy, was attending the Attucks school for negroes. Judge E. E. Porterfield sent the lad, who looks well cared for, to the McCune farm. He promised Mrs. May that she could have him again if she returned to Massachusetts, which it is her intention to do. She took the lad from a foundling home.

MOOCHERS HERE ARE PLENTY. ~ They Infest Certain Streets and Continually Annoy People.

January 30, 1909

MOOCHERS HERE ARE PLENTY.

They Infest Certain Streets and Con-

tinually Annoy People.

Beggars infest certain streets in Kansas City near the business districts and annoy people passing along those thoroughfares, especially at night. Along the streets where they ply their trade a policeman is rarely ever seen. Along Central avenue, between Ninth and Tenth street, and along Eleventh street from Broadway to Wyandotte, there are from six to eight beggars stationed every night.

They are a prosperous looking set of hoboes, too. Some of them are able-bodied, healthy, well-dressed young men, who evidently seek the cover of night to beg for dimes.

"Just a dime, please, to get a cheap bed," is their plea. One fellow has a story to tell about being on the way to his home in Iowa and was robbed of all his money. Now he is forced to ask assistance. He has been working the same street for three weeks. He dresses well, too, so he must be prospering.

CAN'T TELL BY DIAMONDS. ~ Clothes No Index to the Room Guests Will Take.

January 30, 1909

CAN'T TELL BY DIAMONDS.

Clothes No Index to the Room Guests

Will Take.

"You can't always tell the kind of a room a man wants by the number of diamonds that he wears or by his dress," George North, chief clerk at the Kupper hotel, said yesterday. "The fellows who wear the biggest diamonds and wear the swellest clothes often are the ones who ask for the $1 rooms. They spend all their money for diamonds and clothes, eat at a 15 cent restaurant and want the cheapest rooms.

"It is often the man who wears the plain, simple business clothes who want the best rooms. They usually want the best there is going and are able to pay for it."

LETTERS TO NORD THAT RING TRUE. ~ GIRL IN SWEDEN PLEADS FOR HERSELF AND CHILD.

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.

GOT HER DIAMOND RING BACK. ~ Man Who Tried It On Held to the Criminal Court.

January 29, 1909

GOT HER DIAMOND RING BACK.

Man Who Tried It On Held to the

Criminal Court.

"I am not inclined to regard very highly any young girl or young woman who, after an acquaintance of a single week, would allow a man to wear or even take her diamond ring," said Justice Shoemaker to Ethel Donohue, 1112 Tracy avenue, yesterday. Ethel was in court as prosecuting witness against Thomas C. Tracy, whom she charged with stealing her diamond ring and afterwards pawning it.

It developed that Tracy had tried on the ring and was unable to remove it from his finger. He promised to have it cut off, which he did. Then he would have it repaired and return it, which he did not. Instead, he took the ring to a pawn broker and got $15 for it. Then he departed for Chicago. Detective James Orford went to Chicago and brought him back. Tracy's father sent the money to Detective Orford to redeem the ring. Ethel was given h er ring in court yesterday.

"I would like," concluded the justice, "to free this young man on these charges, and I am inclined to think that you," said he to the girl, "are as much to blame as he." Tracy was held for the criminal court on $500 bond.

GOES BACK TO THE NAVY. ~ Kansas City Boy Re-Enlists -- Is Now First Class Quartermaster.

January 29, 1908

GOES BACK TO THE NAVY.

Kansas City Boy Re-Enlists -- Is Now

First Class Quartermaster.

One of the youngest first class quartermasters in the United States naval service is J. I. Freese, a Kansas City, Kas., boy, who re-enlisted for the second time in the navy recruiting station in the federal building yesterday and was temporarily detailed for clerical work here. Freese is 21 years old, but has now reached about the top rung of a sailorman's ambition. In fact, an enlisted man has reached about the limit of his eligibility when he is a quartermaster of the first class and has little more to hope for in times of peace.

The naval experiences of Freese appear large for a boy of his years, but in talking of them he does not let you forget for instant that he joined the jack tars in 1902 instead of yesterday. He was set at that time to do a year at Newport. Then he took a training cruise on board the Essex and was transferred to the Maine for a three-months journey in Southern Europe.

When Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans was ordered to make a Pacific fleet out of the Atlantic fleet, Freese was a quartermaster on board the Connecticut. At San Francisco he was changed to the Maine again, and the Maine and Alabama were detached and sent around the world ahead of the fleet, touching at Honolulu, Guam, Colombo and Port Said. Last November the two ships arrived home at Portsmouth, N. H., where Freese was mustered out of service.

"I like the navy and I am going to stick to it," said the young quartermaster yesterday. "It's the only life for me, although there is lots of grind and hard work attached to the job."

B. J. Freese, the boy's father, is a railroad foreman of the West Bottoms, living on North Fourth street, Kansas City, Kas.

GREEK DENIES VIOLATING LAW. ~ Claims One Boy Is Over 16, and Other Is at School.

January 29, 1909

GREEK DENIES VIOLATING LAW.

Claims One Boy Is Over 16, and Other

Is at School.

Charged with employing two boys, Angelo Angelopoulos and Theodore Patrakis, both said to be under 16 years old and causing them to work more than nine hours a day in violation of the child labor law, Peter Maniatos was arraigned in Justice Miller's court yesterday. He declared he was not guilty. Maniatos conducts the bootblack stand on West Ninth street near the New York Life building.

Patrakis claimed he was over 16, and a letter from the boy's father in Chicago, exhibited before the court, showed that he was born in the year 1892. Angelo, though under age, has been attending school regularly, and reports from his teacher showed that the boy was making the best of his opportunities. Justice Miller set the case for Friday, and Maniatos was released on bond of $100. The boys are being held at the McCune home.

LETTERS TELL OF LOVE AND LUCRE. ~ WOMEN LIKE NORD, BUT WANT THEIR MONEY BACK.

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.

WARNED BY THE BLACK HAND. ~ Grand Avenue Italian Grocer Gets Threatening Letter Demanding $300 on Pain of Death.

January 28, 1909

WARNED BY THE BLACK HAND.

Grand Avenue Italian Grocer Gets

Threatening Letter Demanding

$300 on Pain of Death.

A letter signed "Black Hand Socialist" was received yesterday by Tony Jordan, an Italian, who has a grocery store at 507 Grand avenue. He took the letter to police headquarters at 8 o'clock last night and asked for protection. The letter is as follows:

"Mr. Tony: You better pay us $300 or we kill you. Be sure be Second and Grand avenue 12 o'clock a. m. (Signed) BLACK HAND SOCIALIST."

Lieutenant Ryan turned Jordan and the letter over to Benjamin Goode and John McCall, plain clothes men. They arranged to meet Jordan at Second and Grand a few minutes before midnight last night, but Jordan did not appear. He evidently was badly frightened, as he locked his grocery store and left the building.

Other Italians heard of the letter last night and there was a general alarm sent out by them. They gathered in groups in Little Italy last night to talk it over. The frequency of these letters and the efforts made to blow up one or two places has caused extreme nervousness in the Italian settlement.

No "Black Hand Socialist" appeared at Second and Grand avenue at 12 o'clock a. m. (midnight), so far as the officers were able to learn.

WASN'T INTERFERENCE; JUST LOSS OF TEMPER. ~ FARCICAL ENDING OF SULLIVAN SALOON POLICE ROW.

January 28, 1909

WASN'T INTERFERENCE;

JUST LOSS OF TEMPER.

FARCICAL ENDING OF SULLIVAN

SALOON POLICE ROW.

Commissioners, However, of the Opin-

ion That Saloonkeeper Should

Be More Particular as to Patrons.

The trial of John Sullivan's "No. 3" saloon, at 6 West Missouri avenue, where it was alleged police officers were interfered with Saturday night while making an arrest, was very brief before the police board yesterday.

After cautioning the father of the proprietor to be careful hereafter in the selection of his patrons, as a certain element, said by police to make that a headquarters, would endanger his license. Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., "rebuked" Thomas Pendergast, superintendent of streets, by saying:

"It looks to me like some of our citizens lost their temper. Now, Tom, you know you must have been mad or you wouldn't have used those cuss words. You are a good superintendent of streets, but we can't expect you to keep the saloons clean, too. Matter dismissed. Be more careful in the future and don't let it occur again."

THE DETECTIVES' STORY.

Lieutenant Harry E. Stege and Detectives M. J. Halvey and J. J. Raftery testified that when they went into the saloon to get "Eddie" Kelly and Thomas Loftus on the order of Inspector Charles Ryan, they were interfered with by Pendergast, Bert Brannon, a deputy marshal, and Dennis Sullivan, brother of the saloon man.

"Brannon stepped out of a side room," said Detective Halvey, "and grabbed Stege, saying: 'Don't take those men. They are coming with me.' Then Pendergast rubbed his fist in Stege's face, and called him vile names. When I tried to get to them, Sullivan held me from behind. It looked at once time as if Brannon was going to make a gun play -- but he didn't. As we left the place Pendergast again abused Stege."

SAYS KELLY'S THE "GOAT."

Brannon was not present, but Pendergast and Sullivan were, the latter having nothing to say. Mr. Pendergast said that he blamed the whole thing on Inspector Ryan. He said that while Kelly may have done some bad things he had never been convicted anywhere, and that of late he had been working steadily when the police would let him alone.

"Every time a man loses a hat or a pair of shoes, though, Ryan sends out and has Kelly arrested and just as promptly he is released in police court when they try to prove him a vagrant. Ryan hasn't liked me for seven or eight years and these arrests are always a direct slap at me. There was no interference there Saturday night -- not a word said about it. I told the boys to go on with the officers. I know better than to interfere with a man in the discharge of his duty.

"All I said," continued Mr. Pendergast, "was: 'These two detectives are all right, but the other fellow is a big stiff.' That is not interfering, is it?"

The board at this point dismissed the case with the "reprimands" before mentioned. Brannon, it is said, would be left to the county marshal, as the board had no jurisdiction over him.

Fred Baily, secretary to Inspector of Detectives Charles Ryan, yesterday tendered his resignation to the board. Mr. Baily intends going on the road as a traveling salesman.

The board yesterday issued thirty-one special commissions to park policemen and watchmen. The matter of taking them into the regular police department, where they would be under the direction of the police board and the chief of police, was not mentioned. About six months ago it was thought that this would soon be done.

LOSES RIGHT TO HER CHILD. ~ Mother Signed Adoption Papers of Heir to $40,000 Estate.

January 27, 1909

LOSES RIGHT TO HER CHILD.

Mother Signed Adoption Papers of

Heir to $40,000 Estate.

According to a ruling made yesterday by J. S. Hynes, judge pro tem of the probate court, Kansas City, Kas., a mother relinquishes all rights to direct the affairs of her offspring after she once signs adoption papers for the child.

The decision was handed down on the application of Ida Weeden for the appointment of a guardian for Dorothy Weeden-Gordon, the alleged illegitimate child of Monroe Gordon, the wealthy negro farmer who was murdered at his home near Bethel, Wyandotte county, last December.

It was proved by the records of the probate court that the infant heir to the $40,000 estate left by Gordon was legally adopted by Susan Wilson, mother of the murdered man, several years before he met his death. For this reason the application made by the natural mother of the child for the appointment of a guardian was dismissed.

"The affairs of the child rest entirely with its parent by adoption," said acting Judge Hynes. This means that Gordon's mother, through the rights of the child, will have something to say in the distribution of her murdered son's estate.

There is another alleged illegitimate child of Gordon who has set up a claim as an heir to his property, Robert Benjamin Gordon, 6 years old. Dorsey Green, an attorney, was appointed guardian for this infant claimant. The settlement of the estate promises to be accompanied with considerable litigation.

RAN OFF WITH A CHINAMAN? ~ Mrs. Charles Wilson of Kansas City Arrested in Chicago.

January 27, 1909

RAN OFF WITH A CHINAMAN?

Mrs. Charles Wilson of Kansas City

Arrested in Chicago.

CHICAGO, Jan. 26. -- (Special.) A well dressed young woman who says she is Mrs. Charles Wilson of Kansas City, was arrested at Clark and Harrison streets this afternoon by Detective Russell of the Harrison street station while in the company of G. H. Wing, a Chinaman.

When questioned at the station Wing, who has been employed by Louis Sing, another Chinaman, who has a store on Clark street between Harrison and Van Buren streets, declared that Mrs. Wilson was his wife.

Mrs. Wilson at first corroborated the Chinaman's story, but upon being questioned closely, broke down and admitted, the police declare, that she deserted her husband in Kansas City and came to Chicago with the Chinaman, bringing her 3-year-old daughter with them.

Gaw Wing and Mrs. Wilson, who are being held in Chicago by the police, are well known to the Kansas City police. Wing, a laundryman, has been living with Mrs. Wilson for more than a year, the police claim, on the second floor of a flat at Eighth and Charlotte streets. The woman's lawful husband is not known here.

Two months ago Wing entered police headquarters one night carrying Mrs. Wilson's baby, which is 2 years old. He was crying and exhibited a picture of the baby's mother. "Poor baby's m other run off, leave baby and Gaw Wing alone," he kept repeating. Wing informed the officers that Mrs. Wilson was hiding in a rooming house at 127 West Sixth street. John McCall and Ben Goode, plain clothes patrolmen, arrested the woman, but Wing refused to prosecute her, and she returned to him.

Henry Sing and his American wife introduced the Wilson woman to Gaw Wing. Sing is now in Hot Springs, Ark., for his health, and has his wife and 14-year-old boy with him.

TRIES SLEEP FROM A BOTTLE. ~ Waitress, After Quarreling With Husband Cook, Attempts Suicide.

January 27, 1909

TRIES SLEEP FROM A BOTTLE.

Waitress, After Quarreling With Hus-

band Cook, Attempts Suicide.

Because she had quarreled with her husband and feared that he meant to leave her, Dollie Duchaine, 26 years old, 1321 Cherry street, attempted suicide last night by inhaling the fumes from a handkerchief saturated with chloroform. Dr. J. W. Hayward of No. 4 police station attended to the woman.

Duchaine is a cook at Roarke's restaurant. H is wife is a waitress at the same place. James Love, 1000 Independence avenue, who had seen the woman early in the evening, said she told him her husband had become angry over some orders she had given him.

"Words followed," Love said, "and it seems that Duchaine told his wife he was going to leave her. She was down-hearted and depressed when I left her."

A note written by the woman before she took the chloroform was found by Officer Fraser. It was as follows:

"Well, Johnnie if you do what you said you would tomorrow, I don't care what happens to me, so I will take a little sleep from the bottle under my pillow. Your as ever, 'D.' "

FOUL AIR AT SCHOOL CAUSES HEADACHES. ~ POOR VENTILATING SYSTEM AT MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL.

January 26, 1909

FOUL AIR AT SCHOOL

CAUSES HEADACHES.

POOR VENTILATING SYSTEM AT

MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL.

Committee to Petition Board for

Needed Change and for New

Wing to Prevent Present

Overcrowding.

The committee of taxpayers which is formulating plans to petition the board for more room at the Manual Training High School is also to ask for a new system of ventilation.

"The air in the Manual school is so bad that the children go home with headaches," Professor Phillips said yesterday, "and the parents ask if something cannot be done. The present system of ventilation was installed by Professor Morrison, and it has never worked right. The good, cold, pure air that is supposed to be fanned into the room doesn't come, but instead there comes a foul atmosphere laden with all sorts of stale, nauseating odors. I don't know where the trouble is, but I know that something is wrong."

J. H. Brady, the chief engineer of the school, said yesterday that the ventilation system at the Manual Training school had not been put in with his approval.

"I protested against it from the first. Still, there are many buildings in Kansas City with much worse ventilation systems. What the school needs more than anything else is heat regulators. The teachers get interested in their work and the thermometers go up as high as 90. I think that is is too much heat, rather than foul air, that causes the headaches. Still, the system is not by any means perfect, and it should, if possible, be changed," Mr. Brady estimated that the cost of such a change would amount to about $8,000.

The needs of the Manual Training high school are to be discussed at a dinner at the Sexton sometime within the next week or two. In addition to a new wing, the committee of taxpayers will ask for a second 50-kilowatt dynamo for the lighting plant. The committee has also formulated two plans by which the board can acquire ground for the wing. It is proposed to buy two twenty-five foot lots back of the school or close the fourteen-foot alley at the back of the school and buy only a portion of the lots.

HUMAN BONES ARE UNEARTHED. ~ Seekers After Buried Treasure Surprised at Their Discovery.

January 26, 1909

HUMAN BONES ARE UNEARTHED.

Seekers After Buried Treasure Sur-

prised at Their Discovery.

Coroner B. H. Zwart has been notified of the discovery of a grave on the A. J. Bundschu farm near Selsea. While out hunting yesterday, a son of James Lynch, who rents the farm, discovered a depression in the ground in a thicket. Thinking he had found buried treasure, the boy notified his father and, together with several neighbors, an exploring expedition was formed.

Instead of buried treasure, the diggers unearthed the bones of a human being. Now the neighborhood is excited and efforts are being made to recall some murder of days gone by or some mysterious disappearance. The discoverers were unable to distinguish whether the bones were that of a man or a woman. Coroner Zwart is expected to solve this question.

MONUMENT IN THE PASEO? ~ Location of Memorial to Policemen and Firemen Decided Tomorrow.

January 26, 1909

MONUMENT IN THE PASEO?

Location of Memorial to Policemen

and Firemen Decided Tomorrow.

The police and park boards and Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., will meet at Fifteenth and Paseo tomorrow morning for the purpose of considering a suggestion, made yesterday by Fred S. Doggett of the park board, that the proposed policemen and firemen's monument be erected in the Paseo, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets.

The mayor waited on the park board yesterday, formally informing them of a resolution adopted by the council favoring the monument to the memory of firemen and policemen who die in the discharge of duty. The board added its approval to the movement, and volunteered its co-operation.

NEW TREES FOR BOULEVARD. ~ Norway Hard Maple Will Replace White Maple.

January 26, 1909

NEW TREES FOR BOULEVARD.

Norway Hard Maple Will Replace

White Maple.

Quite recently the park board has found it necessary to cut out white maple trees along Benton boulevard and to maintain the uniformity of the trees, the board has been casting about to find an assortment. Yesterday W. H. Dunn, superintendent, reported that he had gotten on the track of seventy-five Norway hard maples that could be bought for $3.50 each.

He was directed to purchase them at once.

FROM FIELD OF WATERLOO. ~ Interesting Relic in Possession of Kansas City Woman.

January 25, 1909

FROM FIELD OF WATERLOO.

Interesting Relic in Possession of

Kansas City Woman.

Family keepsakes and treasures often are handed down from one generation to another, but seldom has a family been known to preserve a family treasure, with the historical lore surrounding it as has the wife of patrolman Walt Doman, 5506 Scarritt street. The keepsake is a silver case watch with hammered gold works and was presented to an ancestor on the battlefield of Waterloo.

The watch is enclosed in a solid silver case and is wound by a key inserted in the back of the case. The hands are hammered gold and practically all of the inside parts of the watch are made of gold. Only the wheels and bearings liable to wear are made of steel.

All flat parts of the watch are engraved in the old style of engraving, imitating vines and leaves. On the back of the gold sheet covering the works is the name, "Thomas Edwards Wellington, 10 22." In large old English engraving are the letters "R W" being the initials of a Robert Wellington, to whom the watch belonged when the battle of Waterloo was fought.

Robert Wellington was shot and mortally wounded in that battle, and before he died he presented the watch to his bosom friend. That man was a Simpson, and an ancestor of Mrs. Doman, whose name was Nannie Simpson. The watch has been in her family ever since and is highly regarded as a family keepsake.

KANSAS MUST HAVE AIRSHIP. ~ Call Determined to Build One That Will Fly.

January 25, 1909

KANSAS MUST HAVE AIRSHIP.

Call Determined to Build One That

Will Fly.

"Kansas must have an airship that will fly, and be just as successful as the Wright aeroplane which has opened the eyes of the people in France and the whole world," Henry Laurens Call of Girard, Kas., who made an unsuccessful attempt to sail his airship a few weeks ago, said yesterday at the Blossom house in Kansas City. Mr. Call is very determined in his efforts to build an airship that really will fly, and he has set about once more gathering material for the Call airship No. 2.

"Kansas is never behind the times in anything it undertakes to do, and it is not going to be behind the times in this airship business," continued Mr. Call. "My second airship will be constructed on practically the same plans as the first, but the defects in the first ship will be remedied and changes will be made where necessary. I was the subject of many newspaper jokes while attempting to find atmospheric conditions at Girard, Kas., a few weeks ago that would permit me to make a successful demonstration of my airship, but it was no joke with me. I am thoroughly in earnest and the plans I am working on will prove to the people that no joke has been perpetrated on them by me."

Mr. Call intimated that may seek some other place to experiment with his new airship, though he may decide to make a public demonstration at the same place. You can't talk anything about wheat growing, cattle raising and dry farming with Mr. Call. It is all airships with him and he says he is going to stay right with it until he has mastered the art of air navigation.

"A fellow should never become discouraged over one disappointment," Mr. Call said. "That isn't the way things are done in Kansas. When a thing is possible, and we know the airship has been successfully demonstrated, the only way to make a complete success of it is to keep trying. That is what I propose to do."

Mr. Call already has begun the construction of his second airship, and before the end of another year he hopes to be sailing over the plains of Kansas. He says that if his ship is successful he will stay in America instead of seeking foreign plaudits.

TWO SKULLS AT M. S. U. ~ Time-Yellowed Memorials of a Long-Forgotten Period.

January 25, 1909

TWO SKULLS AT M. S. U.

Time-Yellowed Memorials of a Long-

Forgotten Period.

In a little basement room beneath the principal building of the University of Missouri at Columbia is a glass case containing, among queer-shaped stones and knives and pipes, two human skulls, imperfectly preserved. The curious freshmen who stroll into this room by accident during the hours that it is left open sometimes pause and gaze Hamlet-like at the cracked and yellow craniums.

"I'll bet that one must be almost a thousand years old," they will remark. Then they will sigh, awestruck, at the contemplation of so much antiquity, and pass along to something less depressing.

When they are told the true ages of these skulls, neither they nor anyone else can form any adequate idea of it. One of them is called the Neanderthal skull, and was found in a cave in Central Europe. The formation in which it was found led experts to declare it was more that 100,000 years old. Its chief peculiarity is a heavy bony ridge above the eyebrows. The brain capacity is much less than that of the historical man.

An even older skull is that of the man of Java, which has almost no forehead. It was found underneath thirty feet of sandstone. The brain capacity is just half of that of a modern man. Ethnologists estimate the age of this skull at 300,000 years.

The anthropological museum was started four years ago by Dr. Charles Ellwood, professor of sociology at the university. It is used as a laboratory for the students of ethnology.

HOW SMITH LOST HIS COOK. ~ Farm Hand Made Love to Her Instead of Doing Chores.

January 25, 1909

HOW SMITH LOST HIS COOK.

Farm Hand Made Love to Her In-

stead of Doing Chores.

The farm-hand problem is troubling the farmers in the same old way. Charles C. Smith, who owns a large farm and ranch in Greer county, Ok., is in Kansas City, staying at the Sexton hotel. Mr. Smith said yesterday that it is hard to obtain the necessary help on the farms, and that the experienced farm hands are either taking advantage of their knowledge of farming to establish homes in the country for themselves, or are attracted to the city.

"I encountered the hardest luck last year in my farming experience," Mr. Smith said yesterday. "I wrote to an employment agency in Kansas City to send me a man and wife who wanted to work on the farm. The man the agency sent represented himself as a married man, but his wife was not with him. He had been there only a few days until he began making love to my cook, who had been with me several years. At the end of two weeks they went to Vernon and were married. Then he hired him and his wife out to another farmer in the neighborhood. That is only one of the hard luck stories the farmers have to tell about the hired hand problem."

IN BUSINESS TWENTY YEARS. ~ Fred Wolferman to Celebrate Rounding Out of Two Decades.

January 24, 1909

IN BUSINESS TWENTY YEARS.

Fred Wolferman to Celebrate Round-

ing Out of Two Decades.

This week will be somewhat commemorable with housewives and those whose province it is to supply the larder, for Fred Wolferman's grocers and wine merchants at 1108-1110 Walnut street are to celebrate a 20th anniversary.

Old residents of Kansas City remember the early Wolferman's store at the corner of Ninth and Oak streets, where it remained for seven years. Later the concern moved to Walnut street and finally as business expanded, took in the store room next to it.

The Fred Wolferman store has never in any way before featured anniversaries or held "special sales," so that the unusual displays of merchandise in package and other form, and many rare and interesting "Good Things to Eat" shown will undoubtedly draw much favorable attention. Prices have been reduced on many articles for the first five days of this week.

HOTELS SERVE QUAIL, SPORTSMEN ARE MAD. ~ Say It Would Be Criminal In Other States.

January 24, 1909

HOTELS SERVE QUAIL,

SPORTSMEN ARE MAD.

Say It Would Be Criminal In

Other States.

Resolution Adopted At Last Night's

Meeting Set Forth That Com-

mercialism in Game

Is Robbery.

"There is only one spot on the face of the whole earth that has not a good game law, or at least a first-class attempt at one, except the state of Missouri," said H . R. Walmsley at the meeting of the State League of Missouri Sportsmen at 918 Main street last night. "Even the esquimau, the Indian, and the Hottentot have game laws," he continued, "and they have had since time immemorial."

The third meeting of the league shows a membership of more than 300 enthusiastic sportsmen, eager for the enactment in Missouri of laws that will restrict the killing and prohibit the sale of birds and wild animals. It was brought out at the meeting last night that one of Kansas City's leading hotels served quail within the past week, which it was declared in any other state would be a criminal offense. "Missouri's laws will not operate to bring offenders of this kind of justice," said Mr. Walmsley. "It would be a matter of absolute impossibility to convict them."

Mr. Walmsley's game law, which was repealed with the passage of the law now in force, and which the league describes as "no law at all," will be again presented to the legislature during this session. The bill is somewhat modified but provides for the absolute prohibition of sale of game, the establishment of a game warden system and a state and county license.

It is said that $250,000 a year will be raised for the enforcement of the laws, of which a surplus can be expected. This surplus will go toward the establishment of propagating stations to aid in the perpetuation of wildlife in Missouri.

It is the intention of the league to make Missouri, which is now declared to be the "tail-ender," the leading state in the Union in the matter of its game and its game laws.

A resolution was adopted denouncing commercialism in game as "robbery of the masses," and declaring that the "remnant of our rapidly diminishing game should be carefully and judiciously guarded, that it may bestow benefits on the present generation and remain a precious heritage to posterity."

"The present game laws in the state are due to the influence of the fish and game commercial interest, principally in St. Louis," declared Mr. Walmsley. "They have guided legislation to their own advantage for years and we have got to stamp it out and forever."

GUEST LEAVING A BANQUET HALL DIES. ~ E. T. HOVEY HAD BEEN THE LIFE OF THE GATHERING.

January 24, 1909

GUEST LEAVING A

BANQUET HALL DIES.

E. T. HOVEY HAD BEEN THE LIFE

OF THE GATHERING.

While Bidding Goodby to Friends

at the Grand Hotel, He

Was Suddenly Fatally

Stricken.

At the conclusion of a banquet yesterday afternoon at the Grand hotel, Kansas City, Kas., given by A. D. Downs to a number of the old settlers of Wyandotte county, E. T. Hovey, one of the guests, dropped dead of heart trouble. He was one of the oldest residents present at the little gathering, and while recalling reminiscences of Wyandotte's early history at the dinner table appeared to be the "boy" of all the old men gathered. Apparently in the best of health and spirits, he shook hands with a number of the guests and started to leave the hotel for home. As he reached the door he was suddenly stricken and staggering back into the hotel lobby fell to the floor and died without uttering a word.

Mr. Hovey was 79 years old and had lived in Kansas City, Kas., since 1859. He was the first dry goods merchant in the old city of Wyandotte, opening a store at Fourth street and State avenue in '59 with his father-in-law, W. E. Taylor, who came here with him from New York. He remained in business from 1859 to 1873, failing during the great financial crisis of the latter year. His loss was very heavy in this failure and he had just about recuperated when he was again caught by the collapse of the boom in the latter '80's. Since then he has lived more or less of a retired life.

Mr. Hovey's death is the first break in his family, his wife, Mrs. Anna Taylor Hovey, four sons and two daughters, surviving him, all of whom live in the city. The children are E. A., W. T., J. J., A. L., Nellie and Alice Hovey. A sister, Mrs. E. J. Jones, 84 years old, is living in New York.

For forty-five years the deceased had been an active member o the Masonic order, and was the oldest member of Wyandotte lodge No. 3. When he made his first trip to this city he came by boat from Cincinnati, there being no railroads running into the city at that time. Three years ago he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary.

Arrangements for the funeral have not been made, but he will be buried with Masonic honors. The body was taken to the home, 630 Orville avenue.

LINCOLN POSTAGE STAMPS. ~ Issue Commemorative of 100th Birthday of Martyred President.

January 23, 1909

LINCOLN POSTAGE STAMPS.

Issue Commemorative of 100th Birth-

day of Martyred President.

An issue of 2-cent postage stamps, commemorative of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, will be issued by the postoffice department. The first installment of this issue will be ready for distribution among presidential postoffices the first of the month. Kansas City's postoffice is included among those that will get a supply.

TWO JOHNS IN TROUBLE. ~ One Finds Way to Hospital and the Other to Police Station.

January 23, 1909

TWO JOHNS IN TROUBLE.

One Finds Way to Hospital and the Other

to Police Station.

"You are jollying, John, John Jones said to John Birmingham last night as the two sat in a store at 250 West Fourth street. For some reason the insinuation was objected to by Birmingham and he swung one of his crutches against John Jones's head. The crutch broke and so did Jones's head. Jones was taken to the emergency hospital and Birmingham to Central station. Both men were later arrested and charged with disturbing the peace.

LOAN MONEY TO THE POOR. ~ Jewish Organization That Does Not Demand Pound of Flesh.

January 23, 1909

LOAN MONEY TO THE POOR.

Jewish Organization That Does Not

Demand Pound of Flesh.

In order to aid the deserving poor who have to make occasional loans, the Society of Gemilus Chasodim, an organization composed of Jewish women, a scheme for lending money without security or interest has been evolved. The annual report made by the treasurer, L. J. Cohen, shows that the society has made loans aggregating $5,025, during the past year. The losses from non-payment by borrowers has amounted to less than 1 per cent of the whole. Under ordinary circumstances the loan is paid back in weekly installments of $1, but if the borrower is unable to meet the payment a longer time is given. The total funds for the organization during the past fiscal year were $5,772.60. A balance of $694.56 is left on deposit in the Fidelity Trust Company.

FOUGHT JACK GALLAGHER. ~ Captain Whitsett Hears Hack Driver's Story and Releases Him.

January 22, 1909

FOUGHT JACK GALLAGHER.

Captain Whitsett Hears Hack Driv-

er's Story and Releases Him.

"Well, Ed, guess I will have to take you down," Patrolman Mastin said to Edward Bennett, 607 Locust street, yesterday afternoon.

"Guess you better guess again," Bennett replied, believing the patrolman was joking with him.

But the patrol wagon was summoned. Bennett, a hackdriver, was sent to Central station and booked on a charge of vagrancy.

Bennett said that he had a fight with Jack Gallagher at the Star hotel about a month ago. The situation was explained to Captain Walter Whitsett. He called the prisoner, who told a straightforward story and was released.

FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS. ~ $690 Collected and Turned Over to Mayor Crittenden.

January 22, 1909

FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS.

$690 Collected and Turned Over to

Mayor Crittenden.

Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., A. Judah and Pietro Isnadi, Italian consul, who made personal appeals to the banks for aid for the earthquake sufferers of Italy, yesterday turned over $690 to the committee. Subscriptions, in addition to those already acknowledged, have been received by the mayor as follows:

Southwest National bank, $100; Corn Belt bank, $25; James L. Lombard, $25; German-American bank, $25; Central National bank, $10; Western Exchange bank, $5.

SEEKING GIFTS FOR MERCY. ~ Hospital League Wants Food to Feed the Hungry "Hoo-Hoos."

January 22, 1909

SEEKING GIFTS FOR MERCY.

Hospital League Wants Food to Feed

the Hungry "Hoo-Hoos."

The Mercy Hospital League, a band of women who have organized for the purpose of aiding that institution, has hit upon a scheme by which it hopes to make a few more dollars for the hospital. During the "Hoo-Hoo," or lumbermen's convention next week, the league intends to supply the hungry "wood merchants" with dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The spreads will be made in Convention hall.

The league is asking donations of home-made cake and all kinds of home-canned fruits. It is asking the housewives of Kansas City to open their hearts and larders and assist. Mrs. L. Moreland, 1117 Troost avenue, has been made a committee of one to secure donations.

"It is an easy task," Mrs. Moreland said yesterday, "if the good housewives will just come forward with their donations. If convenient for donors to deliver their gifts, I will receive them at my home. My telephone number is 3806Y Grand on the Bell, and if any who wish to aid us will call me up, or drop me a note, we will see that the cake and fruits are collected."

WANT YEARLY REGISTRATION. ~ Retail Druggists Will Co-Operate With State Board of Pharmacy.

January 22, 1909

WANT YEARLY REGISTRATION.

Retail Druggists Will Co-Operate

With State Board of Pharmacy.

Ratifying the resolution of the Missouri Pharmaceutical Association, the Kansas City Retail Druggists' Association yesterday appointed a committee to co-operate with the state association in its effort to require annual registration or re-registration of every pharmacist practicing in the state.

It is said that more than 35,000 certificates issued in this state in past years, under the present laws, are still in force. The revision asked will render these certificates void.

It is claimed that this legislation, if enacted, will do away with much that is injurious to the retail druggist in the matter of incompetent clerks and owners.

C. E. Zimm, Joseph C. Wirthman and R. S. Stevens were appointed a committee to co-operate with the state committee.

BOTH RODE ON SAME TRAIN. ~ "Terrible Turk" and French Wrestler Exchange Glares at Depot.

January 21, 1909

BOTH RODE ON SAME TRAIN.

"Terrible Turk" and French Wrestler

Exchange Glares at Depot.

Yusiff Mahmout, the "Terrible Turk," and Rouel de Rouen, the champion wrestler of France, who were pitted against each other in Convention hall Tuesday night, were in the Union depot yesterday morning almost an hour waiting for the same Santa Fe train to Chicago. The wrestlers and their managers stood several feet apart, but not a word was spoken between them.

The powerful athletes looked at each other as though there might be something doing if either made the first move. It was soon noised about in the depot who the men were, and a large crowd surrounded them with the usual evidences of curiosity.

"We were figuring how many men it would take to pull those two wrestlers apart if there had been any mixup here at the depot," one of the ushers said yesterday. "We could see by the way the wrestlers looked at each other there was not the very best of friendly feeling existing between them. However, they took the same sleeping car to Chicago, and before they reach that city they may become friends, if one does not take a toe hold while the other is sleeping."

NOT DRUNK, BUT INEBRAITED. ~ What's the Difference? Here's a Bartender's Expert Opinion.

January 21, 1909

NOT DRUNK, BUT INEBRAITED.

What's the Difference? Here's a

Bartender's Expert Opinion.

Patrick Cunningham arose as the Noah Webster of the circuit court yesterday. In the division presided over by Judge W. O. Thomas, Cunningham was asked:

"Were you ever drunk?"

"No, sir," said he.

"Were you ever inebriated?"

"I was."

"What is the difference between being drunk and being inebriated?"

"Well, a man can be inebriated and still attend to his business and walk straight and not bother anybody. But he can't always when he is drunk."

"How many drinks does it take to become inebriated?"

But the witness dodged that one.

Still, he should be good authority, for he is a bartender in Tom Noland's saloon at 214 West Fifth street. He is suing Francis X. Bogenschutz, who runs an ale vault on Baltimore avenue, for $10,000 damages, alleging alienation of Mrs. Cunningham's affections.

The Cunninghams have been married for twenty years. He formerly was a peddler and lived at 1117 Cherry street and accumulated some property. The couple first met Bogenschutz about ten years ago. The husband's testimony in his own behalf went to show that there were domestic difficulties so soon as two months after the marriage. He said his wife once rushed at him with a poker and he put out his hand to stop her.

"That is the time she claimed I broker her nose," said he.

"Did you?"

"She might have hit herself with the poker."

The rest of Cunningham's testimony was largely expert evidence on inebriety and the rest of the drink family.

CHILD STRANGLED TO DEATH. ~ Food Lodged in Windpipe of Little Arthur Campbell.

January 21, 1909

CHILD STRANGLED TO DEATH.

Food Lodged in Windpipe of Little

Arthur Campbell.

Arthur Campbell, the 2-years-and-5-months-old son of Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Campbell, 2400 Brooklyn avenue, was strangled to death yesterday afternoon while eating meat and potatoes. Some of the food became lodged in his windpipe, causing a violent fit of coughing, which led to a spasm of the lungs.

Dr. Frances J. Henry, who lives near, was hastily summoned to attend the child, but it died before she reached the house. Mr. Campbell, father of the child, is in the employ of the Central Coal and Coke Company.

FANATIC RIOTER TO TEXAS. ~ Mrs. Della Pratt has Gone to Live on a Farm.

January 21, 1909

FANATIC RIOTER TO TEXAS.

Mrs. Della Pratt has Gone to Live

on a Farm.

Mrs. Della Pratt, a member of the band of fanatics who participated in the city hall riot, December 8, is on the way to Texas. Had legal obstacles not interposed, the charge of murder now pending against her would have been dismissed yesterday in the criminal court. But it was found that this was not advisable.

At the time of the riot, Mrs. Pratt was in a houseboat in the Missouri river. She was later captured in a skiff, after being fired upon by police, whose bullets killed her young daughter, in the boat with Mrs. Pratt. For some time she has been out on a bond of $3,000, although it has never been the intention of the state to press a charge against her.

Yesterday it had practically been decided to release Mrs. Pratt, but it was found that the state could not compel her attendance as a witness at the trials of James Sharp and Mrs. Sharp, leaders of the band, unless she was under bond. Had the charge been dismissed she could not have been brought to Missouri to testify once she had left the state. For that reason the charge still stands against her, but the bond is now $500. Thomas M. Pratt, her brother-in-law, is surety. The Pratt children are already in Texas. Their mother will join them on a farm near Sherman, where relatives live.

LYE VICTIM CAN'T RECOVER. ~ Jury Is Instructed to Bring In Verdict for Armours.

January 21, 1909

LYE VICTIM CAN'T RECOVER.

Jury Is Instructed to Bring In Ver-

dict for Armours.

Judge John C. Pollock, in the United States circuit court, Kansas City, Kas., yesterday sustained a motion instructing the jury to return a verdict for the Armour Packing Company in the $25,000 damage suit against the company which was being prosecuted by Joseph Novak. The plaintiff in the action claimed to have fallen into a large vat of lye while working at the Armour plant in September, 1907. The judge, in his instructions, held that the company was not at fault and did not contribute to the cause of the accident.

AN IRRESISTIBLE DESIRE. ~ Some Men Cannot Overcome Impulse to Wreak Self-Destruction.

January 20, 1909

AN IRRESISTIBLE DESIRE.

Some Men Cannot Overcome Impulse

to Wreak Self-Destruction.

"Please give me an inside room on the second floor, if possible, without a window opening out into the street or onto the court," was the request of a man made to George Mong, chief clerk at the Coates house, yesterday. Mr. Mong could not supply the man with the kind of room he anted, but assigned him to a nice room on the third floor. In a few minutes the man returned to the clerk's to explain.

"I pulled down the curtain to the window opening on the street the minute I was in the room," the man said. "I have an almost irresistible impulse to jump from a window every time I get near one. When I go into an office building, I keep my back to the window."

Mr. Mong said last night he knew a traveling man who would never leave a depot to board a train until after the engine had passed the depot. This man had an ungovernable impulse to throw himself in front of an engine as soon as it appeared.

AGED GROOM NOW DEFENDANT. ~ Wife of Three Weeks Sues for Divorce and Support.

January 20, 1909

AGED GROOM NOW DEFENDANT.

Wife of Three Weeks Sues for Di-

vorce and Support.

The romance of Benjamin Sellers received another jolt yesterdasy. Mrs. Emma S. Sellers, whom the groom of 74 had arrested last Saturday after a married life of three weeks, brought suit in the circuit court yesterday for divorce. she says he had her arrested without cause. Alleging that the former valet for General Tom Thumb is worth $7,000, she asks the court to adjudge her sufficient money for her maintenance.

WIFE WOULDN'T STAY AT HOME. ~ Mother of Four Children Is Arrested and Fined for Vagrancy.

January 20, 1909

WIFE WOULDN'T STAY AT HOME.

Mother of Four Children Is Arrested

and Fined for Vagrancy.

Standing in front of the rail in the municipal court yesterday morning was Harry O'Hare, motorman for the Metropolitan Street Railway Company, and his four children, ranging in years from 7 to 14. Next to the father stood the mother, with downcast head and eyes, charged with vagrancy on the complaint of her husband. The family lives at 1517 Montgall avenue.

In a broken voice he informed Judge Harry G. Kyle that his wife failed to stay at home and take care of the children, but paraded the streets. Sometimes, O'Hare said, his wife was away from home for a month or more at a time. She admitted liking the company of other men better than that of her husband, and Judge Kyle fined her $50.

Her case will be taken up by the pardon board. The Humane Society agreed to secure some woman to take care of the children and O'Hare will pay the expense.

UNITED STATES IN THE LEAD. ~ "Other Nations Follow," Says T. Takuhara of Japan.

January 20, 1909

UNITED STATES IN THE LEAD.

"Other Nations Follow," Says T.

Takuhara of Japan.

"The Japanese government undoubtedly will adopt the same methods for creosoting timber to preserve it for use as railroad ties and telegraph and telephone poles as the United States government has so successfully established," T. Tukuhara, mechanical engineer in charge of public works in Japan, said yesterday. Mr. Tukuhara spent yesterday at the large creosoting plant in Kansas city, Kas., where he observed closely the methods used for preserving wood for railroad ties.

"Every nation where there are railroads and telegraph lines has the same problem to solve," he said. "The United States takes the lead in many of these experiments and other nations are only too glad to take advantage of the successful experiments."

MONSTER CHOIR WILL SING. ~ 2,000 Voices Training for the Coming Gypsy Smith Revival.

January 19, 1909

MONSTER CHOIR WILL SING.

2,000 Voices Training for the Com-

ing Gypsy Smith Revival.

The largest chorus ever heard in Kansas City, except the one which sang for Eva Booth here two years ago, had a rehearsal last night at the Central Methodist Episcopal church, South, at Eleventh street and the Paseo.

A thousand voices sang "Onward Christian Soldiers," "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and other patriotic and devotional songs. The rehearsal last night was the third and last that will be held before the district local option meeting that will be held in Convention hall next Sunday at 3 p. m.

The chorus was organized for the purpose of singing at the two weeks' revival meeting to be held in Convention hall beginning February 13.

Professor Crosby Hopps, well known as a leader of choruses, will lead the monster choir. Four thousand dollars has been subscribed from various churches to defray the expenses of the singing. Members will get reserved seats in the hall at the Gyspy Smith meetings.

OFFERED TO BUY ROPE FOR SON-IN-LAW. ~ Grady Family Troubles Are Aired in Court.

January 19, 1909

OFFERED TO BUY ROPE

FOR SON-IN-LAW.

Grady Family Troubles Are

Aired in Court.

"I told him many times, 'Here's a dime. Buy a rope and hang yourself up."

That is the way Mrs. Lizzie Grady's father expressed his opinion of Grady to Judge James H. Slover of the circuit court yesterday. Mrs. Grady had sued for a divorce and there was no contest.

"Did he take the dime?" asked Judge Slover.

"I believe if he had taken it he would have spent it for drink," said the father.

"He never bought the rope, then?"

"No."

This testimony came at the end of a tale of cruelty related by the father. Other witnesses also said that the brief married life of the Gradys had been stormy.

Judge Slover granted Mrs. Grady the decree from Ernewst Grady and restored her maiden name of Frederick.

TWO COAST CITIES AT WAR. ~ Portland and Seattle Jealous of Each Other's Advancement.

January 19, 1909

TWO COAST CITIES AT WAR.

Portland and Seattle Jealous of Each

Other's Advancement.

The rivalry between Seattle, Wash., and Portland, Ore., for commercial supremacy is showing no signs of abatement. Frank W. Showers of Seattle was at the Hotel Baltimore in Kansas City yesterday. He is one of those who believe that Seattle has ever other city in the Pacific coast country bested.

"Seattle and Portland are at each other's throats all the time," Mr. Showers said. "This is especially noticeable in the open contests for conventions of importance, as well as the real battle to induce big commercial enterprises to locate there."

FUTURE EDISONS AT LIBRARY. ~ Ambitious Inventors Provided With Special Table.

January 18, 1909

FUTURE EDISONS AT LIBRARY.

Ambitious Inventors Provided With

Special Table.

Kansas City has many m en and women ambitious to be inventors. From ten to twenty men and women call each day at the public library asking to see the patent reports. So many people apply that Mrs. Carrie Whitney has had a special table placed for them back of the general delivery desk. The library is complete in its reports, from the first one to the last, and Mrs. Whitney spent years gathering them together. These reports are among the most widely read books in the library. They do not circulate, yet some of them have been in such constant use that it has been necessary to rebind them.

"You never hear much about Kansas City's inventors," said Mrs. Whitney. "They are an ambitious lot of men and women and they work on everything from potato peelers to flying machines. At least they read about them.

"The inventors' table is always occupied and you may now be looking at the man who is the originator of the finest carpet sweeper ever made, but somebody may have had his idea years ago."

STILL THINK OF THE BUFFALO. ~ Eastern Tourists Can't Get Away From Border Day Memories.

January 18, 1909

STILL THINK OF THE BUFFALO.

Eastern Tourists Can't Get Away

From Border Day Memories.

"The strangest thing about transients at the hotels is the souvenirs they send home to their friends," remarked a newsdealer at one of the hotels yesterday.

"Of course I'll sell anything to a man -- that's business, but wouldn't you laugh in your sleeve at the big business man from New York buying a post card picture of an Indian or a buffalo to send to his wife as a souvenir of Kansas City; or at another from San Francisco mailing a picture of Old Broadway from here to induce a flattering conception of the city he is stopping in for one night only?

"Continuing this discourse on souvenirs: do you know that Indian trophies, such as moccasins, bead work, imitation scalp locks, etc., are sold more as crystallized reminiscences of Boston, Pittsburgh and other Eastern cities than of Wounded Knee and Hole-In-The-Ground?

"People down East have a sort of hankering for Indian nicknacks which their Western cousins do not share because of their familiarity with them."

NO MORE BUNDLES FOR THEM. ~ Washerwomen Demand Suitcases to Carry Home the Week's Laundry.

January 18, 1909

NO MORE BUNDLES FOR THEM.

Washerwomen Demand Suitcases to

Carry Home the Week's Laundry.

Some of the families which have washing done away from home are in a fret over the latest demands made by the strictly modern washerwoman. When the prettily decorated clothesbags made their appearance it pleased the washerwomen, who have too much pride to carry a big bundle of clothes down the street on their heads, the old time way.

This incited the washerwomen to hope for even better things. Now the clothesbag has been relegated to the rear by them and they are now demanding that they be provided with suitcases or large handbags to carry the clothes to and from home.

"It's this way," explained one of the washerwomen. "The conductors always frown at us and the people on the cars make faces at us when we climb aboard a street car with a big bundle of clothes wrapped in a sheet or stuffed in a big pillow slip. It takes up too much room."

NEW ISSUE OF STAMPS HERE. ~ Postmaster Harris Has $200,000 Worth of Them on Hand.

January 18, 1909

NEW ISSUE OF STAMPS HERE.

Postmaster Harris Has $200,000

Worth of Them on Hand.

A new issue of stamps is about to blossom forth in all its splendor but its splendor is not up to that of the current issue. In fact, severe simplicity is the characteristic of the coming stamp and, except for the 1-cent denomination which is adorned with the bust of Franklin, all of the others bear the bust of Washington in profile, and the designs are almost exactly alike. Something like $200,000 worth of the new issue is already in the Kansas City postoffice, but they are not yet in regular sale at the windows.

The 1-cent is green, the 2-cent, red; the 3-cent, purple; the 4-cent, light brown, the 5-cent, blue, and the 10-cent, a light yellow or lemon.

THEY COULDN'T GET MARRIED. ~ Tribulations of First Cousins Who Finally Hiked to Iowa.

January 18, 1909

THEY COULDN'T GET MARRIED.

Tribulations of First Cousins Who

Finally Hiked to Iowa.

First cousins cannot marry in Kansas and Missouri. This fact caused a young couple at the Union depot in Kansas City yesterday considerable annoyance and trouble. They met at the Union depot and expected to be married in either Kansas City, Mo., or Kansas City, Kas., But they were first cousins and couldn't. They were informed that in Iowa there are no restrictions on marriages of first cousins.

"Will you tell me the nearest county site in Iowa," the young man asked Depot Master Bell. Mr. Bell didn't know offhand and took the young man to the bureau of information. The information man didn't know anything more about it than Mr. Bell. Then the question was asked the young man why he wanted to know the name of the nearest county site in Iowa to Kansas city.

"Can't marry this cousin of mine in any other state we know of," was the explanation given. "But we are going to get married just the same even if we have to make a trip around the world in search of a place where it will be legal."

The young woman looked just as determined as the young man. They would not give their names.