Elisha A. Gravenor
Elisha A. Gravenor, Chief of Police
ELISHA A. GRAVENOR was born in Maryland on January 14, 1868 to Benjamin P. and Ellenor Gravenor. His early years were spent in Barren Creek, Wicomico County MD, where his father owned a farm. Elisha and older brother Benjamin were still on the family farm in 1880.
By 1887 older brother Isaac Gravenor had moved to Camden NJ. Elisha Gravenor would follow, as did other family members. Elisha Gravenor married Almedia A. Bennett on January 26, 1898. When the Census was taken in 1900, Mr. and Mrs. Gravenor were making their home at 528 Elm Street in North Camden. He was working as a policeman.
Rising through the ranks, Elisha Gravenor was appointed Camden’s Chief of Police in 1907, during the administration of Mayor Charles H. Ellis. He succeeded John Foster.
In May of 1914 Camden Fire Department Chief Charles Worthington was killed in the line of duty while fighting a fire at the Camden Electroplating Company at Delaware Avenue and George Street, near the Pennsylvania Railroad Ferry in the center of Camden. Chief of Department Worthington was one of the first units to arrive at the scene and observed heavy fire conditions on the top floor of the two-story building. Chief Worthington ordered an exterior attack from the roof area through large skylight openings. This operation was made particularly arduous by heavy smoke. The fire extended from the plating company at 12 George Street, to involve the New Jersey Automobile Supply Company car dealership at 38 Delaware Avenue.
On the roof, Chief Worthington conversed with Deputy Chief John A. Stockton and Captain Madison of Engine Company 5. Chief Worthington directed Stockton to go down to the street, transmit a second alarm, and also have an engine company stretch a line up the alley. Worthington then left the men and proceeded along the roof to the south side of the building where he was last seen. When Stockton brought the hose team up the alleyway, he found the unconscious Chief laying next to the building. Chief Worthington had apparently stepped back on the roof to avoid a skylight and fell into a shaft between two buildings. The Chief had landed on a pile of scrap iron which inflicted serious wounds including a deep gash on his neck. Deputy Chief Stockton and Police Chief Elisha Gravenor assisted firemen in removing Chief Worthington from the alley where he was rushed to Cooper Hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival with a broken neck and fractured skull.
Chief Gravenor retired on July 31, 1922. He was succeeded as Chief of Police by Edward Hyde, and in turn by James Tatem. Many innovations took place during his tenure, including the addition of motor vehicles to the force. Perhaps his most notable achievement was in bringing members of the new immigrant communities into the department, men such as Fiore Troncone and Benjamin Simon. He also promoted William Schregler to Captain of Detectives while Chief.
One appointment, probably not of his choosing, did not work out quite so well. George V. Murry, a political leader in Camden’s Third Ward, was brought into the police department and was made Camden’s first black detective. Murry was both quite intelligent and thoroughly corrupt. He promptly went into business for himself, holding the distinction of being Camden’s first organized crime boss.
When the Census was taken in 1920, Chief Gravenor lived with his wife and his brother-in-law Clarence Bennett, at 629 State Street in North Camden. Just across the way at 624 State Street was Police Sergeant Cullis Errickson. He was still living on State Street with his wife as late as April of 1930. The Gravenors moved back to Maryland shortly afterwards, to a town called Mardela Springs. Chief Gravenor died in 1935, his wife in 1939.
Here’s Camden’s Finest, With Whiskers, in 1898
Camden Courier-Post —
Reading from left to right, those in the picture are: First row, William A. Schregler, Rox Comley, Jules Bosch, Lieutenant John Foster, Chief Samuel Dodd, Lieutenant H. Frank Pettit, Edward Hartman and Charles Wilbur. Second row, Thomas Brothers, Ralph Bond, John Dall, George Kappell, Silas Sage, Edward S. Hyde, George Selby and E. B. McClong. Third row, Edward Powell, John Sinclair, William Laird, Benjamin Middleton, Alfred L. Sayers, John Anderson, William Butts, John Painter and Frank Matlack. Fourth row, Thomas Hicks, Alfred Haydon, Abe Jackson, Albert Shaw, Edward Steen and Samuel Bakely. Fifth row, Caleb Williams, E. A. Gravenor, Thomas Buchanan, Samuel Cox, George Horner, Godfrey Eisenhardt, Harry Curtis and John Barnett. Sixth row, Casper Hart, Charles Fitzsimmons, A. Lincoln James, Oscar Weaver, Charles Ridgely, William Fish and George Cooper.
Camden Police Form Organization
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A branch of the State Police Beneficial Association was formed in Camden yesterday by the election of Sergeant Edward Hyde president; Sergeant C. O. Pedrick, vice president; Sergeant Albert Gravenor, financial secretary; Sergeant David Bentley, recording secretary; Sergeant John Reeder, treasurer, and Chief John Foster, Sergeant William Schregler and Sergeant George Nowrey, trustees.
Acting Chief Hurt by Pet Dog
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Acting Chief of Police Albert Gravenor was scratched on the hand by a pet dog last week. The injured member has become so painful that blood poisoning is feared.
Philadelphia Inquirer – March 5, 1906
Camden Witnessed Greatest Demonstration of Its Kind Since Gen. Sewell’s Burial
THOUSANDS PAID TRIBUTE TO DEAD
CROWD ABOUT THE FOSTER HOME AND PICTURE OF THE DEAD CHIEF
Not since the memorial funeral of United States Senator William J. Sewell has Camden witnessed such an expression of regret and sorrow as was evidenced at the obsequies of Chief of Police John Foster, which took place from his home, 292 Mt. Vernon street, yesterday afternoon. Practically all Camden paid lasting tribute to the stricken chief, who had been one of the most popular officials of the city. From other places, too, came many who swelled the throng about the house until the streets were literally packed with those anxious to give evidence of the high esteem in which they held the man.
From Philadelphia came Superintendent of Police John B. Taylor, a personal friend of Chief Foster; Captain James Hamm, Captain Dungan, Captain Campbell, Captain Callahan and thirty-four lieutenants, all in uniform. Baltimore, Washington, Norristown, Trenton, Newark, Jersey City and other places were represented by police officials. City, county and State officers were there and everyone unmistakably demonstrated the regard and respect in which he held Chief Foster, who had made such a valiant but fruitless battle against death.
Thousands Viewed Remains
From 7 to 9 o’clock Saturday night, all of yesterday morning and until the service began in the afternoon a constant stream of persons in all walks of life passed through the house, taking a last view of he who lay so peacefully amid a profusion of flowers. It is conservatively estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 persons viewed the body. Thousands more would have done likewise, for the line constantly increased, until it reached a block or more. The doors were finally closed to permit the conducting of the services.
In a full dress black suit the body reposed in a handsome mahogany casket, with silver trimmings. On the cover of the casket was a silver plate, bearing this simple inscription:
John Foster
Born October 5, 1839.
Died March 1, 1906.
The features were life-like and gave little evidence of the weeks of intense suffering through which Chief Foster passed before the end came. At the head of the casket stood Policeman Albert Shaw, while at the foot was Policeman Camillus Appley. At the doors on guard were Policemen George Kappel, George Kleaver, Albert Snow and Casper Hart. Captain Arthur Stanley had charge of the detail of officers.
Wealth of Flowers
Surrounding the casket and extending around the walls of the room were beautiful floral emblems, roses, carnations, lillies, and in fact every variety. Some of the designs and those who contributed them follow: The patrolmen, “Gates Ajar,” six feet tall and composed of American Beauty roses, lilies of the valley, and surmounted by four white doves; Fifth Ward Republican Club, an immense urn of galax leaves and assorted flowers; Fireside New Years’ Association, a banner piece of roses, carnations, lilies of the valley and narcissus blooms; the Camden reporters of the local and Philadelphia newspapers, a four-foot scroll of galax leaves, in the centre of which was a shield of violets with a band of white carnations, on which was inscribed, “Our Friend;” from the daughters of Chief Foster, “Gates Ajar,” composed of Easter lilies, roses, carnations, daffodils, narcissus and asparagus ferns; from Mrs. Foster, the widow, a pillow of roses, carnations and lilies of the valley. Beautiful designs were also given by Mayor Charles H. Ellis, the International Association of Police Chiefs, Ionic Lodge of Masons, First Italian Republican Club, the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Massoit Tribe of Red Men, John Carroll, John R. Campbell and various city officials. These flowers filled two carriages and a patrol wagon.
Services at the House
The services at the house took place at 2 o’clock and were in charge of Rev. Gilbert R. Underhill, rector of St. John’s P. E. Church. After the family had taken the last view the casket was borne to the hearse by Sergeant Albert Gravenor and Policeman John Brothers, representing the Police Department; former Senator Maurice A. Rogers and George Hammond, representing the Masonic bodies; former Mayor Joseph E. Nowrey, representing Massoit Tribe of Red Men, and Albert Shaw, from the Fifth Ward Republican Club.
A few minutes prior to the bringing out of the casket the members of Ionic Lodge of Masons formed themselves into a long lane through which the dead chief’s body was borne. Leading the pallbearers were six Camden policemen, who acted as a guard of honor. These included Policemen Thomas Brothers, Camillus Appley, Robert Calkett, Jules Busch, Thomas Murphy and Harry Mines, the largest men of the force. The Philadelphia police also had a guard of honor in Captain James P. Hamm, Captain Francis Callahan, Captain Dungan and Captain Campbell.
Funeral Cortege
The funeral cortege was composed of the following: Sergeant William Horner and a detail of thirty-four men from the three districts; members of the Fifth Ward Republican Club, cabs containing Mayor Ellis, Councilmen and city officials, Ionic Lodge of Masons and the hearse followed by the cabs containing the mourners. The route gone over was from the house to Third street, to Walnut street, to Broadway, to Benson street, to Haddon avenue and to Harleigh Cemetery. All along the route hundreds of persons lined the curbs, while many followed the cortege to the grave. As the procession passed the City Hall the bell in the tower was tolled at minute intervals.
At Harleigh Cemetery the casket was lowered in a cavity on a sunny slope to the southward. There the Masons held their services over their departed brother, Worshipful Master Aaron G. Matlack having charge of the beautiful ceremony.
It was a funeral that Camden will remember for many a day. And Chief Foster’s memory will be kept green for the next month by many political, and social organizations as well as private citizens, who will display black draped flags at half mast.
Camden’s New Police Chief
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Mayor Promotes Sergeant Gravenor to Vacant Post.
Camden, March 21.—In appointing Elisha A. Gravenor chief of police of Camden yesterday, Mayor Ellis, addressing him, said: “I will not say that the department is not up-to-date, but I want you to exert your every energy to improve the service and make it thoroughly up-to-date to the satisfaction of the people and myself.”
The new chief is from the Tenth ward and was house sergeant. He succeeds the late Chief of Police John Foster. Patrolman Jacob Woodside, of the Second district, was appointed sergeant. He is from the Sixth ward, Mayor Ellis’s bailiwick.
Gang of Cracksmen Dynamite Two Safes
Camden Post-Telegram —
Office of the City Line Lumber Company Was This Morning the Scene of Operations by Robbers for the Second Time Within a Month.
Took Trouble for Nothing
For the second time in a month, the office of the City Line Brick and Lumber Company, at Ferry avenue and White Horse pike, was visited by safe blowers this morning.
Shortly after 2 o’clock dwellers a block away from the office were awakened by the noise of two explosions. No one could learn the cause, and they retired again to their beds.
This morning the boy who opens the office of the company found everything topsy turvy and both safes damaged, one utterly wrecked and the other battered, but still holding its contents.
There are two rooms in the office, which is a one-story frame building, and in the rear room was a large safe. This the burglars succeeded in opening but found nothing to reward them. The smaller safe withstood the explosion and was intact save for the hole about the knob.
Both doors of the large safe were blown off and the floor of the safe torn. How the building escaped destruction from the force of the explosion is a mystery.
A pick and a chisel were left by the visitors. These are clues that will hardly lead to the capture of the burglars, and the company has little hope of the police finding them.
Money was the object of the visit for nothing was taken from the building. In the small safe was a small amount of money. Since the attempt a month ago, to blow open a safe in the same office no money of any account has been kept there.
When informed of the safe blowing Chief of Police Gravenor detailed Detective John Painter to look it up, but no clue could be obtained as to the perpetrators outside of the fact that the somewhat distant neighbors had been aroused from sleep by the roar of the explosion, and saw two men running down the railroad tracks.
Detective Painter made an examination of the wrecked safe and found that dynamite had been used in blowing open the safe. No plunder was obtained.
Sad Plight of Starved Woman
Camden Daily Courier —
Pronounced Insane and Will be Taken to State Asylum
SON TO BE PROPERLY CARED FOR
Mrs. Frank S. Schaffer, aged 58 years, and her nine year old son Frank, who were found in their home on Tuesday evening at 814 Carpenter street, almost dead from lack of proper nourishment, will be taken in charge by the authorities to-day. Mrs. Schaffer was examined yesterday afternoon by Drs. Haines and Litchfield and pronounced insane. She will be taken to the State Asylum at Trenton this afternoon.
Her little son is now being cared for by the City Matron. In the meantime Overseer of the Poor Jeffries will complete arrangements for his removal to the county poor house.
The mother and son came to this city from Elmira, N. Y., about six months ago. They have cousins residing there and the police authorities have notified them of the plight of Mrs. Schaffer.
For two days the boy has amused himself romping around the City Hall. He is bright and cheerful and has the sympathy of every one in the hall. Frank found almost instant favor in the eyes of Chief Gravenor. For hours he would sit by Sergeant McClung and watch him as he operated the switch board as the patrolmen reported.
Missing Domestic Located
Philadelphia Inquirer —
H. S Pennypacker, of Haddonfield, notified Chief of Police Gravenor yesterday that Florence Baker, a missing domestic, had been located.
Wilmington Police Seek Charles R. Perkins
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Chief of Police Black, of Wilmington, yesterday sent a request to Chief Gravenor to look out for Charles R. Perkins, of the former city, who is missing. Perkins is believed to be in Camden.
Funeral of “Ike” Toy
Bridgeton Evening News —
One of the largest funerals witnessed in Camden for many months was that of Policeman Isaac Toy, which took place yesterday from his home, 604 South Third street. One of the most popular officers of the force and known throughout South Jersey as a base ball player, hundreds of persons viewed the body, which reposed in a quartered oak casket, almost hidden amid beautiful floral emblems.
Rev. Alfonso Dare, pastor of the Wiley M. E. Church, had charge of the services at the house. Mayor Charles H. Ellis, Chief of Police Elisha A. Gravenor and a squad of fifty officers attended in a body. There were also delegations from Massascit Tribe of Red Men, Camden Aerie of Eagles, the Third ward Republican Club and other organizations.
The pall-bearers were Policemen Harry Mines, Albert Shaw, Robert Colkett, Albert Keaser, William Todd and William Lyons. Interment was made in Harleigh Cemetery.
As the squad of officers were marching in the funeral procession Policeman Alonzo Dyer fell to the asphalted pavement at Broadway and Berkley street. A physician found the officer’s heart had been affected through an overdose of medicine he had taken for rheumatism. Dyer was taken to his home on Elm street.
Police Warn Junk Dealers
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Acting on the order of Chief Gravenor, the Camden police yesterday made a round of the various junk shops and second-hand places where the proprietors were warned against purchasing any articles from persons under 18 years of age. This was done to prevent many youthful thieves disposing of plunder.
Brained With Ax, Women Lie Dead
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Fiend Fires Barn and While Owner Fights Flames Brutally Murders Aged Wife and Domestic—Suspects Arrested
CHAS. GIBSON STEPHEN DORSEY
Suspects held in Camden for the Horner and Natoli crimes.
Brained with an ax in the hands of a thief detected in the act of robbing, two women were foully murdered shortly after 4 o’clock yesterday morning in the farm house of Edward Horner, located along the banks of the Cooper Creek, about half a mile below the Browning road and a short distance from Camden. Mrs. Frances Horner, 63 years old, wife of the farmer, was instantly killed, while Victoria Natoli, 22 years old, of 82[?] Catharine street, Philadelphia, employed as a domestic, died two hours after her admission to the Cooper Hospital in Camden.
Less than four hours after he had worked on the apparent mystery, County Detective John S. Smith had taken into custody Charles Gibson and Stephen Dorsey, negroes, both of 2029 Mulford street, Camden. The evidence against the prisoners is such that Prosecutor Harry Scovel declared there is little doubt that they are the murderers. To attract the attention of the men folks about the house, the thieves set fire to a large frame barn about three hundred feet from the house, and it was while the farmer and his help were endeavoring to check the flames that the crime was committed.
Found Barn Ablaze
It was not until about 10 o’clock Monday night that Horner, who had been to market in Philadelphia with a load of hay, returned to his home. When he and his wife retired they planned to arise early this morning. They were unable to sleep well because of the incessant barking of a small fox terrier that was chained just outside of the kitchen. When the dog had been quieted at 2 o’clock in the morning the farmer and his wife fell into a deep sleep. They were again awakened at 4 o’clock by the terrier’s barking, when the farmer arose to go down to the creature he was startled to see the reflection of a fire on the window pane of his sleeping room. In an instant he had learned that the large barn, containing three horses and farming implements, was burning fiercely.
Without waiting to put on his clothes he ran down stairs, with his aged wife at his heels. Into the summer garden and down a pathway he hurried, calling for his farm hands, three Italians and a negro, who had sleeping quarters in a small frame structure to the south of the barn. These rushed out in their night clothes, among them being the Italian domestic.
“You go and help Mrs. Horner,” said he to the woman as he hurried past her, and Mrs. Natoli ran to the house in compliance.
Work of Incendiary
With the Italians and the negro the farmer turned his attention to the fire, which he found had consumed the lower part of the structure with the exception of the stalls where the three horses were confined. These were hastily taken out, but there was no time to save any of the implements. It seemed as though the blaze came from the central part of the structure where nothing of an inflammable character had been placed, and which proved that the barn had been deliberately fired. When Horner realized that the building could not be saved he concluded to return to the house and don his clothing.
Not more than twenty minutes had elapsed when he went to the side door leading to the kitchen. On trying to open the door he was surprised to find it securely fastened. He thought it had stuck at the bottom, and on looking down he saw two pools of blood, one of which had overrun, and crimson drops were falling to the ground a foot below. With superhuman force he smashed in the door, when he nearly fainted from the terrible scene that met his gaze.
Near the end of a long kitchen table lay his wife, her head resting in an ever-widening pool of blood. He stooped and placed his hand over her heart, but it had been stilled in death. Her face was almost unrecognizable because of the great gush of blood that had flowed from two horrible wounds on her head. He was about to go out and call for help when in the dim light he saw the form of the Italian woman. He found she was still alive and then he gave the alarm.
In an inconceivably short space of time farmers from miles around had flocked to the stricken house. One of these, John Thomas, who has a place across from the Horner farm, about half a mile distant, hastily procured a horse and team and drove at a mad pace into Camden with the dying Italian domestic. He arrived at the Cooper Hospital at 7 o’clock and two hours later, almost to the minute, Mrs. Natoli breathed her last without regaining consciousness. She was about to become a mother.
In the meantime the various county officials arrived. County Physician W. S. Jones. Coroner J. W. Fithian. County Detectives Smith and Cherry. Chief of Police Gravenor and others.
An autopsy was held on the body of Mrs. Horner by Drs. Jones and Fithian.
They found that her skull had been crushed in two places. The wound on the front of the head was shaped like a spearhead and was about three and one-half inches long. An examination showed that the blow that had inflicted this injury had been of such force as to split the skull in twain. The other wound, of a similar character, was at the base of the skull, the bones being crushed like an egg-shell. A subsequent examination made of the body of Mrs. Natoli at the hospital showed that the left side of her skull had been crushed with one terrible blow.
When a search was instituted for the weapon with which the crime had been committed it could not at first be located. It was subsequently found at the rear of the house. It was an old axe that had been used to cut wire from bales of hay, and the butt end was covered with blood and hair, showing that it was in that wise the victims had been struck by the murderer.
Horner, the stricken husband, a man 65 years old, threw the first light on the mystery and he gave a clue that finally resulted in the arrest of the negro Gibson and later of Dorsey. He said he had been having considerable trouble with his help this year. One of the men, who proved to be Gibson, was discharged about three weeks ago after a violent quarrel. At that time the negro left with the remark:
The Threat
“All right. I’ll get even. I’ll burn your barn.”
No more was seen of the man until just before Horner left for his trip to Philadelphia on Monday night. Then the farmer was surprised to see the man enter the farm yard and he appeared to be in a repentant mood. He pleaded with Horner to give him work, but as the farmer had little time to spare he told him to return in the morning. Then Gibson asked for permission to sleep in the barn and this was given him. The last seen of the negro, until his subsequent arrest, was when he left the house to go to the barn. That was about 11 o’clock Monday night, after Horner had returned from Philadelphia.
Armed with this information, County Detective Smith, who had been on the scene since 6 o’clock in the morning, began a search for Gibson. His quest led him into the southern section of Camden, known as Centreville.
In company with Policeman Valentine the detective found Gibson at 1831 South Eighth street. He was immediately placed under arrest and taken to the office of Prosecutor Scovel. He wore a defiant mien and sought to throw off any suspicion connecting him with the crime by declaring his entire ignorance of it.
Stripped of his clothing, he was carefully examined, but no blood marks were found on his body. When his pockets were searched, however, a pawn ticket, on which the ink was hardly dry, was found. It was issued by a Philadelphia pawnbroker at 125 Market street, and was given in exchange for a watch. A handkerchief literally soaked with blood, was also found in one of his pockets, together with a revolver. As to the handkerchief, he said the blood came from his nose.
Meanwhile a “flyer” had been sent out to all of the pawnbrokers at 9 o’clock, and just after Gibson had been taken into custody, Reader, the Market street broker, entered the office of Prosecutor Scovel and excitedly said that a negro had been in his place just twenty minutes before he was apprised of the crime and had pawned two watches. Reader had the watches with him. One bore the name of “Edward Horner.” The other was a woman’s watch, with long pendant chain. The pawnbroker was given a view of Gibson, and he exclaimed:
“That is the man that pawned these watches this morning, just exactly at ten minutes past nine o’clock. There is not the least question but what it is he.”
Gibson never moved, but looked at the officials and the pawnbroker with a defiant glare. He was then placed in a cell in the county jail, to await trial, which Prosecutor Scovel promises will be a speedy one.
Shortly after Gibson’s arrest Detective Smith received information which resulted in him seeking Dorsey. The negro was found at his home, on Mulford street. When taken to the office of Prosecutor Scovel, he at first denied having any knowledge of the matter. In fact, he endeavored to create the impression he was not acquainted with Gibson, but seeing the absurdity of this, he finally acknowledged being out with Gibson Monday night. Then he admitted he was with Gibson when the watches were pawned.
Horner was taken to the jail, and after positively identifying Gibson as the negro who had made the threats, and who Monday night asked to be taken back as a farmhand, the farmer also identified the watches as belonging to him and his wife. The revolver found on the negro was one of two which were stolen.
With tears coursing down his cheeks the stricken husband, who is 65 years old, spoke of the tragedy in a tear-choked voice.
“It is all too terrible to talk about,” said he. “I can’t realize it all. Why, only Sunday we had a family reunion here, when I celebrated my sixty-fifth birthday. My wife then plagued me, saying I wasn’t that old by far, and with our children and grandchildren we spent one of the most pleasant of days.
“How I ever got into that room,” continued he, speaking of when he broke in the door only to find his wife and the domestic stretched on the floor and weltering in their own blood. “I cannot tell. My poor wife lay between the end of the kitchen table and the door that leads into the shed. I saw that her eyes were closed, and when I saw those terrible pools of blood I at once realized a crime had been committed. I felt of her heart to see if she was still alive, but it had stopped beating, and then I knew she was past all earthly aid. Then I found that other poor woman and knew that she was still alive. I gave the alarm, but just how I cannot tell. I cannot realize it all,” concluded he, with a choked voice.
The house in which the murder occurred is an old structure built along Colonial lines. It is part of what is known as the Michelson estate, the farm being 70 acres in extent. The Horners have been farmers all their lives, and are known throughout South Jersey. The barn that was destroyed lay about three hundred feet to the south of the dwelling, and beside it were a number of smaller frame structures. It was in one of these that the Italian woman, her husband and the other farm help lived.
The news of the tragedy spread to surrounding communities with great rapidity and a large crowd was soon gathered about the place. Had the murderers been found at the time they would undoubtedly have been given short shrift. Three daughters survive the murdered Mrs. Horner: Mrs. Anna Marter, Mrs. Edward Megargee and Mrs. Isaac Beideman.
Policeman Hart Is Laid to Rest
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Many Members of Camden Department Pay Last Respects to One Who Was Killed
T. Casper Hart
Popular Camden policeman who was killed in a collision and was buried yesterday.
Headed by Chief Gravenor, a hundred members of the Camden police department yesterday paid their last respects to their fellow policeman, Thomas Casper Hart, who died as a result of injuries received when a patrol wagon was struck by a trolley car. The funeral took place at his home, 278 Mt. Vernon street, the services being in charge of Rev. N. C. Lassiter, formerly pastor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church, now of West Philadelphia.
Many beautiful floral designs came from the police, Sioux Tribe of Red Men, the Fifth Ward Republican Club and other organizations. The pall bearers were Policemen Albert Shaw, Lewis Stehr, Oscar Weaver and Harry Mines. Interment was made in Harleigh Cemetery.
Birthday Bulletin
Philadelphia Inquirer —
New Jersey
ELISHA A. GRAVENOR
On this his birthday anniversary The Philadelphia Inquirer extends congratulations to the energetic chief of the Camden Police Department.
Camden News Notes
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Peter Korarezski, a young Pole, yesterday received a verdict of $700 before Circuit Court Judge Cole as damages against the Dunn Oil Cloth Company for injuries received while employed by the corporation. He alleged that because of defective machinery he lost several fingers and the use of an arm.
Chief of Police Gravenor yesterday made Police Sergeant John Reader acting captain of the Second district, during the absence of Captain Arthur Stanley, who has gone abroad.
Cyclone of April 2, 1912
Philadelphia Inquirer —
NORTH CAMDEN HIT BY A GREAT CYCLONE; HOMES WRECKED
Hundreds of Houses Ruined by Violent Wind and Rain and Two Persons May Die. Streets Strewn With Debris
Two lives will probably be sacrificed, property valued at at least a hundred thousand dollars, was virtually destroyed and the northwest section of the city was laid in ruins when a storm of cyclonic intensity swept over Camden last night. It continued hardly fifteen minutes, but in that time more havoc was wrought than by any storm that has ever visited that section, even including the locally historic cyclone of 1885.
Those who will likely offer up their lives as a sacrifice to the tremendous force of wind include Miss Anna Cleary, a nurse in the Cooper Hospital, whose house is at 317 Vine street, and Miss Anna Gebrend, of 2359 Amber street, Philadelphia. Both were taken to the Cooper Hospital crushed.
WERE IN TROLLEY CAR
The two women were in a Crosstown trolley car. It was going up Fifth street, when, at Elm, it encountered the full force of the storm. It was the centre of a maelstrom of flying roofs, falling telegraph poles and trees and odds and ends of debris.
Miss Cleary and Miss Behrend were seated in a section of the car over which a tangled mass of debris fell, the great weight crushing in the top like so much paper. Both were pinned beneath a weight of hundreds of pounds and notwithstanding the fierce wind and air, filled with every conceivable sort of material, the police worked until the women had been released. At the hospital it was found that they had been cut, bruised and cut all over their bodies and it seemed impossible that they could recover.
Many Houses Wrecked
Scores of houses were wrecked, many beyond all hope of repair, and the miracle was that there were no more fatalities. This is attributed to the fact that the force of the wind spent itself along the tops of the structures, otherwise hundreds would have been killed.
The great force of this wind was evidenced at the plant of the Orford Copper Company at Tenth and Elm streets. This concern has a structure about 50 by 100 feet. Five great boiler stacks graced the main building until the wind came. Then these stacks went over like so many tenpins, being blown hundreds of feet away. In addition the roof was doubled up and sent through the air until it landed in an adjoining vacant lot.
Got the Full Force
The full intensity of the wind was felt on Fourth street from Vine to Elm street. Beginning at the butchershop of former Councilman Edward Francis at the southeast corner Fourth and Vine and going on both sides of Fourth street the cyclonic blast took off every roof, filling the thoroughfare with a mass of debris a dozen feet high.
The homes of Mrs. Mills, 417; Albert Roberts, 423; Mrs. Mary Goldy, 425, and Charles Houser, 427 North Fourth street, were among those unroofed and wrecked. The home of Edward Trappe, 619 North Fourth street, was completely blown out, nothing standing but the party walls, everything being hurled into the street. The family escaped miraculously. Virtually the same was with respect to the home of Joseph Layton, 632 North Fourth street.
Wind Took a Leap
Four two-story dwellings stood on North Fifth street, between Vine and Elm, including those of August Weber, 715; Mrs. George Waldis, 717; John Presher, 719, and Mrs. Susie Aborn, 721. These were sheltered by higher buildings, but the storm seemed to bounce like a rubber ball, and it descended with such fury that the roofs and porches were thrown down with a tremendous crash, the volumes of rain descending and destroying the furniture.
On Elm street, from Second to Third, stood a row of tall trees. They were broken off like stems and hurled against the homes of Edward Preisendanz, 217 Elm street, and Harry Curtis, 215 Elm street, with such force that the structures were simply caved in as though made of clay. In the same locality the homes of Frank Nice and George Beckert were denuded of their roofs.
Left the Walls Standing
At 406 Vine street lived Mrs. A. M. Magrath in a cozy two-storied dwelling. When the wind had finished its work with that structure there was little aside from a brick wall remaining. Mrs. Magrath lost everything, not even having a bed to lie upon.
Policeman Thomas Reed had his home at 613 Vine street wrecked, and the same fate befell that of George Eckenhoff, southeast corner Sixth and Vine streets.
Others whose homes were unroofed and, in some instances, damaged almost beyond repair, included the following:
Others in Wind’s Path
Mrs. Lillian Rhoades, 620 North Sixth street.
S. M. Blair, 622 North Sixth street.
John Getty, 618 North Sixth street.
Mrs. Howard Ivins, 630 North Fourth street.
George Batchelor, 702 North Sixth street.
Raymond Wallen, 704 North Sixth street.
Charles Jordan, 708 North Sixth street.
Michael Burke, 710 North Sixth street.
Allen Naylor, 640 North Eighth street.
William Conerdi, Second and Elm streets.
Matthew J. Lemon, 635 North Fifth street.
Dr. H. F. Pahn [sic], 612 North Second street.
William Askley, 646 Linwood street.
Thomas Wescott, 648 Linwood street.
Frank Kears, 950 Vine street.
Otto Shapiro, 648 Vine street.
Two Hundred Houses Hit
In addition to these there were scores of others more or less badly damaged. The police said that probably two hundred dwellings were involved, many of which will have to be torn down because they are absolutely unsafe to live in, and in most of these instances the torrents of rain simply flooded the interiors, ruining the household furniture.
It was about 7 o’clock when the storm made its appearance. The air was damp and humid until there was a sudden gust of cold, keen wind which preceded the cyclone. In South Camden the residents thought they were experiencing a mere spring thunder storm, although its intensity was marked. It was in the area bounded by the river and Fifth street and from Vine to Elm that the full force was felt. Those who had the temerity to observe the storm said it came with a rush and a roar, striking down in the centre of that district with a funnel-like movement. It was this which is declared to have twisted off roofs, trees and telegraph poles, flinging them in every direction and piling the streets high with the debris.
Storm Was Brief
In less than a quarter of an hour the storm had spent its fury, aside from some vivid flashes of lightning. It was then that the residents in the stricken district began peering cautiously from their homes. They were afraid to venture forth because everywhere they found a tangle of electric wires which hissed and sputtered death at every step. It was thought that when such damage had been wrought there must have been great loss of life. In consequence of this Chief of Police Gravenor and Fire Chief Elfreth massed most of their men in the damaged area. In the meantime all lights had been extinguished, the lighting plant having been closed to avert possible tragedies. Everything was in absolute darkness, and because of this the police and firemen had great difficulty in going over the district in search of possible victims. They were aided, however, by scores of volunteers, who looked high and low about the wreckage. Up to a late hour last night no bodies had been found, but the search will be continued today.
Thousands on the Scene
After the storm had subsided thousands of Camden residents visited the damaged area. It was necessary to rope it off to prevent the venturesome ones from going into unnecessary danger. Many came from the southern section of the city and were greatly surprised over the havoc wrought. South Camden was hardly touched.
Among those who were not perturbed to notice, the cyclone was Scott Veazey, a barber, of Third and Elm streets. He said that his impression was that a train had struck a trolley car. He heard one great crash, looked out of his door, saw the air filled with debris and was glad to get in. Vezey’s place is right in the midst of the area damaged, but he escaped unscathed.
Coursey Breaks Down While Story of Cold-Blooded Killing of Karl Kellmann Is Told by Detective
Camden Post-Telegram —
Two “Pals,” Too, Accused of Crime
Harry Duffield. Fred. Coursey. Linnans Staley.
Trio Accused of Murder, Coursey Firing the Shots.
Collapsing when arraigned in Police Court this morning before Recorder Stackhouse on the charge of killing Karl Kellmann, aged 18 years, of 2919 High street, at Twenty-seventh and Sherman streets, shortly before midnight Saturday, Fred Coursey, alias “Mexican Pete,” alias “Cowboy Pete,” aged 20 years, of 121 North Twenty-first street, who admits firing the fatal shots while committing robbery, and Harry Duffield, aged 21 years, of 407 North Forty-first street, who acknowledged masking his face with a handkerchief and being with Coursey, sobbed piteously, resting their heads on the railing of the dock, while John Painter, the veteran detective, was briefly reciting the story.
When Recorder Stackhouse asked what became of the young man who was shot and Painter replied that he died, Coursey and Duffield sobbed afresh, and when Recorder Stackhouse committed them without bail Policemen Frost and Kay had to help them.
Linnans Staley, aged 21 years, of 1819 Federal street, who confessed that he was in the robbery plot but later got scared and hid in the bushes, was scarcely able to stand, and when his mother broke down as he was committed as a principal he staggered and would have fallen but for Sergeant McClong.
Prosecutor Boyle announced this morning that the Grand Jury will be recalled for Thursday of this week and the case will be made the special order of the day.
Without the slightest clue to start with in the most brutal murder committed in recent years in Camden county, police and detectives under the personal direction of Chief Gravenor in two hours arrested two of the three prisoners and obtained their signatures to confessions and before sunrise the other was lodged behind the bars at the City Hall.
According to their statements to the police the prisoners while drinking on a lot near Twenty-first and Federal streets on Saturday night planned to go to a lone spot near Twenty-seventh and Sherman streets to hold someone up to get money and jewelry to buy more drink. Coursey had a 38-calibre cowboy pistol and Duffield used Coursey’s bandanna as a mask. Staley weakened before the spot selected was reached and at the time of the murder was hiding in a clump of weeds a short distance away.
The murdered boy was the son of Karl and Lulu D. Kellmann. He was a member of the Bible class of Grace Presbyterian Church, East Side, and active in church work.
Saturday night was the closing of a carnival given on High street between Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth streets. Karl was there and made several purchases. At one booth he bought a necktie, from another some ice cream and a box of candy and spent some time conversing with the young ladies connected with the church.
When it grew rather late he noticed that Misses Bertha and Bessie Skillen, of 815 North Thirty-fourth street, the latter a teacher in Grace Church Sunday-school, were without an escort and he volunteered to see them home. They accepted his invitation to be their escort. He saw them safely home and he was on his way back and had reached a point on the east side of Twenty-seventh street south of Sherman street and near the foot of the bridge that spans the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks when two men jumped out from behind a tree and as one commanded him to hold up his hands the other began to shoot.
The first shot struck him in the breast and turned him partially around. The next ploughed a hole through his neck, knocking him down, and the third went wide.
Screaming for help he tried to rise to his feet and was on his knees when Night Yardmaster Albert Ludlow and Brakeman Joseph Wittick, who were on the opposite side of the bridge, ran to his assistance. By the light of their lanterns they saw that he was seriously hurt and they took him to ’Squire Sasse’s house nearby to await the arrival of the ambulance. As the railroaders sped across the bridge Ludlow saw a man run down the tracks in the direction of Seventeenth street.
In the signal tower at Pavonia station known as C. B. the operator, Thomas Sink, heard the shots and cries for help and ’phoned to Captain James at Police Headquarters that a murder had been committed. Sink also saw a man run down through the weeds and bushes on the east side of the bridge toward the railroad tracks.
Policeman Hurlock and Schmid, ’Squire and Mrs. Sasse and several others were out on the street before the railroad men reached the Sasse home and all hurried to ’phones to notify police headquarters.
In less than five minutes by use of the red light system Captain James had every officer on duty on the East Side hurrying to the scene, officers stationed at every bridge, ferry house and railroad terminal, and the downtown auto with Detectives Schregler, Painter, Brothers and Moffett on its way to East Camden.
On information from the railroad men Sergeant Horner took all the East Side officers and the four detectives and they worked westward among the cars while Captain James started Policemen Colsey and Kelly to walk eastward from Fifteenth street until they met the main body.
The search proved fruitless and as they returned to the bridge one of the men picked up a green bandanna with yellow spots and sheep burrs embeded [sic] on it on the incline near the signal tower. Later he recalled that the man who went down the slope wore a Khaki shirt and cap.
The handkerchief was recognized as the kind used by “Indian Bill” May, and Detectives Brothers and Policeman Abbott were sent to arrest him. They found May and Eugene Cafferty asleep in a moving van in Marlton avenue. “Indian Bill” soon established an alibi.
Detective Schregler and a couple of officers who were sure that the description of the man with the khaki shirt tallied with Duffield started for his brother’s house, but failed to find him there. About this time the downtown auto turned into Twenty-seventh street to get Karl’s father, mother and sister and take them to the hospital. Councilman Finkeldey and a friend shouted to the crew that a woman was down and out on a step nearby, but the crew yelled back that they were on an emergency run and the woman would keep until they returned. Fireman J. H. Vickers walked across the street to investigate and found that the supposed woman was Duffield and that he seemed to be asleep.
Vickers shook him and as he got up he said something about the shooting that aroused Vickers’ curiosity and he ’phoned to Police Headquarters. Captain James immediately notified Chief Gravenor, who was on the scene and the latter sent Detective Moffett to investigate. When Moffett arrived he learned that Duffield had taken a Westfield avenue car. Moffett returned to the bridge and he and Detective Painter and Chief Gravenor took the down-town auto for Duffield’s home.
Painter went to the front door and saw Duffield in the act of taking off his shoes. Moffett in going around to the back door to prevent his escape that way passed by the window at which Duffield was sitting.
Grasping Duffield by the collar Moffett pulled him through the window to the ground. As soon as he landed on his feet, according to the Chief and detectives, Duffield said that Coursey did the shooting.
Placing him in the auto they next drove close to Coursey’s home and with Policeman Potter who knew the man wanted, the detectives entered the house with drawn revolvers while other officers guarded all avenues of escape.
Coursey was found akwake [sic] on a cot and while he was covered with revolvers Detective Painter searched his trunk and found the weapon that he later admitted using. It was empty. The detectives late yesterday afternoon found three used shells adjoining the house near a spot where Coursey said he had thrown them.
In order to keep the men apart they were taken to the City Hall separately and questioned and after they decided to tell all Sergeant E. B. McClong reduced their statements to writing and they signed them. It was on the strength of these statements that Staley was arrested.
Young Kellmann was taken into the hospital at 12.20 a. m. Chief Surgeon Schellenger saw at a glance that there was no hope for him and so notified Captain James, and Sergeant McClong was sent to the hospital to get all information possible.
The unfortunate youth could only speak a few words at a time because of the hemorrhages. All Sergeant McClong was able to get from him was that he was told to hold up his hands and that the shooting instantly began. The only description he could give was that they were small men and that the attack was so sudden that he could not tell whether they were black or white.
The injured young man kept asking the doctors if he was going to die, but they did not answer. He was conscious when his father and mother arrived and then sank rapidly until the end, dying at 1.50 o’clock, 90 minutes after he was admitted. Mother and father were prostrated and were taken home by the up-town auto.
County Physician Jones conducted the autopsy yesterday morning. He said that either wound would have caused death. The bullet in the breast pierced the right lung at the top and lodged in the cavity. It is now in the doctor’s possession. The other bullet went clear through the neck.
Coursey and Duffield have been working in the Pavonia car yard. The former was born in El Paso, Texas, but has lived East nearly all his life. He is an expert shot and was a member of the vaudeville team of Coursey & Cook, according to their letter heads presenting a fifteen-minute thriller.
Duffield was only recently paroled for robbing Gallagher’s saloon, Nineteenth and Federal streets of a lot of drinkables. Staley has been arrested several times on petty charges but was never convicted of crime. When Duffield’s coat was examined at the City Hall, it was found to contain sheep burrs.
To a reporter Coursey said that whenever he was drinking he had to get his gun and shoot something or somebody. He insisted that all were in on the job and that they let the man who preceded Kellman go over the bridge without molestation because he didn’t look as if he had any too much money.
Yesterday morning Assistant Prosecutor Wolverton and Stenographer Cleary called at the City Hall. The prisoners were examined by Mr. Wolverton and their statements taken by Mr. Cleary, but there was little or nothing new elicited.
More Witnesses in Kellmann Murder
Camden Post-Telegram —
Police Find Two Other Men Who Met Slayers at the Bridge.
ONE CONVERSED WITH DUFFIELD
Two more important witnesses in the Karl Kellmann murder case, according to Chief of Police Gravenor, were located yesterday by Detectives Painter and Moffett and Policeman Abbott.
Berthold Neuman, of 2813 High street, it is stated, crossed the bridge at Twenty-seventh street, a short time before the murder and saw two men acting suspiciously. He had not gone far before he heard what later proved to be pistol shots, but at the time he thought the noise was caused by the explosion of signal torpedoes on the tracks.
Great stress is laid on the importance of the statements of Stewart Dahm, a railroad man, of 2303 Mickle street. According to Chief Gravenor Dahm, while crossing the lots near Twenty-sixth street and the railroad heard some one say “Let’s get the — — —“ and an instant later he was confronted by William Duffield, one of the three men held for murder.
It is claimed that at that time, Coursey, alias “Cowboy Pete,” with his pistol plainly visible, and Staley were but a short distance away. Acording [sic] to the written police report Dahm said he answered Duffield by saying “Oh, you’re drunk again,” and Duffield and the others immediately left in the direction of the bridge.
Charge, Murder to Italian Now on Sea
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Camden Police Believe Man Sailing for His Home Killed William Gallagher
Sailing on the high seas to what he presumably thinks is safety in his native province of Italy, Ilario Di Antonio, alleged to be the murderer of William Gallagher, who was stabbed to death in Camden a couple of weeks ago, is being awaited by the authorities, who will place him under arrest as soon as he lands. Chief of Police Gravenor, of Camden, yesterday communicated with Italian Consul Felece Ronce at Trenton, and word was at once forwarded to the Province Di Ascoli, Italy, Di Antonio’s home.
With virtually nothing upon which to work, the case was assigned Detectives Schregler and Troncone. Gallagher was stabbed to death early Sunday morning of December 8 at Locust and Pine streets. He was found bleeding to death and succumbed to his injuries shortly after being admitted to the Cooper Hospital. Through Troncone, who is the Italian detective in Camden, it was learned that Giuseppe Azzari, of 204 Beckett street, knew something about the crime. He was placed under arrest yesterday, and as a result Antonio Da Andea, of 9[?]5 Locust street, was also apprehended. They both broke down and told the facts in the tragedy.
According to their stories, the alleged slayer of Gallagher took exception to an insulting remark Gallagher had made concerning a woman. Words followed and then the stabbing. Di Antonio, according to his compatriots, stabbing Gallagher through the heart with a stiletto As soon as possible Di Antonio took ship for his home.
The alleged murderer lived in an Italian tenement house at Third and Line streets, next to the place where Agostine Toscane was stabbed to death by Giuseppe Diane on October 1. The latter is a fugitive.
Thousands View Chief’s Remains
Camden Post-Telegram —
Not since the memorable funeral of Chief of Police Foster ten years ago, has there been such a genuine public tribute paid an official of Camden as was in evidence last night at the bier of the lamented Fire Chief Worthington, and today at his funeral. It is hard to estimate the number of persons in a crowd, but from 7 until 9 o’clock last night there was a steady stream of men, women and children, two abreast, who passed from the main entrance, through the center corridor and beneath the illuminated rotunda, where the body lay, and thence out by the west corridor. There was never a stop, and it is estimated that at least 10,000 persons were there, perhaps more.
There could not have been a more ideal location for the repose of the casket containing the honored dead, and the great array of beautiful flowers than beneath the rotunda. It seemed to be a sacred shrine in itself where the citizenry dropped a tear for the lamented departed. The effulgence of the soft lights from above specially installed by Electrical Chief Kelly but lent to the scene and as the dark garbed escort of firemen, the active pall bearers, stood on guard, the scene was unusually impressive.
Chief Worthington, aside from the pallor that comes to the dead, looked as he did in life, for the thread had been snapped so quickly that it was while he was in his full vigor that the vital spark had taken its flight. There were some marks on his face that indicated the intense though momentary suffering through which he passed on his fateful plunge from the roof of the burning building to his quick death, and the passing crowd remarked this. But withal there was that calmness and repose feature which seemed to indicate that the gallant leader of Camden’s fire fighters but lay sleeping rather than that his soul had taken its eternal flight.
Public grief may be a mere ephemeral emotion, born of the moment and only to be succeeded by the acclaim of the newly arisen public idol, but last night’s encomiums seemed to come from hearts that overflowed with genuine and permanent sorrow over the untimely passing of so excellent a public servant. Many tear-suffused eyes indicated this, many expressions of grief, of sorrow, of condolence of those left showed this. The sentiment in evidence everywhere can only be likened to the sweetness of the wonderful flowers whose odor spread through all the corridors and in all the rooms of the great marble building.
High in the clock tower of the City Hall the bell began tolling at 6:30 o’clock. At half-minute intervals its doleful strains went forth on the cold blustery east wind which had succeeded a day of spring sunshine. The bell and the screeching wind seemed to combine as a knell indicating the passing grief of the city. It was the preliminaries to the marching of the funeral cortege from the stricken Chief’s home on Penn Street to the resting place at the Court House.
There were forty policemen in dress uniform with Chief Gravenor at their head. There were twenty-six fire heads from Philadelphia, with Chief William Murphy in the van, a tribute in itself of more than passing moment. There was the caisson on which was the black draped casket containing the body of he who all honored. There was the little red car in which Chief Worthington was wont to speed through the city at every alarm and there was his helmet and coat. There was Acting Chief Stockton and forty of the men who fought flames under the direction of he who lay so still. There was the family in cabs with curtains drawn, the members of City Council and the active pall bearers— Daniel Leach, Peter B. Carter, James White, William Patterson, Elmer Burkett, Samuel Harring.
When the cortege reached the Court House the Camden boys took up their position on the inside beneath the rotunda while the Philadelphia visitors made an imposing array on the granite steps outside. And then came the public in its steady and unending stream.
Later the Philadelphia delegation was escorted to the Board of Freeholders room where tribute was paid to the dead and where a mingling of the two cities took place. Besides Chief Murphy the visitors included Battalion Chiefs William T. Barrett and George P. McConaghy, Captains L. F. Bunting, William Lindsey, H. Dinlocker, J. Higginson, J. E. Talbot, D. Campbell, T. O’Brien, F. Hughes, E. Basenfelder, H. Hutt, William McCusker, G. Rheim, R. Wilsey, J. Webb, H. Goers, H. Haines, Insurance Patrol Captain Joseph H. Shermer, William Hickman, William Rodgers, John Wyatt, David Phillip, John Clyde, H. Wilkinson.
President of City Council James E. Hewitt spoke of the work Chief Worthington had already accomplished, of his plans, of his value and worth to Camden. Chief Murphy responded in a fitting way and this incident in itself was one to be remembered.
An affecting sight was witnessed by the handful of spectators, among them being other firemen, city and county officials and policemen who remained after the big doors on Sixth Street had been closed. The last to view the Chief’s remains were a delegation of about twenty firemen. Solemnly the men passed by the bier and gazed upon the features of their departed brother.
As the last of the line approached, Deputy Chief John A. Stockton was seen. He stopped and with his cap laid across his breast he looked down into the casket. For almost a minute Chief Stockton stood as though glued to the spot. Then he glanced about him and the sympathetic look upon his face thrilled all.
He heaved a sigh and perhaps the teardrops refused to come, but Chief Stockton, as the lines upon his face showed, was struggling with the inner man. His emotions were tugging at his heart, but a fire laddie cannot give way to his feelings although his brother superior officer and dear friend had answered his last alarm.
The floral pieces surrounding the bier bespoke the love, admiration and respect the donors held for the dead chief. One design particularly beautiful was a mammoth loving cup made of blossoms, flowers and roses. This was the token sent by members of City Council and other city officials.
Another was the design sent by the Electrical Bureau through Chief Kelly. The original fire box, No. 134, which was pulled on the night of the fire by Chief Worthington was enshrouded by roses, carnations and lilies.
A maltese cross standing several feet high and bearing the initials of the organization was the tribute sent by the Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association. Chief Worthington was president of this association.
The Camden police sent a large shield of flowers and Council members offered a vacant chair of roses. The New Jersey Auto Supply Company, No. 2 Engine Company and No. 1 Truck sent beautiful broken circles and a wreath was the offering from the employees of the Victor Talking Machine Company.
A broken circle from members of the Sixth Ward Republican Club and a wreath from his friends in the sixth precinct of the Second Ward were other beautiful pieces. West Collingswood and Collingswood firemen sent two beautiful floral circles and from the Loyal Order Legion a wreath was received.
Other offerings were from the Camden Liquor Dealers league, a beautiful circle from No. 6 Engine Company, in which house Chief Worthington was captain previous to his elevation to the office of chief; sprays from the Bethany M. E. Church, Ladies Auxiliary of the Loyal Order of Moose; a wreath from the pupils of the eighth grade Sewell school, and a spray from North Baptist Church. There also were designs from members of the family and friends, all of which bespoke the great love held for the departed fire chief.
The impressive services of the P. E. Church marked the last sad rites this afternoon at St. Paul’s Church. The guard of honor and city officials left Fire Headquarters at 1:20 and proceeded to the Worthington home and escorted the remains to the church, where services were conducted by the rector, Rev. R. E. Brestell, and Rev. H. O. Jones, rector of St. Stephen’s P. E. Church. Interment was made at Arlington.
The honorary pallbearers were Mayor Ellis, Hon. David Baird, Frank F. Patterson, John W. Bell, General John A. Mather, Melbourne F. Middleton Jr., Harry R. Reed, Arthur L. Jones, Robert Gordon, David Jester, George Schneider, William Mills, J. O. Grear, William Hall, George L. Bender, and James E. Hewitt.
Sunday Ordinance to Be Tested in Higher Court
Camden Courier-Post —
Camden’s so-called liberal Sunday ordinance is to be carried to a higher court to test its validity. Harry C. Kramer, as counsel for Louis Weisban, of Twenty-eighth street and Polk avenue, made that announcement yesterday, when his client was fined $10 by Recorder Stackhouse for selling a scrub brush and some soap powder last Sunday to Policeman Harry G. Newton, who acted under instruction from Chief of Police Gravenor.
Attorney Kramer asserted the ordinance is class legislation and absurd, in that it permits the sale of tobacco, cigars, etc., on the Sabbath, while bread, butter and other necessities are tabooed.
Trenton Evening Times – May 23, 1916
Extra: Ashbridge Caught in Chester Hotel Along With Wife
Camden Post-Telegram —
Captured at noon with his wife in the Keystone Hotel at Chester PA, Wilson Ashbridge, who escaped from the County Prison last night with George E. Thompson, a forger, after killing Jailor Hibbs and shooting Jailor Ellis, is again in the County Jail.
Ashbridge admits that he shot both men. He said the gun was given to him by Thompson.
The couple were captured in their room at the Keystone Hotel by Captain of Detectives Schregler and Policeman David Hunt, who hurried to Chester in Chief Gravenor’s automobile in receipt of a message that a man answering to the description in the published picture of Ashbridge registered there early this morning with a woman as his wife.
Ashbridge offered no resistance when the officers entered his room. He waived extradition and being handcuffed was placed in the machine with his wife and hurried to this city.
Schregler sat in the rear of the machine between Ashbridge and his wife.
They reached City Hall at 2:10 o’clock this afternoon. Ashbridge was smoking a cigarette and looked sullen.
When the murderer saw a battery of photographers getting ready to take their pictures, Ashbridge shielded his wife’s face with his hat and hid his own face as best he could in his handcuffed condition.
They were taken upstairs to the Chief’s office and later sent to the Prosecutor’s office.
Ashbridge takes blame for the double shooting, but insists that his wife did not give him the gun, saying that Thompson supplied the weapon.
Mrs. Marion Ashbridge
Camden Post-Telegram —
Slayer’s Wife
Murderer’s Wife Supplied Revolver, Smuggling It In Covered by Fruit
Camden Post-Telegram —
Confessing Supplying Pistol, in Spite of Husband’s Denial That She Was Guiltless, Mrs. Ashbridge Is Held Without Bail on Charge of Conspiracy in Aiding and Abetting Escape From Jail
With Wilson T. Ashbridge under guard in a cell in what was formerly known as Murderer’s Row, the police and county detectives today redoubled their energies towards the capture of George E. Thompson, the forger who escaped with Ashbridge from the County Jail on Monday night after murdering one keeper and wounding another. Stirring the police of all cities in the East to renewed activity, another circular was sent out today by the authorities giving notice of the reward of $500 offered for Thompson’s capture. Attention was strongly directed in the circular due to the fact that one of the fingers of Thompson’s left hand is missing.
The gun with which Ashbridge murdered jailor Isaac Hibbs and wounded Jailor Ellis was smuggled into the jail by Mrs. Ashbridge on Saturday morning. With it went a box of cartridges. The weapon and bullets were passed to Ashbridge in a basket of fruit, being at the bottom of the basket. The jailors were busy at the time she called and as she frequently had brought her husband fruit they did not take precaution to search the basket. Mrs. Ashbridge bought the gun and cartridges on the written request of her husband.
Her confession as to the very grave part she played in the escape and murder was made to the Prosecutor late yesterday afternoon after she had first insisted she had no knowledge of how the gun got into the jail and after her husband had repeatedly declared that the revolver was supplied by Thompson. The revolver, fully loaded, was still carried by Ashbridge when he was captured in the Keystone Hotel…
… by Recorder Stackhouse without bail for conspiracy in aiding and abetting the escape of her husband and George E. Thompson from the County Jail on Monday night.
The court room was packed to suffocation by a morbidly curious crowd, composed primarily of women. A strange silence spread through the court room when the little woman was led into the court room by Captain Schregler. The regular formality of placing prisoners in the dock was dispensed with the woman’s case.
Prosecutor De Unger pointed to the high witness chair and Mrs. Ashbridge sat in it. She evaded the gaze of the crowd, looking intently at the floor and through a window on the Washington Street side. She wore a blue skirt and a white waist. She was without her hat. Her hair was carefully arranged and she wore nose glasses.
Resting her chin on her right hand her arm and hand were seen to tremble slightly. So quiet was the room that a pin dropping could have been heard.
“Mrs. Marian Ashbridge,” called the Recorder.
“Yes, Sir” was the faint reply of the woman, who did not even look up at the call of her name.
“This complaint charges you with delivering to Wilson Ashbridge and George E. Thompson a pistol and aiding and abetting them in escaping from the County Jail, where they had been lawfully committed. Do you plead guilty or not guilty,” said the Recorder as he read the complaint.
The woman said nothing. Detective Schregler was then called as the complainant. He told of the confession made by the woman and produced the revolver which the woman purchased and which Ashbridge used in his daring escape. The gun, Captain Schregler said, was purchased in a pawnshop at Eleventh and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, on Friday of last week and was delivered to Ashbridge on Saturday morning along with a box of cartridges. “Marian, I will hold you without bail,” said the Recorder.
As the woman was being led from the court room by Captain Schregler and Sergeant Reed the crowd made a rush for the door leading from the court room, whereupon orders were given by the police to the crowd and many were prevented from rushing out. Everybody seemed anxious to secure a closer look at the unfortunate woman.
Visitors were denied Mrs. Ashbridge. Not even her children were permitted to be brought before her, although the broken-hearted mother asked for them.
“Oh, God, I don’t know why I did this; why I left the little ones to go with Wilson,” tearfully expostulated Mrs. Ashbridge to the kind-hearted matron, who spent the best part of last night with the distraught woman.
“If I could only see little Marian,” sobbed the woman in the arms of Mrs. Kirkpatrick, who informed her that perhaps she could see them today.
Last evening the only support Mrs. Ashbridge had was a cup of tea. The morning she sipped a portion of a cup of coffee. She told Matron Kirkpatrick that she was not hungry.
“Everybody hounded me, I had no friends, and that’s why I went with my husband, because he was the only friend I had left,” said Mrs. Ashbridge. “He was a good boy, but was easily led.” The wife said even before her marriage that Ashbridge would run around with other girls, but he always returned to her and she forgave him. She said he seemed to have a spell over her and she couldn’t leave him.
“I love my husband, still and will stand by him to the end,” sobbed the little woman to Mrs. Kirkpatrick. She told how her relatives disowned her and how after her father’s death she went to live with strangers. When her husband fostered the plan to escape she willingly consented to aid him. She drew $100 out of the bank and purchased clothes and the gun and bullets. She never faltered in her plan.
“My heart aches for that woman,” said Matron Kirkpatrick this morning to a Post-Telegram reporter. “She’s a good girl, but was easily led into her present predicament. It only goes to show what a woman will do for the man she loves, no matter how base a wretch he may be. Mrs. Ashbridge is more to be pitied than scorned.
Recorder Stackhouse this morning produced a copy of the marriage of the couple, performed by him on July 28, 1914. The marriage was performed at the instance of Assistant Prosecutor Butler after Ashbridge wronged the girl. Constable William E. Headley and William C. Ashbridge, the latter father of the murderer, were witnesses.
As told in yesterday’s Post-Telegram, Ashbridge and his wife and their captors arrived at the City Hall from Chester shortly after 2:00 o’clock. After a brief stay they were taken to the Court House and turned over to Prosecutor Kraft, Ashbridge being taken into the Prosecutor’s private office and Mrs. Ashbridge being placed under guard in the ante room.
Taking full blame for the murder of Hibbs and the wounding of Ellis, Ashbridge declared that none of the shots were fired by Thompson.
“I shot both men,” he declared, “but Thompson gave me the gun. He had it since Saturday.” He repeated this assertion several times in the course of his examination, adding each time that his wife had no part in supplying the firearm. His voluntary insistence in…
… exercise corridor of their cells in response to his request that he wanted to show him a note that had been left for him, he asked the aged keeper to step inside the corridor. Evidently suspecting something was wrong Hibbs refused to enter the corridor. When Ashbridge repeated his request that Hibbs step inside, Thompson, who was immediately behind Ashbridge, said something to the murderer. Ashbridge could not exactly recall what the expression was. At any rate it was then that he fired and Hibbs fell to the floor with his death wound. To take Hibbs’ keys and open the door leading from the exercise room to the corridor was the work of but an instant. It was then that Ellis confronted Ashbridge at the other end of the corridor. He refused to throw up his hands when the murderer so ordered. Instead, the plucky jailor grappled with the slayer, who again brought the gun into play, twice wounding the remaining jailor.
Ashbridge did not say why he wanted Hibbs to step inside the corridor. One surmise is that the pair had planned to get the old man into the corridor, overpower him, take his keys and after gagging him place him in a cell, depending on the gun to awe any prisoners who might make an outcry. But whatever their plan was in this respect it miscarried. Hibbs would not enter the corridor and was shot down where he stood.
Thompson carried both his own and Ashbridge’s coats when they fled. As Ashbridge had decided to do the talking with Hibbs when the jailor came to lock them in their cells it was agreed that it would not be wise for the murderer to be wearing a coat. This might look suspicious to Hibbs and in all likelihood he would refuse to open the door. Hence it was decided that Thompson should take both coats. He also carried Ashbridge’s cap and his own Panama.
The coats and hats were adjusted as they ran down the spiral stairway leading to the street. They walked slowly into Sixth Street; increasing their pace up Sixth Street after crossing Market and after turning into Cooper walked very rapidly. They turned north on Third Street to Main and thence to the Vine Street ferry, where they caught the boat leaving at 7:15 for Philadelphia. Landing on the other side the fugitives exchanged hats. They walked rapidly to Broad Street Station, where Mrs. Ashbridge was in waiting, this arrangement having been made when she smuggled the gun in to her husband on Saturday morning.
Accompanied by Thompson the Ashbridges walked out Market Street to Thirty-second Street. Here Thompson left them and after walking the street for a brief while longer the slayer and his wife boarded a trolley car for Chester, where a few hours later the murderer’s short-lived liberty was so dramatically terminated.
Although jailor Ellis still insists that three shots were fired before he was attacked and in spite of the positive declaration of Alfred Williams, the trusty, that three shots were fired at Hibbs, Ashbridge claims that Hibbs was shot only once and that two bullets were used on Ellis. He said that the three empty shells which the detectives found in his pocket contained the only bullets fired in the jail. The post mortem examination made yesterday by County Physician Stem bears out his contention as to the number of shots fired. Only one bullet was found and that had penetrated the jailor’s heart.
“That’s the truth about the shooting,” declared Ashbridge. “I fired the shots— three of them in all— and the gun was given me by Thompson. My wife had nothing to do with it. Don’t blame her.”
Enroute back to the prison from which he had made his tragic getaway on Monday night, Ashbridge passed through the ante room where his wife was under guard. He stopped, kissed her, gently caressed her cheek, told her not to worry and passed on to the jail, from whence his next exit will be to the electric chair.
Haggard and very weak Mrs. Ashbridge was at once taken before the Prosecutor. With due regard for her condition Mrs. Ashbridge was handled very gently. At first she insisted that she had no part in getting the gun, but under skillful handling she finally broke down and confessed that she had supplied the revolver.
She stated that on Friday night she received a letter from her husband telling her that he planned to escape from the jail on Monday night and that he needed a revolver to make certain that his scheme would not fail. He requested that she procure the pistol and cartridges and personally deliver them on Saturday. Being anxious to aid her husband in every way possible she readily decided to do as he requested.
Accordingly she purchased the needed articles in a Philadelphia pawnshop on Friday afternoon, paying $3.00 for the pistol and 67 cents for the cartridges. She kept them over night and on Saturday safely delivered the weapon and bullets to her husband in the bottom of a basket of fruit. At the same time Ashbridge asked her to go with him and when she agreed to share his fate he told her to meet him in Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, shortly after seven o’clock on Monday night. He further told her that he had carefully studied the situation and did not see how it was possible for his plan to miscarry. On Monday morning she sent her children to the home of Mrs. Anna Dick and later in the day sent the letter to Mrs. Dick telling of her “rash deed” and enclosing $10 for the children.
As Mrs. Ashbridge told her story she spoke in a very low tone. Most of the time her eyes were cast down and as she concluded her brief narrative she sobbed convulsively and was in a state of utter collapse. Reviving somewhat when given cold water Mrs. Ashbridge was turned over to the police and taken back to City Hall to await her hearing this morning.
The prison key stolen by Ashbridge from Hibbs’ murdered body was recovered this morning by Detective Doran in the yard of Dr. Frank, 2025 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. The recovery of the key was due to information given by Ashbridge, after he had been locked up in jail yesterday afternoon. Ashbridge, when questioned as to the whereabouts of the key, said that Thompson had it and that he had seen him toss it over a wall of a residence near Twenty-third and Chestnut Streets on Monday night while he and his wife and Thompson were walking to Thirty-second Street.
Detective Doran and Constable Voight went to Philadelphia late yesterday afternoon and searched in vain for the key in the vicinity of Twenty-third and Chestnut Streets until darkness came on. Detective Doran renewed the search early this morning. There is a high wall fronting the yard at the home of Dr. Frank, and a search of the grounds resulted in the finding of the key, which was returned to Sheriff Haines.
Ashbridge is confined in a large cell in what is known as Section E. As cellmates he has two persons who are being held as witnesses to the crime. Sheriff Haines has assigned three constables, Gardner, Ford, and Addison. They will work on eight-hour shifts and will see that Ashbridge does not attempt any further escape or try to end his life.
Sergeant Detective Kane of the Chicago Police Department today took to Chicago Alfred Williams, who was an eyewitness to the murder of Hibbs. Williams, an Italian, served six months here on a charge of false pretence in obtaining money from a number of Italian grocers under the pretence that he represented the Roma Grocery Company. After his arrest and sentence here the police of Chicago lodged a detainer against Williams who is wanted in the West for a like crime.
The body of Jailor Hibbs will be exposed to view tonight at his home, 913 South 8th Street. Services will be conducted by Reverend Harry Bradway, pastor of Eighth Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Members of the Seventh Ward Republican Club, Mutual Aid and the Liberty Beneficial Society will attend in a body.
Tomorrow morning the body will be taken to Langhorne, where services will be held in the Friends Meeting House, after which interment will be made in the burial ground by the Schroeder-Kephart Company. Friends may call this evening to pay their respects.
Ashbridge will not be tried until December. On the day he was listed for trial of murdering Mrs. Dunbar his lawyer, Assemblyman Wolverton, was ill. In the interim the entire panel of jurors for the April term of court was discharged following a case of alleged tampering. This makes it necessary that he be held until September for trial unless the Court should otherwise decree, which is hardly likely.
Ashbridge is 22 years old and not 27, as previously stated. His real age was disclosed by the certificate of his marriage. He was 20 when he wedded two years ago.
The Howard Marshall who mailed a letter to a woman in Baltimore is not Freeholder Howard Marshall of the Eighth Ward, as was reported to the Prosecutor yesterday. Mr. Kraft’s investigation disclosed that Freeholder Marshall does not know either Ashbridge or Thompson and that as a matter of fact the Marshall in question is an East Sider and no relative to the freeholder, who was naturally much upset at being mistakenly dragged into the case.
E.S. Fry, proprietor of the Keystone Hotel, Chester, where the couple were caught, told the story of the capture both to the city police and Prosecutor Kraft.
“Late on Monday night I received a call from another hotel, requesting that I take care of a man and his wife for the evening,” said Mr. Fry. “I waited until a little before midnight when the couple arrived. He seemed nervous and registered in a shaky hand, and I was suspicious that there was something wrong.”
“I did not pay much attention to the way he registered until the next morning when I examined the register and saw that he had neglected to register his wife. He signed ‘Mr. Smythe, Washington, D.C.’ I communicated my suspicions to my wife and told her to go observe the couple, too. Then I went out on the porch and picked up a morning newspaper. On the front page were the pictures of the two men who escaped.”
“I instantly recognized Ashbridge, but was not just sure of my identity of the man, so I decided to get a better look at him. At the breakfast table I observed him more closely and feeling sure of my ground I called Captain Schregler, afterward securing the service of two negro policemen, whom I placed on guard outside the hotel, giving them orders not to allow the couple to leave. The officers, William Padgett and William Robinson, took their positions outside the hotel, ready for the signal to enter when I gave it.”
“Ashbridge arose.”
“What’s the matter,” he exclaimed. “You know what’s the matter,” replied Mr. Fry, who brought in Captain Schregler and Detective Hunt. Schregler and Hunt instantly recognized the fugitive.
Before Ashbridge had a chance to move his arms were pinioned by his sides and Policeman Hunt had extracted the murder gun from his right hip pocket. It was fully loaded. In the same pocket were seventeen additional cartridges and in a suitcase in his room, Number 9, was a fresh box of cartridges.
“The little wife was crying bitterly,” said Mr. Fry. “She leaned her head upon his shoulder and the husband tried to console her.”
Captain Schregler sent a telegram to Chiefs Gravenor and Hyde with the startling news that Ashbridge had been caught.
On the way back to Camden Mrs. Ashbridge began to cry. She was sitting beside Captain Schregler, and he tried to console her. Her sobs increased, and Ashbridge called to her to “take it easy.”
This seemed to quiet her a bit, and Schregler spoke to her kindly, saying that she would not be blamed very much for her part in the escape. “That’s not worrying me” she answered. “I am worried about ‘Wil’.”
“Well, you women beat me” was Schregler’s comment. “What did you want to help him escape for, anyhow? He had beaten you, deserted you for another woman and when she turned him down, he killed her. Yet you make up with him, leave your kids and risk everything to help him escape. Seems to me the worse men treat you women, the more you will do for them.”
“Lots of truth in what you say,” remarked Mrs. Ashbridge, with a sigh.
Mr. Fry was the center of attention. Everybody seemed anxious to hear his story.
“I’m not going back until I collect that $500 either,” he was heard to say. The capturer was formerly coroner of Delaware County.
Scenes of excitement were prevalent when the automobile of Chief Gravenor with Detective-chauffer David Hunt at the wheel, Captain Schregler and the prisoners in the rear and Chief Dodd, of the Pennsylvania Railroad police force in the front seat came from the Federal Street Ferry. E.S. Fry, the hotel proprietor who caught the Ashbridges, was also in the car.
Ashbridge and his wife were instantly recognized. The news spread like wildfire and was passed along the route of the machine to police headquarters.
Thinking that the prisoners would be brought to the Prosecutors office, a battery of newspapermen and photographers were camped on the Court House plaza. When someone cried in bellowed tones “There they go,” the scribes and photographers started in hot pursuit behind the automobile.
The officers upon reaching the City Hall had to fight their way through the dense crowd which had gathered outside Police Headquarters. Many stood tiptoed to get a good glance at the prisoners who were abashed at their predicament.
Pulling her black straw hat over her face, Mrs. Ashbridge leaned on her husband’s arm. To hide his face the murderer pulled the Panama hat, which he had secured from Thompson, over his countenance.
Preliminary questioning was done by Captain A.L. James, after which the officers and prisoners were escorted upstairs to the office of Chief Gravenor.
Still clenching the stump of a cheap cigarette in the corner of his mouth, Ashbridge had a pitiful look on his face. He was much thinner than he was when he was arrested for the murder of the Dunbar girl. On his upper lip was a small mustache, which he raised during the last week.
His beautiful and baby-like eyes still retained their piercing stare. The murderer looked wild-eyed at persons in the room. He seemed to take delight in singling out persons in the room and “staring them out.” None seemed courageous enough to return Ashbridge’s strange stare. He looked distressed but the only betraying sign of nervousness was his incessant twitching of his fingers. Seated on the couch in the chief’s room, Ashbridge talked freely.
His wife dried away the tears as they trickled down her reddened face but after regaining her composure she seemed quite calm. She intently watched Captain Schregler and Detective Hunt as they searched through her husband’s clothes.
When the trip for the Court House was being arranged the two prisoners, still handcuffed together, walked in the outer room of the chief’s office. It was then that the wife broke down slightly. She choked back a sob and leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder. Ashbridge did likewise and patted her on the back, at the same time, saying something in a suppressed tone of voice. The only persons in the room at the time were Assistant Chief Hyde and a Post-Telegram reporter. Neither was able to catch the words uttered. Captain Schregler, Chief Gravenor, and Detective Hunt later entered the room and the start for the Court House was made.
The crowd below which was camped about the entrance to the building awaited with patient expectancy, when the news was spread that the prisoners were leaving the building.
Camera men took their positions, ready to snap the couple, but the Ashbridges fooled them. Before the door leading to the street was opened Ashbridge drew his wife to him and with their free hands pulled their hats over their faces, thus eluding the photographers, who resorted to every means to secure a photograph.
Once inside the automobile the prisoners seemed content until the Court House was reached when another large crowd was on hand to greet them. Both repeated the trick of hiding their faces.
After Ashbridge was taken to his cell his wife was ordered taken to the detention department in the City Hall. Captain Schregler and Detective Hunt half-carrying the sobbing and broken-hearted woman, who has aroused some sympathy for her courageousness in taking such a desperate chance for the man she loved, the father of her children and a cruel murderer.
“What other woman would do as much as she has for her husband,” was the query advanced by one of the spectators in the Court House corridor as Mrs. Ashbridge passed through on her way to the waiting automobile.
Forger Thompson Still at Liberty
Camden Post-Telegram —
Evidently in hiding, George E. Thompson, who escaped from prison with Wilson Ashbridge on Monday night after murdering one jailor and wounding another, is still at liberty. No trace of him has been found after he left Ashbridge and Mrs. Ashbridge at Thirty-second and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, on Monday night.
Ashbridge has not eaten anything since his return to the jail. Just as soon as his nerves settle a bit and he becomes resigned to his fate Ashbridge will likely eat as heartily as before.
The murderer is much more composed today than he was yesterday. Practically all of yesterday he spent pacing the narrow confines of his cell in Murderers’ Row and for the greater part of the time he was crying. Toward evening he became less restless.
Seemingly more composed and realizing the gravity of her position, Mrs. Ashbridge still languishes in the detention Department of Police Headquarters, where she is under the care of the kindly matron, Mrs. Kirkpatrick.
The circular being sent out to the police all over the country reads as follows: $500 REWARD — WANTED FOR MURDER. On July 17th, 1916 at 7 o’clock p.m., George E. Thompson, alias Francis Murphy, shot and killed a jailor at Camden County Jail, Camden, New Jersey, shot and wounded another jailor, and escaped. George E. Thompson, alias Francis Murphy, is white, 41 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches in height, weighs 175 pounds, has dark brown hair mixed with gray, very bushy, light complexion, gray eyes, smooth face, first and middle finger of his left hand are missing, wears nose glasses. He was confined in the County Jail on charges of forgery and obtaining money under false pretences. He is well-educated and represents himself as an attorney-at-law. Five hundred dollars reward will be paid for the arrest or information leading to the arrest of this man.
The circular, which is signed by Prosecutor Kraft and Chief of Police Gravenor, discloses the fact that the first and middle fingers of the fugitive’s hand are missing.
Asked today if he would represent Ashbridge for the murder of Hibbs, Charles A. Wolverton, who is counsel for Ashbridge on the charge of shooting the Dunbar woman, said: “As an officer of the court I am subject to whatever order Judge Garrison may make… Whether I will be appointed to act for him in this last case I do not know. The matter is entirely in the hands of Judge Garrison, who has the right to appoint any member of the Bar he desires.”
Provisions for the temporary care of the Ashbridge babies — Marian and Thomas — was made last night. Mr. and Mrs. Gick, of 2744 Pierce Avenue, East Camden, notifying Secretary Walsh, of the S. P. C. C. that they would take the kiddies with them to Wildwood this afternoon.
Jailor Ellis is rapidly recovering at Cooper Hospital, Police Surgeon Schellenger stating today that his condition is fine.
Police Honor Comrade
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Headed by Chief Gravenor, Camden’s police force yesterday paid its last respect to Philip Knauff, a policeman, who died of pneumonia Wednesday. The funeral was held at the home of Knauff’s sister, Mrs. Thomas Budick, of 622 Pine street. The services were in charge of Rev. William P. Valiant, pastor of the Kaighn Avenue M. E. Church and interment was made at Evergreen Cemetery. The pallbearers, all fellow policemen, included Harry Vliet, John Sheeran, Albert Cornog, Clarence Boyer, William Briant and Detective David Hunt.
Railway Men Investigate Supposed Attempt to Dynamite Train
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Taken to the office of Chief of Police Gravenor in Camden yesterday John Daly, of 219 Elm street, who says he saw a man acting suspiciously about the elevated tracks of the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad at Newton avenue and Carteret street Wednesday night after which a 4-inch tunnel, 8 feet long was found alongside one of the girders, declared he had made no mistake. Railroad officials were inclined to scout the idea that an attempt had been made to plant some dynamite to blow up the powder train that passes through Camden to Communipaw every night, but Daly was positive that he had seen the mysterious individual at work and that he carried beneath his arm a bundle of cylindrical objects wrapped in paper.
The railroad men who made a thorough investigation yesterday said the hole might have been caused by recent rains, although an official said it might also have been bored by some tool. The railroad is being closely guarded by special officers of the company who took charge after a squad of the Second Regiment, N. G. N. J., had spent the night in vigil.
City Plan Commission Appointed
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A City Plan Commission for one year was appointed as follows: T. Gordon Coulter, F. A. Finkeldey, George Kappell, William C. Davis, Theodore T. Kausel, Allen Jarvis, Frank S. Vanhart, Frederick von Nieda and Joseph Forsyth, the last three being members of City Council. Dr. Charles P. Tuttle, Dr. H. F. Bushey, Chief of Police Gravenor and Policeman Charles Whaland were appointed the Police Pension Fund Commission.
Camden Mayor Advises Saving in City Budget
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Only Expenditures for Actual Needs of Municipality Recommended to Council
Mayor Ellis, of Camden, in presenting his annual message to City Council yesterday at its reorganization for the ensuing year, stated that in accordance with the government’s plea for the conservation of our resources, he refrained from offering suggestions that would mean the expenditure of large sums of money. His recommendations were therefore along lines of what he termed the city’s actual needs.
Pointing out that labor scarcity and war restrictions on materials had hampered street construction by the Highway Department, the Mayor stated since the establishment of the city-owned plant 161,[?] square yards of asphalt have been laid, in addition to an almost equal amount of resurfacing and patching, at a cost of much less than charged by private contract. He advocated the purchase of a boat to patrol the river front during the war, and called attention to the need of more men in both the Police and Fire Departments.
In discussing the proposed bridge connecting Camden and Philadelphia, Mayor Ellis stated New Jersey is in readiness to enact the need [sic] legislation, and that all that is necessary to give the project the impetus that will mean its construction is the taking of the necessary steps by the Pennsylvania Legislature.
Mayor Ellis spoke of the wisdom of the establishing of the auxiliary pumping station of the municipal water plant, and stated that during the year it is planned to bore more artesian wells. He urged that a special committee be appointed to supervise and lend financial aid to the summer war gardens. In connection with the library, the Mayor advocated the purchase of such books as will fit the youth of the city for the changed conditions brought about by the war.
Council confirmed a number of appointments recommended by Mayor Ellis. William H. Davis was reappointed a member of the City Board of Assessors, and Howard M. Cooper and Thomas French were made members of the Board of Library Trustees, the first succeeding himself, and the latter Wilbur F. Rose, resigned. Dr. A. Haines Lippincott was appointed police and fire surgeon, succeeding the late Dr. E. A. Y. Schellenger. Herbert A. Munger was reappointed a member of the Sinking Fund Commission for three years.
A City Plan Commission for one year was appointed as follows: T. Gordon Coulter, F. A. Finkeldey, George Kappell, William C. Davis, Theodore T. Kausel, Allen Jarvis, Frank S. Vanhart, Frederick von Nieda and Joseph Forsyth, the last three being members of City Council. Dr. Charles P. Tuttle, Dr. H. F. Bushey, Chief of Police Gravenor and Policeman Charles Whaland were appointed the Police Pension Fund Commission.
There are but two new members of City Council, William J. Kelly, of the Eighth ward, and Clifford K. Deacon, of the Tenth ward.
Camden Hails Her Sons, Conquerors, at Victory Jubilee
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Battle Flags Wave in Triumph O’er Parade Reviewed by Admiral
Gray Veterans of G. A. R. and Wounded Ride; Centopath Passes in Reverential Hush
The Peace with victory which Camden’s sons along with millions of other soldiers of all the Allied countries helped to bring home was celebrated by a jubilee in Camden yesterday which eclipsed anything that the city across the Delaware has ever attempted in her history.
Nearly every man, woman and child who did not actually march in the jubilee parade stood on the side lines and watched it and cheered themselves hoarse as the soldiers and sailors who went out from their town to fight marched past, this time as the conquerors in the world’s greatest war.
Favored by glorious sunshine, a sunshine that was reflected in the faces of the people, the day’s proceedings went off perfectly. For months Mayor Ellis and all his city family, together with a large committee of leading citizens, had been planning the affair. Their handiwork stood the test. It was good.
Admiral Henry Wilson, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, came to his boyhood home to be the principal guest of the city and chief reviewing officer of the jubilee. With him were national statesmen and municipal officials.
Soldiers, sailors, war workers, members of fraternal orders and men who fought under the flags of Canada, England, Italy and Poland, marched in the parade which was miles long. Every succeeding division seemed just a little better than the one which preceded it, and, when it was all over and the soldiers and sailors had filed into the old Third Regiment Armory to sit down to a piping hot banquet, the hardest thing of all was to say which had made the finest showing.
All Honor to the Dead
Amidst all the gayety and happiness there was a sober note expressed by the memorial cenotaph which preceded the parade and which brought every hat off as it passed in solemn silence.
The heroic figure of an American soldier in bronze standing on a granite pedestal which bore a gold star with the number 135, symbolical of the Camden county men who laid down their lives in their country’s cause, was carried along the route ten minutes before the parade commenced. Encircler [sic] by flowers and palms, it moved through the reverential hush which had fallen over the throngs.
While every organization in the county of Philadelphia was represented in the parade, to the thousands who lined the sidewalks, there was really only one great big important factor—the service men. And when those self-same service men, many of whom bearing the Distinguished Service Cross of their own United States, others wearing the Croix de Guerre, bestowed on them by the sister republic of France, and still others carrying on their breasts the Italian and British War Crosses, given them by grateful countries, marched down the streets and avenues, all the pent up emotion in thousands of hearts was let loose.
It mattered not whether the men were officers or enlisted men, black or white, neat or untidy, they were all soldiers and they had done all that was asked of them. Their home town honored them. The men in blue and the women in blue, too, received a welcome not one whit less feeling than their brothers in khaki.
They had a certain advantage over the doughboys, for they put half a dozen of the prettiest and smartest yoemanettes that ever wore Uncle Sam’s uniform at the head of their division. The crowd simply had to be with them.
Canada and England, too, had a detachment of men in line. About two dozen of these veterans, half of whom wore the ribbon of the Mons Star, showing that they were in service in France in 1914, were in line, and they marched snappily and smartly and drew their full modicum of pleasurable comments.
Red Cross women, some of them grandmothers, others young girls still in their teens, marched in their snowy white uniforms with their crosses of red emblazoned on headcover and breast. Salvation Army lassies who had cooked doughnuts right up under the muzzles of the guns were there with Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus workers.
Elks, Masons, Knights Templar, Red Men, Moose and scores of other fraternal organizations turned out in all their glorious trappings and regalia.
The delegation of Elks, startling in their spic and span white uniforms, marched behind their own band like squads of veterans. A foretaste of what Philadelphia will see during the coming week was given when more than 100 Knights Templar, resplendent in their uniforms and swords and cocked hats with white ostrich feathers, marched in the second division of the parade. As the formation reached the reviewing stand near the Ninth Ward Republican Association they deployed into the formation of a cross, the symbol of their order, and marched past in this formation.
Many gorgeous floats were in line, th Ninth Ward Republican Association having no less than five. All were artistic. The first was bedecked with growing flowers, while a beautiful young woman reprsenting “Peace” stood flanked by a soldier and sailor. The one following had a replica of the Liberty Bell with the inscription, “Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards men.” Two soldiers rang the bell. Behind them marched a band playing “Onward Christian Soldiers” as the men marched on. Floats symbolical of every war activity were there. The Knights of Columbus showed a replica of their famous service hut which was the doughboy’s home when he had no other.
The veterans of other wars were not forgotten in this jubilee of the greatest war of all. Grand Army men whose gray locks bespoke their years rode in automobiles bearing the tattered colors of their old Civil War regiments. The soldiers of a later day, men of the Spanish-American War, were in line with their comrades.
The wounded were there, too. They could not march in the parade, but they rode and their faces were smiling and their hearts were glad as they realized that this welcome was for them.
Triumphal arches were erected at points along the route of the parade and the square at the courthouse was a mass of color.
Among the officers in command of the sections of the service division were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel G. Barnard, of the 112th Field Artillery; Captain J. Walter Scott, former adjutant of the Third Regiment; Captains English, Richards and Dickinson, of Battery B; Lieutenant J. G. Williams, Ensign Beaston and Lieutenant William Opfermann, of the aviation corps.
Battle Flags Wave Triumphant
Shortly after 1.30 o’clock James H. Long, chairman of the parade committee of the Victory Jubilee and Memorial Committee and marshal of the pageant, gave the order to march. The Lyric Band, which escorted nearly all of the troops to the terminal in the dark days of the war, was given the honor of heading the line. Chief of Police E. A. Gravenor and Assistant Chief of Police Edward S. Hyde led the parade, followed by a platoon of mounted policemen under Captain William E. Albert.
Then came Marshal Long and his aides, who were: Frank E. Van Hart, William D. Sayrs, Jr., Frank Fithian, A. Benjamin Sparks, Kessel Webster, William Isgard, Robert D. Clow, Andrew B. F. Smith, William Lorrigan, Charles Austermuhl, David Doane, William C. Davis and William D. Vanaman.
Directly behind the Lyric Band marched Mayor Charles H. Ellis at the head of the Victory Jubilee and Memorial Committee, of which he is chairman.
And at the head of the division were the battle flags of the Twenty-ninth and Seventy-eighth divisions, on which General John J. Pershing personally pinned battle pennants during those memorable days back in October in the Argonne forest. Behind the 4th marched the famous engineers, headed by Captain Keasby and Captain Beals Smuck. Three battle pennants were pinned to their flags, which never touched the ground while they were bridging the rivers in the Argonne under hellish shell fire for the doughboys to advance. Then came the 112th Field Artillery, Battery B’s heroes of the border and of France, headed by Captain Charles Richards and Captain Dickinson. In the same section marched the Eleventh Machine Gun Battalion with its battle flags and pennants fluttering.
There was another great cheer as the Seventy-eighth Division, New Jersey’s Lightning boys, loomed into view. The heroes of the 311th Infantry, 303d Engineers, 307th, 308th and 309th Field Artillery and other regiments of that famous command were given a mighty ovation behind their battle flags, which led them in their assault on St. Mihiel and the day they attacked and captured Grand-Pre in the terrible conflict in the Argonne.
Behind them marched the Marines, headed by Lieutenant Monitor Watchman, of the Fifth Regiment, Second Division. With the Marines marched the regular army units, men who had served in as many as five battles and wore three and four gold service stripes on their sleeves.
Then followed the naval contingent. They were commanded by Commander Francis W. Hoffman and Commander W. G. Hodgson.
The order “eyes left” flashed along the line as each platoon drew near the reviewing stand and Admiral Wilson with his band to his cap returned the salute. With the admiral on the stand were former United States Senator David Baird, Congressman William J. Browning, County Collector John S. Well, City Clerk W. D. Brown and others.
At the armory a splendid banquet was served to the soldiers and sailors. For days past corps Red Cross workers had been preparing the good things to eat and the men did full justice to them. They marched in the armory where the food was spread on the tables and enjoyed themselves while bands played. After dinner there were speeches. Mayor Ellis in welcoming the men said:
“This is one of the happiest moments of my life. I have waited patiently through months of trial for the glad day when I could bid you welcome to the City of Camden once again.
“We are planning to erect a lasting memorial in memory of those heroes who gave their lives and in memory of the valiant deeds you performed on land and sea.
“Camden will always cherish the memory of this day, rever the memory of your dead comrades and will inscribe your valiant deeds on that memorial. I bid you welcome in the name of the most patriotic little city in America. I thank you.”
Prosecutor Charles A. Wolverton welcomed the men on behalf of the county and paid a tribute to their valor recalling their wonderful victories of the Argonne and other battlefields of France.
Blames Chauffeur for Death of Ten
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Driver of Auto-bus Failed to Heed Signal at “Death Crossing”—Three Mothers and Babies Are Among Victims.
Inquiry Begun by Officials
Responsibility for the accident which resulted in the death of ten persons and the injury of five others in Camden Sunday night when a motor ‘bus was struck by a Pennsylvania Railroad electric express, was placed yesterday on Vincenzo Strattoni, driver of the ‘bus, by Coroner David Bentley, of Camden.
A rigid investigation of the accident has been ordered by Mayor Ellis, of Camden. Council will be asked to probe the grade-crossing situation in Camden and to take steps to prevent further accidents. Measures also will be taken to curb recklessness on the part of “jitney” ‘bus drivers.
Identification of the bodies of the victims, many of which were mangled almost beyond recognition, was not made until late yesterday afternoon. A constant stream of anxious persons arrived at the Morgue, at Fifth and Federal streets, and one by one the bodies were picked out.
The complete list of the fifteen passengers of the motorbus are as follows:
THE DEAD
VINCENZO STRATTONI, 30 years old, 332 Viola street, Camden.
PERCY D. GUNN, 35 years old, 1555 Minnesota road, Fairview.
MRS. ELIZABETH M. HYATT, 28 years old, 2760 Constitution road, Fairview.
QUENTIN HYATT, ten months old, Mrs. Hyatt’s son.
MRS. HAZEL DALTON, 26 years old, 1069 Collings road, Fairview.
EILEEN DALTON, eighteen months old, daughter of Mrs. Dalton.
WILLIAM A. STREEKER, 28 years old, 2561 Kansas road, Fairview.
MRS. ALICE STREEKER, 29 years old, his wife.
DOROTHY STREEKER, 3 years old, their daughter.
KENNETH STAFFORD, fourteen months old, Fairview.
THE INJURED
ROBERT STAFFORD, 20 years old, 25[?]4 Constitution road, Fairview; fractured skull.
MARGARET STAFFORD, 27 years old, his wife; fractured nose and cuts of the head.
JAMES DALTON, 26 years old, husband of Mrs. Dalton and father of Eileen; fractured skull.
JOHN MYERS, 24 years old, Fairview; cuts of the head and had right arm amputated.
NEIL HEROLD, 17 years old, 1417 Collings road, Fairview; cuts.
After an examination of William Osborne, engineer of the electric train, and Tony Verne, the watchman at the crossing, Superintendent A. G. Mitchell, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, also placed the blame on Strattoni, who was killed. It was admitted, however, that the safety gates at the crossing were out of commission since August 19.
Verne insisted that he waved his lantern and shouted to the driver of the bus. Strattoni is said to have replied: “I can make it all right. Go to hell, you!” and started the machine across the tracks into the path of the train.
The wreck, which occurred at 8.30 o’clock Sunday night, is said to be the worst in the history of the New Jersey grade crossings. All the passengers of the bus were either killed or injured seriously, with the exception of Neil Herold, who escaped with slight cuts.
Two of the victims at the Cooper Hospital are expected to die.
The bodies of William A. Strecker [sic], his wife and daughter were the last to be identified. Alfred Bath, of 3076 Sumter road, Fairview, a brother-in-law of Streeker, broke down and wept when he found them in the morgue.
Bath said the Streekers had attended services in the Blockley Baptist Church, Fifty-third and Wyalusing streets, to hear a pastor whom they had known when they lived in Asbury Park, N. J. With Miss Violet Ettinger, of Hamilton Square, near Trenton, they crossed on the ferry. Miss Ettinger bade them good night and the Streekers entered the bus.
The bodies of Mrs. Hyatt and her son were identified by her mother, Mrs. Ida Wadsworth, who lived with her at Fairview. She said that Mrs. Hyatt and her son had been visiting friends in Wilmington. When they did not return, Mrs. Wadsworth became worried and, hearing of the tragedy, hurried to the morgue.
“It’s my daughter, my poor little girl,” she sobbed when she saw the silent form on the marble slab. Half fainting she was led to a nearby stone and there found the baby, Quentin, who she was able to identify only by its clothing.
Mrs. Hyatt was the wife of Theodore M. Hyatt, who is chief yeoman on the battleship Idaho, now stationed with the Pacific fleet. Hyatt never saw his son, as the child was born after he joined the fleet.
The Dalton family were involved in the crash as the result of a trip to Broad Street Station here, accompanying relatives who had spent the weekend with them.
They were identified by neighbors, who noticing the milk bottles and papers on their front, suspected that they were among the victims. Inquiring at the Cooper Hospital they found Dalton, who is suffering from a fractured skull; later Mrs. Dalton and Eileen were discovered at the Morgue.
Coroner Bentley, after the investigation was completed, said:
“The accident was the fault of the bus driver, according to all the witnesses we have examined. The watchman at the crossing swung his light and called to Strattoni, but he failed to heed the warning and drove in front of the express. It is a bad crossing and drivers of vehicles should be extremely careful when crossing there.”
The Coroner also said that no inquest would be held in the present case.
“In fact, there hasn’t been an inquest held in Camden for nearly fifteen years. The Board of Freeholders will not appropriate the money to pay for an inquest. I hope this case will stir them up a bit. The responsibility in a case like this should be decided by a jury.”
Mayor Ellis said that he had communicated with the railroad several weeks ago when a similar accident had occurred and asked it to take measures for the public’s safety. The reply was that such precautions had been taken, and that gates were being erected, the Mayor said.
“I have requested Council to take up the matter of grade crossings at the Thursday meeting, and in the meantime I am having a rigid investigation instituted by Chief of Police Gravenor. If I find that bus-drivers are endangering the lives of their passengers, arrests will be made to check their recklessness.”
October 1920 — David S. Paul Wanted Poster
This wanted poster was circulated prior to the discovery of David S. Paul’s remains — David S. Paul — Elisha A. Gravenor — Charles A. Wolverton
No Tips on Raids, Say Camden Police
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Chief Claims Law So Strict Cases Dismissed for Lack of Evidence
Plan to Petition Legislature to Make Changes in Present Statute
Camden police officials resent the inference that tips are given by those in authority when raids are planned on alleged disorderly houses. At the conference between Council’s police committee and social workers on Wednesday night a report presented by government vice investigators stated that underworld habitues had told probers word was passed down the line when raids were contemplated.
“I cannot believe that information of raids was given out,” said Chief Gravenor yesterday. “I have confidence in the men in this department.”
As a result of the conference the Legislature will be asked to pass a law removing some of the exactions in the present statute governing the prosecution of disorderly house cases. The police say that the law is too strict and that many cases are dismissed because of lack of positive evidence of unlawful doings.
Three Other Policemen Are Accused By Bleakly In Probe Of Grafting
Camden Daily Courier —
THREE OTHER POLICEMEN ARE ACCUSED BY BLEAKLY IN PROBE OF GRAFTING
Draper, Latorre and Hall, of First District Named by Council Solicitor to Council Committee—Murry is Alleged to Have Taken More Than $6000 From Woman of Underworld at Rate of $15 a Week—First Payment Made When Girl Was Fourteen Years Old, is Allegation—Hearing on January 11.
Charges that City Detective George Murry accepted money from prostitutes and dope vendors for protection were laid before the police committee of Council today by City Solicitor Bleakly.
Serious charges against three other members of the police department in connection with the investigation of vice conditions in the Third and Fifth Wards also were preferred by Mr. Bleakly, in the accusations presented to the councilmanic committee.
Hearings on the charges, which were declared by the city solicitor to be the most degrading and serious ever preferred against Camden policemen, will be conducted by the members of the police committee on the evening of January 11 at City Hall.
Investigation into accusations brought by Federal agents that Murry and other members of the police department were guilty of using their positions to protect denizens of the underworld was made by Mr. Bleakly with the assistance of Prosecutor Wolverton and Chief of Police Gravenor.
Murry is attached to headquarters. The other men included in the charges are Policemen William Draper, Latorre and Ira Hall, all assigned to the First Police District, Fifth street near Arch.
The evidence gathered by the Solicitor accuses Murry of having accepted a total of more than $6,000 from one woman declared to have become a prostitute. He is charged with having taken money from her at the rate of $15 a week over an eight-year period. [Remainder of this paragraph illegible — the scan is smudged at this point on crop -03.]
Murry Called “Protector”
“From the statements which obtained it would seem that he has been exerting himself as a protector instead of a detector of criminals. If the facts are true, Detective Murry, instead of protecting the good names of the city, as he was paid, has been accepting pay from denizens of the underworld to help them in their evil practices.
The first charge in detail is that the detective is he wrongly accepted $42.50 from Richard Marchmon, 620 South Second street, for protection of the disorderly house it was alleged to have been conducted. In the charges of neglect of duty conduct unbecoming an officer, he is accused of failing to arrest Marchmon and then tipping him a warrant was issued for him. This tip is alleged to have given the man to flee from Camden before the warrant could be served.
The most sweeping and all the charges are those of Murry’s association and dealings with a woman known as Minnie Draper, declared to have been known to the detective as the owner or keeper of disorderly houses. Murry stands charged with having accepted money from her since she was 14 years old; she is 22 years of age. The charges are all sworn to and filed in the form of affidavits by Chief of Police Gravenor.
In a preamble to the report of investigation the city solicitor said the investigation was hampered by the fact vital witnesses were kept away from Camden. He explains that all of the charges and rumors in connection with policemen have not been followed out, the evidence produced being considered sufficient for the hearing. Assistant City Solicitor Edward Wolverton will present the city’s case when charges come up for a hearing. It is rumored the accused policemen will not appear to fight the charges, but will resign from the force.
The specifications against Murry are as follows:
COMPLAINT
In the matter of complaint against Police Officer (Detective) George Murry:
To the Police Committee of the City Council of Camden, New Jersey:
The undersigned does hereby make the following complaint based on the charges hereinafter set forth against Police Officer (Detective) George Murry:
(a) Said officer has been guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and member of the Police Department of the City of Camden.
(b) Said officer has violated the rules of said Police Department.
(c) Said officer has neglected his duties from time to time as a member of said department. The facts and particular charges upon which the above complaint is founded are as follows:
That the said George Murry in the month of May, 1918, in, on or about the premises 620 South Second St., Camden, New Jersey, wrongfully took and received from one Richard Marchmon the sum of $42.50, or some other sum of money, which sum was paid to and received by the said Murry as a bribe or reward for him the said Murry to refrain from performing his duty as a police officer of the City of Camden by the said Marchmon, who was then and there conducting in, on or about said premises a disorderly house and speakeasy to the knowledge of the said Murry.
That the said Murry on or about the last date mentioned then and there knowing that the said Richard Marchmon was conducting a disorderly house and speakeasy failed to arrest or cause to be arrested said Marchmon. That later on a warrant was issued for the said Richard Marchmon. That the said Officer Murry knowing that said warrant had been issued or was about to be issued notified the said Richard Marchmon thereof, and thereupon the said Richard Marchmon left the jurisdiction of this city in order to escape being arrested.
At divers times within the past three years the said George Murry demanded, received and took from Minnie Draper, who was then known to the said George Murry as a common prostitute, operating and frequenting houses of prostitution in the Third and Fifth Wards of the City of Camden, certain bribes, rewards or payments not to prosecute or refrain from prosecuting; in other words, to protect from arrest and prosecution the said Minnie Draper, and also to give the said Minnie Draper information procured by the said Murry by reason of his connection with the Police Department as to any intended or proposed prosecution brought or to be brought against her by reason of her criminal conduct and activities as a prostitute and disorderly character.
That the said Murry collected and received moneys as aforesaid wrongfully from the said Minnie Draper from the time she was fourteen years old up until on or about the 3rd day of December, 1921. That during the week prior to December 7, 1921, the said Murry unlawfully took and received for the purposes aforesaid from the said Minnie Draper, the sum of $15.00, said money being paid for the supposed protection of the said Minnie Draper during that week as a prostitute in the City of Camden, which money was paid in the parlor of the said Murry at his home 649 Scott street, Camden, New Jersey, the said Minnie Draper having previous to that time been carrying on and conducting a disorderly house at Pine street, Camden, New Jersey, with the knowledge, approval and supposed consent of the said Murry.
That the sum of $15.00 a week, or some other sum of money was paid for protection as aforesaid to the said Murry by the said Minnie Draper each and every week from the time the said Minnie Draper was fourteen years old until on or about the 3rd day of December, 1921, the said Minnie Draper now being about twenty-two years old, which said weekly sums were generally paid on Saturday night by the said Minnie Draper or by Richard Marchmon, or by some other person for or on her behalf, all of which said sums were paid to said Murry for police protection which he promised to her should be given and which was given as far as he was able to give the same during the times aforesaid.
That on or about the 8th of January 1921, the said George Murry wrongfully and illegally warned the said Minnie Draper while she was temporarily living at Palmyra, New Jersey that there was a warrant out for her in the hands of Police Officer Fisher; and the said Minnie Draper, acting upon information given her by the said Officer Murry stayed away from the jurisdiction of the City of Camden, since the said George Murry knowing that the said Minnie Draper had a short time previously left the City of Camden. The said Minnie Draper had previously been concerned in a robbery on or about the 2nd day of January, 1921, from the person of a man named Ernest Brown of the sum of $250.00, and because of her participation in this affair had left the City of Camden.
That the said Murry has been dealing with dealers in cocaine, heroin or other drugs commonly known as dope, contrary to law, and particularly on or about the first week of December, 1921, and has been affording alleged police protection to buyers and sellers of such dope, receiving information received by him by reason of his connection with the Police Department to dope peddlers and buyers contrary to law.
That in this connection one Joe Pollack, early in December or the latter part of November, 1921, had been engaged in the business of dope or selling coke at 210 Pine street, Camden, New Jersey; that the next morning after raids the said Murry sent for Joe Pollack’s girl, Maude Jordan, and told her to get the stuff, meaning the dope or coke, out of Pollack’s house. That the direction to the said Jordan girl to take said dope away from the Pollack house was given by the said Murry to her in the parlor of his own home in the Third Ward, Camden, New Jersey.
8.—The said Murry in the months of October, November and December, 1921, in the parlor of his own home was paid hush money or bribe money, or police protection money by the said Minnie Draper and other prostitutes or street-walkers, said sums being paid in the parlor of his own home, generally on or about midnight of each Saturday night.
9.—Among other street walkers or prostitutes who paid tribute, hush money, or police protection money unlawfully to the said Murry was Deana Howard. In the summer of 1921, when the said Deana Howard was threatened with arrest for having taken $52.00 from the person of some male person at 706 Sycamore street, Camden, New Jersey, the said Murry knowing of this fact, and that the said Deana Howard was liable to arrest, instead of arresting her told her that he would fix it up for her for $25.00; that thereupon out of said $52.00 so illegally taken by the said Deana Howard the said Murry was paid and received the sum of $25.00 for the purpose of keeping the said Deana Howard from being locked up on a charge of larceny from the person. That accordingly the said Deana Howard was not locked up on said charge and was not prosecuted therefore.
10.—That on the 29th of August, 1921, there was a man robbed of the sum of $250 in an alley near a pool room at Ann and Baxter streets, Camden, N. J. Said man was robbed by Ethel Murray and Deana Howard, two colored prostitutes; that the said Murry learned of the robbery, but instead of prosecuting those prostitutes or causing their arrest, he refrained from so doing and received a bribe or protection money therefore. That knowing of said robbery and having started to investigate the same supposedly on the direction of the Police Department, the said Murry got some of the parties at his house about the last of August or the first of September, 1921, and while there the said Murry telephoned to the City Hall and asked if the Police Department had any clue as to who robbed this man of the $250, and the answer came back that they thought it was one of the Murray girls, whereupon he replied, “No, it isn’t either of the Murray girls, I have got a better clue than that,” when the fact was it was one of the Murray girls and the said Deana Howard who took this money, both of whom were then in the parlor of the said Murry at his home in the Third ward, together with the father of the said Ethel Murray who has since died. That thereupon the said Officer Murry hung up the ’phone, told these girls what he had done, and took $25 from them for the supposed purpose of hushing up this robbery. They handed him the money, he put it in his pocket, and they were not prosecuted.
11.—That in the summer of 1921, the said Murry in the further prosecution and part of and participation in the selling of dope or coke, associated himself with one Baby Paradise, and one Pye, alias Collantino, who is now a fugitive from justice, and that on or about this time at the bench at Little Locust and Line street, the said Murry and the said Paradise met with the said Pye, whereupon the said Paradise sold to the said Deana Howard, a common prostitute, a certain amount of this dope. Officer Murry was sitting on said bench alongside of the said Pye and saw the illegal sale of the said dope, but failed to protest, but in fact not only winked at it, but aided and abetted in said sale and failed to prosecute any of the parties concerned therein. On three different occasions within the past year the said Baby Paradise has sold to the said Deana Howard dope in the presence of and with the connivance and assent of the said Murry, said sale being in exchange for money given in the presence of the said Murry.
12.—That within the past six months at sundry times protection or hush money was paid by a prostitute or disorderly housekeeper, Blanche Martin, to the said Murry. The last money so paid was on or about the 1st of November, 1921, at the time of the soldiers’ pay, the sum then paid being $2, the sum being paid on the street near Locust and Line.
The said Murry at that time had seen the said Blanche Martin working or hustling on the street as a street-walker and asked her for this money, and had seen her getting or accosting men for immoral purposes, knowing at the time she was running a disorderly house at 214 Pine street, Camden, N. J. That the said Murry failed to prosecute the said Blanche Martin or to make any complaint against her of carrying on or conducting said house. That previous to that time the said Murry had been paid by the said Blanche Martin the sum of $20 on one occasion out of a sum of $140 stolen from some male, which said payment was made either in the late summer or the early fall of the year 1921. That the sailor who was robbed made a complaint, but the said Blanche Martin was not prosecuted.
13.—That on or about the 11th day of September, 1920, about 12 o’clock midnight, in, on, near, or about the premises 327 Line street, while one Antonio Pelle and others were playing poker at said house, a colored police officer came in and placed the said Antonio Pelle and three other associates under arrest and grabbed the pot of money, $50, and marched the said Pelle and his associates out through the back door to Third and Line streets, whereupon one of the policemen said, “Wait a minute, I am going to call George,” meaning the said Officer George Murry; thereupon Officer Murry appeared and said, “Is this the four men?” and the officer said, “Yes.” Officer Murry then turned to the said Pelle and said, “Where do you live?” Upon being told of Pelle’s address and the address of the parties who had been arrested, the said Murry told the colored officer and the others who had made the arrest not to lock up the said Pelle and his associates, but to let them go. That the $50 was taken and not returned to the said Pelle or his associates or neither was it turned into the Police Department of the City of Camden, and the said Murry did not prosecute the said Pelle or any of his associates or make any attempt so to do. That the son of the said George Murry was one of the parties with the officer who made the raid.
14.—That on or about Saturday, July 18, 1920, City Detective Murry instructed Police Officer Toney Latorre and Nazzareno De Vechies, at Locust and Line streets, Camden, N. J., “Toney, you tell them if they don’t give up the Liberty Bond we will lock them up.” Said Liberty Bond being won in a crap game, the night before from Paolo Genovese. That said Liberty Bond was on the same day given to the said Officer Latorre together with $15 hush money for alleged expenses and was not turned over to the said Paolo Genovese, except $10, the said bond being of a $50 denomination, nor was any prosecution afterward instituted either by the said City Detective Murry, or said Police Officer Latorre.
E. A. GRAVENOR.
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, COUNTY OF CAMDEN, ss.
E. A. Gravenor being duly sworn according to law on his oath deposes and says that the facts, matters and things above set forth are true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief.
Sworn and subscribed before me this 3d day of January, 1922.
JAMES TATEM
Justice of the Peace.
Camden, N. J., Jan. 3, 1922.
To Police Officer George Murry:
Please take notice that the above complaint and charges have been made against you and filed and that a hearing thereon will be given before the Police Committee of the City of Camden, N. J., at the City Hall, Camden, N. J., on Wednesday, January 11th, 1922, at 8 o’clock in the evening of said day, at which time you will please attend and you will then and there be given an opportunity to make any defense you may have to said charges.
E. A. GRAVENOR,
Chief of Police.
Took $50, Is Charge
Draper is accused of frequenting a disorderly house said to have been conducted by Blanche Martin on Pine street near Second, and of failing to report the place as to its character. He also is charged with having raided a poker game in a house near Fourth and Line streets and of having released four men he had arrested. The release is said to have resulted from a conversation with Detective Murry on the street. The charges also declare that Draper confiscated fifty dollars in the poker game and did not return it to the gamesters or his superiors.
In the fourth specification presented by the City Solicitor, Draper is said to have been in an alleged disorderly house at 666 South Second street when detectives and policemen raided the place on the morning of December 29. The accused policeman is declared to have jumped from a window of the room on the second floor, occupied by one of the women sought by the raiders.
Says He Concealed Woman
Charges of neglect and conduct unbecoming an officer are based against Hall in connection with the robbery of $250 from a soldier in a house at 229 Pine street. The specifications read:
“That on or about January 2, 1921, at the premises at 229 Pine street, kept as a disorderly house by Jessie Smith, a soldier named Ernest Brown, was robbed of $250 with the connivance, aid and assistance of Ira Hall, in the presence of Minnie Draper, and that the said Minnie Draper was warned by Hall, then a police officer of the City of Camden, to get out of the house, ‘the cops are coming.’
“That when Officer Fisher went after Minnie Draper, on the charge of robbery, the woman told the officer to go and get a warrant, and, while he was in the process of getting a warrant, Police Officer Hall with one ‘Baby’ Paradise, now under charge of selling dope illegally, came and took Minnie Draper from Camden to Palmyra and concealed her there, well knowing that a warrant was out for her arrest.”
Latorre Specifications.
Specifications contained in the charges against Latorre allege:
That when the policemen heard of a dice game in which one of the players had won a fifty dollar Liberty Bond, he went to the man’s house and after telling him there was a warrant out for his arrest, obtained the bond and also fifteen dollars for court fees. He promised to return the bond but did not do so.
He then went to the home of another of the players and obtained twenty dollars from him, fifteen of which was to go to the loser of the bond. Latorre then saw the loser of the bond and told him he did not want to arrest the players and said the bond had been cashed and divided among the other men, the loser receiving ten dollars as his share.
That sometime in February Latorre permitted a truck alleged to contain liquor to be taken into the garage of Harry Knox against the orders of the watchman, and that later the policeman went to the home of Knox and tried to give him money to “drop any complaint.”
That Latorre also was a frequenter of the alleged disorderly houses conducted by the Draper and Martin women mentioned in the charges against the other officers.
Chief Accuses Four Officers in Vice Probe
Camden Post-Telegram —
Detective George Murray and Policemen Hall, Draper and Latorre Cited on Serious Allegations
Alleges Sleuth Gave Protection
Serious charges were made to-day by Chief Gravenor against City Detective George Murray and Policemen Ira Hall, William Draper and Tony Latorre as a result of the inquiry made into vice conditions by City Counsel Bleakly. Each is accused of unbecoming conduct, violations of the rules and neglect of duty.
Murray is charged with accepting money from disorderly house proprietors, of “tipping” off persons accused of crime, of “winking at” sales of dope, and of other irregularities.
Copies of the charges were served on the accused officers to-day, and Wednesday evening, January 11, was fixed as a date for a hearing by the Police Committee.
Bleakly’s Caustic Comment
In filing the charges with the Police Committee, City Counsel Bleakly attaches a memorandum in which he makes caustic comment as follows:
“The publicity heretofore given prior to the charges being preferred has, as I have stated before, interfered somewhat with the investigation. Such work should always be done secretly and without the offenders being put on guard.
“We have had the greatest difficulty in securing witnesses. Some have been, we are sure, spirited away. The mouths of others have been suddenly closed. Other sources of information which we might have used have been closed up. Of course, we cannot possibly ascertain what means or methods were used to choke off their witnesses. All we know is that the thing was done.
“The government agents, when they obtained their evidence, were not working under any such handicap. They worked secretly and, of course, the ordinary sources of information were open to them. As I have stated in my previous report, we could not use the evidence they secured because we had not gotten it ourselves at first hand. When, however, we proceeded to secure some of this evidence we found the avenues closed. Notwithstanding this handicap, however, we have obtained sufficient evidence on which to base a number of very serious charges as will appear from the complaints filed.
“The most serious charges, as it will appear, are those made against Detective George Murray. From the statements which I have secured it would seem that this officer has been exerting himself as a protector instead of a [?] and criminals. If the facts elicited are true, Detective Murray, instead of protecting the good name and citizens of [?] the city as he was paid to do has been accepting pay from citizens of the underworld to protect them in their evil practices.
“The other officers are implicated in serious offenses, but the different charges in their particular cases do not seem to be so numerous as in the case of Detective Murray. He seems to have acted as a sort of clearing house or go-between for all sorts of violations of the law. I have not attempted to run out all the clues and rumors which have been brought to my attention during this investigation. This was impossible during the short time alloted to me to make this investigation. I have eliminated all rumors which have been founded on hearsay or insufficient evidence. In fact, the charges preferred are all based on the evidence of at least two witnesses to the overt act or acts complained of.
“In performing this work I have had brought to my attention many complaints which upon investigation were not sufficient, in my opinion, to justify the preferring of charges against any officer. If all these rumors are true, it might be possible that a number of other persons other than the officers against whom charges have been preferred have been guilty of criminal acts. The investigation, however, of such matters is for the grand jury and the prosecution thereof is solely within the province of the Prosecutor of the Pleas. This duty is not imposed on the legal department of the city. This department is concerned in civil rather than criminal matters.
“Where, however, criminal acts are charged not as crimes, but as grounds for removal of any city official, the prosecution of such charges devolves on this department, and in accordance with our duty in such case this department has had preferred the charges above mentioned and will be ready to prosecute the same at a meeting of the committee, if one shall be held on the evening of Wednesday, January 11, 1922.
“After conference with your chairman, we have had notices served on the officers accused and advised them to be present and ready to proceed with these hearings on that date.
“Permit me to say that in the course of this investigation we have had the full and hearty co-operation of the chief and assistant chief of police and also that of Mr. Wolverton, County Prosecutor, to whose aid much credit is due for the facts elicited.”
Three Others Accused.
Conduct unbecoming an officer, violation of the rules of the department and neglect of duty are the charges made by Chief of Police Gravenor against Policemen Ira Hall, William Draper and Tony Latorre.
The specific charge mentioned in the affidavit concerning Hall sets forth that Hall was implicated in the robbing of a soldier, Ernest Brown, of $250 by Jessie Smith in an alleged disorderly house kept by her at 229 Pine street; that Hall warned a Minnie Draper, who got a share of the stolen money, that “the cops were coming;” that Hall aided in getting the Draper woman out of Camden and hiding her in Palmyra to avoid arrest; that Hall, while a policeman, “consorted with and had dealings, criminal and otherwise,” with Jessie Smith, and that he frequented disorderly houses.
The charges against Draper are that he frequented disorderly houses, that he raided a poker game at 327 Line street, December 11, 1920, arrested four men and later left them go, but retained $50 taken in the raid; that Draper jumped out of the front window at the house of Hazel Boyer, 66[?] South Second street, December 29, 1921. The Boyer woman was arrested by city detectives and policemen at that time and it is alleged that Draper, a married man, was occupying a second-story room with a woman. Draper ran into the house next door and was found there, the affidavit says.
Payment of a $50 Liberty Bond and $15 “costs” for protection from arrest of Nazzarano DeVechies fo[?], participating in a crap game is a charge in the affidavit against Latorre.
It is also alleged that Latorre also took money also from Joseph Fanin[?], another crap player, and that he told Paolo Genovese, loser of the Liberty Bond in the game, that the bond had been cashed and divided and that he gave Genovese $[?]0 as his “share.” The affidavit also says that Latorre allowed a trunk containing liquor to be carried into a garage, ordered an employe of the garage owner to leave and that later Latorre offered Harry K[?]ox, owner of the garage, money to drop a complaint against him for going into the garage. Frequenting disorderly houses is also charged against Latorre.
Camden Courier – January 5, 1922
Detective George Murry and three policemen accused of protecting vice in the Third and Fifth Wards were suspended today from duty, pending their hearing before the police committee of City Council on January 11.
The policemen named in evidence presented by City Solicitor Bleakly to Chief of Police Gravenor are Ira Hall, William Draper and Antonio Latorre, all of the First District station, and Murry.
Detective Murry, who is stationed at headquarters, is accused of accepting bribes. Solicitor Bleakly, in the memorandum he filed with the police committee, expresses the opinion that Murry “seems to have acted as a sort of clearing house or go-between for all sorts of violators of the law.”
The charges against the men, and their suspension today, are the result of investigations and complaints made by Federal agents, Camp Dix authorities and welfare workers of Camden.
U. S. Agents Started Probe
Conditions found by the Federal agents in their recent investigations showed vice was rampant in the downtown wards and was existing without molestation on the part of certain policemen. The probe also indicated the policemen who have been charged with protecting vice, permitted denizens of the underworld to ply their “trade” and accepted graft from violators for the protection they gave.
So flagrant were the violations found existing when the investigations were made that the Committee of Twenty, composed of women welfare workers of Camden, went to Chief of Police Gravenor early in December and requested him to arrange for a joint conference with the police committee.
The Councilmanic group, after a hearing, instructed City Solicitor Bleakly to begin a probe into the accusations that some policemen were fostering vice conditions. The charges made by Mr. Bleakly yesterday were a result of the probe conducted during the past few weeks.
Men May Resign
It has been intimated that the four men suspended today will shortly resign from the police department.
One of the most serious charges against Murry is that during the past eight years he “demanded, received and took” from Minnie Draper “certain bribes, rewards or fees not to prosecute or to refrain from prosecuting” her for keeping a disorderly house, and also to give her information as to any intended prosecution.
Graft alleged to have been accepted by Murry from the girl is said to amount to more than $6,000. He is charged with having taken money from her at the rate of $15 a week over an eight-year period. She started paying the protection graft when she was 14 years old, it is alleged in the charges.
In the affidavit concerning Hall it is set forth that he was implicated in the robbing of a soldier, Ernest Brown, of $250 by Jessie Smith in an alleged disorderly house kept by her at 229 Pine street; that Hall warned Minnie Draper, who got a share of the stolen money, that “the cops were coming”; that Hall aided in getting the Draper woman out of Camden and in hiding her in Palmyra to avoid arrest; that Hall, while a policeman “consorted with and had dealings, criminal and otherwise,” with Jessie Smith, and that he frequented disorderly houses.
Poker Game Graft
The charges against Draper are that he frequented disorderly houses, that he raided a poker game at 327 Line street, December 11, 1920, arrested four men and later let them go, but retained $50 taken in the raid.
It is alleged against Latorre that he allowed a trunk containing liquor to be carried into a garage, ordered an employe of the garage owner to leave and that later Latorre offered Harry Knox, owner of the garage, money to drop a complaint against him for going into the garage. Frequenting disorderly houses is also charged against Latorre.
“We have had the greatest difficulty in securing witnesses,” said Mr. Bleakly. “Some have been ... spirited away. The mouths of ... have been suddenly closed.”
Detective George Murry Resigns, Will Not Fight Witnesses of Underworld
Camden Courier —
Detective George Murry has resigned from the Camden Police Department following orders to appear for a hearing to answer charges of having accepted money for the protection of vice in the Third and Fifth Wards.
Murry tendered his resignation to take effect at once to Chief of Police Gravenor at his office in City Hall.
The detective told Gravenor he would not face the charges to be heard before the Police Committee of City Council on January 11, if the members were inclined to accept as evidence of wrongdoing on his part, the stories of dope fiends and other denizens of the underworld.
The resignation was accepted and insofar as the police department is concerned the charges are dropped. Any action of a criminal nature now becomes the duty of Prosecutor Wolverton’s office. Mr. Wolverton is in Havana on a vacation and is expected back the end of this month.
Latorre to Fight
Policeman Latorre, who is charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and neglect of duty in connection with the probe of vice in the downtown wards, said today he will fight the charges and appear for a hearing before the Police Committee on January 11.
Policemen Draper and Hall, of the First district, are mentioned in charges presented to Chief Gravenor by City Solicitor Bleakly and have been ordered to appear for hearings. They have not announced what course they will follow.
The charges against Murry include testimony that he collected graft from women of the underworld in return for protection and that he warned them when warrants for their arrest were in the hands of other policemen for service.
Two More Policemen Resign Under Fire in Downtown Vice Probe
Camden Courier —
William Draper and Tony Latorre Quit Rather Than Fight Charges of Graft Before Police Committee—Hall Says He Will Face The Music
With the resignation today of policeman William Draper, of the First District, three of the four members of the police department accused of neglect in connection with vice, graft and protection in downtown wards, have quit rather than face trial before a councilmanic committee.
Draper handed his resignation to Chief of Police Gravenor this morning. Tony Latorre, another first district policeman, quit Saturday and George Murry, city detective, and facing the most serious of all the vice charges, tendered his resignation early last week.
Ira Hall, the fourth member of the department involved, declared today he will fight the charges at the hearing of the police committee of council Wednesday night.
Charges against the policemen resulted after investigations into vice conditions in the Third and Fifth Wards by Federal agents were followed up by a committee of Camden welfare workers and the police department.
Chief Gravenor will turn the two resignations over to Mayor Ellis today for formal acceptance.
The investigations of the Federal agents, made at the instance of Camp Dix officials, caused a sensation when the results of their probe were brought to light at a meeting of the Committee of Twenty.
Shortly after that meeting the welfare workers and Federal agents met with the police committee at a special conference in Council chamber. It was after the Councilmen heard the reports of government men and the women they instructed City Solicitor Bleakly to investigate charges a “police official or officials” was responsible for conditions and was protecting vice in the affected districts.
Mr. Bleakly began an immediate probe. After working on the investigation three weeks, he reported he had obtained valuable information, but that he had been hampered to a certain extent because of the fact “three witnesses had been spirited out of the State or had disappeared.”
New City Police Must Be ‘Clean’ Is Order of Mayor
Camden Courier —
Expose of Cops’ Connection With Vice Protection Causes Sweeping Move
THREE VACANCIES EXIST
The clean-up of the personnel of the Police Department is the next move following the expose of graft and vice protection in the so-called tenderloin section of the downtown wards.
Three nominations have been made of men to fill the vacancies created by the separation of three policemen from their positions as guardians of citizens’ life and property. Before these men are named to the force they must be proven to have clean personal records which will stand the closest scrutiny.
Mayor Ellis today said that every precaution will be taken to ensure the appointment of men who are beyond reproach. Recommendations of friends of former employers or political backers will not be sufficient to obtain police jobs for applicants.
City detectives today are investigating the past lives of the three men who have been nominated from the Third Ward to fill the places made vacant by the resignations of William Draper and Tony Latorre and the discharge of Ira Hall, all First District policemen, accused of complicity in underworld affairs. Detective George Murry also resigned rather than fight the charges preferred against him by City Solicitor Bleakly and presented to the police committee of Council.
The question of a successor to the place of Murry on the detective force is now under consideration.
The evidence against the accused men is in the form of lengthy sworn statements gathered in an investigation fostered by City Solicitor Bleakly and joined in by Chief of Police Gravenor and county detectives.
Prosecutor Gets Evidence
This has been turned over to Assistant Prosecutor Burling in the absence of Prosecutor Wolverton. It has not been decided when the evidence will be given to the Grand Jury.
The name of Traffic Policeman Archer, who is stationed at Haddon avenue and Federal street, was mentioned in the report of evidence or policemen’s connection with vice affairs and principals in the tenderloin. The name should have been that of Policeman Fisher, who had a warrant to serve for the arrest of a woman of the underworld. Archer never was on duty in the downtown section, and as he said today, “I never even saw any of those people.”
Underworld Life Exposed as Hall Is Given Grilling
Camden Courier —
Denounced and flayed as a “moral degenerate,” Policeman Ira Hall was summarily dismissed by the police committee of City Council last night following the most sensational hearing in the history of that body.
Resignations of Detective George Murry and Policemen Tony Latorre and William Draper, also were accepted before the hearing adjourned. Councilman J. Hartley Bowen, who presided, declared that “on their face the resignations appeared as an admission from the men of their guilt.” None of the three who tendered their resignations were present at the hearing.
The four men have been charged by City Solicitor Bleakly with responsibility for “shocking” vice conditions found in recent investigations made by federal agents and city officials in the Third and Fifth wards.
Committee’s Resolution
Just before the close of the hearing, shortly after 10 o’clock, Councilman Enos Dellmuth, of the Ninth ward, introduced a resolution urging a continuation of the vice probe by city officials and requesting that Solicitor Bleakly present to Prosecutor Wolverton “all evidence of a criminal nature” against the four accused.
His resolution, which the committee unanimously adopted, follows:
“Resolved that the city solicitor present to the prosecutor of the pleas all evidence of a criminal nature against officers George Murry, Ira Hall, William Draper and Tony Latorre in order that indictments may be secured against said officers, if the evidence justifies the same, and so that the ends of justice may be furthered and the community protected against a repetition of the evil conditions brought to light in the investigation, as far as it has gone.
“And be it further resolved that the investigation of vice conditions in the city be continued by the officials in charge of the recent investigation.”
Among those who attended the hearing besides Solicitor Bleakly and [?] were Frank S. Van Hart, president of Council, Chief of Police Gravenor, Assistant Chief Hyde and members of the police committee, including Councilmen Bowen, Dellmuth, Von Nieda, Bantivoglio, Corea, Dobbins, Dudley, Kelly and Payne. Each member of the committee took a personal interest in the proceedings and [?] question after question at the defendant and witnesses.
Spectators Jam Room
Spectators, among whom were several women welfare workers, filled every bit of space in police court, where the hearing was conducted. Expressions of disgust could be seen on many faces as revelations of the depravity that exists in the tenderloin district were made. Husky policemen, who by virtue of their duties one would expect to be accustomed to stories of immoral practices, almost blushed when they heard the startling accusations.
Hall seemed to have been assuming an attitude of defiance as indicated by accusations he directed at his superiors. He explained he had no lawyer and was entitled to all the privileges of a witness under such circumstances. He sat most of the time in a chair opposite the witness stand.
Hall’s Plea in Defense
“Why should I—one man—be held responsible for the vice that has been existing in the Fifth Ward for years?” Hall fairly shouted after he had taken the witness stand in his own defense.
“Doesn’t the captain of the district know that such conditions have existed in the ward and that there are disorderly houses there?” he continued. “What has been the matter with the men who have patrolled the beat near Second and Pine streets for years?”
He added dramatically as he faced the committeemen and the spectators: “If I had interfered I would have been before the police committee before this.”
Hall’s sarcastic remarks roused the ire of the city solicitors and the Councilmen and before he left the stand he refuted many of the allegations he made. He appeared “lost” many times when called upon to answer questions relative to remarks he uttered.
Acquitted of Robbery
Hall appeared before the committee for the express purpose of clearing himself of a charge of having been connected with the robbery of $250 from a soldier in a house that was conducted by Minnie Draper, underworld character, at 229 Pine street.
He also denied having aided the Draper woman to flee from Camden to Palmyra when she had been informed the “cops” were on her trail.
Hall was acquitted of the “robbery” charge. Solicitor Bleakly and Mr. West, his assistant, declared the evidence insufficient against Hall in the specification of the charges against the policeman.
The specifications against Hall read:
“That on or about January 2, 1921, at the premises at 229 Pine street, kept as a disorderly house by Jessie Smith, a soldier named Ernest Brown, was robbed of $250 with the connivance, aid and assistance of Ira Hall, in the presence of Minnie Draper, and that the said Minnie Draper was warned by Hall, then a police officer of the City of Camden, to get out of the house, ‘the cops are coming.’
“That when Officer Fisher went after Minnie Draper, on the charge of robbery, the woman told the officer to go and get a warrant, and, while he was in the process of getting a warrant, Police Officer Hall with one ‘Baby’ Paradise, now under charge of selling dope illegally, came and took Minnie Draper from Camden to Palmyra and concealed her there, well knowing that a warrant was out for her arrest.”
West Conducts Investigation.
Men frowned in disgust and women in the courtroom lowered their heads when shocking accusations against the policeman, a married man, were made. Hall seemed to glory in the condemnations of the attorneys and councilmen and even went as far as to declare “very few men can say their lives are clean.”
In one particular instance, Solicitor West, who conducted the greater part of the examination of witnesses, showed Hall several “familiar” letters the defendant wrote “Miss Alice E. [?]iske, of Atlantic City,” a white woman, according to Mr. West. Hall did not hesitate to admit he wrote the letters and that the woman named was a “friend” of his.
He denied, however, that he frequented disorderly houses near his “beat” and that he joined in “Dope” parties and other revelries of denizens of the underworld. He did admit that he was a “very intimate” friend of Jessie Smith, 229 Pine street, an underworld character who was brought from the county jail to appear as a witness at the hearing.
Hall said he only visited the alleged disorderly houses when he had a warrant to serve and when he was called to the place to quell any disturbance.
Smith Girl on Stand.
Hall admitted a charge that he had recommended Jessie Smith to an installment merchant when she made purchases to furnish a home. He vigorously denied he knew the furniture was to be used in partly equipping an alleged disorderly house said to have been operated by the Smith woman.
Upon examination, he declared he had often recommended persons to the same dealer but would never recommend anyone who was buying the furniture for disorderly house purposes.
When the Smith girl, colored, was called to the stand she testified the house she conducted at 229 Pine street was equipped with furniture purchased by her on the installment plan. She declared, upon examination, that Hall “signed” for her when she made the purchases, for which she paid $1[?] down.
The witness testified that she and Hall had been on “very intimate terms” and for a time had been known as “man and wife.” She declared she was under the impression her “friend” was a single man. She said the officer visited her frequently up until the past summer and on one or two occasions remained at her home during the night.
Hall There Night of Robbery
Solicitor West asked her if she had [?]ailed the robbery of $250 from a soldier last year in the house conducted by Minnie Draper, a colored girl 17 years old. She answered she [?] and said she recalled a soldier telling her he had been robbed of $250 the night of the alleged occurrence.
“Was Mr. Hall there on the night of the robbery?”
“Yes.”
In reply to questions from Mr. West, the witness declared Hall had been in the house “before and after” the alleged robbery.
“Was Mr. Hall in uniform?”
“No,” the witness replied.
Warned Her of Raid
[?] told [?] to put the soldier [?] that I should beat it” as the place was about to be raided.
“When the officers came there later he told them to put the ‘slightly’ intoxicated soldier out of the house.
“Did Mr. Hall say anything to Minnie Draper?”
“Yes, he told her to beat it, too.”
“Did Policeman Fisher come to the house the morning the robbery occurred?”
“Yes.”
“Did he have a warrant?”
The witness replied in the negative.
“Did Mr. Hall ever stay all night at 229 Pine street while you were there?”
“No.”
“Part of the night?”
“No.”
Went to Newark Once
The witness explained later that Hall had been at her home, 666 South Second street, all night on one occasion when she lived at that address.
“After one of the times you were released from the county jail, did you leave Camden?”
“Yes, I went to Newark.”
“Did you receive any communications from Mr. Hall while you were in Newark?” Solicitor West asked.
“Yes, several.”
She said, in answer to further questions, that Hall had informed her in the letters the matter involving the $250 was “all right and you don’t have to come back.”
He said also in the letter, continued the witness, he had “it fixed for Minnie Draper, too.” The witness said she still has letters she received from Hall, but she had not brought them to the hearing.
Hal [sic] was then granted permission to ask the witness questions.
“On the night of the alleged robbery,” he asked the witness, “did I come into your house?”
Denies Hall’s Questioning
“You did,” answered the woman in a positive tone.
“Didn’t I tell you that if you didn’t take that soldier out of the place that I would get the military police to take him out?” Hall asked.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Wasn’t I in my uniform the night of the alleged robbery?”
“No, you were in your citizen’s clothes that night.”
“That’s all,” Hall said to the witness.
It happened to be “all” as far as the witness was concerned because she was then excused from the stand by Mr. West.
Minnie Draper, the girl referred to in the charges against Hall, was brought from an outer room and asked to take the stand. She testified the robbery of the soldier was a little “before Easter” last year, and that Hall was there the evening it occurred.
Said “Cops” Surrounded House
“Hall told me to get out that night after the soldier had been robbed,” Minnie testified. “After the robbery occurred he told me ‘cops’ were surrounding the house and I should get out as fast as I could.”
She testified, upon being further examined by Mr. West, that Hall met her about two o’clock the night of the robbery and “went as far as Twenty-sixth street in a machine driven by Babe Paradise,” now under heavy bail on a charge of being a drug peddler. She said Hall alighted from the automobile at Twenty-sixth street and Paradise took her the rest of the way to Palmyra, where she remained, she said, from April until July.
She testified that on one occasion Hall visited a house where she was staying while she and other women were “enjoying a coke party.” She said that on another occasion she saw Hall and Jessie Smith in a room together acting in a “very familiar manner.”
Admits She Got Stolen Cash
She also testified that Detective Murry was given $50 to “squash” the robbery case, which, it has been alleged, involved Hall, herself and the Smith woman.
“Did you get any of the $250 stolen from the soldier?” Mr. West asked the witness.
“Yes. I know I got my part,” she answered. “The remainder went to Jessie Smith, but I suppose Mr. Hall got his share.”
“Was Mr. Hall in uniform when he gave you the caution to get out of the house the night of the robbery?”
“No,” the woman answered.
Residents Asked to Give Evidence of Police Graft
Camden Courier —
Dozen Letters From Downtown Citizens Tell of Protection in Tenderloin
HABITUES STAGE EXODUS
Vacant Houses Reported in Third and Fifth Wards After Survey
Official Camden will “go the limit” to send to jail the four members of the police department accused of fostering vice in the downtown wards and accepting protection graft from underworld characters.
Assistant City Solicitor West today issued a call for all citizens to supply him with any evidence they may have of criminal acts on the part of policemen. This move was taken after the receipt of at least a dozen letters from citizens informing Mr. West of incidents connecting the policemen with disorderly persons and violations of the law.
Underworld Characters Exit
One result of the vice expose has been a general exodus from the downtown wards of tenderloin characters. Many houses are vacant and disorderly women, procurers, dope fiends and other types of underworld denizens have disappeared from the streets. That condition was reported to Chief of Police Gravenor this morning by Captain Lewis Stehr, of the Second district. The Captain explained that his report was from policemen in citizens’ clothes who are “covering” the district twenty-four hours a day. Eight of these men have been detailed to the clean-up job and their report is that conditions in the district have improved to the extent that vacant houses are becoming common. Most of the disorderly charactors [sic] have left Camden and apparently are gone for good, the police report.
Await Action by Prosecutor
Prosecution of the four men affected by the expose now is waiting action by the office of Prosecutor Wolverton. The evidence presented to the Police Committee of City Council has been turned over to the Prosecutor and action will be taken before the Grand Jury. It has not been announced what steps are being taken to insure the presence in the city of the four men when they are called in connection with the criminal prosecutions.
The accused are George Murry, formerly a detective, and William Draper, Tony Latorre and Ira Hall, who were patrolmen connected with the First District.
The appeal of Mr. West for the aid of citizens in building up the evidence against the men came as a surprise as it was thought in police circles the evidence gathered by City Solicitor Bleakly would be the basis for any further action.
One Place Is Filled
Mayor Ellis today filled one of the four vacancies on the force. Gus Guiseppi Guarino, 34 years old, of 212 Benson street, was named to take the place of Latorre at the First District. The new policeman is married and formerly was employed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Dr. J. Haines Lippincott is examining applicants for the other places and detectives are investigating their past records.
Grand Jury Gets Graft Evidence in Murry Probe
Camden Courier —
Wolverton Promises Investigation of Vice Protection ‘From Very Bottom’
FOUR EX-POLICE ON BILL
Prosecutor Says Charges Not a Reflection Upon Entire Department
Prosecutor Charles A. Wolverton declared today evidence throwing light on the vice protecting charges laid to George Murry, ex-city detective, and three former policemen has already been presented to the members of the Grand Jury for action.
The Prosecutor, just back from a three weeks’ trip in Central America and the West Indies, asserted in an interview with a Courier representative today that “every bit of evidence” against the accused members of the police department will be presented to the Grand Jury before the investigation is over.
Burling Presents Evidence
Some of the evidence was heard by the Grand Jury before Prosecutor Wolverton left for his Southern trip on December 31. Mr. Wolverton said other testimony had been presented by Assistant Prosecutor Albert B. Burling, who was in charge of the office in the Prosecutor’s absence.
“The evidence,” said Mr. Wolverton, “will be thorough and complete. We are going to probe the charges from the very bottom. This will be no flash in the pan investigation. It will proceed quietly, without hurry, but our investigation will be complete.
“Commenting on the evidence that was given at the police hearing, which resulted in the suspension of the detective and the three policemen, Prosecutor Wolverton pointed out that considerable of that evidence could not be presented before the Grand Jury.
Hampered by Statute of Limitations
“The statute of limitations,” said the Prosecutor, “prohibits us from prosecuting a man for a crime more than two years old. The police committee was not hampered by that restriction and was able to consider evidence that dated back in 1918 and even earlier.
“Our job will be to present evidence against the men that will throw a light on their activities within the last two years to conform with the provisions of the statute.”
Mr. Wolverton praised the Camden police department for its efficient work and pointed out the charges in no wise reflected on the whole department.
Puts Great Faith in Jury
“Our police department has the reputation of being loyal, efficient and honest,” he said, “and the charges against certain individuals in the department is in no way a reflection upon the honest, conscientious members of the force.
“We should not judge the police department by the action of individuals.
“The members of our Grand Jury are all good, conscientious men and women and I am confident they will sift the matter to the bottom and do what is right,” declared Mr. Wolverton. “From my contact with them, I have been highly impressed with their ability and desire to act in the interests of the county. The investigation will be devoid of sensation or glamor, but it will be thorough and meet with popular approval.”
Walter Smith Gets Pension From City
Camden Courier-Post —
Detective to Be Retired as of Feb. 15 After 18 Years’ Service
Walter Smith, for 18 years city and district detective, has been placed on the pension list.
Smith applied for a pension to take effect April 1 but the Police and Fire Pension Commission voted to place him on the retired list as of February 15. Attending the hearing on the application were Mayor Roy R. Stewart, Fireman Newton Ash and Policeman George Clayton. Commissioner Harold W. Bennett and John J. Robinson, other members of the commission, were absent.
The widow of former Police Chief Elisha A. Gravenor applied for a pension. He died recently in Maryland. She will receive $1000 yearly.
The chief had received $1700 on the retired list.
Smith was appointed to the force by Mayor Charles H. Ellis on April 30, 1914, and three years later was made a plainclothesman.
He was paired with the late David Kates, Lieutenant Ralph Bakley, and Detectives John Trout, Louis Schlam and Joseph Carpani.
Sleuth to Retire
WALTER SMITH
Chief Colsey Dies at 67 of Heart Attack
Camden Courier-Post —
Police Head Succumbs During Sleep While Suffering From Cold
MEMBER OF FORCE IN CAMDEN 27 YEARS
Chief of Police Arthur Colsey, veteran of 27 years in the department, died of a heart attack in his sleep at his home, 2937 Stevens street, last night. He was 67.
Apparently in good health except for a slight cold, Chief Colsey left his office in City Hall at noon yesterday, telling his assistants he was going home “to nurse the cold.”
Shortly after 5 p. m., Chief Colsey asked his son, Arthur, Jr., to take Mrs. Colsey on a shopping trip. When they returned two hours later, they found him dead on a couch. The son said his father told him he was going to take a nap before he went to a doctor’s office to receive treatment for the cold.
Chief Colsey was a Camden merchant before entering the police department. For years he was active in the Republican party. He was highly respected by all men in the department. The chief was quiet in manner and the excitement pertaining to strikes in the city a few years ago found him calm in the most delicate situations.
Born in Kidderminster, England, in December, 1872, he came to this country when 17. He was in the department store business with his brothers at Ninth and Market streets for years. He served in the old City Council from 1907 to 1911 from the Second ward. At that time he lived at Eighth and Linden streets.
Joined Force in 1912
Colsey was appointed a patrolman by former Mayor Charles H. Ellis on March 13, 1912, while Elisha A. Gravenor was chief. After several months as a street patrolman he was assigned to the First District patrol wagon. Then he was made a district detective. Next he was promoted to a full ranking detective under Detective Chief William Schregler.
After being appointed a detective he was assigned as a plainclothesman and secretary to Mayor Ellis. He served in this capacity seven years. In 1923 he was appointed chief clerk of the police department with the rank of captain.
In 1924 he was made chief of the vice squad, which made 380 raids for prohibition law violations. The squad also assisted the federal authorities in 180 more liquor raids and participated in 54 raids on disorderly houses and 38 gambling places.
In 1927 the City Commission abolished the rank of captain in the department and Colsey remained as chief clerk without the title. The rank of captain was restored to him by the City Commission in 1932 by motion of Commissioner David S. Rhone.
When former Chief John W. Golden retired on a pension on June 11, 1934, Colsey was named acting chief by Mayor Roy R. Stewart. He was named permanent chief on August 30, 1934, by Mayor Stewart. At the same time John H. Lennox was named permanent chief of the fire department.
During the absence of City Commissioner Mary W. Kobus, director of public safety, Chief Colsey was acting director.
Colsey was one of the most popular men who served as chief, both in his department and in civic and political circles. After he was made a full ranking captain in 1932 a series of testimonial dinners were given by the East End Republican League, Twelfth Ward Republican Club and Eleventh Ward Republican Clubs. He was boomed for chief at each of the dinners. Another testimonial was given when he was acting chief by the Camden Police and Firemen’s Association.
In February, 1931, his appointment as chief was urged to succeed Chief Lewis H. Stehr but Golden was named.
While a resident of North Camden he served as president of the Second Ward Republican Club. He was president of the Twelfth Ward Republican Club in 1932.
Prominent Lodgeman
Chief Colsey was a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of Trimble Lodge, No. 117, Free and Accepted Masons; Crescent Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and Camden Forest, No. 5, Tall Cedars of Lebanon. He also was a member Camden Lodge, No. 293, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Camden Lodge, No. 111, Loyal Order of Moose; Camden Aerie, No. 65, Fraternal Order of Eagles; Sons of St. George, Foresters of America, Improved Order of Red Men, Camden Local, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; International Police Chiefs’ Association, New Jersey State Police Chiefs’ Association, Camden Police and Fire Association, and the Camden County Republican Association.
Coroner Ernest Larossa issued the death certificate due to a heart ailment.
The funeral will be held at 2 p. m., Wednesday with burial in Arlington Cemetery. Other arrangements have not been completed. The body will be on view from 7 to 9 p. m., Tuesday at the home.
The chief is survived by his widow, Lillie; a brother, Thomas Colsey, a merchant and ranking officer of the Loyal Order of Moose; and two grandchildren, Arthur Colsey, 3rd., and Lillian Colsey. The grandson, a student at Western Maryland College, was notified last night of his grandfather’s death and left immediately for Camden.
Camden, Now Eighty Years Old, Is Proud of Its Wonderful Growth
Philadelphia Inquirer —
City on Saint Valentine’s Day, Will Observe the Anniversary of Its Incorporation—Some Facts and Figures Concerning “Slow Town” Across the River
High School. City Hall. Mayor Charles H. Ellis. Camden Safe Deposit & Trust Co. Carnegie Library. Birds Eye View of Camden. North Baptist Church. Federal Building. Court House. Armory. N. Wayland Ayers’ Residence.
EIGHTY years will have passed on Friday, February 14, since Camden became an incorporated city, and just now the citizens are looking back over those years and recalling with a pardonable pride the epochs that have made it a community of homes, of splendid industries and of clean, progressive government. Luckily, Camden has comparatively few moss-bunkers and in consequence it has always been in the van of the modern spirit that means so much to American municipalities. With an energetic executive, with a rejuvenated Board of Trade composed of the representative business men of the city and containing residents who are anticipating an even greater Camden, the future bids well.
Although there was a settlement in what is now Camden late in the seventeenth century, it did not discard its swaddling clothes until long years after. It was in 1828 that the 1143 persons who made up the district bounded by the Delaware river and Sixth street and Cooper and Line street concluded that they should become an incorporated community. This was brought about principally as a result of the crowds that crossed the river from Philadelphia on Sundays and did pretty much as they pleased to the discomfort and anger of the townspeople. So a bill was prepared, and on February 14, of that year, the Legislature adopted it, thus making Camden the proud possessor of a charter. Samuel Laning was elected the first Mayor.
So Far, So Good
This was all very well, but Camdenites chafed over the fact of being a part of Gloucester county. There were those who thought they should have a county of their own, but Gloucester strenuously objected to having such a goodly portion sliced off for the benefit of the new city. Under the leadership of Captain John W. Mickle, however, the Camdenites carried the war into the Legislature and as a result Camden county was created. After this matters went along smoothly until 1848, when the question arose as to which community should be the county seat. Camden was opposed by Long-a-Coming, now Berlin. Matters waxed exceedingly warm, the ruralites aiding Long-a-Coming, the cities Camden.
Even yet old residents speak of the strenuous times in awesome whispers. Finally the question was decided at a special election and Camden lost. Possessed of that persistency that has made much for the success of the city, the residents did not give up by any means. They carried the fight to the Legislature and a new election was ordered. This time Camden was the victor. The farmers made all sorts of charges, but Camden remained the county seat and at present the wisdom of that selection is apparent.
Now for Town Hall
So soon as Camden became an incorporated city Mayor Laning and his counselors decided that there must be some municipal meeting place. At first the “Town Hall” was located on the second floor of Richard Fetter’s store at Third and Market streets. But in 1829 City Council voted to set aside $2500 to build a “City Hall, courthouse and jail.” This was located on Federal street, below Fifth, where stood the old market, burned down several years ago. Many exciting episodes occurred in this building, but it withstood the gibes of the residents until the early ‘70s. Then the “progressives” began agitating the question of having a new building, but it was not until 1875 that the present structure on Haddon avenue, then a corn field, was erected. And what a howl went up all over the city. “The idea of building a City Hall away out on the outskirts.”
True, it was fifteen minutes’ walk from the ferry and thirty minutes by the old Camden House Railroad Company. Well, the City Hall as it stands today, was built, and all around it and for blocks beyond are to be seen some of Camden’s most substantial residences. Now the question is being agitated for a more pretentious and modern building, the consummation of the plan not being such an idle dream as seems to be the impression.
Dark Days
Camden made steady increases in its population from the time of its incorporation until 1856. Up to that year there seemed to be every evidence that it would soon be a city of many thousands. Hundreds had moved across the river and come from distant lands to settle there, but a catastrophe occurred on March 15, 1856, which retarded its growth. While crossing the river the ferryboat New Jersey, crowded with passengers, caught fire. The river was full of ice and there was little opportunity of giving aid. In consequence sixty-one souls perished. Even yet that tragedy is often referred to by the older residents with horror.
This made many return to Philadelphia and caused others to fear going to Camden because of the fear of crossing the Delaware. Then came the panic of 1857 which also had a deterrent effect. But better times were coming for the little city and when more opportunity was given it by the revised charter of 1870, the population began increasing again. By 1880 there were over 40,000 men, women and children within the city’s confines. In two decades this had more than doubled and now there is close to 100,000 inhabitants. With increasing territory, it only being a matter of time when Merchantville, Collingswood, Woodlynne, Haddonfield, Gloucester City and other communities will be absorbed, Camden will very soon have many thousands added.
Spirit of Progress
As to the city’s government, there is everywhere in evidence a spirit of progress. Especially is this so with reference to the fire and police service. Concerning the former, Camden points with pride to the fact that last year the fire losses did not exceed $125,000. The present fire department is the outgrowth of the old volunteer organizations of nearly half a century ago. There were the Perseverance, the Niagara, the Weecacoe and other volunteer companies which did valiant service, but owing to the rivalry much valuable property was lost in sanguinary battles. In 1869 a paid fire department was created consisting of five commissioners, one fire marshal and two assistants. Thus was Camden among the first of New Jersey’s towns to have men paid to fight the flames. From that humble beginning grew the present force of nearly a hundred men under the direction of Chief Samuel Elfreth.
In the police department, under the direction of Chief Elisha A. Gravenor, there are 135 men, the outgrowth of a force of three men who protected forty years ago, the north, middle and south wards. Recently twenty-five men were added to the force, among them being several mounted men to look after the suburban sections of the city. These have already proved their value. As to crime there is little of it except of a petty nature and when the occasion arises the majesty of the law is upheld in such a manner as to give the impression that nowhere in the State is there a better exemplification of the declaration that “Jersey justice moves swiftly” than in Camden.
And Camden Water
Camden’s water is admittedly without a peer. It is drawn from artesian wells and every day over 15,000,000 gallons of it is sent through the mains. This comes from a $600,000 plant at Morris Station, which is always hailed as “Camden’s greatest asset.” Plans are under way now to augment this plant. The city’s first water plant was established after considerable controversy in 1854 at Pavonia. The Delaware River water was pumped through the mains for years. In consequence the harvest of death from typhoid fever was great. In the nineties the contagion manifested itself in such an alarming manner that the artesian plant was proposed. It was not put in operation until 1898, but the change in the water supply was at once apparent in the better health of the city. While a hundred new cases of typhoid fever within a month prior to that time was by no means unusual, subsequent to the installation of the new supply, less than half a dozen were reported within a like period. Last year there were but 38 cases of this disease and most of them were traced to other cities.
Camden has many miles of paved streets. All the principal thoroughfares are asphalted as a result of an agitation that began over a decade ago. Only lately the principal outlets of the city were ordered paved with that material—Federal street from Cooper Creek to Twenty-fifth street, Haddon avenue from Line street to Ferry avenue, and Broadway from Emerald street to Newton Creek.
The Public Schools
Then there are the schools, which are educating an army of nearly 12,000 children. Four additional modern school buildings were recently completed, making in all thirty-four, with a commodious high school. As has already been shown by The Inquirer in a previous article, Camden’s educational system is of the highest order, which has been demonstrated repeatedly by the pupils winning first prizes at contests in exhibitions of national prominence.
Camden is a city of churches. Within its confines there are close to a hundred churches and missions of all denominations. In consequence of this comparatively great church-going host, the city is peculiarly strict on Sabbatarian questions. This was evidenced a year or so ago when certain dealers sought to sell on Sunday as on other days of the week. In consequence the laws were enforced to such an extent that the Sundays, for several months, savored of the Simon Pure New England Sabbaths of Puritan days.
When Andrew Carnegie was ridding himself of his wealth some years ago, establishing libraries in many cities of the country, it was suggested that he be asked to contribute something for the benefit of the book-loving public of Camden. For months this matter hung fire, but Dr. Dowling Benjamin finally brought the subject to an issue by appealing to the Scotch ironmaster. As a result it was not long before $100,000 was sent to Camden with which to build a library with the proviso that the city expend $10,000 annually for its maintenance. This was agreed upon and a structure was erected at Broadway and Line streets that is not only pleasing to the eye because of architectural embellishments, but also on account of the thousands of volumes that are circulated to over 18,000 men, women and children.
City of Homes
Camden has approximately over 20,000 homes. These are of all kinds, from the more pretentious structures in which the wealthy reside to the humble but homelike dwellings in which the great bulk of the inhabitants live. And with the coming spring hundreds of additional dwellings will be erected in the outlying districts.
There is also a public park which is being slowly but surely developed, and if Mayor Charles H. Ellis has his way there will be several squares, a recreation pier or two and beautiful shade trees throughout the city. He proposes to have one day each year set aside to be known as the “Day of the City Beautiful” devoted to making Camden better from an artistic and orderly standpoint.
As to Camden’s business interests, they are legion. With a river front of several miles backed by the Cooper creek there is ample natural provision for industrial concerns of a varied character. A new era is heralded from the fact that the creek is to be deepened by the government so that craft of fairly deep draught may use it. Already a number of industrial manufacturing plants have signified their intention of locating along the banks of the stream and before many years there promises to be one complete chain of industries.
Just a Review
At the annual gathering of the Board of Trade last week the value of some of the city’s manufactories was expressed something in this wise: “Camden has within its border a population of nearly 100,000, and shipbuilding firms that can either supply a launch or the greatest battleship; the largest lace curtain manufactory in America; a talking machine that speaks every known language; iron works that make enough pipe to girdle the earth; leather manufactories that tan skins from all parts of the globe; the largest furniture house, whose products reach to the Philippines; banks and trust companies whose resources are not affected by panics; linoleum works, which manufacture one-half the country’s whole product; a plant whose kitchens annually make enough soup to float all the vessels built in our shipyards, a pickle works, which furnishes Uncle Sam with material for slot machines; a department store, whose experiment has proved a decided success; pen works, which produce two-thirds of the pens used in the world; an expanded metal works—the material produced there will stretch from Maine to Texas and its mills rival the largest.”
So, with the thousands of homes, its scores of industries, its charitable institutions and the manifold creations of a modern civilization, Camden is a city which is not slow, which is always in the van of progress and municipal improvement in all lines of endeavor.