Harry C. Kreher
HARRY C. KREHER was born in Pennsylvania in 1890. At the age of 24 he married his wife Mary, who was eight years his junior. A daughter, also named Mary, was born about two years later. The 1923 City Directory shows Harry Kreher working as a policeman and living at 534 Pearl Street. By February of 1928 Harry Kreher was working as a motorcycle police officer on the Camden Police Department. The Kreher family then owned a home at 423 Morse Street in East Camden.
Harry Kreher was still riding the police motorcycle in August of 1936, when he observed a bus with a wheel on fire on the Admiral Wilson Boulevard.
By 1947 the Kreher family had moved out of Camden, according to the City Directory published that year.
In 1953 Harry C. Kreher passed away and was buried at Locustwood Cemetery in Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill), New Jersey. His wife later moved to Barrington NJ, where in 1959 she lived at 220 Edwards Avenue.
Held in $500 Bail
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Declaring that her stepfather, James Bland, 48 years old, of 914 South Eighth street, threatened her life with a revolver, Mrs. Joseph Jackson, of 708 Master street, appeared before Recorder Stackhouse, in Camden yesterday and caused Bland to be held in $500 bail for his appearance in the Criminal Court. Mounted Policeman Harry Kreher testified that he found the revolver in the possession of the accused man after he had been attracted by a quarrel. The family jar was started over a dispute in the ownership of property.
Home Brew Explodes, 3 in Family Injured
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Camden Man’s Kitchen Spattered With Prunes and Raisins
An explosion of the contents of a home made still yesterday injured Rudolphe Velke, his wife, and 6-year-old daughter Ella and caused considerable damage to their home at 411 Liberty street, Camden. A piece of the copper tank with which Velke was trying his hand as a home brewer cut his wife’s forehead. Velke and his little daughter were severely scalded.
The noise startled the neighborhood. George Frost and Harry Kreher, of the motorcycle squad, hurried to the house and found Velke sorrowfully surveying the wreckage. Hot prunes and raisins, liberally used in the brew, were much in evidence on the walls and floors.
The copper tank was hopelessly ruined and the coils badly twisted. Many windows in the house were broken.
“It was my first experience and it will be my last,” said Velke to the police.
Discovery of Body and Underground Chambers
Camden Courier —
Discovery of the body of a white baby several weeks old, human bones and other gruesome articles in a maze of dungeon-like caves and sub-cellars under 413 and 415 Liberty Street today have led the police to hold without bail “Doctor” H.H. Hyghcock, 71 year-old negro preacher, medicine man and undertaker.
The weird discoveries were made in the fantastically furnished “torture chambers” and “witch caves” under the houses. In addition statements made to Patrolman Charles Naylor and a Courier reporter by a seven-year-old daughter of the accused man, point to a possibility of a woman having been murdered in the place only last week.
“Weirdest Ever” Says Tempest
The labyrinth of underground passages and chambers discovered under the houses is declared by Deputy Director Tempest to be the “strangest and weirdest layout” he ever has visited in all his long career in police work.
Twisting and narrow underground passages and half-buried doors in almost inaccessible portions of the underground passages led to a belief that many more chambers remain for the police to enter in their underground exploration.
Deputy Tempest has ordered that a complete search be made of every corner of the cellars and sub-cellars and that if necessary the two houses above be torn down to make examination possible. The earth of all the cave floors is being dug up by the police in search of further clues.
Bone of Forearm is Found
The white baby’s body was found shortly before 1:00 PM today, lying in a large glass jar in one of the sub-cellars. What is believed to be the bone of a child’s forearm had been found in one of the passages a short time before. In another glass jar the police found what they report to be a human stomach.
To count the rooms, or divisions, of the many underground passages is impossible, because of the irregular arrangement, up and down and in all directions. Some of the policemen engaged in the exploring task have estimated there are more than 75 different compartments.
Second Arrest is Made
While the police were exploring the place shortly after noon a colored man walked into the Liberty Street entrance and started down the tunnel leading to the underground chamber as if he were well acquainted with the place.
Arrested and taken into police custody was Louis Reeves, 23 years, 1061 Ivins Street. He had been employed as a chauffer to drive the voodoo doctor’s automobile, he said, and he had been accustomed to visiting “Doctor” Hyghcock daily and being given a bottle of soda water. That was the only purpose of his visit today, he declared, and he disclaimed any knowledge of the activities of Hyghcock.
The little daughter of the “proprietor” of the strange “place of horrors” made her hair-raising statements while being questioned in regard to her father’s recent activities.
“Shot a Woman”—Took Her Away
“How many people has your father killed here?” she was asked.
“He never killed nobody until last week” she replied with childish frankness. “Then he shot a woman, and he took her away in her automobile at night.”
In his cell at City Hall, Hyghcock maintains an air of mysterious silence. He is of an impressive personal appearance, although below medium height, he has a proud bearing, made more compelling by his white hair, mustache and imperial.
He has boasted to acquaintances that he is the father of 32 children.
Bootblacks tell of him giving 50 cent tips.
Hyghcock was arrested last night when he appealed to police, demanding a warrant for an unknown thief about whom he told a weird tale of threats to return and kill him. Hyghcock styles himself a clergyman, physician, an undertaker, a real estate operator, a clairvoyant, a palmist, and a fortune teller.
Hyghcock was held on $500 bail early today on the charge of obtaining money under false pretenses and in an equal amount on the charge of practicing medicine without a license when arraigned before Police Judge Cleary this morning.
He could not raise the money and was held in jail.
Then, when the other discovered were made, he was held without bail.
A visit to his place by the police led to the exploration of the intricate series of underground chambers. They were separated by swinging doors operated by mechanical springs. Some of the cave-like dungeons contained weird contraptions, like ancient machinery of torture, believed to have been used in connection with “cures,” to which patients of the voodoo man were terrified.
Patient Believes In Him
Besides Hyghcock police arrested as material witnesses Mrs. Bipp Hyghcock, 43 years old, said to be his wife, and Mrs. Lotte Ingram, also a negress, 43 years old, of 59 North Peach Street, Philadelphia.
Mrs. Ingram, who was found in the house at 413 Liberty Street, said she was there to receive treatment for heart disease from Hyghcock. In a statement to Detective Hunt, Mrs. Ingram said she gave Hyghcock $25 as part payment for the cure of her disease, and that she had been visiting his house for several months. Upon questioning she revealed further that Hyghcock had given her herb medicines, adding that she had faith in his powers and believed she was being healed.
Hyghcock has no license to practice medicine, police say.
The revelation of the startling interior of the place and the practice of Hyghcock, at the Liberty Street houses, both of which were rented by him, was brought about when the “doctor” inquired for a magistrate to issue a warrant for a Philadelphia man who, he said, stole some automobile tools from him and threatened to return to slay him. Hyghcock made the first inquiry of Howard Westsell, 797 Mt. Vernon street, who was standing at Railroad and Kaighn Avenues at 6:00 o’clock last night. Westsell referred him to Howard Fisher, a negro policeman of the Second District, who approached the two.
Cops Take Him Home
Fisher, becoming suspicious, questioned Hyghcock, who became evasive and insisted that the officer could not aid him. Fisher placed him under arrest, summoned Policeman James McTaggart and William Prucella, of the Second District, who were in plain clothes at the time, and went to the Hyghcock house, where they were admitted.
In the house at 413 Liberty Street the policeman found Mrs. Ingram, Mrs. Hyghcock, and the latter’s 7 year old daughter. The two women were sent to police headquarters for questioning.
The dingy front room of the house was heated with a glowing coal stove and dimly lighted with a flickering kerosene lamp, faintly disclosed several ancient and must articles of furniture, several dozen bottles of soda water inside a glass showcase most of whose sides were missing or broken, several mysterious looking grips, bed-clothing, bric-a-brac, and other odd articles scattered about, it suggested what might be found in the rudely constructed entrances to chambers beyond.
In the glow of their flashlights the officers made a hurried search of the premises.
Entering the kitchen the trio descended a narrow, winding cellar-way into a gloomy cellar.
Tunnels Explored
McTaggart branched into one passageway, while Fisher and Prucella each chose a different path. After stumbling upon blind tunnels which ended in closets or in compartments from which there were no exits, the three officers joined into one party.
Stooping at times under low ceilings, squeezing between the sides of converging walls, jumping over pits covered with rotted trapdoors, and pushing through a seemingly endless series of doors rudely constructed of odd pieces of lumber, and each equipped with a powerful springs, the officers wormed their way through a tunnel extending 50 feet under the yard after leaving the cellar. It ended at a trapdoor in the floor of a ramshackle refuse littered woodshed in the rear of the yard.
As soon as they emerged they took Hyghcock, who had accompanied them through the tunnels, to police headquarters.
Cops Go Look For More
Hyghcock, his wife, and Mrs. Ingram were placed under arrest. Captain Arthur Colsey assembled Sergeant Charles Smith and Policemen Prucella, McTaggart, Howard Fisher, Harry Kreher, William Bryant, Herbert Anderson, and John Bryant of headquarters for a needed investigation of the premises. On the way to the house the patrol picked up Officers Enoch Johnson, Charles Smith, and William Michalak.
With the arrival of the patrol a crowd gathered in front of the unkempt buildings. Bordering the gloomy houses on each side are modest, well-kept two and three story homes, inhabited by white families.
Guided by flashlights and lanterns, a long line of policemen laboriously wound through the circuitous underground passages, scrutinizing every nook, and opening every container upon which they came.
Many Rooms Entered
At least seventy-five rooms or compartments were entered and hurriedly examined. Contents of innumerable closets and holes in walls were left undisturbed for fear that they would litter the narrow passageway and block the progress of the searchers.
In one room was found a large cartwheel daubed with dabs of white paint on each spoke. The wheel was mounted on a short upright axis set into the ground, permitting its rotation. Above the wheel was suspended a stuffed bird. The legs could be made to twitch and the wings to flap by the manipulation of a set of strings attached to them and fastened to a stick in an adjoining den.
Beside these the room contained an old iron bed, an oil lamp, and an oil stove. Other dens were similarly furnished.
Wires and Bells and Things
Closets and alcoves revealed odd collections of preserves, trinkets, charms, and indescribable odds and ends. In one closet in the kitchen of 413 Liberty Street were discovered a complicated set of improvised signaling devices. Wires attached to sticks will ring bells and unlock doors and various rooms of the house. Each door was equipped with a spring and bolts, and contained bells of various shapes and sizes.
In the rear of 413 Liberty Street partitioned with odd boards, curtains, and rags was a chapel. This room, about 10 feet wide by 13 feet long, contained an old wheezy organ, an altar, and religious pictures. Two more organs helped furnish two other rooms.
In a bedroom by the third floor of 413 Liberty Street, evidently occupied by Hyghcock, the searchers found charms sewed up in bags, odd implements, and three high silk hats.
Mrs. Hyghcock said that she her husband and daughter had occupied the two houses for eight years. Hyghcock, she said, had been working on the tunnels and underground dens for four years, carrying out earth in small quantities and depositing it in the back yards. Police doubt that all the sand extracted from the subterranean dens would have been dumped in the yard, and believe that Hyghcock must have carried it away under the cover of darkness.
The Police Knew Him
A year ago Hyghcock was arrested by District Detectives David Kates and Walter Smith on Mount Ephraim Avenue near Van Hook Street. At that time he was searching for a policeman to report a hold-up. Looking into the closed automobile, the detectives found in the tonneau a bed in which lay a young negress, a lighted lantern hung from the roof, and a kerosene lamp on the floor. After questioning at police headquarters Hyghcock so changed his first story of an alleged hold-up on Kaighn Avenue and Cooper River bridge that the police disbelieved his tale.
Captain Colsey will notify the fire department today to safeguard the buildings from fire hazards and also will call to the attention of the health department the unsanitary condition of the place.
In his seventeen years completed with the police department, Captain Colsey said he has never seen such a layout.
Policeman Harry Kreher Plays Role of Kipling Character
Camden Courier —
ICE WATER WAGON MAKES THE ROUNDS
Replaces ‘Quick Drink in Alley Back of a Saloon’
Back in the grammar school days, when the day came around for the pupils to “speak pieces,” Harry Kreher used to hear about “Gunga Din,” that widely known colored gentleman of Mr. Kipling’s who was a sort of early prohibitionist in the rough.
But in those days, Harry Kreher never thought that he’d be called upon to play “Gunga Din” to the huskies of Camden’s finest.
At the present time, however, that’s the role he is taking in these humid days of steaming pavements and thirsty cops. He is, in fact, the official “Gunga Din” of the Camden police force.
Mr. Din, you will remember was water boy to that particular portion of the British army which did its stuff somewhere in India and his light refreshments—though, according to Mr. Kipling they were far from sanitary—were widely welcomed.
And now Mr. Kreher—or, more properly Motorcycle Officer Kreher—is being greeted whenever he appears in the neighborhood of a fellow policeman. Realizing that traffic officers and patrolmen frequently get thirsty in this hot weather, and that times have changed since the days when a cop could knock on a back door and have a foaming glass thrust out to him, Chief Tatem has appointed Kreher to the official management of the police force refreshment wagon.
Kreher, on his motorcycle, rides about town, bearing in his sidecar a large tank of ice-water which he distributes to those thirsty policemen he meets.
“It saves time,” says Chief Tatem, “and is appreciated by the men. Heretofore they’ve had to walk several blocks, sometimes, to get a drink—of water. This way, they watch out for Kreher and there you are.”
Officer Kreher guarantees that his ice-water is far superior to that of Gunga Din.
“And there are lots of people who have become so that they enjoy ice-water as a drink these days,” he comments.
Runaway Boys Find Mealtime Irregular
Camden Courier-Post —
Two runaway boys told Police Judge Bertman today in police court that there wasn’t much of a kick in running away from home. One of the drawbacks, they declared, was not eating regular.
The boys, John Gillis, 16 years old, 517 Birch street, and Artilo Alleva, 15 years old, 535 South Second street, were arrested by Motorcycle Policeman Harry Kreher as they were stealing bottles of milk from a downtown doorstep.
“What did you run away from home for?” Judge Bertman asked.
“We wanted to find out what it felt like. We have only been gone a week.”
“Do you like being away from home?” the court asked.
“No sir, we like it home the best because we eat regular.”
The boys were turned over to their parents.
Fire Chief Guest at Honor Dinner
Camden Courier-Post —
Capt. Kreher, Veteran of 22 Years, Given Send-Off on Eve of Retirement
Fire Capt. Herman Kreher, a veteran of 22 years in the city fire-fighting forces, was tendered a dinner last night by more than 60 comrades upon the occasion of his fiftieth birthday. His efficient supervision of Engine Company No. 11 was lauded by Acting Chief John Lennox, who presented him with a gold wrist watch in behalf of his fellow firemen. George Wonsetter was toastmaster.
The affair was held in Stefiel’s Hall, directly across from the firehouse at Twenty-seventh and Hayes avenue.
Attending the dinner were Mrs. Kreher, their children, Tillie, Wilhelmina, Herman and Edwin, and Motorcycle Patrolman Harry Kreher, brother of Captain Kreher. Addresses were also made by Deputy Chief William Herring and Battalion Chiefs Walter Mertz, Charles Errickson and Waldo Jones.
The committee included Firemen William Mountey [sic], chairman; Howard Curry, Nelson Till, William Gettner, Michael Mungoli, John Mohrfeld, Herman Dreas, John Peterson and Harry Hess.
21 Escape in Bus Fire on Wilson Boulevard
Camden Courier-Post —
Twenty-one passengers escaped unhurt from a shore bus which caught fire at Admiral Wilson and Baird boulevard at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Motorcycle Policeman Harry Kreher noticed a wheel on fire on a Quaker City Transportation Company bus bound for Philadelphia from Atlantic City. He notified the driver, Elmer Elkins, 4727 Frankford avenue, Philadelphia, who pulled over to the curb and tried to extinguish the blaze with water obtained from a gasoline station. Patrolman Edward Burnett notified the city fire department and the fire was put out before the bus had been badly damaged.
Thousands of shorebound motorists witnessed the mishap.
Police Open Drive on Speed, Parking
Camden Courier-Post —
Campaign in City to Reduce Accidents, Frost Says; Man Fined
Camden Police yesterday began another drive against motorists who violate city traffic regulations. The campaign is an effort to reduce accidents.
Lieutenant George Frost, in charge of the traffic bureau, announced the drive would continue for several weeks. One man was arrested today and fined $10 in police court by Judge Lewis Liberman.
“I have instructed all motorcycle and traffic police to make a thorough check on double-parking, all day parkers, violators of one-way street signs and speeders,” Lieutenant Frost said today. “Accidents have been occurring with increasing rapidity and we are going to do what we can to stop them.”
The police official said many office workers in the central section of the city drive their cars to work and park them on busy streets for an entire day. He also pointed out this was the practice on streets adjoining the factory districts and said the two-hour parking law would be strictly enforced hereafter.
John Ascola, 41, of 71 Market Street, Salem, was arrested by Patrolman Harry Kreher. Kreher said he chased the car driven by Ascola for more than a mile on Broadway.
Asked by Prosecutor John H. Reiners if he knew the speed limit in Camden, Ascola replied: “Yes, 10 miles an hour.” He admitted to “doing 15.” Kreher said it was nearer 50. Ascola paid the fine.