100 Year Old Weblog: October 2009

TWO DEAD AS RESULT OF FIRE AT LORETTO. ~ MISS MIMIE TIERNAN SUCCUMBED YESTERDAY MORNING.

October 31, 1909

TWO DEAD AS RESULT

OF FIRE AT LORETTO.

MISS MIMIE TIERNAN SUCCUM-

BED YESTERDAY MORNING.

She Had a Presentiment That Some-

thing Would Happen Before

the Programme Was

Finished.

MISS MARY MALEY.

Of the five young women injured in the fire at the Loretto academy on Friday night, two are dead and Miss Mary Maley has but a slight chance of recovery. Miss Ruth Mahoney and Miss Agnes Campion, the latter of Omaha, were but slightly burned and will recover.

Miss Mimie Tiernan, the 16-year-old daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth F. Tiernan of 3525 Broadway, one of the victims, died at 7:30 o'clock yesterday morning. Miss Tiernan had a strong presentiment that something was going to happen before the evening had passed. To several of her friends she kept repeating: "Girls, I don't feel right. I am sure that something awful will happen before we get through with the programme."

Miss Tiernan was a daughter of the late Peter H. Tiernan, president of the Tiernan-Havens Printing Company, now known as the Tiernan-Dart Printing Company, in which Mrs. Tiernan holds a large interest. Mr. Tiernan was for many years president of the upper house of the council.

Miss Tiernan is survived by a brother, Peter H. Tiernan, who is taking a course in engineering at Rolla, Mo. He was advised of his sister's death and arrived in the city last evening. Another brother, Curtis and two elder sisters, Josephine and Marie Isabella, are traveling in Europe. funeral services will be held in the academy at 9:30 o'clock this morning after which the body will be sent to St. Louis for burial.

Mrs. Tiernan, who was slightly burned in an automobile accident about a month ago, had rented her apartment at 3525 Broadway and had intended to go to her ranch near Joplin, Mo., in a few months.

Miss Virginia Owens, the second victim of the fire, never fully recovered consciousness. Miss Owens was the daughter of Joseph J. Owens, a real estate dealer of 404 South Spring street, Independence. Miss Owens willingly sacrificed her life in order to save the lives of those in danger as she was in the rear hall of the academy when the fire started and rushed forward and tried to extinguish the flames which enveloped the other girls. In this manner she was burned.

The burial of Miss Owens will take place Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock. The funeral will be from St. Mary's Catholic church, of which the deceased was a communicant. Miss Owens was the youngest child and for the past two years had been attending the Lorreto academy in Kansas City. Mrs. Owens, mother of the girl, was informed yesterday morning of the accident and told of the death of her daughter.

While Mrs. Owens was aware that her daughter had been burned, the fatal ending was not made known to her until yesterday morning, owing to her ill health. the shock of the news prostrated her, and for this reason the funeral of the unfortunate girl was placed for Tuesday, in the hope that the bereaved mother might be able to attend.

Mr. Owens, the father of the girl, is a retired capitalist, and was with her shortly after the accident took place, but kept from his wife the possible consequence of the accident.

Miss Mary Maley is in a serious condition, but at a late hour last night she was reported by Dr. J. A. Horigan, who is attending her, as much improved and there is a fair chance of her recovery. She was badly burned below the waist and probably will be injured for life. Miss Maley is the daughter of S. A. Maley, a contractor of 1200 West Fortieth street. She is still at the academy, as the physicians did not think it advisable to move her.

In the evening before the fatal fire the Sisters were complimenting themselves on the healthiness and fine conditions of the academy. Many of them are confined to their rooms as a result of the shock of the disaster.

The statement that Miss Ruth Mahoney, who was taking a part in the performance, had been seriously burned is a mistake. She escaped without injury. Miss Mahoney is a sister of Mrs. Phillips, wife of Captain Thomas Phillips. Mrs. Phillips was in the audience and when she realized the dangerous predicament of her sister she ran forward, removed her from the way of harm and ruined two coats in whipping out the flames that enveloped the stage.

"ADAM GOD'S" WIFE IS GIVEN HER LIBERTY. ~ AFTER ELEVEN MONTHS MRS. SHARP GOES FREE.

October 31, 1909

"ADAM GOD'S" WIFE IS

GIVEN HER LIBERTY.

AFTER ELEVEN MONTHS MRS.

SHARP GOES FREE.

Doubt as to Her Sanity Leads

Prosecutor to Dismiss Indict-

ment for Riot of De-

cember 8, 1908.

After spending almost eleven months in the county jail, Mrs. Melissa Sharp, the wife of "Adam God," who was sentenced to twenty-five years in the penitentiary for the shooting of Patrolman A. O. Dalbow on December 8, 1908, will be given her liberty today on the recommendation of Virgil Conkling, county prosecutor.

"I won't prosecute any one when I have a reasonable doubt as to their sanity," he said. "I'm going to dismiss the case against her."

It lacked a few minutes of midnight last night that Mr. Conkling made known his decision. The case was promptly dismissed and Marshal Joel B. Mayes was notified to liberate Mrs. Sharp this morning.

For many weeks Mr. Conkling has had this step under advisement. Many persons expressed doubt as to the woman's sanity. She would have faced the jury on November 15. She will not even be taken before a lunacy commission.

"She will be absolutely free," Mr. Conkling said last night.

When it was hinted in her presence that she might be turned loose on the grounds of insanity, she resented the insinuation, but when she was told last night by Deputy Marshals Joe McGuire and E. S. Dudley that she was free, she began crying for joy.

"Free, did you say? I can't believe it, I'm so glad," she said.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and began to weep hysterically, while the deputies filed out quietly. The other women prisoners were awakened and before midnight it was generally known that Mrs. Sharp was free.

During her stay in the county jail Mrs. Sharp has made friends of everyone who made her acquaintance. Her patient demeanor and her solicitation for the women prisoners has made her universally liked. During the last few weeks she has admitted that her husband, whom she trusted so blindly, was wrong.

"It all seems like a dream," she has said many times. "I was following my husband on that day thinking that he could do no wrong. Now I know better."

SWOPE MONEY AND LAND TRANSFERRED. ~ INSTITUTE'S NAME CHANGED IN HONOR OF BENEFACTOR.

October 31, 1909

SWOPE MONEY AND

LAND TRANSFERRED.

INSTITUTE'S NAME CHANGED IN

HONOR OF BENEFACTOR.

Thousands of Dollars Contributed

After Announcement That Re-

quired $50,000 Had

Been Obtained.

No longer is it the Franklin institute. Satisfied with the great response made to the institute's appeal for aid, S. W. Spangler, agent for Thomas H. Swope, who gave $50,000 in land and cash conditionally to the institute, and John J. Paxton and S. S. Fleming, administrators of the Swope estate, yesterday gave to the directors of the institute the deed to the land on which the Thomas H. Swope Institute is to be built, and Mr. Swope's pledge of $25,000 in money. The deed was filed yesterday afternoon.

The officers of the institute received about $55,000 in the canvass for funds. there was $9,101.29 in cash and the rest in pledges. Ralph P. Swofford, president of the institute, Fletcher Cowherd, treasurer; and Benjamin B. Lee, H. D. Faxon, Herbert V. Jones, D. L. James, directors, and James T. Chafin, head resident of the institute, took the certificates of deposit and the pledges to Mr. Spangler's office yesterday. Mr. Paxton and Mr. Fleming, Mr. Swope's nephew, arrived soon after.

ENTIRELY SATISFIED.

"We are satisfied entirely with the result of the campaign and with the pledges," Mr. Paxton said. "Speaking for Mr. Fleming and myself, I wish to say that every one of the Swope family sympathized with your effort to raise the fund and with the purpose for which Mr. Swope made the gift."

"My uncle was deeply interested in the institute," Mr. Fleming said. "I am glad you were successful and trust that you will be able to make the institute all that you wish it to be."

A photograph of Mr. Swope was given the institute officers. It will be framed and placed in the new institute, which is to be named for Mr. Swope. Thousands of dollars were given to the institute fund yesterday after the announcement was made that the fund was complete. The latest mail yesterday brought more and it is believed that the flood of subscriptions which started Friday will not end for several days.

DR. WOODS GIVES $500.

Dr. W. S. Woods, of the Commerce Trust Company, gave $500 after the fund was complete. The Kansas City Live Stock Traders' exchange considered a motion to give $100 to the fund. A member suggested that a collection be taken instead. The collection was $225. The Kansas City Live Stock exchange also gave $100. More than that amount was given by the employes of Emery, Bird, Thayer's, when nearly 300 persons working in the store gave 25 or 50 cents each, after the fund had closed. Six church societies, half of them Christian Endeavor bodies, also contributed.

"Personal Help," by Churchill Bridgeford, a live stock commission man, netted the institute $1,-34 from the stock yards district in the campaign. The board of trade raised $450 and its members gave, or solicited, $2,500 for the fund.

Officers of the institute will visit other cities for ideas before the plans of the new institute will be agreed upon. One of the great needs of Kansas City, the officers say, is a modern creche. The institute now cares for children 2 years old and more, but has not been equipped to care for infants. It has been necessary to refuse to care for the babies of several mothers who are employed because of this. It is probable a creche will be added to the activities of the institute in the new building.

RAZING A LANDMARK MADE FAMOUS BY WASHINGTON IRVING. ~ Oldest Building on Fifth Street To Meet Its End.

October 31, 1909

RAZING A LANDMARK

MADE FAMOUS BY

WASHINGTON IRVING.

Oldest Building on Fifth Street

Meets Its End.

THE OLD BREVOORT HOTEL IN WEST FIFTH STREET.

With the razing of the old Breevort hotel at 118 West Fifth street, to make way for a modern building which will be erected shortly, the oldest structure on Fifth street will have been a memory. Long before the '60s the hotel was known as an old building, and no one seems to know the exact date of its erection or its builder.

Standing on an eminence directly opposite Kansas City's first Methodist church, the "Cannon house" as it was called then, was one of Kansas City's most elite boarding houses. The owners of the building rarely rented the rooms to transients, but were content with making it a fashionable boarding house. The rates after the war were $1 and up. In the '70s the building became known as the "Morgan house" and fifteen years ago it was christened the "Breevort."

When Fifth street was graded in the '60s to its present level, the cellar of the Breevort house was on a level with the street. The proprietor immediately arched up the windows, painted the cellar walls and had a three-story building. A week ago, before the structure was being torn down, the old cellar walls were clearly discernible and indicated that at one time Kansas City's hills were much steeper than at present.

"The hotel was an old building when I was a boy," said Dr. W. L. Campbell of 504 Olive street, one of the recognized authorities on early Kansas City history. "I don't think there is anyone living who knows the exact time that it was built or the builder. There used to be a report that Washington Irving stayed there when he made a visit to Kansas City, but I think that the report is generally discredited."

Fred Seewald, who runs a grocery store at 317 West Fifth street, is confident that the building must have been about 60 years old.

"It was by far the oldest building on Fifth street," he said.

LETTERS TO RICH MEN COST HIM LIBERTY. ~ THADDEUS WILSON GOES TO JAIL FOR DEMANDING MONEY.

October 31, 1909

LETTERS TO RICH MEN

COST HIM LIBERTY.

THADDEUS WILSON GOES TO

JAIL FOR DEMANDING MONEY.

Must Face Charge in Federal Court

Today -- Young Man's Father

Pleads in Vain for

Son's Release.

A father's eloquent pleading and an aunt's tears availed nothing yesterday morning when Thaddeus S. Wilson was arraigned before John M. Nuckols, United States commissioner on the charge of sending letters with fraudulent intent to R. A. Long and Lawrence M. Jones, and he was bound over to the United States district court which meets tomorrow. In default of the $2,000 bond Wilson was sent to the county jail.

"I knew my boy never meant anything wrong," said the Rev. W. E. Wilson, the father of the young man, who arrived yesterday from Earlton, Kas. "He simply wanted to borrow the money to pay me back the debts he has incurred during the past years. If he has violated any law, I'm willing to have him punished, but I can't see where it is. He has the best reputation in our part of the country, and I can't see where any harm was done."

According to the father, the young man's past had not always been a rosy one. He had become extravagant and had invested his savings in mining stock which never amounted to anything. He had been successful as a school teacher, the father said.

When Commissioner Nuckols announced that the young man would have to be bound over and that the bond was $2,000, the father said:

"I can get him here to trial. He won't have to stay in jail, will he?"

"I'll have that disagreeable duty to perform if the bond is not furnished," was the commissioner's response.

SHIELDS AT 12th AND GRAND. ~ Well Known Photographer Has Display in New Studio.

October 31, 1909

SHIELDS AT 12th AND GRAND.

Well Known Photographer Has Dis-

play in New Studio.

C. Harrison Shields, who is well known as one of Kansas City's leading photographers, having conducted a studio at Eighth and Grand avenue for almost seven years, but now located in the Rookery building at Twelfth and Grand avenue, is displaying a collection of water colors, Vandykes, and sepia portraits. Part of this collection is his own production and some of the work of contemporary artists, friends of Mr. Shields. The occasion of the display is the recent opening of the new Shields studio.

Prior to his residence in Kansas City the name of Shields was associated with high class photography in St. Louis, where Mr. Shields engaged in the business for fourteen years.

FOUR GIRLS HURT IN A HALLOWE'EN FIRE. ~ JACK O' LANTERN CANDLE IGNITES THEIR COSTUMES.

October 30, 1909

FOUR GIRLS HURT IN

A HALLOWE'EN FIRE.

JACK O' LANTERN CANDLE IG-

NITES THEIR COSTUMES.

Fleecy Cotton Used by Esquimaux at

Loretto Academy North Pole

Night Flashes Into

Flame.

Three girls seriously burned and a third slightly is the result of the overturning of a jack o'lantern last night during a Halloween celebration at the academy of the Sisters of Loretto, West Prospect and Thirty-ninth street, which set the costumes of the girls on fire.

The most seriously burned are:

Mimie Tiernan, 3525 Broadway.
Mary Maley, 1200 West Fortieth.
Virginia Owen, 3633 Prospect.

Slightly burned:

Ruth Mahoney, a niece of Alderman C. J. Conin.

It was stated early this morning that three of the girls were possibly fatally burned. There are little hopes of Misses Owen and Tiernan recovering. Miss Maley is reported to be in danger, though not as seriously burned as the other two. All the victims were conscious and suffering greatly. All but Miss Mahoney were burned over their bodies, and on the arms and legs.

The girls were giving a Hallowe'en entertainment in the corridor on the first floor. The stage at the end of the hall was decorated with jack o'lanterns and bunting.

They planned a "North Pole" entertainment, and were dressed as Esquimaux. They wore white trousers, covered with cotton to represent snow. Their waists also were covered with cotton. No boys had been invited.

It was 8:20 o'clock when Maley walked across the stage. She was laughing gaily and chatting with a crowd of girls walking at her side. They were all talking of the beautiful decorations and the novel decorations.

Miss Maley stumbled on a jack o'lantern. From the candle the cotton on her Esquimaux dress was ignited. The flame spread over her entire body. Misses Teirnan, Owen and Mahoney, walking at her side, rushed to their friend's help. There were screams and cries for help. Some of the girls fainted, others grew hysterical.

The flames spread from Miss Maley's costume to the three girls who had rushed to her aid. In a moment the four were a mass of flames. The clothing was burned entirely from Miss Maley's body. The cotton burned as if it were saturated in oil. The three girls, who came to her assistance, were burned from head to foot. The fire spread to the clothing of the four.

It was 8:26 o'clock when the fire department at station No. 19, Westport, received the call. Before the firemen arrived the flames were put out. The fire did not ignite the other decorations nor the building.

INFORMATION DENIED.

Captain Flahive of No. 5 police station, and Officer Wood went to the academy. Considerable persuasion was required to gain an entrance. When the mother superior was asked for the names of the injured this information was denied.

Drs. B. H. Wheeler and Horrigan were summoned. All the cotton bandages in the drug store at Thirty-ninth and Genessee were bought outright. It was necessary later to send to Westport for more medicine and bandages. The physicians remained at the bedsides of the injured girls through the night.

The school authorities refused to make any details of the accident public. To all questions as to names and the extent of the injuries, those in authority replied that there was absolutely nothing to give out.

"We have the story," the reporters told them.

"Well, if you publish anything about this, we will sue your paper for libel."

The girls at the academy had planned for a Hallowe'en dance this evening at Little's hall in Westport but because of the occurrence last night, the party has been cancelled.

WILSON CONFESSES; TELLS OF ROBBERY. ~ ENTERED SCALES OFFICE ON NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 8.

October 30, 1909

WILSON CONFESSES;

TELLS OF ROBBERY.

ENTERED SCALES OFFICE ON

NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 8.

Prisoner, Who Wrote Threatening

Letters to R. A. Long, Will Be

Turned Over to Federal

Authorities Today.

After "sweating" Thaddeus S. Wilson all day yesterday, E. P. Boyle, inspector of detectives, finally obtained a confession from the young man last night in which Wilson admitted that he had not only sent the two threatening letters to R. A. Long on Thursday but also had broken into the office of the Moneyweight Scale Company, 730 Delaware street, about three months ago.

"I might as well own up," he admitted. "You have the goods on me."

His signed statement offered the confession not only to sending threatening letters to R. A. Long, but also of the burglary of checks and money from the offices of the Moneyweight Scale Company on the night of September 8.

Although state law is drastic in its punishment of blackmailers, and the letter in which $5,000 is demanded is clearly within that class, Inspector of Detectives Edward Boyle announced last night that Wilson would be turned over to the federal authorities today.

The United States punishes with unusual severity persons who attempt to use the mails to defraud, and in Wilson's case there is no avenue of escape. Wilson will be taken in charge by the postoffice inspector.

Close questioning of Wilson yesterday afternoon at police headquarters by Inspector Boyle elicited the information that R. A. Long was not the only Kansas City man from whom he had demanded money.

Lawrence M. Jones was requested to send $1,000 to the young man September 6, but had paid no attention to the matter.

LIGHT ON POLICE METHODS.

When Wilson first came to Kansas City three months ago, he secured employment with the scale company. A few days later the place was robbed. Among the papers taken from the safe was $75 in currency. A couple of days following the robbery, Mr. Shomo of the Moneyweight Scale Company received an anonymous letter signed "C. O. D. 1239." A promissory note was also enclosed in which "C. O. D." intends to pay back the $75. The letter follows:

"KANSAS CITY, MO., September, 1909.
"Dear Sir: You will please find inclosed certain papers that are perhaps of value to you, also note covering the amount with interest computed that looks good to me. Thanks, humbly, C. O. D. 1239.
"P. S. -- Better send to Wichita and tell Mr. Reade to send another money order.
"P. S. 2 -- Say while I was sitting there in that big chair a bluecoat and a graycoat came along, saw an open window and began to talk about it. Yes, they wondered if any one was in there. I began to think it was a hell of a place for me. But I had to sit there and take it. Come very near offering them a ten spot to go on away and leave me alone. Then I heard one of them say to the other one:

" 'Crawl in through that window and see what's wrong inside.'

"Things getting hotter for me.

" 'Me?' says the bluecoat. 'Oh, no.'

"If I had been out in the country I'd laughed out. Come I couldn't. Well, they argued which it should be to go in. Well, they finally said they would send the janitor.

" 'No, no, no! I'm not on the police force yet,' says he. Then there was some more arguing. Well, they came back and looked at the crack in the window with more argument. I was afraid I would have to give up that ten spot. They said they would wait and see. I don't know where they waited. I didn't see them when I made my exit.

"I will close. I would like to tell you some more about those cops. They're true bloods, all right. Say, you will get my check someday. C."

GREY EAGLE INJURED IN RACE. ~ Steamer Quincy Smashes Paddle Wheel of Kansas City Boat.

October 31, 1909

GREY EAGLE INJURED IN RACE.

Steamer Quincy Smashes Paddle

Wheel of Kansas City Boat.

NATCHEZ, MISS., Oct. 29. -- With Speaker Joe Cannon, two score congressmen and several senators leaning over the railing waving their hats and cheering like a crowd of college boys at a football game, the steamers Quincy and Grey Eagle of the Taft flotilla raced for more than a mile coming out of Vicksburg last night.

The contest ended when the Quincy crashed into the Grey Eagle, crushing the wheel. The damaged boat managed to make her way to Natchez, where carpenters made the necessary repairs.

The Grey Eagle is carrying the Kansas City, Mo., river boomers to the New Orleans convention.

When the boats crashed, passengers on both were hurled to the deck. No one was injured, however. The Quincy and Grey Eagle have been speed rivals during the entire trip.

CLEAN POLITICS SAFE IN WOMAN'S HANDS. ~ Ten Years to See Nation-Wide Equal Sufferage Says Mayor Crittenden to Woman's Athletic Club.

October 30, 1909

CLEAN POLITICS SAFE

IN WOMAN'S HANDS.

MORE CAPABLE TO VOTE THAN

THE AVERAGE MAN.

Ten Years to See Nation-Wide Equal

Sufferage Says Mayor Critten-

den to Woman's Ath-

letic Club.

"I believe the average woman is more capable of clean, honest politics than the average man, and should vote on all local issues. The matter of keeping a city's life clean physically and morally should be entrusted to a woman's hands. It is my firm conviction that within the next ten years this country will have woman suffrage from one end to the other." These were some of the remarks of Mayor Crittenden before the regular business meeting of the Kansas City Women's Athletic club, in the gymnasium at 1013 Grand avenue, yesterday afternoon. The speech was made on the invitation of Mrs. S. E. Stranathan, president of the club.

"I know that a great many women, as well as the majority of men, are against a suffrage movement or any other movement which would lead the gentler sex into the ungentle game of politics. It has been customary for men to assume that a woman could never understand the tariff; that the value of ship subsidies and river navigation would floor her, and that she is far too impulsive to be of value as a factor in our national government. "These great issues, however, are not necessarily local. It might take time for the average matron or maid to grasp their details, but give them a few years of experience in town and city or perhaps state politics and it is my opinion that their vote would be as honest and as intelligent as any deposited in the box election day. "There was a time when I did not believe in women voting, but that was before I held public office and dealt with committees of both sexes." About seventy-five women, members of the club, heard Mayor Crittenden's remarks and applauded him at his conclusion.

JAMES M'MAHON TO PRISON FOR LIFE. ~ WAIVES A JURY TRIAL AND ENTERS PLEA OF GUILTY.

October 30, 1909

JAMES M'MAHON TO

PRISON FOR LIFE.

WAIVES A JURY TRIAL AND

ENTERS PLEA OF GUILTY.

Murderer of Sisters and Brother-in-

Law Hoped to Get in an

Asylum -- Dressed in

at Lansing.

James McMahon, the confessed murderer of Alonzo Van Royen, his brother-in-law, and Mrs. Margaret Van Royen and Miss Rosa McMahon, his sisters, yesterday afternoon pleaded guilty to the triple murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary at Lansing, Kas., by Judge Hugh J. Smith of Wyandotte county court of common pleas.

Immediately following the impressive scene in the court room McMahon was hurried to a Kansas City Western electric car and taken to the state prison by Sheriff Al Becker and Under Sheriff J. H. Brady. The usual prison routine of "dressing in," which includes clipping the head, shaving, a bath, and the application of the Bertillon system of measurements, was gone through with, and at 8:15 o'clock last night t he identity of James McMahon was merged into that of convict No. 2555.

The arrest of McMahon on Tuesday, his subsequent confession of guilt, his arraignment, his plea of guilty, the passing of sentence and his "dressing in" at the state prison on Friday night, for a record of swift retribution stands without a parallel in the history of criminal procedure in Kansas.

On the way from the jail to the courtroom McMahon maintained the same stolid indifference that has characterized his actions at all times since his arrest. Dressed in the same blue bib overalls, striped black and white shirt and black slouch hat which he wore on the day of his arrest, with handcuffs on his wrists, the stooping figure glanced neither to right nor left and answered in monosyllables the questions directed to him.

At the state penitentiary the party was received by Warden J. K. Codding; his secretary, Elmo D. Murphy, and Assistant Deputy Warden J. T. Crouch. The prisoner was at once given his supper, which he appeared to enjoy immensely. He even went so far as to smile at the warden and remark that the prison fare ought to agree with a man.

With none of the fear which marks the action of many men upon entering the walls of the prison with the knowledge that they are to be confined there for the remainder of their natural lives, James McMahon went through the ordeal of having his picture taking and the remainder of the routine in apparently a more cheerful frame of mind than he has shown during any time since the murders were committed.

Warden Codding announced last night that he would find suitable employment for McMahon and that his health would improve under prison discipline. "We will attempt to 'temper the wind to the shorn lamb,' " said the warden, as McMahon was led away.

BACK FROM WORLD TRIP. ~ Kansas City Boy Went Around Globe With U. S. Fleet.

October 30, 1909

BACK FROM WORLD TRIP.

Kansas City Boy Went Around Globe

With U. S. Fleet.

Bronzed, athletic and clear-eyed Stanley Presbury, 21 years old, returned to Kansas City last evening after an absence of three years and three months in the United States navy, a fully developed man. He was met at the Union depot by his mother, Mrs. T. E. Presbury of the Hotel Moore. He will make his home in Kansas City.

Young Presbury was one of the lucky boys who enlisted from Kansas City several years ago to make the trip around the world. He was assigned to the Connecticut July 16, 1906, and was transferred to the Panther, in July, 1908, serving the balance of his time on that ship.

"I am glad to get back to old Kansas City. I was glad to leave it, and I had a trip such as few ever get," said young Presbury at the Hotel Moore last night, "but there was no place like home especially when it is Kansas City.

"There was only one country we all liked well and that was Australia. I guess it was because that country is populated with Anglo-Saxons like ourselves."

PRIEST SUED FOR DAMAGES. ~ Italian Doctor Says He Was Called Member of the Mafia.

October 29, 1909

PRIEST SUED FOR DAMAGES.

Italian Doctor Says He Was Called

Member of the Mafia.

Bendetto Tripi Rao, an Italian physician, filed suit in the circuit court yesterday to collect $10,000 damages from Charles Delbecchi, an Italian priest.

Dr. Rao sets up in his petition that he has a large practice among the Italians of the city and that on September 24, 1909, Father Delbecchi publicly charged Rao with being a member of the Mafia, said to be an Italian "black hand" society. According to the petition the priest also had a document, said to have borne a seal of the King of Italy, in which Dr. Rao was charged with being a quack and a swindler.

CAN'T KEEP UP WITH TAFT BOAT OLEANDER. ~ Gray Eagle Passengers Board Unidentified Steamer.

October 29, 1909

CAN'T KEEP UP WITH TAFT

BOAT OLEANDER.

Gray Eagle Passengers Temporarily

Board Unidentified Steamer.

HELENA, ARK., Oct. 28. -- The steamer Gray Eagle, of the fleet accompanying President Taft down the Mississippi, and which was run on a sandbar last night to prevent a possible conflagration, was not seriously delayed. Repairs to the boiler grates were made in an hour and the steamer set out after her sister craft. Her passengers, including several governors, were transferred to another steamer after the accident and later reboarded the Gray Eagle.

NO MORE "RATS" FOR THE POSTAL GIRLS. ~ DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT'S ORDER EFFECTIVE NOV. 1.

October 29, 1909

NO MORE "RATS" FOR

THE POSTAL GIRLS.

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT'S

ORDER EFFECTIVE NOV. 1.

One Will Declare Hair Real, Will

Take Such Commands Only

From Husband and Dares

Investigation.

"On and after November 1, all lady clerks and employes must discontinue the wearing of 'rats' in their hairdress. Please govern yourself accordingly. -- A. B. R., Supt. Dist."

Will the Postal Telegraph Company whose district manager issued the above order, insist that it be obeyed, or will it hearken to the murmurings and declarations of their female employes and forget it?

This is the question which is bothering the girls ever since they received copies of what is declared to be the most famous order ever issued by the local office. That the officials of the company will have no easy time enforcing his order goes without saying. In fact, one of the pretty wire girls declared last evening that she, for one, would resign, and that in a hurry, before she would permit the manager or superintendent to dictate to her the sort of headdress she would wear.

"Why, the first thing we know they will have us in blue uniforms with brass buttons, a la messenger boy style," she said.

TAKEN AS JOKE AT FIRST.

The order was issued Wednesday. The girls, when they received it, took it for a joke, but yesterday when they discovered that it really was in earnest, and that the order meant what it said, there was excitement in plenty. If the ears of Superintendent Richards did not burn and buzz all day yesterday and until well into the night, it was not because the girls were not talking.

More than a score of operators are affected by the order. Half a dozen of these operate keys in various public places about the city, the principal branches being in the Hotel Baltimore, Coates house, Savoy hotel, New York Life building and the Chamber of Commerce. Then there are almost a score of girls employed in the main office of the company.

What objection to the wearing of "rats" can be is known only to Superintendent Richards and as one of the girls expressed it yesterday, "He won't tell because he doesn't know."

"It's nobody's business what is meant by the issuance of that order," said Richards last evening.

"I guess 'A. B. R.' will buy us all new hats. He will have to if he insists on us taking the rats out of our hair," said one of the operators as she adjusted a handsomely plumed beaver.

NOT TO BE COMMANDED.

"Why, we never would be able to wear a stylish-looking hat and I know that I, for one, am not going to let any man dictate to me for a while, yet, as to the sort of hat I wear. Of course, if I get married I may change my mind, but I am still single."

"I threw my order in the waste basket," said another operator,"but on second thought I fished it out and took it home. I may have it framed, or I may send it to a friend in Chicago. I only wish I could say things like a man can. I would certainly talk to 'A. B. R.' "

"Lots of foolish orders are issued at times, but this is the worst I have ever heard of," said another operator. "I wear a rat and have to in order to wear a hat which is in style. If 'A. B. R.' or anyone else thinks that he is going to tell me how to wear my hair he will be disillusioned. If he asks me I will tell him my hair is natural and if he tries to get familiar and ascertain for himself there will be something doing, in which I will not get the worst of it."

TRIES TO BLACKMAIL R. A. LONG FOR $5,000. ~ LETTERS TO MULTIMILLIONAIRE DEMAND THIS AMOUNT.

October 29, 1909

TRIES TO BLACKMAIL

R. A. LONG FOR $5,000.

LETTERS TO MULTIMILLIONAIRE

DEMAND THIS AMOUNT.

Is Arrested Just as He Is Given

Decoy Package.

THADDEUS SEBASTIAN WILSON.
Accused of Writing Letter to R. A. Long Demanding $5,000 Under Thread Against His Home.

A bungling attempt to "black hand" R. A. Long out of $5,000 resulted in the arrest of a man at the general delivery window of the postoffice at 8:30 o'clock last night, just as he had been handed a decoy package, supposed to contain the money demanded.

At police headquarters the prisoner gave the name Thaddeus Sebastian Wilson, who recently came to Kansas City from Garnett, Kas. He denied writing letters to Mr. Long asking for money, and at the same time making a veiled threat. Wilson was placaed in the holdover to be questioned later. Inspector E. P. Boyle said he had reason to believe that he had the right man.

When Mr. Long went to his office in the R. A. Long building yesterday morning, he found this letter on his desk, addressed and written in long hand, on plain stationary:

"Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 27.
"Mr. R. A. Long.
"Dear Sir: -- Say, old man, I am broke, and want some money. I have to help take care of my mother and sister. You know times are pretty hard on poor people and it is pretty stiff.

"I am trying to give my sister an education. If I had some money I would buy a little store for my mother, and I would work. We could make and save money that way.

"Now, I have to have some money, and I am not going to knock some poor devil down to get it. I want you to send me $5,000 at once. I don't want you to give it to me. I will pay it all back with interest.

"You get up $5,000 in bills of different kind and wrap 'em in a package like goods from the store. Wrap them up good so they won't be tore open. Then you mail it like store goods. It will come all right.

MADE NO THREATS.

"Now I must have the money. I want to be honest so I ask you for it. No guess work or foolin, nothin but the dow will do. Send it today. Sure now. Say I've made n o threats. I have not been foolin either. I have lots of friends that will stand by me.

"You send me $5,000.00 as soon as possible today, as I told you konw. I guess you understand. Now get busy if you want us both to prosper. You needent say nothing to anyboydy, either. For the love of your home send that money as soon as you get this. This is more important. Let your work go.

"Waiting for results. O. B. VANDELLER.
"Gen. Delivery."

Mr. Long read the letter over, then tossed it to his secretary to make a copy. He did not give it a second thought.

R. A. LONG.
But a second letter was received at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. This was more insistent. The writer in his first letter had apparently feigned illiteracy, but in the second the language was pointed and written in the best of style. There were none of the misspelled words that had appeared in the first.

SECOND MORE INSISTENT.

It read:

"Kansas City, Mo., October 27, 1909.
"Dear Sir -- Now the best, cheapest and healthiest, and the most satisfacaotry way for you to do is to send along that $5000. No fooling goes much longer. You'll get it all back within three years. Now mind, $5,000 in the postoffice by tonight. Quicker the better; cheaper and healthier way is to send it along. I'll send you a note duly signed for the amount.
"Earnestly, O. B. Vandaller.
"Gen. Del.
"P. S. -- You send a letter also.

Mr. Long notified the police about 4 o'clock and Detectives Jo Keshlear and J. J. McGraw were assigned to watch the postoffce.

NERVOUS IN POSTOFFICE.

When Wilson went into the postoffice he appeared very nervous. He looked around the rotunda before he took courage to step up to the general delivery window. Finally he edged in among a small crowd of peole and in time reached the window. He went into his pocket and from a notebook handed a sheet of paper to the man at the window.

By that time McGraw and Keshlear knew he was the man after the Long decoy package. Before the clerk could hand it to him, however, Keshlear arrested Wilson. He made no resistance, but became more nervous. The slip of paper, which he handed the clerk and the window has been taken from a loose leaf note book in Wilson's pocket. On it was written, in identically the same hand as that of the Long letters:

"Give man my mail. -O. B. Vandeller."

The package which Wilson would have received, had he been given time, was a twelve-ounce bottle in a cigar box. The package was wrapped in newspapers with plain wapping paper on the outside.

To Inspector Boyle Wilson denied that he had written a letter demanding $5,000. Just a brief statement was taken down in shorthand at first, and the prisoner, who gave his name as Thaddeus Sebastian Wilson, was locked up to think the matter over.

NEGRO COP SHOOTS A NEGRO. ~ Victim, With Shattered Leg, Falls at Wife's Feet in Kitchen.

October 29, 1909

NEGRO COP SHOOTS A NEGRO.

Victim, With Shattered Leg, Falls

at Wife's Feet in Kitchen.

His right leg shattered by a bullet from a negro policeman's pistol which struck him as he stood in his own kitchen door, Martin Young, also a negro, fell at the feet of his wife as she was eating supper last evening.

Young, who lives at 1126 Highland avenue, was playing poker earlier in the day near Tenth street and St. Louis avenue, it is claimed, and the game was raided, but he managed to escape. Patrolmen Gray, Tillman and Campbell, all negroes, in plain clothes, surrounded his home. Tillman went inside while Campbell guarded the front of the house and Gray the rear.

Wilson went out of the back door and seeing the officer standing behind a fence started back. Gray shouted at the ma but as he made no attempt to stop, immediately shot him down.

WOMAN OF SORROW. ~ Bowed 'Neath Weight of Tragedy.

October 28, 1909

WOMAN OF SORROW.

Bowed 'Neath Weight of Tragedy.

Timothy McMahon, the invalid brother of James and Patrick McMahon, was sent to St. Margaret's hospital in Kansas City, Kas., yesterday afternoon and Mrs. Ellen McMahon, woman of sorrow, a mother facing not one, but many tragedies, spent last night practically alone in the old McMahon homestead, five miles west of the Kansas City, Kas., limits, in one of the loneliest spots in Wyandotte county and within a rod of the Van Royen house, where her two daughters were murdered ten days ago by one of her own sons.

This sorrowing mother spent yesterday on the verge of nervous prostration. Mrs. Kate Ellis, a half-sister, who lives at Seventh street and Oakland avenue, in Kansas City, Kas., called on her in the afternoon and lent what consolation she could. It was Mrs. Ellis who urged that Timothy, an invalid for two years and who can not live many weeks longer, be removed to the hospital as a means of relieving the mother from a great care. Late in the afternoon the hospital ambulance arrived and Timothy was taken into the city.

Soon Mrs. Ellis returned to her home, for she had her own children to look after, and the mother, 58 years old, and older than her years, was left alone. There were two hired hands on the premises, but they were men not known to Mrs. McMahon and they could give little solace. During the day Mrs. McMahon suffered severely from headaches and late in the day she decided to deny herself to all callers, save relatives of the family.

It is a fact generally known that Mrs. McMahon has twice been an inmate of an insane asylum and the fear of the family is that her recent troubles may cause a recurrence of her old ailment.

What Mrs. McMahon has undergone in recent weeks is hardly realized by most persons. Five weeks prior to the murder of her two daughters and her son in law, her sister, a Catholic nun, died unexpectedly. From the day that the murder of her daughters and son-in law was discovered, her two sons have been suspected of the crime and the mother knew it. Tuesday both sons were arrested and following their arrest one of them, James, confessed to the killing of the Van Royens and his unmarried sister. During all this time the care of the invalid son, Timothy, has been upon Mrs. McMahon and she has been driven nearly frantic by the multiplicity of her misfortunes.

There was only one consoling event in the McMahon home yesterday afternoon. That was when Patrick, the youngest son, called up his mother over the telephone, told her that he was all right; that he would be home on the morrow and for her not to worry.

"One of them all right; one of them is coming home," sobbed the poor mother, as she knelt before a crucifix and in tones half audible recited the prayers on her rosary.

GRAY EAGLE BEACHED; KANSAS CITIANS ABOARD. ~ Governors Donaghey of Arkansas and Shallenberger of Nebraska, Guests -- Fire Grate Bars Fell.

October 28, 1909

GRAY EAGLE BEACHED;

KANSAS CITIANS ABOARD.

Governors Donaghey of Arkansas

and Shallenberger of Nebraska,

Guests -- Fire Grate Bars Fell.

HELENA, ARK., Oct. 27. -- Because of a breakdown in the engine room and the attending danger of the steamer catching fire, the Gray Eagle, one of the fleet of boats accompanying President Taft to New Orleans, having aboard the Kansas City delegation with Governor Donaghey of Arkansas, Governor Shallenberger of Nebraska, Governor Prouty of Vermont, Senator Gore of Oklahoma and Senator Warner of Missouri as guests, was run aground ten miles north of Helena tonight to disembark its distinguished passengers in safety.

The breakdown followed the dropping of the grates in the fire room. The Gray Eagle had been chartered by the Kansas City delegation to the deep waterways convention and was boarded at Alton, Ill., Monday morning. The Gray Eagle is one of the best known boats in the St. Louis harbor. It is the property of the Eagle Packet Company, noted for its speedy boats.

At the time of the accident the boat was running at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. This is faster than the packers ordinarily run.

AT AGE OF 104 YEARS MAKES 200-MILE TRIP. ~

October 28, 1909

AT AGE OF 104 YEARS

MAKES 200-MILE TRIP.

CENTENARIAN IS ACCOMPANIED

BY SON 76 YEARS OLD.

Fondness for Clay Pipe and Long

Green Leads Mrs. Indiana

Hagan to the Smok-

ing Car.

After a 200-mile railroad ride from Clarence, Shelby county, Mo., only slightly fatigued, Mrs. Indiana Hagan, 104 years old, with her baby boy, Levi Howard, 76 years old, left Kansas City last evening for Sparta, on the Blue River, where they will make their home with George Howard, the other surviving son. William Riley Howard, 52 years old, son of Levi Howard, accompanied them from Clarence to Liberty, Mo.

"I don't feel as pert today as I usually do," said Mrs. Hagan between puffs of long green from an old clay pipe, which she said was a score or more years old.

"My feet hurt me today and I had to take my shoes off. This was the longest railroad trip I ever made and it made me sort of tired. I guess I smoked a bit too much, too. I will be glad when we get to my son's home. I won't go away from there."

DOESN'T SHOW AGE.

Rawboned, almost toothless, yet with some eyesight, her face a mass of wrinkles, Mrs. Hagan does not look the age she says she is. Her age would not be readily believed were it not for her son who is with her and looks the age he says he is -- 76 years.

Mrs. Hagan was born in Washington county, Ind. After her marriage at the age of 18 she removed to Lawrence county. It was there that Levi Howard was born. He was one of four brothers and a sister, all of whom have died except his brother, George, at Sparta.

Two of the brothers died as the result of injuries received in the battle of Gettysburg. Levi and George were in the Fourteenth Indiana regiment of infantry and passed through the war without receiving injuries. After the war the entire family emigrated to Missouri. The mother remarried, and a daughter, now Mrs. Ella May Crewett, was born. Mrs. Hagan has been living until recently at this daughter's home at Clarence, Shelby county, Mo.

SHOWS PIPE COLLECTION.

Several months ago Mr. Howard, who has been living with a son at Annabelle, Macon county, decided to go to his brother's farm to recover from an attack of asthma. He broached the subject with his mother and she decided to make the trip with him. William Riley Howard, a son who lives at Liberty, Mo., accompanied them from Shelby county to his home.

"I have never had a sickness in my life," said Mrs. Hagan as she sat on the couch in the waiting room at the Union depot, refusing Matron Everingham's admonition to lie down and rest.

"My only bad habit is smoking long green. I don't like any other sort of pipe but a clay pipe, and I brought all my pipes with me. This one," she said, pointing to the one she was smoking yesterday, "is about twenty years old."

The pipe bore evidence of great age. It was colored a deep black and part of the bowl had been burned away.

Because of her fondness for her pipe, Mrs. Hagan occupied a seat in the smoker on the trip here.

FIRE WARDEN CLOSES NATIONAL THEATER. ~ BEGINS CRUSADE AGAINST UNSAFE MOVING PICTURE SHOWS.

October 28, 1909

FIRE WARDEN CLOSES

NATIONAL THEATER.

BEGINS CRUSADE AGAINST UN-

SAFE MOVING PICTURE SHOWS.

Every Place in City, and Theaters,

to Be Closed Unless Public

Is Protected Against Fire.

Following the closing yesterday by the Fire Warden Edward Trickett of the National theater, 1112 Grand avenue, every other theater and picture show in the city will be inspected and if found in unsafe condition will immediately be ordered to quit.

The fire warden served notice at 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon on the manager of the National. No shows will be permitted to be given until all improvements ordered by Mr. Trickett have been made and the playhouse placed in a safe condition.

"It is the picture shows that are not complying with the ordinance relative to protection against fire," said Mr. Trickett last night. "Of the fifty that are running in this city one-third are unsafe."

Two weeks ago Mr. Trickett served every theater and picture show house in the city with a written notice, calling the attention of the managers to the rubbish and paper that had been allowed to gather under stages and auditoriums.

ALL MUST CLEAN UP.

"If some one would drop a lighted match in this rubbish a disastrous fire would result with a large loss of life," said Mr. Trickett.

"There are eight theaters in the city. I am not prepared to say how many are violating the city ordinance. Further than to say that every manager would better order a general cleaning and inspection of his fire protection appliances, I will make no comment.

Beginning immediately, Mr. Trickett will visit every show house in the city. The wiring will be inspected and all safety appliances. Mr. Trickett will go from gallery to cellar, and if the house is found lacking in the smallest detail, it will be ordered closed.

"The theaters and picture shows have been given ample warning,"said Mr. Trickett. "Notices were sent out two weeks ago and the attention of the managers called to the city ordinances.

"I have been trying especially to get the National cleaned up. The manager has made promises and done no more. This is the third time in two years that this theater has been closed. This time it will not be allowed to open until the rubbish is cleaned up and it is made safe in every particular."

Mr. Trickett charges that the wiring in the National is defective, and the room in which the moving picture machine is kept is liable to catch fire. He found paper and rubbish under the stage and in the basement under the auditorium.

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

October 27, 1909

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."

JAMES M'MAHON CONFESSES GUILT OF TRIPLE MURDER. ~ Declares that He Alone Killed His Two Sisters and Brother-in-Law

October 27, 1909

JAMES M'MAHON

CONFESSES GUILT

OF TRIPLE MURDER.

Declares that He Alone Killed His

Two Sisters and Brother-in-Law,

Alonzo Van Royen, at Their

Home on the Reidy Road.

MURDER OF RELATIVES

PLANNED FOR MONTHS.

Despite James's Exoneration of Pat-

rick McMahon, Both Brothers Are

Arrested and Hurried to Lansing

to Prevent Possible Lynching.

"CRAZY JIM" McMAHON, WHO
CLEARS TRIPLE MURDER MYSTERY.

James McMahon, 35 years old, commonly known to his associates as "Crazy Jim," admitted to County Attorney Joseph Taggart yesterday that on Tuesday, October 19, at the Van Royen farm, five miles west of the Kansas City, Kas., limits in Wyandotte county, he slew his brother-in-law, Alonzo R. Van Royen, and his sisters, Mrs. Margaret Van Royen and Miss Rose McMahon.

Expressing inability to give any reason for his act, McMahon calmly told in minute details the facts in regard to this triple tragedy.

Going to an isolated section of the farm, where Van Royen was chopping wood, McMahon said that he first gave Van Royen a drink of whisky out of a bottle, then, when the latter's back was turned, shot him four times. Assured that the man was dead, he picked up his body, carried it across a small stream and deposited it in a narrow, lonely ravine, which was shadowed by a great oak tree.

Half a mile away was the home of Van Royen, and there, as McMahon knew, were the two women. The murderer proceeded immediately to the Van Royen home, opened the door without knocking and confronted Margaret and Rosie. A quarrel ensued, the nature of which he says he cannot remember.

Within a few minutes he drew the revolver from his pocket, and standing within two feet of Margaret, shot her dead. Turning the weapon on the terror-stricken Rosie, who was a few feet away, he shot her through the heart.

Without stopping, McMahon returned his attention to the prostrate form of Margaret and fired two more bullets into her body. Rosie lay motionless, but to make sure of his work the slayer directed the revolver at her again and shot until it was empty of shells.

Then he reloaded and fired three more bullets into the form of his unmarried sister.

After completing the triple butchery McMahon went to his own home, hitched his horse and drove to Kansas City, Kas. He visited the grocery store of Reitz & Reitz, 1005 Minnesota avenue, paid a bill and returned to the farm. The shooting of Van Royen occurred about 2 o'clock. The murder of the women was accomplished about three-quarters of an hour later.

TOOK RINGS FROM BODY.

Upon his return to the farm McMahon ate supper, and after it was dark he returned to the Van Royen house, carrying a lighted lantern, and by its dim rays inspected the house, taking such valuables as were in sight so as to give the impression that the motive of the murder was robbery.

From the fingers of Margaret McMahon he removed a diamond ring and a wedding ring. Around her neck was a little bag in which she had some little trinkets of value. He removed this, too, and taking his booty, carried it over to his own home and hid it along with the revolver and unused cartridges, in a corn shock about 100 feet from the McMahon house.

For seven days, while the authorities were bending every effort in an endeavor to establish the identity of the murderer, Jim McMahon kept his secret. For seven days he held his head up, talked frequently and freely to officials and reporters and offered no word that would tend to solve the mystery.

TRAPPED INTO CONFESSION.

The stolen property, hidden in the corn shock, was McMahon's undoing.

If McMahon committed the murder the jewelry is hidden about the farm, was the theory upon which Sheriff Becker and his deputies directed their work. That they must find the stolen property and work upon that to force a confession was the decision of the officers.

J. W. Elkins of Beloit, Kas., a friend of McMahon's who is also a friend of the sheriff's was invited into the game of unraveling a mystery. And the plan decided upon and which was successfully executed was for the friend to go to McMahon and inform him that the officers intended to search every part of the premises.

"If these things are hidden here give them to me; let me take them over to my house," was the suggestion offered and McMahon stepped into the trap.

He showed the man the hidden articles and gave them to him. This was a 7 o'clock yesterday forenoon.

Two hours later, after McMahon had ample time to reflect, he went to his man to beg for the return of the evidence, but Elkins was not at home.

After his unsuccessful mission, McMahon drove to the home of his aunt, Mrs. Ellis, and there nervously awaited the fate which he knew was bound to come.

NERVED TO THE CRIME BY WHISKY.

In his confession, James McMahon exonerates his brother, Patrick, who has been under surveillance ever since the tragedy.

"He didn't help me; he knew nothing about it," the murderer insisted, when questioned by the officers. "Nobody knew anything about it; I did it myself; no one advised me, and I don't know why I did it."

"Did you meditate on this crime?" he was asked.

"I've thought of doing it for the last three months. It was in me to do this thing. I knew I would do it."

"Did you ever start to do it before?"

"Yes, several times, but I lost my nerve."

"How did you get your nerve up, finally?"

"Whisky got my nerve up. I had a bottle the day I killed them. I took several drinks out of it. I gave a drink to Lon before I killed him. That nerved me up to it."

"Where did you get the revolver?"

"I bought it about a week before the killing. I told the folks I wanted to practice with it."

NO GRUDGE AGAINST VICTIMS.

"Had you ever quarreled with these people you killed?" McMahon was asked.

"Not to any extent."

"Have any grudge against Lon or your two sisters?"

"No, Lon and I always were friends."

"Can you advance any reason at all for this act?"

"I can not; I was out of my head, I guess."

In a little over an hour the McMahons and Patrick Lamb, an employe at the McMahon farm, were in the county jail, once the officers decided to make the arrest. The officers are confident that Lamb had no connection with the crime, and are holding him only as a witness.

As to Patrick McMahon's status in the case that is a matter that will have to be decided later. Patrick McMahon maintained yesterday that he had no part in the tragedy and knew nothing about it. At the jail James McMahon was the only prisoner subjected to a severe sweating, and the county accepts his statements as true.

AUNT SAYS, "TELL THE TRUTH."

While the inquiry was in progress the outer door of the jail was kept locked and hundreds of persons, apprised of the arrest, stood anxiously about the jail yard and wondered what the termination of the case would be.

During the inquiry Under Sheriff Joseph Brady and Henry T. Zimmer, a deputy sheriff, who had arrested James McMahon, emerged from the jail building and rode north of Seventh street in an automobile. Presently they returned in company with Mrs. Ellis and she was taken into the sheriff's home. The prisoner had asked for her repeatedly and said that his statement would depend upon what she said.

Mrs. Ellis, a nervous wreck as the result of the ordeal to which she had been subjected to for a week, asked McMahon what he wanted her to do. He said he wanted her advice as to what he should say.

"Tell the truth," said Mrs. Ellis.

It was after this that McMahon yielded to the entreaty of the county attorney, and told the story of his crime.

THEIR UNCLE ASTOUNDED.

James Downs, uncle of the McMahon boys, was astounded yesterday when he heard that James McMahon had confessed to the murder.

"I was absolutely confident of their innocence," said Mr. Downs, "and I can give no explanation of it. The boy must be insane."

In regard to a statement that had criticised Sheriff Becker and his deputies for the manner in conducting the inquiry, Mr. Downs said:

"I did not harshly criticise the sheriff and had no intention of doing so. I wanted the boys to talk to him at all times and urged them to tell him everything they knew, to tell the whole truth. I did object to the sheriff and his men harassing the mother, as she is in poor health, and I feared that the examinations, if made before her, might cause serious results."

TURNING OVER THE LEAVES. ~ Metropolitan Train Crews Attach Sacks to the Car Fenders.

October 27, 1909

TURNING OVER THE LEAVES.

Metropolitan Train Crews Attach

Sacks to the Car Fenders.

BATTLING WITH AUTUMN LEAVES.

"I have seen brooms, brushes and even scoops attached to fenders of street cars at different times in various cities of this country but it remained for Kansas City to give me the jar of my life this morning," said P.O. Vandeventer, an insurance adjuster, who is stopping at the Hotel Baltimore.

"I have a habit of taking a walk after breakfast and when I got down on Main street, I was surprised to see portions of what had apparently been old cement bags and other pieces of duck died to the fenders and dragging along the tracks. After the second car passed I determined that the rags had been placed there by orders of company officials and asked a few questions.

"A motorman suggested that I ride along with him and I would see the object. Half a mile from the business district and and along the streets which have made Kansas City famous because of the beauty of their foliage, the streets were covered with leaves. These leaves, so the conductor told me, fell so rapidly that they could not be cleaned off fast enough by the white wings and when a street car passed over them on the grades that it was just like applying oil to the wheels and track.

"The rags, I was told, provided the most effective plan for ridding the tracks of the leaves."

HUNT MISSING MAILBAGS. ~ Carrier's Rig Disappears While His Back Is Turned in Dark.

October 27, 1909

HUNT MISSING MAILBAGS.

Carrier's Rig Disappears While His

Back Is Turned in Dark.

Raffles, who was reported dead some years by an English author named Hornung, reappeared in a rather clever role at 11 o'clock last night at Twenty-third street and Woodland avenue. The victim this time was the United States directly and Samuel E. Robinson, mail collector No. 59, indirectly, if a certain horse and wagon does not turn up tied to a water plug somewhere, as is confidently expected by the police.

Robinson had driven considerably past a mail box at the Twenty-third street corner. He did not like the idea of turning his wagon around to go back when it was only a few rods and his limbs were aching for the exercise, so he tied his faithful animal to a pole and did the trick on foot.

Coming back in a few minutes he found the wagon and horse had disappeared, as two bags of first class mail matter, one package of second class and one parcel which might have contained a sable overcoat went with the rig. The robbery was deemed of enough importance to stir up things at the postoffice last night.

Several government detectives and numerous police officers were detailed to hunt for the missing bags.

At an early hour this morning no trace of the resurrected Raffles and his booty had been discovered.

THOMPSON INJURED; BOUT IS POSTPONED. ~ HURT ANKLE WHILE TRAINING ON THE ROAD.

October 27, 1909

THOMPSON INJURED;

BOUT IS POSTPONED.

HURT ANKLE WHILE TRAINING

ON THE ROAD.

He and McFarland will Fight Here

November 8 -- Both Continue

Training and Are Confi-

dent of Victory.

The ten-round battle between Packy McFarland and "Cyclone" Johnny Thompson, two of the very best lightweights in America, will not be held in Kansas City next Monday night. It has been postponed for one week because of the injury of Thompson, and will be held here Monday, November 8.

Word of the injury to the "Cyclone" reached Kansas City last night. It is not serious, but said to be of a nature that he will be unable to fight here on the appointed date, but with a week more in which to train and rest, he will be in first class shape for the battle. The injure took place while he was on the road, doing about five miles. The road was rough and Thompson sprained his ankle slightly. It was not so serious, according to the word received here, that he could walk, but it has halted his road work, and the farmer pugilist decided that he did not care to run the risk of losing the battle because of a bad ankle, which might go back on him at any time during the fight, should he decide to keep the engagement next Monday. He notified McFarland at once, and the Empire Athletic Club of this city, both of which agreed to allow the bout to be postponed for one week.

McFarland was willing to have the battle go over a week because he does not want Thompson to make any excuses after the battle if he loses and it will give Packy one more week in which to train.

TO TEST THE HEATING PLANT. ~ If Satisfactory, Animals Will Be Moved Into Zoological Building.

October 26, 1909

TO TEST THE HEATING PLANT.

If Satisfactory, Animals Will Be

Moved Into Zoological Building.

Gus Pearson, city comptroller, yesterday induced the park board to purchase a carload of coal with which to test the heating plant in the new zoological building out in Swope park.

If it works all right the monkeys now owned by the city, and being housed with custodians of the park, and other animals, will move in.

PRISONERS NEED MAGAZINES. ~ County Marshal Joel Mayes Pleads for Reading Material.

October 26, 1909

PRISONERS NEED MAGAZINES.

County Marshal Joel Mayes Pleads

for Reading Material.

Prisoners at the county jail are having a pretty hard time just now getting something to read, and County Marshal Joel Mayes asks for magazines and periodicals. The magazines which the jail now affords have been read and reread so many times that some of the prisoners can almost repeat the stories and poems by heart while some of them have even digested the advertising portion to the extent of memorizing it, so anxious are they to read.

The marshal says a great many of the stores have magazines which they cannot return and he would be very glad to get these for the prisoners and, in fact, would be greatly appreciated reading matter from any source.