Jftnf nwg JSjjt tttam
VOL. XL.VIII XO. 14,797.
PORTLAND, OREGON, SATURDAY, MAY. 2, 1908.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
PAWNBROKER
BUTCHERED
Nathan Wolff Killed
in the Office of
His Store
ROBBERY MOTIVE OF CRIME
Revolver and Hatchet Used in
Fiendish Assassination
of Wealthy Man.
DIAMONDS AND JEWELRY GONE
Murder Committed in Heart
of Business District.
PROBABLY. IN DAYLIGHT
Police Theory Is That Two Thngs
Did Bloody Deed, Looting Store
at Their Leisure Booty Is'w
Worth Probably $1800.
Nathan Wolff, a pawnbroker at 165
First street, was brutally murdered :n
his place of business sometime between 6
pnd 7 o'clock last night. Wolff was first
' t-ttot through th- ' iy-t i- ' Ji.ii L.k!
was dragged Into la rear room; whero
head was horrlbljha'elted "wttBr" hatchet.
the blood-stained weapon being found
beneath the hpad of the murdered man.
The crime undoubtedly was committed
by two thugs, men .whose demands for
money and valuables WolIT resisted at
the cost of his life. The murderers evi
dently entered the store through the
front door and blood-stained footprints
leading from the rear room, where the
body was found, through the store, tes
tified that they made their exit by the
same door. It is estimated that the rob
bers secured Jewelry to the amount of
about $1600 and rifled the money drawers
and the cash box in the "pledge" safe of
about $300 In money.
Have a Slender Clew.
The only clew obtained by the police
consists of a blood-stained stand-up
white collar and a brown necktie, together
with two empty shells from a 32-caliber
revolver. It is suspected that the crime
may have been committed by the two
desperadoes who made an unsuccessful
attempt to rob the postofflce at Bridal
Veil the night before.
Circumstances attending the finding
of the body prove conclusively that the
murderers proceeded with deliberation
in ransacking the safe and showcases
of their contents after committing the
murder. J. D. Robinson, deputy Sher
iff and special nightwatchman, passed
the store at 6:45 o'clock and discovered
that the door was locked and that the
light that Wolff usually left burning
iad been extinguished. He gave the
fact no special consideration, thinking
that Wolff had left the store tempor
arily and would return later.
Suspicions Are Aroused.
Robinson next tried the door at 8:40
o'clock, and llndlng the place locked
and in darkness, became suspicious.
He hastened to a nearby telephone and
rang up the Wolff home, only to find
that the family had become alarmed
over the failure of Wolff to return
home at his accustomed hour,
. Hastening back to the store after an
absence of 10 minutes, Robinson was as
tonished to find the front door unlocked.
Going in he turned on the lights; next
discovered hloody footprints leading from
the building, and a further investigation
revealed the body of Wolff, with the
face and head mutilated beyond recog
nition, lying in a corner of the rear
room. Withholding the news of his dis
covery from Mrs. WolfT, who, accom
panied by her young daughter, had come
down town to ascertain why Wolff had
not returned to his home. Robinson im
mediately notified the police.
Mrs. Wolff and daughter were after
wards taken to their home by relatives,
where they were told of the murder.
Theory of the Police.
It is the theory of the police that
thej, bloody deed was done by two men.
The time of the murder is fixed at not
later than 6:30 o'clock, for the arrange
ment of the jewelry trayo on the show
cases indicated that Wolff was in the
act of placing Ms valuable goods in
the safe when his assailants entered
the store. At the time he must have
been standing on the south side of the
room, behind the showcase, a shattered
glass on the wall telling the course of
one of the two bullets fired by the
robbersv The second bullet lodged in
PVolfTs neck and was in itself a fatal
BY BURGLARS
wound, according to City Physician F.
W. Zelgler, who examined the body.
Chops Victim's Head.
Having thus silenced their victim,
the probability is that the desperate
thugs ; dragged the body Into the rear
room, after extinguishing the lights
and securing the front door by the
spring lock. With the aid of a hatchet,
evidently secured from the woodshed,,
which is located in the extreme rear
of the .building, the robbers completed
their desperate deed by chopping
Wolffs head into an unrecognizable
mass, almost severing the lower jaw.
The hatchet was afterwards -deposited
beneath the head of the dead man. That
the crime was committed about 6:30
o'clock is believed by the police Tor the
reason that Wolff rarely remained in
his store later, than that hour. . ,
Two Hours at Work.
Judging from the story of Night
watchman Robinson, it is further con-
-4 ; f'A
- ''??
4 A''
Stephen B. Elkins, the Senator
W ho Met HU Match in Senator
Kutton Yesterday.
eluded that the robbers spent' the
greater part, of two hours leisurely
ransacking the safe and the showcases.
Title supposition is based on the fact
that the men are believed to have been
in the store when Robinson first tried
the front door of the building when he
returned from the Baker Theater at
8:40 o'clock. When he- returned ten
minutes later he found the door un
locked, evidently as it had been left
by the robbers in their hurried flight.
Difference With. Employe.
The murder was one of the most
brutal in the history of the city. Wolff
was in the store alone at the time, len
til tt fw days ago he had an assistant,
John Olsen. . Last Monday Olsen was
discharged because of some differences
between him and Wolff and an entry in
the dead merchant's books shows that
Olsen at the time was' paid $100 for his
services to date. Since - then Wolff had
been conducting his business without any
assistance.
It is possible "that the murder and rob
bery may have been committed by mem
bers of a gang of criminals that is oper
ating on the Pacific Coast and making a
specialty of diamond robberies. Wolff
was known to have a considerable "num
ber of valuable diamonds in his stock,
but they were all locked in the more se
cure of the two safes.
Signs of a Struggle.
The scene which met the gaze of Dep
uty Sheriff Robinson, Mrs. Wolff and the
police was one of blood, disorder and hor
ror. That some bloody scene had been
earlier enacted in this store was only too
apparent. That the pawnbroker had gone
to his death only after a most fearful
struggle with his butchers was indicated
on every side. The safe in the rear,
facing the entranoe, ' stood open, empty.
What remained of its contents was
strewn over the floor. The show cases
on either . side of the room .'were . dis
ordered and some of them'empty.
Bloody Finger-Pritits.
The two cash drawers 'were open and
bore bloody finger marks, showing that
the murderers had not taken time to
wash their hands before looting the place.
The end , of the showcase In the rear,
just in front of the open safe, was broken
and the glass strewn about' the floor. In
the glass door of the wall show case' on
the left side there was a bullet hole,
while embedded in the woodwork- inside
was found ' a bullet evidently aimed at
Wolff and had missed its mark.
Thug Leaves Xecktle. '
In the little office space partitioned
off by a railing in the front on the right
side was the pawnbroker's desk. The
papers and other things It contained were
thrown about in confusion. On the chair
In front of this desk were found the
bloody collar and necktie .which one of
the robbers had hastily torn from his
neck in his haste to rid himself of some
incriminating article, and which now
furnishes the police the only important
clew to the identity of one of the mur
derers. On the floor near the money drawer, on
the left side, was found a $5 gold piece
and a 5-cent piece. '
Trail of Blood Spots.
Along the left side of the store, on
which side the unfortunate man had
been first attacked and shot, was a trail
of blood spots and splashes which led
back to the corner of the rear room
where the, mutilated and bloody remains
were found. Boxes and articles on the
shelves that skirted this narrow passage
were turned topsy turvy, as if the
wounded man had struggled desperately
with his murderers while they were
dragging him back to the spot where he
was literally slaughtered.
In the rear room in one corner of which
lay the body which had grown cold in a
pool of blood, comparative order prevailed
showing that whatever struggle took
place between Wolff and his murders
must have occurred in the front.
Having reached here no doubt in an
exhausted condition from hia, wounds and
(Continued on Pace W-i
ELK1NS IS FOILED
BY FULTON'S ACT
Baffled Railroad Sena
tor in a Rage.
PENALTY OF HIS BAD FAITH
Attempt to Shield Railroad
Sinners Is Thwarted.
HEYBURN JOINS IN FIGHT
Oregon Senator Offers Rate Bill
Amendment to Elkins' Commod
ity Resolution Heyburn
Threatens Long Filibuster.
OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU, Wash
ington, May 1. Senator ' Fulton . today
squared accounts with Senator Elkins on
account of the latter's deliberate refusal
to permit the interstate commerce com
mittee to consider and vote upon the Ful
ton bill providing that no interstate
freight rates shall be increased until such
advance is held by the Interstate Com
merce Commission to be Just and. reason
able. Elkins was, endeavoring to get a vote
in the Senate on his pet resolution' ex
tending the time when the commodity
clause of the rate law shall go into effect.
This measure is very close to Elkins'.
heart, for most West Virginia railroads
own and operate coal mines, and under
the commodity clause such holding and
operation Is prohibited. Elkins is. a very
large stockholder in West Virginia rail
roads and mining property, and his pocket
is touched heavily, hence his desire to ex
tend the time when this clause shall go
into effect.
Fulton Arouses Elkins' Wrath.
When Elkins thought he had his resolu
tion well on the way to passage, Fulton
rose and offered his own rate bill as an
amendment to Elkins' resolution and gave
notice that he should expect the Senate to
vote upon his amendment. There is con
siderable support for . th,e"i1toni MUit-tJ
the Senate and,J'lf 'vottS. upon" a' ant
amendment, it may be made a rider to
the Elkins commodity bill. Elkins, how
ever, is as bitterly opposed to the Fulton
bill as he is favorable to his own measure
and, when Ftilton ha,d offered his amend
ment, giving notice that he would Insist
upon a vote at a later day, Elkins dis
played considerable anger and intimated
to Fulton privately that, if the Oregon
primaries had not,,already been held, he
would take a hfjid in the fight to bring
about his defeat.
. Heyburn then Harose and offered an
other amendment, which made Elkins
sit up and take notice. Heyburn has a
bill providing that a rate on a short haul
shall not exceed a rate on a long haul
whenever the short haul Is embraced In
the long haul. His purpose is to give
Boise, Spokane and other inland towns
the same rate from Chicago that is en
joyed by Portland and Puget Sound,
which have water competition.
- Heyburn said he had been pressing his
, --.- o o . . . oo . t
SHAKE! j
t :. .-.-v-' . ' ' -.
o . . . . . . - .. ... ....
bill for five years, but Elkins' committee
had always refused to grant it considera
tion. He declared there -was great de
mand for such legislation, .hence he of
fered his bill as an amendment, and said
he would force the Senate to vote upon
it before adjournment. He was decidedly
ugly about his" threats, and Indicated his
purpose to secure a vote upon his. amend
ment or else kill the Elkins commodity
bill.
'. Elkins Breaks Promise.
Neither the Fulton : nor the Heyburn
amendment was voted upon today. but
both will be pressed to a vote. If Elkins
again calls up his resolution. Today was
the day when Elkins promised to report
Fulton's bill from the Interstate Com
merce committee, but, as Fulton antici
pated, . there was not a quorum of the
committee present, and Elkins failed' to
make good. His failure to keep his word
was the immediate cause for the offer
ing of Fulton's bill as an amendment.
Elkins' resolution suspends, until Jan
uary 1,. 1910,T the commodity clause -of
the Hepburn law. . This clause went into
effect today and railroads, therefore,
which haul in interstate commerce pro
ducts of mines or manufactures in which
the carriers" are' interested are liable to
maximum fines of $5000 for each offense.
' ' Excuse of Railroads.
The Elkins resolution proposes to give
the-n-ailroads .20 months additional time
in' which to divorce . themselves from
these properties, on the ground that the
financial ' condition of the country has
been such that the railroads have been
unab to find buyers and to settle such
questions of joint ownership as are in
volved. In mortgages covering both the
. . .
ryrirtiaa proprietor or milling or manu
facturing proprietor. ' Elkins used this
(Concluded on Page 4.)
0REG0NIAN INFORMATION
BUREAU ,
Oregon, Washington and Idaho
people please. register.
"Vonr Name Will Be Wired to The
Oregonian the nay You Kegls
ter Here.
IF you are going to San Francisco to
see the fleet, watch for this sign. It
will be found on the second floor of the
Ferry building. '.
There you will secure a room tat any
price you want "to pay, without the
trouble of tramping over town or Jost
ling on the overcrowded streetcars. There
you will get all needed Information, your
address In San Francisco will be regis
tered for the. benefit of your friends, and
your name telegraphed to The Oregonian
the day you arrive.
When you land at the Ferry building;
go to the second floor and look for that
sign. . . ou will find other information
booths in the same vicinity, operated by
the city of San Francisco for the benefit
of visitors. - Among these you will see
that sign, a register and some one to
take an interest In your welfare.
The; Oregonian was prompted to estab
lish thi Informa-fliin. rj-V'-au on-account
it the difficulty there -ktt be tn secur
ing rooms in San Francisco during the
time the fleet is there. It is estimated
that, at least 250.000 people will visit
San Francisco at that time; and as most
of them will - be there for the greatest
event to see the fleet steam in through
the Golden Gate, with the rheumatism
racked, but brave old Admiral Evans on
the bridge there will be great difficulty
In finding rooms. This difficulty having
been foreseen by The Oregonian, a special
arrangement has been made by . which
the Northwest people' will be cared for
by The Oregonian's representative, who
will do all that is possible to spare fa
tigue and . trouble in the crowded city,
and see that they are not overcharged
for their accommodations.
Go to the booth immediately upon
your arrival and spare yourself trouble.
There will be no use In going to any of
the well-known hotels unless you have
secured accommodations in advance. A
list of available rooms and apartments
will be there for your- Inspection, and
when the big crowd comes, if there is a
room in San Francisco to be had, you
shall get It.
SHEDS 110 LIGHT
ON THE MYSTERY
Jones Won't TelLWhy
He Left Home.
LONG BELIEVES HIS BOY DEAD
Returns Secretly Years Ago
. Without Seeing Family,
CONVICT' BLAMES' JONES
Disappearance Influences Jury to
Convict . Ingram of Charge of
... Murder Prisoner Denies Xow
'He Knew Medford Man.
MBDFORD,- Or.,- May .1. (Special.)
Reunited with his wife, who for five
years has mourned him as dead, the vic
tim of a gruesome murder, and looking
upon the -face of. his son for the first
time, Henry Jones sat with his family
at breakfast in a local hotel this morn
ing. " It looked a happy family, though
the little boy cast shy glances with Tils
bright blue eyes toward the father, so
much a stranger to him.
Jones was asked for an explanation of
his mysterious disappearance. "It is
not an Enoch -Arden story, only a per
sonal affair, and I do not wish to make
any statements publfc," was all that
could be secured. Jones departed alone
tonight for the north.
Returns Home Secretly.
Why Jones left home no one here can
say, but the fact leaked' out today tliat
Jones, in August of the year he disap
peared, 19031 returned to the scene of
his former home and found that his
wife had gone to her father's home.
While near the home which he had left
he heard, from some small boys whom
he chanced to meet that his child had
died. Regretting his action in 'leaving
his wife alone in grief, he went, forth,
again, and untH a letter reached -him a
few weeks ago, did not know his son was
still living. ' . ..''
Five years ago this May Jones, then, a
prosperous young farmer living In the
northern end of Jackson County, started
early one morning for Grants Pass to
deposit money in a bank. ..He had sev
eral hundred 'dollars, the proceeds of a
sale of cattle. Failing to return home,
investigation showed that Jones did it
deposit the money in the bank. He was.
seen for the. last time In a. Grants Pass
saloon, and It was the supposition of
friends that the young man had been
murdered for his money. His domestic
relations, it is said, had been pleasant
. Ingram's Strange Story.
Detectives took charge of the case, but
obtained no clews. The general public
had allowed the affair to give way to
matters of more recent concern, until
two years had elapsed, when the state
ment of a prisoner in court recalled the
facts to mind.
In 1905 William Dunlap, an old
miner, was murdered in his cabin, sup
posedly for money. Andy. Ingram and
Arthur E. Dodson wVe suspected and
placed under arrest. Dodson confessed
to being one of the principals in the
murder of Dunlap, but Ingram stood
trlaK He was found guilty. Oi murder
In the first degree, but, believing he
would be granted immunity from pun
ishment, as he had a wonderful tale to
tell, he Intimated that he knew the
fate of Henry Jones.
Whether or not this may have had
any bearing or not, it remains that
Ingram's sentence was made imprison
ment tor life at least 'to correspond
with the sentence of Dodson. In his
self-made story, . Ingram stated that
Jones was killed and the body cut into
pieces and burled not more than 100
yards from a Grants Pass hotel. - In
vestigation by the District Attorney
failed of 'results,' and, believing In
gram's story without foundation, the
prisoner was not asked for further in-
.
J. Ondrn Armour, Master of Chi
cago Wheat Market.
formation until after his confinement
in the penitentiary. .
Friends Keep Up Search.
All save friends of the wife of the
missing man were silent.' Het 'friends,'
however, -Jiave ever kept on the alert
for some rumor whicu might lead to
the solvinsr of the mystery. Only 'lx
weeks ago were they rewarded when
a man returning from British Columbia
told of a man named Jones, once a res
ident of Jackson County.
Letters written by Mrs., Jones'
friends to : authorities there soon
brought the fact to light that Jones
was well and prosperous and his re
appearance was a Jlttle less surprising
to -his friends than It would have been
but for the recent word from him. -
Mr. Jones arrived here yesterday,
coming from Yreka, Cal., whither he
had gone on land business.
HELPED TO COXVICT INGRAM
Disappearance of Jones Had Its In
fluence on Jackson Jury.
SALEM, Or., May 1. (Special.) Con
vict Andrew Ingram denies he ever made
an affidavit describing the killing of
Henry Jones. Ingram, who Is serving a
life sentence, says he never knew Jones,
knew nothing of his disappearance ex
cept what he heard, and never pretended
to know anything about him.
Andrew Ingram and Andrew Dodson
are serving life sentences for the killing
of William Dunlap - in Josephine County
In 1903, about the time that Jones dis
appeared from bis home near Grants
Pass. The two men were not arrested
and charged with the crime till 1906, and
it was then generally . talked and pub
lished that Ingram may have' had some
thing to "do with the disappearance of
Jones. ....... '
"The return of Jones is certainly , good
(Concluded on Page. 5.) -
CONTENTS TODAY'S PAPER
The Weather. ,
YBfTERIAY'S Maximum temperature, 60
degrees ; minimum,
TODAY'S Rain; fresh southerly winds.
National.
Senator Davis makes speech against News
papers. Page 5- .
Fulton blocks Elkins game on behalf of
railroads and makes him furious. Page 1..
More exposture of paper trust methods.
Fage S.
Government . accused of relaxing vigilance
in Chinese exclusion. Page 4.
Domestic
Boom tn Chicago wheat market caused by
Armour's squeezing shorts. Page 3.
Rumors that Cleveland has cancer cause
fear he cannot recover. Page 1.
Trainmen tell of Pittsburg express robbery.
Page 2.
Jerome accused of shielding Ryan and the
ice trust. Page 2.
Locomotive dynamited on Northern Pacific
Railroad near Butte. Page 1.
Sports.
Coast League scores Portland S. San FYan
cisco ; Los Angeles 7, Oakland '2.
Page 2.
Lewlston High School wins trl-state meet at
Walla Walla. Page 6.
Oregon freshmen defeat Portland and Eu
gene High School track teams. Page 6.
' Parine Coast.'
Fleet arrives at Monterey apd orders are
given for ' entrance to San Francisco
-. Pago 4.
Green will turn state's evidence against
Ruef. Page 3.
Commercial and Marine.
Grain committee of Board of Trade adopts
rules. Page 17. t
May wheat passes dollar mark at Chicago.
Page 17. ,
St.. Paul feature of stock market. Page IT.
General trade is quiet. Page 17.
Large increase in grain exports during the
past ten months. Page 15.
Portland and Vlcinltr.
Nathan WolIT murdered and robbed in bis
pawnshop. Pago r.
City Electrician Bavarian blamed for Hre-
alarm cable blunder. Page 7.
Four-day livestock sale ends. Page 12.
Captain Richmond Pearson Hobson lectures
on greater Navy. Page .
R. r. I oman resigns city ofTloe on account
of quarrel with Mayor. Page 10.
Deficit In city general fund is threatened.
Page 12.
Sport.
Confirmation of awards at bench show.
Paa 10.
DOES CANCER EAT
lY HIS VITALS ?
Mystery About Cleve
land's Illness.
DOCTOR'S LIPS TIGHTLY SHUT
Wife Is Worried, but Refuses
to Talk About It. i
RUMORS NOT ANSWERED
Ex-Prcsldent Lies Suffering at
Lakenood and Report Says Hope
of Recovery Wanes Bryant t
Refuses to Reveal Ailment. . '
TCEW TORK, May t. Anxiety was oc
casioned today by widely circulated ru
mors that the condition of ex-President
Grover Cleveland, who has been 111 for
several weeks at a hotel In Lakewood,
N. J., had assumed a grave phase and
that slight hopes were entertained of his
recoverj. (
The Evening World gave prominence to
reports current at the; offices of the Equi
table Life Assurance Society, of which
Mr. Cleveland is a voting trustee, that
the ex-President's physicians had diag
nosed his illness as cancer of the stom
ach, and had decided that there was no
hope of his recovery.
Bryant Will Not Talk. -
Positive denial of these statements was
not obtainable today. Dr. Joseph D. Bry
ant, who has attended Mr. Cleveland for
years, said his patient was "all right,"
and that all reports from Lakewood were
favorable. In answer to a question as to
whether Mr. Cleveland was suffering from
cancer of the stpmach. Dr. Bryant said
that as' a physician he could not make
public the diagnosis in the case of any of
bis patients. Any Information on such a
subject, were It to be given to the public,
should come from the family, he said.
Mrs. Cleveland Worried.
At Lakewood tonight efforts were made
to obtain an authorized statement regard- '
Ing Mr. Cleveland's illness from the hotel
authorities, or through them a statement
from Mrs. Cleveland. But the same .aOr
swer, "Nothing to say," was all that was
given out, though several Inquiries were
made..
Some of the friends of the ex-President
who have seen. Mrs. Cleveland say that
she Iras told them that there Is nothing
serious the matter with Mr. Cleveland,
but they add that she appeared much
worried regarding her husband's condi
tion. It is known in Lakewood that as
yet no local physician or additional nurse
has been called into the case, and Dr.
Bryant, the family physician, visits Mr.
Cleveland only every other night. t
Dr. Bryant visited Mr. Cleveland to
night, but could not. be reached when a
telephone call was sent for him at the
hotel
E BUTTE TRAIN
BCRLIXGTOX PASSENGER IS
HURLED FROM TRACK.
Engineer Killed and Fireman Badly
Injured Mallear Is Damaged.
Pullmans Not Ditched.
BUTTE. Mont., May 1. Eastbound
Burlington train No. 6, due in Butte at
11:33 o'clock tonight, was dynamited
about a mile west of the Northern Pa
cific station at 11:27 o'clock. The ex
plosion caused the first, or helper en
gine to leaveilie rails, but it plowed
along for a few hundred feet without
turning over.. The second engine
crashed into the bank south of the
track a few carlengths from where the
explosion occurred. '
Every person on the train lias been
accounted for excepting Engineer
Bussy, of the second engine, . who is
supposed to be burled under his loco
motive. Carl Mange, who was riding
on the blind baggage, had to be taken
from the mass ,ef timbers under which
he was burled.
His arm and leg were broken. Fire
man George Bhle, of the second engine,
was badly scalded.
Both were hurried to the hospital in
the police patrol, which was at the scene
of the wreck, as quickly as possible
after the men were received In the city.
Locomotive No. 2100, in charge of Bn-,,
gineer Bussy and Fireman Elile, is lying
on its side south of the track.
The mall car, which was right behind
it, was hurled on its side and badly
wrecked. A cold storage fish car was
next to the mail car, and it was smashed
Into kindling wood. Following the fish
car was the express car. Only the front
trucks of the express car left the rails.
The baggage car also remained on the
track.
The general theory of the . explosion
is that the dynamite was placed directly
on the rails, but it is Impossible to say
whether a time fuse or some sort of per
cussion cap was attached to the ex
plosive, those who saw the flash agree
it came from the south side of the track.
AW