Walter M. Patton

WALTER M. PATTON served as a patrolman in the Camden Police Department’s First District.

Camden’s most affectionate citizen has been found. He’s 73 years old and he spent last night behind bars.

The arrest of Dominick Botleron, 533 Mechanic street, came after he had battled policemen in the operating room of Cooper Hospital at midnight when they refused to be kissed or let him kiss all the nurses and doctors in sight.

“My name’s Valentino,” shouted the man, as Patrolman Walter Patton picked him up from a gutter at Third and Becket streets and loaded him into the First district patrol.

At the hospital where surgeons attempted to sew up a gash in his head, he boasted of being the “sheik of South Camden,” and then tried to osculate everyone in the room.

He frustrated the policemen’s attempt to take him home by giving six different addresses and was finally locked in a cell. Today sentence was suspended when he was arraigned before Judge Bertman in police court on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Arrested last night in an apartment house on Federal street, two Gloucester men and two young Camden girls were found guilty of disorderly conduct after a hearing before Judge Bernard Bertman in police court this morning. Martha O’Hara, 22 years old, of 804 Federal street, was sentenced to 30 days in jail; her 15-year-old sister, Anna, was sent to the Detention Home; George Mickle, 28 years old, of 305 Mercer street, Gloucester, was sentenced to 30 days in jail, and Edward Jones, 33 years old, of 518 Ridgway street, Gloucester, received 20 days.

Henry Ford, owner of the apartment house at 638 Federal street, said that tenants had complained that a party in the third-floor suite disturbed them. He called Policeman Charles Stone and later summoned Policemen Walter Patton and Raymond Stark, members of the First district patrol crew.

Stone testified that the men were intoxicated, and that he and Policeman Stark found the girls, scantily clad, hiding behind clothing in a bedroom closet.

Four Suspects Caught as Series of Weekend Robberies Keep Police Busy

Trio Held at Gloucester for Robbing Store at Westville Grove

OIL STOVE IS STOLEN

Loot valued at several hundred dollar was recovered and four men arrested over the weekend as many robberies were reported to police throughout South Jersey.

Three of the men arrested were captured in Gloucester when merchandise stolen from a Westville Grove store and garage was found in their automobile. The fourth man was arrested in Camden.

Those under arrest in Gloucester, are Joseph Rietseh, 47, of 1245 Palmer street; Joseph Dorman, 18, of 103 Chango street, and Charles Headley, 18, of 936 North Fourth street, all of Philadelphia.

The loot found in their car consisted of automobile tires, cigarettes, safety razors, tubes and other articles. It had been stolen from the store and garage of George A. Fields, Delsea Drive, Westville Grove.

The three men were arrested by Patrolmen Walter Lane and William Fowler, who stopped their car because it had but one headlight.

Taken back to Westville the three men were held without bail for the grand jury by Recorder Charles H. Benner.

Held For Theft

When he walked down Federal Street with an oil stove Armstead Saunders, 56, of 314 Taylor Avenue, was stopped by the police Saturday night.

An investigation revealed he had picked it up as he passed the second-hand store of W. L. Ernest, 408 Federal Street, according to Patrolmen Walter Patton and Raymond Stark.

Saunders will have a hearing today before Police Judge Pancoast, on a charge of larceny.

James Josephson, 3320 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, a salesman for the Household Institute of New York reported the loss of two cases of aluminum ware and an investigation was conducted by Detective Sylvester McGrath. Upon information he entered the apartment alleged to have been tenanted by John Harrigan, of 1289 Dayton Street and found the merchandise. Harrigan is said by the police to have left the apartment. The goods are valued at $150.

William H. McMakin, of 119 West Pine Street, Audubon, reported to Detective Robert Ward that he was held up at Pine Street near Fifth on Sunday morning by three young men. They relieved him of his watch, valued $35, and his drivers license. McMakin was unable to describe the culprits.

William Harris, 53, of 1731 Fillmore Street, told Detective Clifford Carr he was relieved of his wallet containing $6.90 by an unknown man at Haddon Avenue and Copewood Street, Sunday morning. He described the man as being about 27 years old and wearing a light cap.

Thieves entered the candy shop of Jones Wilson, Park Boulevard and Kaighn Avenue, Saturday night and took three cartons of cigarettes, some candy and soda valued at $23.

Hair Clipper Stolen

Waclaw Hermanolski, 1322 Mt. Ephraim Avenue, reported to police that someone entered his barbershop through a rear window and stole an electric hair clipper, massage vibrator and $15.

A grocery store operated by Joseph S. Eskowitz, of 1022 Broadway, was entered early yesterday and the thieves took three dozen cans of malt syrup valued at $12. Detective Benjamin Simon discovered the burglar gained his entrance by cutting a pane of glass out of the back window.

Louis E. Barnes, 21, colored, employed by the police department to catch a colored man who has been reported preying on unemployed and collecting money from them in promise of a job, has informed police that such a man got away from him on October 24. He is known to the police and will be picked up, they said.

Barnes said the man being sought told him to give him $2.50 for a white coat and he would get him a job in the kitchen of the Cooper Hospital. When Barnes returned with the money the man had disappeared.

One man was injured and another arrested in an automobile collision Saturday night at Second and Penn streets.

George Cassidy, 34, of 216 Sycamore street, suffered cuts of the head, lip and wrist when hit by a car driven by Marshall Reinheimer, 28, of 546 Erie street. Reinheimer is said to have struck a parked car of Burt Tutnell, 35 Cedarcroft avenue, Audubon.

Reinheimer was arrested by Patrolmen Raymond Stark and Walter Patton when he failed to show a registration card. He was also charged with reckless driving. Although Dr. Garnett Summerill, police surgeon, pronounced him intoxicated the police did not press that charge against him.

Charges Husband Trapped on Pretense of Returning Child

Accused by his wife of binding her to a chair and threatening her life with a knife and with gas, Charles Flippen, 26, of 609 Grant street, was held without bail for the grand jury by Police Judge Garfield Pancoast yesterday.

Flippen’s wife, Lillian, 24, lives at 1626 Wingohocking street, Philadelphia. She said the threats took place Saturday afternoon in the third floor front room of a rooming house in Penn street near Sixth. Patrolmen William Thorn, Walter Patton and Raymond Stark said they found adhesive tape and towel strippings in the room, and took two knives from Flippen.

Kidnapping Charged

Mrs. Flippen said her husband went to California last September, leaving her and their four-and-a-half year old daughter at his mother’s home in Grant street. She heard nothing from him, she said, and in December she moved with the baby to Philadelphia. Last month, she charged, he returned and kidnapped the child in the street near her home.

On Saturday, she said, she received a telegram from Flippen, telling her he would give her the baby if she would meet him. She met him in Philadelphia and he took her to the Penn street house, where, he said, his brother was to bring the baby.

They went to a room ostensibly to wait for the brother to bring the baby, she said, and he told her he was going to kill her and himself.

He bound her arms and legs to a chair with adhesive tape and strips from a towel, she said. Then he waved a knife about her head and turned on the illuminating gas, Mrs. Flippen charged.

She pleaded with him and finally induced him to take her to a restaurant, where she whispered to a waitress to call the police, the wife testified in Police Court. The waitress did so, and the police arrived shortly afterward.

Flippen pleaded not guilty to a charge of threatening to kill. He did not testify.

A man who was arrested twice in one day on charges of being intoxicated, and another who had to be taken home three times before getting a ride in the patrol wagon when he insisted upon disturbing neighbors, will spend the next 30 days in jail.

James Callahan, 53, who said he had no home, was arrested Tuesday by Patrolman Ray Carson. He was released several hours later and before the day was over Callahan was back in the “cooler,” taken there the second time by Patrolman Walter Patton.

“Twice in one day is too many times to be arrested,” Judge Pancoast said. “I’ll bet you won’t be arrested twice in the next 30 days, for you are going to be in the jailhouse.”

Leo O’Brien, 30, of 213 Burns street, according to Detectives Walter Smith and John Trout, refused to stay put when taken home three times so they put him behind the bars Tuesday night to await a hearing. The detectives said they found him creating a disturbance near his home and each time they took him home he would reappear to make more noise.

“Where was this party where they served such awful liquor?” Judge Pancoast wanted to know. O’Brien couldn’t remember. So Judge Pancoast said: “Well, perhaps you will be able to remember during the next 30 days while you are staying put in the county jail.”

A woman found beaten at Second and Penn Streets early Monday was sent to the county jail yesterday for 30 days by Police Judge Pancoast.

The woman, Mrs. Margaret Templeton, 20, of 1148 Kaighn Avenue, entered a plea of guilty to a charge of being intoxicated. She had been hit with a blackjack and robbed, she told patrolman Walter Patton when he found her and took her to Cooper Hospital.

Questioned by Judge Pancoast as to who she had been with, the woman said she knew him only as “Harry.” She said they had been to Gloucester. When arrested she gave her name as “Martha Shay,” and several addresses which proved incorrect.

Detective Frank Crawford, who investigated the case, said Mrs. Templeton and her husband, William, of 722 Cherry Street, had been estranged about a year.

Cops Use New Device on Girl After Battle, But She Still Kicks

Bessie James, 16, colored, no home given, gave police plenty of trouble last night while they were arresting her for breaking parole.

Bessie, who has been sought by Mrs. Mary Barton, state parole officer, for several weeks, was seen shortly before dark yesterday at Second and Benson streets by District Detectives Walter Smith and John Trout. The officers grasped the girl by the arms and told her she was under arrest.

Then she went into action. Before the surprised officers knew what it was all about they had been beaten, bitten and kicked by the irate girl who broke Trout’s straw hat and Smith’s glasses during the melee. The impromptu bout ended when one of the detectives put the “iron claw” on their scrappy customer.

But Bessie wasn’t through yet—not by nine or ten kicks, which she delivered to Patrolman Walter Patton enroute to the city jail in the patrol.

She will be given a hearing this morning before Judge Pancoast on charges of assault and resisting an officer.

Smith was treated at Cooper Hospital for bites on the hand, following the brawl.

Charged with malicious mischief and breaking and entering, John Greeley, 13, of 419 Cedar Street, was sent to the Detention Home to await action by the Juvenile Court at a hearing yesterday before Police Judge Pancoast.

Patrolman Walter Patton testified he arrested the boy as he emerged from a chain grocery at Fourth and Elm Streets. Complaint against John was made by C. H. Brummer, 629 Clinton Street, manager of the store.

Two other boys, Victor Linkletter, 13, of 506 Penn Street, and William Hoy, 12, same address, arrested on the roof of a vacant building at 429 Market Street, were freed. Detective Sergeant Gus Koerner said he believes the boys were going to enter the place.

5 RESCUERS FELLED REMOVING WORKERS AT REPAIRING SHOP

Pulmotor Used to Revive Two Victims; Patrol Driver Injured

NEW RADIO AIDS POLICE

Seven men were overcome by an intoxicating gas in a railroad tank car yesterday at the old Pavonia car shop, Twenty-fourth street and Sherman Avenue.

Two of the victims were working inside the car and the other five were overcome while rescuing the unconscious men.

Three of the victims were taken to Cooper Hospital where pulmotors were required to revive them.

The victims:

Earl Hawk, 20, of 2906 Buren Avenue.

James Christy, 22, of 2710 Pleasant Avenue.

Fred W. Dickman, 30, of 123 Holly Avenue, Maple Shade.

Anthony Alexander, 32, of 2800 Sherman Avenue.

Samuel Ritterbach, 27, of 2836 Pleasant Avenue.

Robert Selah, 28, of 1237 North Thirty-third Street.

Charles Visconti, 22 of 6128 Irving Avenue, Pennsauken.

Hawk, and Christy did not regain consciousness until an hour after being taken to the hospital and were admitted. The other four were treated and released.

Gas Fells Worker

The trouble started when Hawk entered the car to remove residue of the compound by loading it into buckets which were pulled to the top by Selah.

Bucket after bucket reached the small opening of the car. Then they stopped coming up. Selah peered into the car and saw Hawk lying on the bottom in about a foot of the compound.

Selah, last night in describing the incident, said he descended into the car and tried to lift Hawk up the ladder.

“All of a sudden I started to feel as if I was drunk,” Selah said. “I climbed the ladder myself and yelled for help just before I passed out. That is all I remember until I came to at the hospital.”

Selah’s call for aid was heard by the workmen in the yard who rushed to his rescue. One of the first to reach the car after Selah’s call was Alexander.

Rescuers Stricken

“I heard his call and climbed up the car and then into it,” Alexander said. “I tried to push Selah to the top but the gas got me, also. When I reached the hole in the car I saw Selah dancing and singing on the bottom of the car. I finally came to in the patrol wagon on the way to the hospital.”

The same feelings seemed to come upon each of the rescuers as they attempted to lift the victims to the top of the car by means of a rope tied around their waist. As each was overcome they began to exhibit different forms of drunkenness. Some were singing, some laughing and some crying.

Hawk and Selah are employees of Edward Thomas, of Riverside, who has a contract to clean the cars while they are being repaired in the shop.

Warned of Fumes

Thomas said both men were instructed in the uses of gas masks as late as yesterday and were warned never to go into any of the tank cars without their masks.

Selah said he had been into the car with a mask on before Hawk entered.

“I came out of the car, taking off my mask, and then I saw Hawk going in without his. I yelled to warn him but he apparently didn’t hear my warning.”

When police were informed of the men being overcome, all radio cars were called to the scene through the new two-way equipment. The radio patrols reached the car shop within two minutes due to the greater efficiency of the new system by which they were able to receive exact instructions after the first alarm on where to proceed.

Walter Patton, driver of the patrol which took the men to the hospital, was treated for an eye injury after he was struck by a piece of flying stone.

Safety Heads Respond

Deputy Chief William R. Harring responded with firemen when the alarm was sounded. There was no explosion or fire, Harring said.

Commissioner Mary W. Kobus, director of public safety, rushed to the scene immediately after the first report and began an investigation.

The five workers employed outside the car were the first to respond to Selah’s call for aid, and entered the car one at a time in an attempt to remove the victims. When the five failed to come up, other workers joined in the rescue.

A volunteer, equipped with a gas mask attached to an airline hose, went into the car and brought out one of the victims.

Workers then alternated in entering the car until all seven men had been brought out.

The old Pavonia yards now are used by the Eastern Tank Gas Company, which repairs and rebuilds cars for hauling gas, oil and similar materials.

The men were working inside one of the cars which recently had contained the road paving compound, Harring said. The tank contained a benzol solution, which generates a strong gas.