Thomas J. Cheeseman Jr.

THOMAS J. CHEESEMAN JR. was born on December 9, 1886 to Thomas and Bernice Tomlin Cheeseman. He was the second child, coming after sister also named Bernice. The family was living at 650 Locust Street in Camden NJ when the 1900 census was enumerated. By this time Thomas Cheeseman Jr. had already left school, to work as an operator at a woolen mill.

By 1910 Bernice Cheeseman had passed away. Father Thomas Sr. was by then a building contractor. When the census was taken in 1910, the family was living on Zimmerman Avenue in the Delair section of Pennsauken NJ, just off of River Road. Thomas Cheeseman Jr. had married by this time. His wife Emma, then 16 was pregnant with their first child, a son, who was born in September of that year. Also at home were sisters Mabel and Emma, and his 84 year old maternal grandmother, Luanna Tomlin.

Thomas and Emma Cheeseman had moved to Camden by 1914. The family then lived at 1052 Line Street. Thomas Cheeseman Jr. then worked as a boilermaker. By June of 1917 when he registered for the draft, Thomas Cheeseman had previously served four years in the United States Navy and had been a member of the Naval Reserve for three years.

At the time of the draft, Thomas Cheeseman Jr. was the father of three children. He was then working as a laborer for the Park Moving and Storage Company, and was living in a rented house at 1105 Pine Street with his wife Emma and children Thomas III, Lillian, and Vinetta. Sadly Vinetta died in October of 1917 during the flu pandemic. Another daughter, Margaret, was born around the same time. The Cheesemans remained at the Pine Street address through at least January of 1920.

By January of 1920 Thomas Cheeseman Jr. had become a member of the Camden Police Department. He was promoted to Detective in the mid-1920s. In this capacity his name regularly appeared in the newspapers of the day.

At some point in the 1920s Thomas and Emma Cheeseman divorced. By 1929 he had remarried and was living at 718 Spruce Street with his then-wife Edith and two step-sons, Raymond and Grant Wiley.

In 1934 Thomas Cheeseman was indicted on bribery charges. He was convicted and served a short sentence in jail. After his release he moved to Cape May County.

Thomas Cheeseman Jr. was last a resident of Green Creek, in Cape May county, New Jersey. He passed away in July of 1971. He was survived by his son, Thomas Cheeseman, who remained a Camden resident until his passing in March of 1981.

Fire Captain May Die, Four Others Injured; Damage Is $200,000

Economy Store and Other Buildings Near Broadway Swept by Flames Early This Morning — Falling Debris Carries Men Through Roof And Into Cellar — Sleeping Inmates of Apartments Roused and Invalid Carried to Safety — Mayor Sees Rescues

Mayor Ellis has ordered an investigation to determine the cause of the $200,000 fire which swept the properties at 427 and 429 Kaighn Avenue and caused injury to five firemen, one of whom may be fatally hurt.

The fire centered about the property occupied by the Economy Store, formerly Handle’s, and quickly spread to four adjoining buildings.

The fireman whose recovery is despaired of is Captain Martin B. Carrigan, of Engine Company No. 2, Fifth and Arch Streets. Carrigan, who lives at 618 West Street, is suffering from a fractured skull and severe burns and cuts of the face, legs, and body. He is unconscious at Cooper Hospital.

The firemen were injured when a wall, weakened by the intense heat, crumbled and crashed through a roof upon which they were standing, dragging them through the floor below, and into a cellar. Sensational rescues followed as police, firemen, and citizens with bare hands tore at the hot debris. The men were quickly extricated and carried to the street.

“We certainly shall investigate this fire,” the Mayor declared today. “Just what was the cause and who is to blame has not been determined but there will be a thorough investigation.”

“There have been too many of these fires during the past few weeks” continued the mayor. “Surely all of them did not just happen and I am sure there has been someone responsible in one or two of the fires.”

The conflagration was one of the most spectacular of a series of large fires that have visited the city in the past six weeks. The block in which it occurred—Kaighn Avenue between Broadway and Fourth Street is one of the most prominent business squares in Camden.

Flames shot 200 feet in the air, giving the sky a fiery hue and attracted attention for miles before the firemen brought it under control. The flame-lit sky was clearly seen in Philadelphia, Merchantville, East Camden, Gloucester and other communities.

More than a score of families living in the vicinity were forced to flee from their homes in scant attire when the fire threatened them. They were cared for by neighbors.

Fireman George Boone, 46 years old, of Engine Company No. 2, also is in a serious condition. He is suffering from burns of the right hand, right thigh and foot and probable internal injuries. Boone lives at 607 Mount Vernon Street.

The other injured foremen are:

John Voll, 22 years old, 509 Royden Street: both hands badly burned.

C.J. Andrus, aged 31 years, 570 Mount Vernon Street: burns of hands and legs.

Harold Lorang, 29 years old, 19 Hudson Street: burns of right hand and legs and sprained ankle.

Firemen Prove Heroes

Carrigan and Boone are in the hospital. The other firemen were discharged after their wounds were dressed. After being released from the hospital they returned to the scene of the fire and insisted upon continuing their duties. Chief Peter B. Carter, however, ordered them home.

Most of the loss was suffered by the Economy Store. A few charred walls remain of the large building. The interior was completely gutted. It was estimated today that the damage to that property will total $60,000. At least $50,000 damage, it was said, was done to the stock.

Morris Handle, local theatrical man, who owns the building, declared today that the property was insured for $30,000. “My loss will be quite heavy,” said Mr. Handle. “The insurance will not pay one-half the property damage.”

The adjoining building at 431 Kaighn Avenue is occupied by Dr. S.I. Yubas, optometrist, and L.R. Yubas, his father, a jeweler.

Invalid is Rescued

The rear and upper floors of the Yubas property were gutted and the stock sustained a heavy loss, due to water and smoke. The damage will total $40,000, Mr. Yubas estimated today.

Five persons who were asleep on the upper floors of the Yubas dwelling had narrow escapes. They were awakened by Samuel Goldstein, haberdasher, 417 Kaighn Avenue, who discovered the fire in the Economy Store and turned in the alarm. Mrs. L.R. Yubas, an invalid, was rescued with difficulty.

The property occupied by Mrs. Sadie Bodner, a widow, at 433 Kaighn Avenue, as a house furnishings store, was scorched and also damaged by water and smoke.

Adjoining the Economy Store on the west at 425 Kaighn Avenue is a vacant one-story structure, formerly occupy by the United Beef Company. Firemen were on the roof of that building when the west wall of the Economy Store collapsed. The wall tumbled down on the small roof and hurled the firemen through a hole in the roof, through the floor and then into the cellar.

Several Stores Damaged

Three policemen, Joseph Sparks, Thomas Cheeseman, and George Hill—and several spectators braved the fire and smoke to rescue the trapped firemen.

The property at 423 Kaighn Avenue, occupied by the Charles Jamison Department Store, was damaged in the rear and the stock ruined by water and smoke. The Kresge Five-and-Ten-Cent Store, at 519–531 Kaighn Avenue, was also damaged by water.

Louis Richelson, who owns the properties from 519 to 525 Kaighn Avenue, was unable to estimate his loss today.

Collapse of Wall

Hundreds of spectators, who were watching the fire from the opposite side of the street, shuddered as they saw a brick wall, weakened by the intense heat, totter and sway. Before the firemen on the smaller roof below could scurry to safety, it collapsed.

A groan escaped the crowd as they heard the cries of the entrapped firemen and the deafening thud of the bricks as they landed on the roof where the firemen were at work.

As the full weight of the bricks struck the roof, it caved in forming a gaping hole. The firemen were literally swept into the opening.

The bricks tumbled down, causing another hole in the floor between the first story and the cellar and dragging the imperiled firemen into the cellar with them.

Mayor Charles H. Ellis was among the spectators who witnessed the collapse of the wall. Other officials were Chief James H. Long, of the Water Department; Fire Chief Carter, Assistant Police Chief Edward S. Hyde, Captain Lewis Stehr of the Second Police District, and Street Commissioner Alfred L. Sayers.

Firemen Under Debris

Observing the peril of the trapped firemen, Policemen Sparks, Cheeseman and Hill, together with a dozen other spectators, rushed across the street to the vacant store. They rushed through the smoke and fire, leaped into the cellar and reached the struggling firemen.

Sparks, the first to leap into the cellar, reached Voll, who had been pinned beneath a pile of debris and was pleading to be rescued. The policeman feverishly extricated Voll from his precarious position and carried him out into the street to safety.

Policeman Cheeseman had accidentally fallen into the cellar and, though himself injured, groped about in the dark until he found Boone, whom he dragged outside.

Policeman Hill carried Carrigan out of the cellar in his arms.

The five firemen were carried to a waiting police ambulance and rushed to Cooper Hospital. Carrigan was unconscious. He had a slim fighting chance to recover.

Carrigan was promoted to a captaincy the first of the year. He is popular among his comrades and has the reputation of being a fearless fireman.

Mayor Praises Firemen

Mayor Ellis praised the work of the firemen and the bravery of the policemen who had risked their lives to effect the rescue.

“Never did I see such remarkable work” said the Mayor. “When I arrived at the scene, it looked as if the whole block was doomed. The flames were shooting upward and the whole sky seemed lit up. The firemen tackled their job with dispatch and courage. I was proud of them. They knew their business and showed it by confining it to a comparatively small area. The work of the police also was commendable.”

Mr. Goldstein discovered the fire shortly before midnight.

“I had just left my home at 417 Kaighn Avenue,” explained Mr. Goldstein, “intending to get a soda. As I passed the Economy Store I noticed strong odor of smoke. I peered into the glass doorway of the store. I immediately saw the place was afire.”

Rescues Sleeping Family

“Then I ran back to my store” continued Mr. Goldstein, “and I telephoned police headquarters. I went out again and returned to the scene. I remembered that the Yubas family were asleep on the second and third floors and rapped on the doors. Mr. Yubas came down in a bathrobe. He was not aware of the fire.”

The six persons asleep in the Yubas home were Dr. Yubas, Mr. and Mrs. L.R. Yubas, Bernard Helfand, Miss Bertha Cuden and Anna Recowitz, a domestic.

Mrs. Yubas, who is recovering from an illness, was too weak to make her way outside through the smoke. Assisted by her husband, Policemen Becker and Cheeseman and Constable John Cunningham, Mrs. Yubas was half carried downstairs, and out through the rear of the building to safety.

Blaze Had Big Start

“The fire had gained such rapid headway,” said Sergeant Thomas Cunningham, “that when the firemen arrived, smoke was actually issuing from cracks in the sidewalks and between the cobbles near the trolley tracks.”

The second and third floors of 419 to 423 Kaighn Avenue are occupied by private families as apartments. In the rear were a number of frame dwellings. More than a score of families were obliged to leave their homes in scant attire when the firemen began playing hose upon their properties as a precaution against the fire spreading.

Mrs. Catherine Fox, 410 Sycamore Street, and Mrs. E. Chambers, 412 Sycamore Street, whose homes are in the rear of the Economy Store property, had removed part of the furniture to the street. Even after firemen assured them the danger of their homes catching on fire was over, the women and children could hardly be persuaded to return.

Crumbling walls and cracking of glass hampered the foremen in their work and made their task hazardous. The firemen were further handicapped by the big start the fire had gained. Despite this, they stuck dangerously close to the flames.

To play hose upon the fire to advantage, several firemen scaled the outside walls of adjoining properties and reached cornices, from which they directed streams of water.

High Wind Fanned Flames

A high wind gave them great difficulty. A number of times, when the firemen seemed to have the fire under control, the flames burst out afresh and compelled them to retreat. Then the reflection would light up the sky overhead.

Water Chief Long gave the firemen great service in maintaining the water at a high pressure to ensure facility in getting the streams to play upon the flames.

Kaighn Avenue, between Broadway and Fourth Street, was literally alive with residents and passers-by attracted by the flames. Included among the spectators were scores of persons who came from Philadelphia and distant points, in the belief the blaze was much more serious.

According to the estimate of the loss made today, the insurance on the property and stock damaged by the fire will not pay for one-half the loss sustained.

Chief Carter was determined to take no chances with the fire because of the high wind and the fire was attacked on all sides. While firemen were fighting the flames from Kaighn Avenue several companies of firemen had worked their way into the yard in the rear, from whence they played streams of hose.

An effort is being made today to determine the origin of the blaze.

Thomas Shannon, Engine Company 6, was a spectator when the wall crashed in. Hearing the cries of the buried men, he immediately dashed into the dirt. Six men, including Harry Seeley, formed a human chain and pulled four of the men from the heap of rubbish.

Someone had the presence of mind to turn off the nozzle of a hose, which was playing directly on the mound. When found, the water was trickling through to the pinned men.

3 Others Held by Camden Police as Leaders in Dope Peddling Gang — Operations Covered All of South Jersey — Tell of Making Buys With Auto Used as ‘Silent Salesman’

Captured after a lengthy investigation, Anthony “Babe” Paradise, of Camden has confessed to being the head of a narcotic ring operating throughout South Jersey, it was declared yesterday by Captain John Golden, head of the city detective bureau.

Paradise also admitted that he is a drug addict, Golden said, making the fact known when he became ill in his cell at the city jail and calling for Dr. W.G. Bailey, who has been treating him for the drug habit.

With three other men, who are accused as accomplices, Paradise is being held for a preliminary hearing in Police Court tomorrow morning. The four men, Golden said, will probably be held without bail pending grand jury action and be committed to the Camden County Jail. At the jail, detainers will be lodged against the quartette by Federal narcotics agents, who co-operated with city and county authorities in the investigation, which resulted in the arrests.

Golden declared that city detectives had purchased more than $500 worth of drugs from Paradise and his agents, in obtaining evidence against the ring, which authorities said reaches into Atlantic City and other South Jersey communities as well as Camden.

The three men arrested with Paradise are James Mucci, 18 years old, of 324 Stevens Street, Rocco DeCord, 21 years old, of 221 Spruce Street, and Andrew Hill, of Locust Street, near Kaighn Avenue. According to the detectives, the base of operations of the “ring” was in the Third Ward. Mucci and DeCord were arrested in a barbershop at Third and Locust streets, three blocks from the Wiley M. E. Church where the pastor, Rev. John S. Hackett, recently exposed vice conditions existing in the Third ward and assailed the Department Public Safety for laxity. The arrest of Paradise and the others is believed to be a result of the clergyman’s scathing sermons.

Paradise and Hill were arrested several hours before the other two men. Fearing that they get word to other members of the “ring” police took the two men to Merchantville police headquarters, where Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Varbalow and Chief County Detective Lawrence T. Doran were waiting. Statements were obtained from the two, and meanwhile Mucci and DeCord were taken into custody. Paradise, who is 34 years old, served a year in State Prison five years ago for selling narcotics.

Detectives George Ward, Louis Shaw, and Thomas Cheeseman, of the city, and M.H. Shapiro and J.H. McFadden, of the federal office in Philadelphia, arranged the purchase of a “deck” of heroin from Paradise, and “caught him with the goods” when he met them at Nineteenth Street and River Road, near his home at 927 North Nineteenth Street.

Paradise was in his expensive automobile when arrested. It was the machine he had used to distribute narcotics to his agents and addicts during the past few years, the detectives said.

Decks of dope which sold for $1.50 each, police said, were placed in the automobile which was driven to a certain point as prearranged, and then Paradise would leave it parked, the detectives said.

Peddling Scheme Bared

At a stated hour an agent or addict would approach the machine, take the “dope” inside, and leave money as payment. Paradise would return and collect the money received, it was said.

That the ring extended to Philadelphia, New York, and other large Eastern cities was indicated by the many times the automobile was parked at Camden bridge plaza for hours, when exchanges would be made, the detectives said.

Loot Valued at $2000 Taken From Broadway Shop; Second Visit of Thieves

Climbing to the roof of a shed in the rear of the Greenetz & Pellicoff jewelry store, 833 Broadway, burglars entered the shop early today and carried away $2,000 in loot.

At noon today, Joseph Shapiro, 29 years old, 215 South Fifth Street, a clerk in the store, was being grilled by Detectives George Ward and Thomas Cheeseman, after being booked at police headquarters as having been arrested “on suspicion.”

August 29 four suspected robbers were captured by police only a few minutes after they had smashed the plate glass window and snatched a tray of jewels at the same store.

Policeman John McTaggert reported the burglary this morning. He is the brother of Policeman James McTaggert, who participated in the capture of the four suspects last August.

Included in the loot of the burglars this morning were 35 watches left at the shop by their owners for repairs. At the shop it was said the owners of the watches would be reimbursed. Other articles stolen included 26 bracelets, 12 diamond bar pins, 15 pair of earrings, three fountain pen sets, and six strings of beads.

At 7:30 this morning, Patrolman McTaggert noticed several men standing in front of the jewelry store. He learned that they had just discovered an open window and, investigating, found the shop had been robbed.

The watches and other articles of jewelry were taken from trays and showcases. A safe in the store was left untouched.

The building next to the jewelry store at 831 Broadway is unoccupied and it was through this structure that the burglars entered. They climbed to the roof of a shed at the rear, entered a second story window and followed a corridor to an inner door of the jewelry store, forced open the door, and entered.

The capture of the four men at the store more than four months ago resulted in commendation from Chief James E. Tatem for the three officers who participated. With Policeman Edward Smith and Frank Truax, Patrolman James McTaggert took the four men at revolver’s point. The men arrested at that time, still awaiting trial, are James Toner, 54 years old, 1204 Vine Street, Philadelphia; Mervin Campbell, 24 years old, 2309 Carlisle Street; James J. Kelly, 25 years old, 2121 Brandywine Street; and Frank MacCrossan, 33 years old, of 1328 Pearl Street.

The proprietors of the store are Joseph and Michael Greenetz, 1468 Haddon Avenue, and Abraham Pellicoff, 1417 Haddon Avenue.

County Detectives Contend Philadelphia Gangster Was Slain in Quarrel Over Woman — Police Claim Hold-Up Attempt Caused Fight — Deven Charged With Crime, Flannery and Taxi Driver Held Without Bail

With city and county authorities definitely divided on the motive and circumstance of the Sixth Ward Republican Club slaying, Joseph “Polack Joe” Deven was arraigned in Camden police court today and held without bail on a murder charge.

Through County Solicitor Walter Keown, retained as his attorney, Deven waived a police court hearing and was held to await grand jury action in the slaying of Joseph Cimini, Philadelphia gangster, at the political club early Saturday morning.

At the same time County Prosecutor Ethan P. Wescott announced his operatives had abandoned the theory Cimini was killed as the aftermath of an attempted hold-up, and were concentrating their investigation in the case on an effort to “find the woman.”

Statements of witnesses to the fatal shooting, the prosecutor added, made no mention of a hold-up, but contained the declaration that Cimini had been shot as a result of a feud with Charles “Chick” Hunt, former South Camden pugilist, concerning the affection of “Chick’s girl.”

Police Claim Holdup

On the other hand, Captain John Golden, chief of the city detective bureau, declared he was unable to recall any mention of a girl in the statements obtained from witnesses, and added emphatically that his department still held the shooting had followed an attempted holdup of the club by Cimini and Joseph “Mose” Flannery.

Flannery and Hunt were both witnesses to the shooting by Deven, picturesque figure in Third Ward politics, which occurred at the Sixth Ward Club’s headquarters, 908 Broadway.

After Deven had appeared in Police Court today, Flannery was arraigned as a material witness and as an accessory to the crime, with an additional charge accusing him of carrying concealed deadly weapons. Similar charges were made against Russell Sage, a taxicab driver, who arrived at the club with Flannery and Cimini early Saturday morning. These two were committed to the county jail without any bail by Judge Bernard Bertman.

Hunt, however, was released under $1,000 bail as was Martin O’Brien, 27 years old, a former New Jersey State Trooper, and Harry Waterhouse, 28 years old, 1102 Marion street.

Three Others Arrested

During the day the police continued to build up their case against Flannery by arraigning him on the charges made by Milton Feinstein and Henry Mehrer. They also arrested Joseph Genther, 29 years old, 414 Atlantic Avenue; Robert Wolfe, 21 years old, 1106 Mechanic Street, and Eli Conaghy, 27 years old, 814 South 6th Street. Wolfe, who is Flannery’s brother-in-law, and Genther were held “on suspicion” of having been with “Mose” at the time the latter is declared to have attacked and attempted to rob Mehrer, an Audubon policeman, outside the Ringside Inn, on the Black Horse Pike.

Conaghy, Flannery and Sage were arraigned and held without bail on charges of threatening to kill Feinstein and of carrying concealed deadly weapons. Feinstein declares these three with Cimini, the slain man, entered his cafe on January 2 and attempted to hold him up, threatening to kill him if he refused to “come across.” When he defied them by telling them to “go ahead and shoot,” Feinstein says, they departed.

Wolfe, Genther, and Conaghy were arrested by City Detectives George Ward and Thomas Cheeseman. It was Cheeseman who lodged the formal complaint of murder against Deven.

Two Others Released

Two other men who were questioned in connection with the murder case were in court this morning but neither was held. They are Newton Blanchard, 923 St. John Street, a former boxing referee and alleged “stick man” at the crap game declared to have been in progress at the club before the shooting, and Michael Dandrea, 26 years old, of 1657 Norris Street. Both men had been released after questioning on Saturday. Police say they are the men who told police that trouble was imminent at the club and that “Flannery and another fellow are trying to stick up a bunch of other fellows.”

The city police hold-up theory was further attacked today by Francis J. McCarthy, a Philadelphian, who arrived before noon at the county prosecutor’s office and said he would co-operate with the authorities. He wishes to clear the dead man, he said, of the stigma of suspicion that he was slain while engaged in an attempted robbery.

Hearing in Police Court was brief. There was no testimony and Keown merely announced Deven would waive a hearing. Appearing also as attorney for Hunt, O’Brien, and Waterhouse, he said the other three men were “present at the unfortunate shooting” and thus should be held as material witnesses. He added the prosecutor’s office had permitted the release of the three under $1,000 bail each and requested Judge Bertman follow suit. The court acceded to this request but stipulated that new bail must be provided. The three men were freed shortly afterward when the bond was furnished by James Louis, 603 Kaighn Avenue, who had provided the bail yesterday in the prosecutor’s office.

Despite the declaration by two Camden district detectives who were present at the time and who said there was no evidence that gambling was in progress at the club, county detectives disclosed today that statements of the shooting contained the assertion that the men had gathered for a crap game.

These witnesses also declared the fatal shooting resulted from an argument over a woman for whose attention Cimini and Hunt were rivals.

In circles where the leading figures in the shooting move, it was freely predicted things would be fixed up for Deven and that Flannery, political worker and supposed gangster, was to be “made the goat.”

Flannery is blamed by the city police for precipitating the battle. He has also been identified, according to County Detective Howard Smith, as one of the men who beat and robbed Henry Mehrer, an Audubon policeman, outside the Ringside Inn on the Black Horse Pike a fortnight ago. In addition, he is charged with attempting to hold up Milton Feinstein, cafe proprietor, 508 Kaighn Avenue. Cimini and Sage were also identified by Feinstein, according to Detective Smith.

According to the version of Cimini’s death given in statements by witnesses to county detectives, “Chick” Hunt might have been the victim of the slaying had it not been for Deven’s interference.

Gamble Over Affections

Like actors in a carefully-rehearsed drama, the various witnesses to the shooting made their statements nearly twelve hours after the shooting and, both city and county detectives say they agreed in all important aspects. Prosecutor Wescott declared, however, that no mention of an attempted hold-up was made despite the fact that City Detectives Clarence Arthur and Clarence Bunker—before whose eyes Cimini was shot down—stated Flannery and Cimini were holding the other men at bay when the detectives entered the room.

Instead, the statements of the witnesses described the scene as a dramatic gamble, with death as the stake, over the affections of a woman beloved by both Cimini and Hunt. This woman, who is married and estranged from her husband, is being sought today, Prosecutor Wescott said. According to detectives, Hunt was severely beaten last Wednesday night in a downtown gambling place by members of Cimini’s gang. Cimini, known also as Joseph Gannon, was a brother of William Cimini, a pugilist known in the ring as Billy Gannon.

The stories told by the witnesses place Hunt as one of the players in the crap game which was in progress at the club on Saturday morning. Deven was at the window, looking out, according to the witnesses, when he saw a taxicab draw up in front of the building. Flannery, Cimini and Sage descended and entered the club, it was declared.

“Here comes Mose, Chick, with that guy what’s gunnin’ for you” Deven is declared to have shouted.

A dozen gamesters fled from the room. “Chick” and a few of his friends held their ground and were waiting when the trio entered. Cimini, it is stated, walked over to Hunt.

“I told you,” he said with a sneer, “to stay away from that dame. She’s my girl. You were warned and now you gotta take your medicine.”

Hunt said nothing.

Flannery drew from his pockets two automatics and flung them on the green-topped table, the stories go.

“C’mon, Chick,” he said. “Don’t be yella. He toldja about the broad and he toldja what he’d do. Take your gun and shoot it out.”

“Chick” demurred.

“I don’t want none of that stuff, Mose,” he pleaded. He eyed Cimini carefully as the latter held one hand on the butt of a pistol which protruded from his belt.

Deven Interferes

Hunt made no careless movements toward the pistols on the table. Then Deven is declared to have interfered.

“None of that stuff, Mose” he said warningly. “Who’s this guy to come here making trouble? He’s no member, is he?”

Cimini moved quickly, the witnesses say. With an upward flip of his hand he brought the barrel of the automatic sharply against Deven’s chin. The latter lurched forward snatching one of the pistols from the table.

The weapon was discharged, the bullet tearing through Cimini’s heart. He died instantly.

The next moment, Arthur and Bunker, district detectives summoned by one of the players who had fled, burst through the door and lined up the men against the wall.

A short time later police arrested Blanchard and Dandrea. Blanchard, police say, was the man who gave them warning of the impending battle. Both men were released after questioning.

Released from Lakeland

The detectives found Deven cringing with fear under the table, the weapon still in his hand. Four other pistols were picked up in different parts of the room.

Deven was identified as a lovesick husband who appeared in the prosecutor’s office several month’s ago and asked to be “put away.” His wife had left him, he said, and he was afraid he might harm someone.

He was committed to the asylum at Lakeland. When or how he was released is a mystery. Lakeland officials said they had no record of him. Deven once shot himself in a suicide attempt police say, in grief over estrangement from his wife.

Gangdom’s prevailing opinion is that Flannery is “in” for it. Attempts and threats against the blond gangster’s life have furnished many lurid tales for the habitués of downtown hangouts.

Further, Flannery has made many bitter enemies through his political activities. In the last election he worked as a Democrat against “Mikey” Brown in the Eighth Ward. His overbearing tactics and bravado among the other downtown characters has increased the feeling against him, it is said.

Thus far, he has succeeded in keeping out of the toils for any length of time. His police record includes arrests for rum-running, carrying concealed weapons, alleged ballot frauds and attempted murder. His most recent arrest came in Philadelphia when he figured in a pistol battle in which a man was slain.

Guard Span, Ferry in Hunt for Thugs; Four Others Robbed

Entering a grocery store at Van Hook and Seventh Streets under the pretense of being customers, two men knocked Mrs. Mary Maska, the proprietor, to the floor this morning and robbed the cash register of $162.

Recovering from the blow, delivered by one of the pair, the woman telephoned police, who immediately set up guards at the entrance to the bridge and at the ferry terminals, apparently in the belief that the thugs were from Philadelphia.

The men were described by Mrs. Maska as colored, both small in stature. One was shabbily dressed, wearing a torn overcoat, she said. The other was neatly garbed. Both wore caps.

The robbery occurred at 9 o’clock this morning and although Mrs. Maska screamed for help after the men had fled, no help came. City Detectives George Ward and Thomas Cheeseman arrived at the scene in response to her call to police headquarters.

The men entered the store, where Mrs. Maska was alone and one tendered her a quarter in supposed payment for a small quantity of bologna. This was done, detectives believe, in order to give the men an opportunity to see the contents of the cash drawer in the cash register. In ringing up the quarter, Mrs. Maska revealed that there was a quantity of paper money in this drawer.

The second of the bandits then asked for a cigar and Mrs. Maska left the cash register for another part of the store. As she did so, one of the men struck her on the head and then looted the cash till.

Got Pre-War Liquor

Several bottles of pre-war liquor were among the loot taken by burglars who broke into the home of William Bonstedt, 510 Clinton Street, during the absence of the family over the weekend. In addition to the liquor, the thieves got several articles of jewelry and $20 in cash. The robbery was discovered when the family returned from the seashore last night.

Mrs. Mary Gushue, proprietor of a boarding house at 423 Walnut Street, reported $80 stolen from a bureau drawer.

Police also discovered that the home of Wilfred Kaighn, 567 Benson Street, had been entered and ransacked during the family’s absence at Pittsburgh. Until Kaighn returns, it will be impossible to determine how much loot was taken, detectives said.

James O’Donnell, 31 years old, 545 Penn Street, was arrested yesterday after he was seen breaking into a tool house at Baird and Crescent Boulevards.

When O’Donnell was arrested by George Zeitz, a patrolman, he was found to have in his possession a sweater he had taken from the shed which contained supplies from a building operation nearby. A companion with O’Donnell escaped according to Zeitz.

Two women charged with soliciting, another with operating a disorderly house and one man were arrested by Second district police over the weekend in a drive against disorderly persons.

One of the women, Louise Noel, 23, and the man, Jake Keller, 45, of 3061 Mickle Street, were arrested when District Detectives Vernon Jones and Thomas Cheeseman raided an alleged disorderly house at 652 South Second street.

The Noel woman was released in $500 bail while Keller was freed in $25 security as a material witness.

The other arrested and held in $500 bail were Ethel Morgan, 34, of 626 South Third Street, and Frances Randolph, 25, of 312 Pine Street. They were “picked up” on South Camden street corners.

Sentenced by Judge Shay After Pleading Guilty to Holdup Charge

Pleading guilty in criminal court to holding up two South Camden men last February, and to a gun toting charge, Louis “Blackie” Battino, 23, of 805 South Fifth street, was sentenced to three to five years in state prison by Judge Samuel M. Shay yesterday.

Bottino, who was captured in a New York “love nest” on a fugitive warrant after he jumped a $5000 bail bond here, was first arrested by Detective Thomas Cheeseman on the night of the holdup. He was identified by Marvin Johnson, of 926 South Ninth Street, and Louis Puggsley, of 312 Benson Street, who said the man stuck a revolver in a car in which they were seated and robbed them of $28.

County Detective Fiore Troncone and New York detectives surprised Bottino in an apartment at Ninth Avenue and Fifty-fourth Street, New York, with a woman. Patsy Costagno, 23, of 2412 South Watts Street, Philadelphia, an alleged accomplice of Bottino, was sentenced April 19, 1932, to serve 13 years in jail on three indictments for participation in the crime and carrying concealed deadly weapons.

C. Lawrence Gregorio, counsel for Battino, pleaded for another chance for his client, pointing out the youth of the prisoner. Judge Shay, however, remained unmoved and imposed sentence.

Second District police seized a “wash boiler” still and arrested three persons last night when they raided a dwelling at 954 South Ninth Street.

Arrested were George Young, 29; his wife, Ethel, 19, and Anna Fussel, 37, of 614 Chestnut Street. Police also took along the Young’s three year-old son, Julian, and lodged him in the detention room under the care of a police matron until his parents obtain bail.

The raid was staged by Sergeant Walter Mattison and District Detectives Vernon Jones and Thomas Cheeseman.

Young was held as proprietor and the others as material witnesses. He will be given a hearing today.

A 40-gallon still and five gallons of “white mule” were seized and three persons arrested last night when Detectives Thomas Cheeseman and Vernon Jones raided a house at 828 South Second Street.

Crayton Hopkins, 19, of that address, was held in default of $500 bail as the proprietor pending a hearing today. Lucille Johnson, 28, also of that address, and William Makson, 26, of 3709 Warren Street, Philadelphia, were held in default of $100 bail as material witnesses.

Police Judge Garfield Pancoast expressed indignation Saturday against what he termed “lying defendants” and sentenced three of them to jail in default of fines as the result of a South Camden liquor raid.

A 40 gallon still and five gallons of “white mule” were seized by Thomas Cheeseman and Vernon Jones, detectives, at 838 South Second Street Friday night. After Crayton Hopkins, 19, arrested as the proprietor, testified that he did not know who owned the still, and that he was merely hired at the place, the court expressed skepticism and sentenced Hopkins to 100 days in default of a $100 fine. Hopkins had named “George Smith” as his employer.

Lucille Johnson, 28, also of the South Second Street address, and William Makson, 26, of 3109 Warren Street, Philadelphia, were sentenced to 90 days each in default of $100 fine when they testified they knew nothing about the place or its ownership.

“I’m tired of people lying who are caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing,” Pancoast said, imposing the sentences.

The still was found on the second floor of the house, according to Detective Jones. He said Makson was arrested as he left the rear of the place with a 2 gallon container of liquor around his waist.