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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (May 2, 1908)
CMR0TER OF CRIME SUGGESTS MEmWERFMOWN-rO-PfiWNBROKER ALL SUS pect Is i Held at City Prison Collar Used to Trace Criminals Man Who Wielded Ax Knew Victim - 1!eplte the,dehlal of Chief Grltt macher and other, police officers a rumor that would not down to, the effect that an arrest had been made of one of the men who ao brutally nnMcri Vat ban Wnlff In hla 1ew- . elrjr atyre pa First street; near Mor . risen, laei night; circulated about the elty this morning. The : rumor is ,borne;out in the attitude' of the1 po r (lice rDeoting the 'criminals; which 'is 10 the; effect that tb terrible man ,der was committed by. men who are degenerate dope fiends who knew Wolff and Bii habltsc" This theory of i the. police Is sustained by the f rightfulness of the bloody .deed, which, would probably not have been done by-an expert criminal. v All last . night . and ;.. today, the, po lice have mod a vigilant search of the city for the, murderers who so far have successfully covered their tracks. Aside from the rumor of the arrest of one of the criminals which the police deny there have been few new .details as to the authorship of the crime. Ser geant Baty has charge of the case and has a. large force of men working- with, him in minntnr down a clue to the Own ership of the, collar and the coats found In the rase room of the store owned by out Where ne was Druiany muvuaieu. -', Collar Tarnishes Cine. ' The collar furnishes the best "clue for Immediate identification but if the coU lar was .Worn by one of the men who assisted in the crime it is possible J hat he may be a new arrival In the city and that this means of identification may not bring the results .anticipated by the Follce. The best clue means -of IdeSU leatlon and . the one which will prob ably be slow In bringing actual results is the fact that at least one of the men was knowh to Wolff. There can be little doubt as to the fact, claim the police, because there, is no other explanation for the terrible mutilation of the -victim. The man who wielded the ax must have been known to Wolff and to make sure that he, (Wolff) would never be able to tell who as saulted htm In the store, hacked away at the Jeweler's head until he made cer tain in his maddened f rensy that his fiendish deed was so complete that bs would never be accused by .his victim, TIREY L. FORD NOT GUILTY. SAYS JURY . : IN A FEW MINUTES 5 r. (Called Press Leased Wire.) - : V ; Ban Francisco;- May J. Tirey I Ford, chief counsel , for the United Railroads who has been on trial for alleged bribery of the old board of supervisors in the matter of the company's' over head trolley "lfinchlse-waa"'Y6unff''nof guilty by the jury this morning. . The AWAKES - LONG :t . ' United Prsr(itssd Wlre.1 V; 'Los Angeles, - May 1 After, sleeping KB days, without ,' a glimmer of " con Sclouanfcs in all that time, Mrs. Beulah Hawkins, whose remarkable case has excited wide interest among physicians, awakened at), 1S:S0 o'clock. this, morning st the-ceunty1 Aospitai. Her firstj ' re quest wsa for a xirlnk of water. Then she .chatted Jbreealty -with Dr. Barber, hospital superintendent .end the .nurses. Hhe-.was particularly happy that -her long sleep was - ended, though she Jiad bo idea how long she Had slept nor could she remember any of the events of the last two months end a half. . Mt la the evening Dr, Barber .had PIH1B0ES , The' story of the crime is revolting. Wolff, accustomed to closing his place about o'clock in the evening, had al ready placed his valuable diamonds and jewelry in the store safe in the front part of the store. He was evidently engaged in placing trays of Jewelry in the safe In-the rear of the store when he- was Interrupted by ' the entrance of the murderers. ..r. (. . ; Step iturder.T ? 7"1 Calling the jeweler to the front of the store, th murderers ' probably-engaged him in a conversation until they had him direcjly in front of the cnsh drawer.- - Here was doubtless "where the first step in the1 crime- was taken. .The polio think one ofi tiw, men, the stranger, undoubtedly ordered Wolff to inrow un mi nsnas. it is neiievea mat Wolff would do this, bur the other man who was known to Wolff, would take no such chances and upon being identified later - and started to rush around - the case : to Wolff, .who, , probably alarmed at the second man's action, started to ward the rear of the store.. This would cause the first man to take' the chance of shooting, 'knowing that his identiy would be hard . t6' teatablish. because he was a stranger to Wolff. , Woiif fell with, a bullet through his neck. Then same the fiendish part of the crime. Picking up the fallen man the two started to carry him to the rear room, believing him dead. When they reached the end of the showcases- Wolff undoubtedly revived - sufficiently . to struggle, and in, doing so the glass in the end of the showcase extending across the rear of the store was broken. Knocked Out Tooth. - At . this Ipoinf a tooth, or rather a gold crown, -was fouridCjRiiteh" la sup posed to have 'been knocked out of Wolffs mouth by the butt of the' robber's- revolver. Having sonce more silenced their victim. the men again I atartea to carry mm xo me rear room, where they attempted to ' place him upon a bench. It Is supposed, because of the bloody marks found on- the end of the bench, indicating that Wolff's head had been raised u the bench and that -when the injured man once more revived another struggle ensued. . It, is believed the men took Wolff to the corner of r the room where they could literally butcher him in as ghast ly a crime as ever occurred. Not con tent with driving the sharp edged axe into the man's head repeatedly the wielder of the axe struck - time ; and again in desperate efforts to 'make sure his, victim was dead. Blow after blow was showered on the unfortunate man's head. (Continued on Page Two.) Jury ' was. out only six minutes. Ford received many congratulations -, from friends In -'the-' courtroom,' the belief among' all of - them : being that he had been persecuted and that there never was a shadow-of evidence to - connect him - with the supposed bribery. ,Tha prosecution -failed to make the mfces sary connecting link, and .the case fell flat.--' - AND IS RATIONAL taken the " sleeping patient' lnto; the clinic-room ' for - observation by mem bers of the Los Angel ea County Medical society- bhe was returned to her room, and half, an . hour, after midnight the nurses-Were- attracted by a rapping on the door. Entering the room-they found Mrs. Js wkins wide awake and perfectly rational. Bhe la In excellent health and is able to stand,3 though she- la- quite weak. - In- the first" stages .of ; her strange . affliction, which iDrj Barber terms negative pnase- or insanity, it waa necessary to force food down,, her tnroat tnrougn. me iuo. iater -she too -.nourishment' quite naturally, though not conscious of i the act.- The woman will remain at the hospital for some time to come.- . .. J- ---- is I ml ; (J Nathan Wolff and His Lfttle Xinv Year-Old Son George. ONE MURDERER WAS rA VERY MLL MAN Description of Bullet Hole, Office and Back Room Theory as to How Mur der Was Committed Description of Crime Evidence gathered shortly after the murder Indicates that of the two men one waa considerably taller than the other. That the tall man did the shooting was evidenced by the range of the bullet through the show case built against the aouth wall of where the bullet entered the. case Jewelry was displayed is 69 Inches. through which the bullet passed iia Allowing about nine Inches Irom the point where the muscle of. the, revolver was held, at the' time It was exploded would make the distance about 60 inches front the spot where' the bullet entered the wall to the muxxle of the revolver, ' The range of the bullet after entering tHe glass ' wa downward,' dropping two inches In the 9.178 Inches of .flight. From these figures the height of the revolver above the point the bullet en tered the glass Is 10.78 Inches. Inas much as the spot where the bullet broke the glass Is S Inches above, the floor.tl the muxxle of the revolver must have been approximately 63.6S letches above the floor. It Is also safe to assume thst the re volver was. held Just below the shoulder of the man who fired it, and by allowing 10 or 11 Inches from that point to the top of the man's head. -his .height must be between 0 test 1H or 6 . feet? tii Inches, , ' m . . - ' jumped, to. Xeft ,. x ; "After the first shot was fired Wolff evidently -jumped to his left, toward the rear of the room where he had a rifle. Before he had gone more than three feet the man "fired again and suc ceeded in. wounding Wolff in the neck. At this spot blood was found splattered against the- glass of the wall showcase. Wolff evidently fell after-being wound ed, because the distance from the Xld Splattered glass to a place" on the fMor where dark- blood v stains Were, found swals-Wol'--sSiSiiiw-j r V Following the firing the shorter man rushed behind the counter, Seised Wolfr under the shoulders, while the tall man took him by the feet' with the Intention of carrying him to -the. back room. As the murderers reached the4 end of the sbowcasea-iroing to the rear room Wolff evidently revived and struggled. The end of the' showcase extending across the rear of the storeroom was broken and blood Was splashed against - the the storeroom. The distance from to the outside of the case in which the -The interior, dimension of the case 9.275 inches. i; , packages ' stacked against the wall on the floor. , 1 v At this, point one of Wollfs teeth were found, and it Is safe to assume that it was knocked out! by the revolver of one of the men In an attempt to ren der Wolff unconscious. They evidently succeeded in quieting the struggles of the wounded man -and carried him through the partition to the rear room. After reaching the end of a short bench which stood lust inside the door of the partition, Wolff evidently strug gled to thwart what must have been an effort on the murderers' part to place him on the bench. ' "rgatfttiir'etsit' Becoming incensed at the struggles of the wounded man, who must have, been frightfully beaten by this time, the men carried Wolff to the corner of the room, where the fiendish part of the ctlme - was committed. With his neck and - shoulders- thrown against a soap box in the ' corner, Wolff s bead was made S chopping block . for the Send who wielded, the ax.'. That nearly every blow-struck Wolff was 'Shown by the fact that' only six indentations were found in the box, floor and a atepladder standing next to the box. ; Of these indentations twd" were cuts, while the remaining four were from the blunt-'end- -of - the. ax,- showing that in addition to chopping .Wolff's head the brute struck repeatedly with the blunt end -of ths' weapon.;; Blow after blow rained down on the man's head, fairly incited- by the blood and gore, the man who wielded the ax must have attempt ed to use the sharp edge as a knife to slash : the throat of the. murdered man. As near as could be counted upon, the terribly mutilated, head. ,17 heavy cAits from the ax were made. Five oi six slashes on the-1 throat and around the neck showed that the- brute must have groveled in the blood about his vlotlm and sawed about Mo neck with the ax. (Continued On Page Two.) SUBURB Flames Starting in Arm itage Drug Store at Arlcta Break Out Second Time and Threaten the Entire Town. Stove Explodes at Midnight Three Buildings Are De stroyed When Fire Again Calls for Heroic Efforts at 4 This Horning. Fighting a rapidly spreading, breete fanned blase without tha aid of flro apparatus of. any kind and with a scant . Bupply of water . carried from Smalt hydrants nearby and fl-ora the sprinkling wagons ' hastily filled for. the emergency, the Mount Scott Volun teer Fire department successfully com bated a destructive ' fire and saved the heart of the Arleta business aectlon from threatened' destruction early this morning. Arleta has no fire engine and a, meager water supply. Tire Breaks Out Second Time. The fire, which is supopsed to Aaye started from an explosion Of an air tight stove in the drug store of W. 3. Armltage, corner of Mora street and the Foster road, was first seen by a boy who was passing last night at 11 o'clock and the fire volunteers were called out in time to prevent its spread. A fsw buckets of water quenched the flames and the firemen left thinking there was no further danger. It . is thought that the fire was still smoul dering and when the wind came up this morning it was quickly fanned into flames. The second coll of fire was sounded at 4 o'clock this morning,' and it was all the bucket brigade could do to save the surrounding structures. Onlv he roic errorts or criei uoucn and nis will ing volunteers saved the drygoods store of H. K. Black and the Sechrlst grocery across the street Here Arnold Le TIs eler and others climbediupn the roofs and received the buckets ot water with which to keep the shingles wet. Three Buildings Oo Bows. The fire had swept the block as far as the Helliwell grocery when the de partment, from Sunny side after a run of three miles arrived and with the chemi cal engine and the supply of witter pumped from the two sprinkling wagons by the steamer soon had the flames under control, not however, until three buildings had been burned to the f round. The buildings were valued at 500. . The heaviest loser Is W. J. Armltago, whose stock of drugs valued at 14,900 was completely destroyed. 'Insurance to the amount of $3,000 was carried, on this - stock. The other two one-story frame buildings burned Were owned by Mrs. Armltage. 'This loss is also partly covered by Insurance.- One of the struc tures was vacant at the time and the other, was occupied bV the Mount Scott , restaurant, owned by Mrs. Ord way. Everything in the restaurant was saved. It is probable that several blocks In the heart of the town, would have been wiped out - by the fire in spite cf the efforts Of both the voluntnerx and the Sunnyslde departments if-the stiff wind had not died down. Horse Crashes Xtrsmaa. ' L.' W. Bel den. who was stationed at the fire engine, was seriously Injured. One Of the engine hones became fright ened and crushed Belrten - against the -wheel. . Ir. Brlggs ofArlot& wss called and the injured many.taka to- Ms home, a few blocks away.- He is suffering from Internal injurlus. . : .. ClEfliOllOI iii6 Mir ". (Onlled Press Leaetd ; Wire.) v - X LakewoodV May J.--Tbe feeling is still general -her today that Grover Cleveland." the only living former presi dent -"of ; the 'United , States, la slowly sinking, and that the end is approaching faster than either; Mrs. Cleveland or tr. Bryant, hi physician, wtU admit. Mrs. Cleveland . refuses today , to give the public any Information concerning l; the condition 'of her husband, and none can be obtained from Dr. Bryant,- who re fers all. people to the patient's wife. The secrecy being maintained leads to the belief that the former president is near death. Dr, Bryant rrnialned at the bedside all night nn3 fits morning. .. ' --"-"I:' Northwest People in San Francisco Oregonlans visiting San Fran cisco during the stay of the bat tleship fleet -can register at -room 1106, Call building, where Arthur L. Fish will be at hand with his assistants to furnish lists of available rooms in hotels and apartment houses and any other information desired. S- f ' ' ' f- - 1 Amos Smoker, 16-Year-Old Half Blood Klamath Runner. is HOT l CANDIDATE Issues Statement Saying He. Won't Hun If Bryan Does Not Beceive Nomination. (United Preu Lrud Wire.) Washington, May I. Senator Culber son of Texas Is in no sense a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomina tion. He was prompted to Issue a state ment today by a story recently in circu lation to the effect that In the, event that Bryan falls to capture the nomina tion for himself, he .would throw hia strength to Culberson, thereby making the latter the choice of the majority of the delegates. ' "In view , of the stories published,' says Culberson In his statement "I de sire to say that I am In no way a can didate for the Democratic nomination for president. There la.no doubt in my mind that the Texas Democrats, in tha convention to be held this month will In struct the delegates to be sent to Denver from that staie to vote for Bryan. It la my opinion that the Nebraskan Is tho choice of the great majority of tho Democrats. ' - '--r- 'A -V . ' f j " A ' son NiiifAvr JlDrCJiT.'r;fMr Tirtrr 11 THEsunommnujiL . T - Hobson's views of Japanese arrogance. ,. -I . . ' X ' -England's prettiest woman. .Picture and story of the lovely girl who 2 was selected by EngUteh Judges for .world's beauty contest. "New Tork's real East Side. Not a -district ef crime and vtce a Is generally supposed. - . .. ; a . .--y- ' ' Paris the dumping ground for abandoned babies. How the govern ., ment cares for the little ones and bow charity helps the work. Sensations jf a man who went crasy and sudJenlv recoverd u -scribed by hint in graphic manner. -'',"' , Ttenver ConventHon league and the work it la dolna- lit Treii,-irut . i .'for : approaching'' Democratic convention. ii i Grinding otit cheap novela. loney is made hy roib-ge ftw'. ' ! , east by writing blood-curdling stories by the yari. -. . Colored cpmics. women's rages., two children's pages an-i s:; ( . news by jessed wires United Press and Hearat irvic, , isk for we suudp.y jour.::: THEY'RE OFF -tsBsBr ftfc ' " ' " l-UK UUbA! RELAY RACE Start Made Promptly at 9 o'clock, When Governor Chamberlain Delivers to First Two Contestants Notes to Mayor Lane. - Y. 31. C. A. and Chemawa Eunners Strike Out for 50 Mile Trot With feacks to Strong - Cold Southeast Wind. , i. (Salem Bureau of The Journal, 367 Staje Street.) . ' Salem, Or., May 2. Sharply at J9 o'clock . this . morning ,the flrt two contestants in, the second annual 50 mlle relay race between Chemawa Indians and the Portland ,Y. M. C. A., left the steps of the captol bully ing after Governor Chamberlain had delivered to each a tube bearing, a message to Mayor HarjV Lane' of Portland. A strong cold south wind was blowing on the backs of 'the run ners but the roads arrin excellent condition and a record run 1b ex pected. ' ,-. ... :..;, ... waiter Hght tha full-blood In dian, who Wat his mW In the first relay a year ago by I lght minutes, set up a great, pace which Cortozion, the Armenian, representing the Y. M, C. A., seemed less anxious to keep up, i'""' - ; j : . . f ; The first relay is -five and one half miles in length. , Automobiles contain ing Trainers Campbell of Chemawa, and Orilley of the Portland T. ... M. C. A.. sre following the eourlers. ? ; , ' The following I s the dispatch to tb mayor delivered to the couriers by Gov ernor Chamberlain:... :.,. ir - '- Balem, Or, Kay Hon, Barry Xne. Kayor, Portland.: Or. Dear lxt Belay teams composed of young- nem from the Touaa Xsa's Christian Association of Fortland and th Indian training school at Chamawa, will leave, the capital oity for Portland tola morning- at o'clock. X "pise "this message In the sands of those representing- the Toung Men s Christian Aisodation, exteadlng to yoa and, the good oltlsene of VorUand most ordlal greeting, and bewpsaklng for the bearers your most ooorteoas eonsldsra tlon. X have the honor to remain, . .. : '.. Tonrg wsry resptfuUy, , -. -,f , -, OEOXaXt. S. CKAK2XZJU9r, ; i ' Governor. Xdnsap Chang-ed. , -,'The TrM. C. A. lineup had , to ' ba changed yesteraay. owing; to unforeseen causes, Vaallus and Konkel having m drop out Webber la due to start from Oregon City to Oswego, and the position of several men has been altered Th" Indiana are running the earn a team -last year with but - three exception-, which they claim are improvement - Height, the crack Indian runner lan t year, again made first start from ba lem, and the association men are watt ing for. the returns to come to hand to show his time for the 6 hi miles wlih- i constitutes his run, Th Indiana claimr i that h,e made U last year l 28 min utes, and eight minutes ahead of )i '-tcohtinned' ton- Page- Three. titvt