Trrr, omaita daily kee: srxruY. .tantaky is. 1003.
11
ATTORNEY ELMER E. THOMAS TALKS IN
H PainU Omaha in the Very Blackest
of Black Colon.
"I AM A MAN OF ACTION," SO HE DECLARES ;
3ere at Mickey for Not NamiDg Him 1
on Police Board. I
CIVIC FEDERATION RUN BY FIVE MEN
Says Exoneration of Chief of Police
Donahue u a Whitewash.
THOMAS ADMITS BREYVEriS' COMPROMISE J
' Altae Anulrnce to tin t:iln Polities j
In f'hlpaaet After F.Mmplf f j
It lo Federation in
Omaha.
Wlicu Introduced by the chairman Elmer
1-J. Thomas da.ivr.rvj before the komi i'lu-
pie's Christian Temperance union. In the '
auditorium of tlir; First Methodist Episcopal j
church of Chlcugo, Thursday evening, Jan
uary 6. tlia following address, as taken i
down by it court reporter: j
" 'Woe unto yen, Corazon; woe unto you I
Kcthsaida! For If the mighty thing that j
liavu been suld. If tho mighty works which
have bi''ii done before ynu. Wot unto you,
Chicago, for If the, words that havo been
uttered here tonight had la-en uttered In
Omaha, that would have been 11 luw-alid-lug
and righteous city years ago.
The words of welcome have disarmed
me, in a measure, on account of the es
teem nnd vymtiathy expressed by you for
me and my family, .nd for tho people of '.
my city. . I am somewhat overcome by
emotion, for I could not have been more
warmly welcomed Into tho home of my
lather. 1 thank you ull. I thank you on
account of my family, 1 thunk you on ac
count of my 'lfe. ud 1 thank you on ac '
count of my city. I appreciate what ynu
have suld tonight In your addresses of wel- ,
come. I
"There have been times when, If I could .
have seen one friendly face In a court room ;
lllled with thieve and crooks, who would :
have taken my life on any provocation .
which would hare given them an excuse, if I
could have seen one friendly face standing
in front of tnu In my work, I would have
been encouraged, my heart would have i
been lifted up, becauso I could have gone '
on with my right with greater determlna-
tlon and desperation among tho crowd of j
crooks whom I have been fighting there for i
tho last year. I thank you, friends, from
the bottom of my hear;. You have given
me courage In applause.
Oimplliueute to Chlcaito.
"I am not an orator; I am not a speaker.
If I am anything, I am a man of action.
Brother Holdch expressed something that
Abraham Lincoln said on tho battlelleld of
Gettysburg. Ho Bald, among other things:
'It Is not what they aay here, It Is
what they do here.' It Is not what we say
here tonight; It la what you are going
io do.
"W)ien I cams here to Chicago I didn't
know what you had here. I knew you
had bean making a fight; I knew you had
all kinds of organizations; I knew, like
Wendell Phillips said, you make two or
three steps forward, maybe two or three
backward, and you were reaching to the
plaoe, but you were not organised In a
way to do business. Think of what a
groat city Chicago Is. The brains of the
west era here; people of force have come
In here from all of the great west, and
you have the mentality, you have the
mean, you have the strength of body, you
have the finances here to go on and con
quer this crowd of crooks and thieves that
have got this city by the throat, surer than
the crooks have got our city. You don't
need leadership; 1 thought you did. You
have got nil kinds of leadership.
You havo got till kinds of people
her- who can advance Into the
open and fight those people single-handed.
If need be; and I know you said the truth a
while ago when you said that these fights
nro made by tho lono fighter. You ex
pressed the sentiments of the poet, that it
is a fact that these fights are made by the
lone fighter.
"I would have given the world to have
seen one friendly face, as I said before, be
fore a police court where I waa trying to
bring some crook to face Justice, but I
didn't have one face. These fights aro made
by the lone lighter, and sometimes they nro
successful, but more often r.ot successful.
Borne times a fight Is made, as oor light in
Omaha has been made, with a measure of
buccees. We have not done very much
there. This bomb that our .friend has
spoken about has don more for us than
you could have done for us in many years.
It bus awakened the people of that town.
Everybody heard the bomb literally and
everybody has hoard It spiritually. Kvery
body In the town, at least the neighbors, I
Jumped out of their beds with thut explo
sion, and they a.e out of bed now and they
have got their righting clothes on and they
ay the end has come. It Is all over but
the hollering.
Wouldn't libel Anyone,
"I am here In Chicago to tell you about
Omaha and the crime of two states. I am
going to try to do that. It Is descriptive
largely, and I nm not very good on descrip
tion, and I nm going to give you the best
I have. I hardly know where to begin.
We have In an office In Omahu a mayor
who la a crook. t.Vppluuse.) I would not
1111 anybody. 1 have been libelled so much
myself that I know how It feels. I would
not tell a malicious lie about nnybody on
earth. There are tlmrs In these lights,
however, when we feel like taking the
devil's weapons and going after him with
thut kind of weapons; but I any I would not
He about anybody. Tho supremo court of
0 .r state has found that the mayor of
Omuha. whllo he occupied a position In the
district court, waa au cmuczslcr of public
funds, so I have high authority for .my as
sertion that he is a crook. He was elected
in l97 over K.1 Howell, a man a good d jal
like himself, u man whom the populists put
up against Frank K. Moore's. Frank was
elected by 200 or SX). by the akin of his
teeth. In 1!X) the democrats had better
sense and they nominated Mr. Will Popple
ton, as able a young lawyer as lives In the
slate of Nebraska; a fellow like your man
Ilolden here.
"I see Dr. Kavtlle here, an old friend from
Omahu, anj hu bus been through those
Pghts and knows all about them. I am glad
to gee you. Doctor.
tieaena as a Prouder.
"Frank Moorea was elected In 1oO over
Wilt Poppleton In 1WI we had an election
then and tried to get rid of Mnores. In the
reptiblloaa convention he was nominated by
on vete. Fristus A. Benson was In the
coavenUo-a, and received the-vote of tha
Ninth ward, the ward that Benson and I
live In. and cna of the strong lighters In
1 tls may menl. You ran always deeiid
upon It that Benson l umtind with a prod
In his hand to prod up somebody that wants
to lay down, and with some schema In hi
Blind by which the enemy t put lit rout,
Facsimile of
GRAND RECEPTION
CHICACO WILL WELCOME .
HONORABLE ELMER E. THOMAS
Omaha's Heroic and "Dynamited" Leader
CIVIC RIGHTEOUSNESS
AUDITORIUM. I t M. n. CHURCH.
COR. CI. ARK AND WASHINGTON STS.
MUSIC BY THE BRASS BAND
and a man who has given more courage to
the men who have done this fighting almost
than any mun In Omaha. lunvon was nom
inated by the bolters; they walked cut of
the convention. We waited tn sec what the
democrat did. They nominated Ed Howell;
thry nominated him hi 197 and could not
elect him and tried again In l!fl. The antl
tnachine republicans said, 'ffc won t stand
for 1hl.' and the people of the town rose
tip and said. 'We will have Erupt us A. Ren
son for our mayor;' but Frank Mnores was
elected again In the next race by the skin
of his teeth. We have gone through that
thing three times; don't you see how hope
less It is?
W hat Mickey Did.
"A few days after that "the governor of
Nebraska, who is a good Methodist, hnd
the appointment of a tire and police com
missioner. That liody Appoints the police
department officials; it Is responsible for
the system of government In our city. The
mayor Is the executive officer, but the po
lice commission has the governing; they
may remove the police they may say to
the chief of police, "If you don't enforce the
law, we will remove you.' There came a
time when Carl Wright, one of our good
fellow?, was on the police commission and
had JuM begun to get busy and they took
him out of there and elected him city at
torney in order to get rid of him. It became
necessary for Governor Mickey to appoint
a police commissioner, and the choice was
to fall among the democrats or populists,
because the board cannot be all of one
party; It must bo bl-partlsar. or trl-partlsan.
and so the friends who had been In the
Unison camp went down and said, 'Gov
ernor, wo want Mr. Thomas for police com
missioner up at Omaha;' and the governor
said, 'I can't appoint Mr. Thomas.' 'Why?'
'Hecnuse he Is a Methodist.' That is the
excuse ho made He appointed a. man who
the Burlington ruilroad had asked him to
appoint, and he resigned the other day. He
Is a man who has .been a United States
Judge nnd who Is a lawyer and who could
not stand the stullflcatton of being a law
yer and going before the public any longer
In that capacity, under existing circum
stances, and he got out.
"I urn rambling, all tho way, the way I
am starting, because I never write a
speech.
His Political Triumph.
"I filed charges against Chief of Police
Donohue In October-4n November, I think.
I waited until after the election, so they
could not say we were doing this to make
political capital of the Indictment of The
Omaha Bee B. Rosewater, who, had been
writing down to Theodore Roosevelt to tell
him how he waa going to bring down the
delegation from Nebraska solid for Roose
velt and assuring him of It, because Ne
braska was for him. We got out a circu
lar and the mayor said: 'Well, this Is a
fight between the Clvlo Federation and the
machine. We eaid: 'All right, the Civic
Federation Is not In politics, but If you
put It that way, we will show you what
the Civic Federation can do.' And we did.
We went" out last spring and cteaned up
tho machine and there was not a grease
spot left of them, and E. Rosewater didn't
go to the Chicago convention, but Harry
Broma did go to tho national convention
as a deiegate-at-large from Nebraska.
Well, that was a side Issue.
Omaha's tlvlo Condition.
"I filed charges against, the chief of
police the day after election, In order to
show we were not In politics, charging him
with refusing to compel a compliance with
the midnight closing law and refusal to
restrict the evil of prostitution within cer
tain districts, which the police board had
theretofore prescribed. The chief filed an
answer by a lawyer, by his blundering
counsel. In which he admitted that the
saloons wero open, more or lesa, in Omaha,
and always had been; nnd ho admitted the
other charge In relation to prostitution;
that It had always been and always would
be s-. I had him on the law there, and I
had him on his own admissions. He ad
mitted my case nnd I didn't need to offer
any evidence, and I didn't offer any evi
dence except on subsidiary and minor mat
ters. "We put that case up to Judge Mcliugh,
because he Is one of the greatest lawyers
In Nebraska, or In the west and west of
the Missouri river, so far as I know. lie
has a practice worth many, many thou
sands of dollars a year, and Judge McHugh
could not be in the attitude of saying here
is a charge of the violation of tho law;
here la an admission of guilt and we will
whitewash this chief of police, who admit
his guilt, so Judge McHugh says': 'We have
got to find him guilty, but. then, we will
not remove1 him, because we are Just as
blameworthy as he Is.' We did not Insist
upon the enforcement of the law; we did
not tell the chief of police he must enforce
it; we told him, 'You are guilty, but don't
you do it again.' The rest of the board
ure not lawyers. I have given you this
as an Illustration of what a lawyer will
do. He cannot do what he sees to be the
right. Jurlg- McHugh, because the rest
would not stand with him on that proposi
tion, got out. He is out now. The rest of
them whitewashed the chief.
Closing t'p C.aniblins; Houses.
"I filed other charges. I tiled charges
against the chief for protecting criminals
In the city of Omaha. I charged that he
had protected tho I)laniond pool .room, a
gambling house, and he admitted it. That
is, he admitted that it had run, that it had
been found guilty and that an appeal had
been taken from the district court, aft-,-the
district Judge had ordered him tn close
It. This Is the way they do In Omaha.
A good scheme, too. We have here a gov
ernment by Injunction; we have In Omaha
government by mandamus, and we got out
a writ of mandamus there a year or so
ugo against the mayor and chief of police
and asked the court to compel them td
close the Diamond gambling house, and
the district court said, 'All right, that la
the law. You have tried all you can to
enforce it In the usual channels,' and they
dlrectej the mayor and chief of police to
close the gambling house and they closed
It. ' That Is. they did not close It then;
they took an appeal to tha supreme court
of Nebraska In order to give those people
who were running that gambling house six
months longer to run. I suppose they were
paid themselves out of the house of gam
bling, but the appeal was taken tn the
supreme court of the state and the su
preme court sustained the mandamus, and
we have got a precedent there now for
this.
"Ho I brought a mandamus rasa against
the mayor and Chief of police ihe other
Admlsalaa Ticket.
H
c
vt
9
in
o
night to close the saloons arter midnight,
and there is no way to get out of that.
The clerk rf the police court Is Tom Den
iilson'n man. I filed a bill and I went up
to the police court and tiled twenty-three
charges for keeping open after midnght.
He says, 'All right, t will dismiss them.'
I says, 'You cannot dismiss them.' I says
to the pnlh-s Judge, 'You cannot dismiss
them." and he fays, 'I will dismiss them."
And so the cases were dismissed and I
had to mandamus them to compel the
executive officials of the city to close the
saloons by au order of court. We havo
got their admissions In writing, and I have
served notice after notice upon them In
writing to close and pointed out the Iden
tical saloons that were open. They are
open, and we are going to make them
close.
Story of George Barrier.
"So I say, ve have government by man
damus out there. I was starting to say
we have a number of charges against the
chief of police. They are all of this gen
eral nature, and he admitted every one
except one. I huvo charged that he tried
to shako down a criminal by the name of
George Burlier, and Oeorge Burrler was
dunged with robbery of a gambling house
at Minneapolis, and the chief called in
Gorge one day and said: 'I understand
you got $32,000 out of the gambling house
In Minneapolis. I want It. How much
have you got?' And he aald $110. 'How
much has Hodgers, your pal, got?" He
said: 'I think about $110. I havo got to
have that much, as I need It.' 'I have
got to have that.' 'Well,' he says, 'you
go and see Tom Denniaon.' He went down
ami saw Tom and suld that Tom told him:
'You better give him the money,' and he
said: 'I won't do it.' And so he Jumped
the town and did business on his own
hook. George was coming down to
Omaha, you understand, and thought a
long as he did not commit any crime
against the people of Omaha ho would be
uble to go to Omaha and do as he pleased
outside of Omaha, ant that he could run
Into Omuha and be as safe as he would
In his mother's home, and George thought
that would be a good arrangement. He
told the chief: 'I have not committed any
crimes against the people of Omaha," but
ihe chief of police said he would have to
put up that money. I tried to prove that
state of facts, and I did prove It by .the
criminal's testimony.
"There are five other charges I made
against the chief, against which he did
not offer one word of evidence, and the
police commission whitewashed them.
Omaha's City Officials.
"I came here to tell you about Omuha.
That Is the kind of government we have
there. The mayor I am not going to say
anything about him, becauso he is now
being consumed by a fatal disease and It
Is only a question of a short time until he
will be gone, and it is not necessary.
"The chief of police has been exon
erated by tho police commission, but the
commission have told me and I have
gotten on a little bit better terms with
them now and they told me privately
thut tho chief of police has got to play
bull In the future, and he Is going to do
moro business In the future In the way
of cleaning up the crooks and In the way
of enforcing the law than he has done In
the past. I have that assurance. I don't
know what it is worth.
"Here are some of the conditions:
Omaha is a wlte open town. It has al
ways Wen a wide open town, and Tom
Deunlsou says It always will be so long as
he is spared to make It wide open. I guess
that Is right. We got tired of that thing
out there. We didn't want u wide open
town. We wanted the law enforced. A
year ugo now, Just about a year ago, our
committee, for there had been a com
mittee which had been uppolntcd by the
Municipal Voters' league an organisation
which picks out good candidates they did
not want to take up this work of denning
up the town uud compelling a compliance
with the laws. They had a meeting nnd
It was slated at the outset of the meeting
that there should be, and there was, 'an
executive committee of five men ap
pointed at thut meeting. That executive
committee haa done all the work that ha
boen done In the past year. Mr. Carpen
ter, a member of the executive committee,
walked to tho front and, I think, about
seventy-five business men responded and
came out, and he raised $l,6oo there In a
few minutes and started to work. I think
it took him about five minutes and we
have never been pressed for funds. The
Jewelers' Protective union of New York
has been interested In this work with us
and has contributed some to i:s.
About the Machine,
"We found at tho outset of our work
this committee came together as soon as
the main body had beeu Uibbundod and we
found this condition of things: Wc found
vice was rampant In the town, and it
always would le as long as tho present
political machine remains In power. We
tried, as I have detailed to yuu, on three
elections to get rid of this machine.'
"The machine In Omahu consists of the
will of three men. Edward Rosewater,
tho editor of The Omuha Bee, the greatest
newKpaper in the stale of Nebraska, from
a news viewpoint, und the worst news
paper, from a moral standpoint, In the
state. Well, Rosewater haa his reporters
prepare all reports and color them accord
lug to the wishes of the machine.
"Then the muyor. I have told you about
hi in. He la a charitable man, a good man
In many wayB, but he will not enforce tho
law under any circumstances.
"And the third man of this machine was
Tom Denulson. Who waa Tom Deniilson?
Tom Denulson la our local gambler and
thief. I am talking now. I am not writing.
I wrote a letter to the governor of Iowa
the other day, but as desciiptio personae I
said: 'Tom Dennlson, a local gambler and
thief." says so and so-Just as n. mere mat
ter of description; but I had not any more
than written it than Tom Dennlson got a
ropy of It and he put me in the millionaire
class immediately by suing me for $nn,00o
for libel. I am In the millionaire class
now. He sued me for damages for litt.wo.
Ho I have got work very hard In the future
to make up that $50,000, and I may have
to come here to Chicago after a while to
tske VP a collection and hava you help me
pay off tha debt.
Boast for Tons Draalaon.
"Tnni Denniaon Is pur local gambler anj
thief; be is a grafter; ha la tha king of
grafters, It has been Tom'e business msny
years to train tho thieves. You may not
CHICAGO OF
believe this about anybody, but lie trains
thieves, sends them out anl shows them
how to do that Work. His specialty is to
know every man in the state if Iowa or
Nebraska who has any diamonds or has
any money and lit keeps thosn thins laving
around loose He knows those things.
That Is his business. Tom I'cimlsuii has
sued mo for libel because I said that w.is
the fact, but It Is.
"Tom Dennlson ran for year In Omaha
a gambling house. A policy business. I
sec a numb'T of colored people In the
house, und they know what policy Is; a
great favorite game nmorg the colon d
people. Tom Dennlson conduc ted there a
policy game which netted him In the neigh
borhood of Ki.uoO to $Co.ts.l u year for many
years, nnd It wjs a great hardship for him
to let go of that graft. As he came Into
power and prominence, he became known
as the king of grafters.
Definition of Ornftrra.
"I mean by grafters, I ue ti e term grn
erlrally. A grafter Is a pison who Is
trying to get u special privilege from the
government that he Is not entitled to by
law. The saloon keepers are grafters, ad
mit that the only money they can make Is
' In the violation of the law. The social evil
! Is a graft, the low theater concei t hall and
all those things. The thieving business
Is a particular kind of grafting nnd flour
i Ishes In our city beyond hope or rxpecla
I tlon.
"Then there Is another class of grafter::
the telephone corporation, the railroad cor
poration, the street railways corporations,
the electric light corporations. All those
classes of people In our city and In your
city, and in every city in tho land, stand
together. The ruilioad corporation, street
car corporation, stand In with the lower
class of crooks, so-called, nil for the pur
pose of controlling the government, for the
purpose nf electing officers and controlling
I those ofhVcr, either with money or lnllu
I ence, or some way, after they are elected.
All of these elements get their business
j from Tom Dennlson. If any graft was to
! go to the officials for protection. Tom Den
nlson carried it there. If a railroad wanted
I to steal au alley, and they occasionally do,
I Tom Dennlson was the negotiator between
j them nnd the city council. Men have told
j me that thousands of dollars u month was
taken out of the treasury of tho gambling
house, given to Tom Dennlson, and Tom
Dennlson said he went up to the city hall
1 and paid It out for police protection. All
! of the graft of thut city has gone through
that one channel, and the reason you can
not get any public official convicted In
Omaha is because Tom won't' take the lid
off. Tom said last summer If the people
didn't ciiino up to his aid ho was going to
take the lid off. We nro going to give
him nil the encouragement wo can.
"Don't you see what a powerful combi
nation It Is? That Is the machine that hns
our city by the throat. There it Is, sus
talned by that tripod of men, Rosewater,
the mayor and Dennlson. The Civic Fed
eration has Just as much wnse ns nnybody
else, but we will never win good govern
ment In Omaha, you will never win good
government In Chicago, until you can elect
a class of people who want good govern
ment, and a class of officials who will give
you good government.
Whr They Tnckled Tom.
"We are determined, therefore, to get
one member or the other, ,or all of that
machine. Tom was tho most vulnerable
and the most criminal of all. We did not
dare to go after Tom for grafting In
Omaha, because Tom had elected the
Judges that la, the machine had elected
the mayor, the Judges and all the police
men. We did not believe wo could convict
Tom Dennlson In Omaha. A Echeme came
into my mind and I went over to tha
penitentiary at A mimosa and at Fort Mad
ison. "In the penitentiary at Fort Madison I
found a fellow who was Incarcerated
under the nume of Frunk Shercliffc. but
his real name was Morris. Frank Sher
cliffe tells me that ho has reformed, und
tells me that If they will help him he
will, In the future, lead a Christian life.
He tells me that In the future he wants
to go by the name of Sherman W. Morris,
his honest name. I hull denominate him
by the name of Morris In what I have to
say tonight. He told me a wonderful story
about Tom Dennlson. He had taken eleven
years of punishment and kept his mouth
shut, and hud been game nnd had not
said a word, but there had been a break
and ho was ready to talk, und he told me
the atory'of the crime of two states. I am
going to tell you that now und Just as fast
Ks I can.
Tale of Two States.
"This man (Sheicliffe or Morris) met Tom
Dennlson In Salt Lake City about 1S90,
fourteen years ugo. Ho cume to Tom Don
nison out of the penitentiary of I'tah with
a letter of Introduction to Tom. Tom was
then known as Kid McCoy. He then
gave him something to do. He told him to
go and hold up two women, tun wife of a
stockman and the wife of a professional
gambler. So he went to his puis find com
panions and they held up those two women
and robbed them of I?") worth of dia
monds. That was the introduction.
"Business waa not prosperous In the
west, so he left Tom Dennlson nnd went
to New Orleans to the Fltzslmmons no, to
tho Corbelt-Sullivan fight I muBt be right
on these important matters he played It
all on Hullivan and lost. Later on he
went to Tom and said: 'Here Is $0"j0 that
I got out of a robbery. I got $150 out of
this." ho said, the swag that he had pro
duced. Well, Tom took It und looked It
over and handed back to' Morris $;;iu In a
few nights afterward Tom Hld, 'Here is a
fellow I want you to luok at. Ho got
$3,0C0 on an election bet. Do you think
you could hold him up? H-re, you take
thut and follow him home, slug him, hit
him over the head with II,' and he put a
gun In his hand and started him out to
do his work.
Morris Not a Had Man.
"Morris la not a very bud man. He says
he has never wantonly shed human blond
It has been only in self-defense, only bten
In tho proper protection of his peculiar line
of business, when he has been compelled,
from time to time, to malm and injure
people. He left the Job and went and
saw Hooker, and he says from that time
to this his wife has never had a peaceful
moment and Is always in terror.
"A day or two ul'ter that, Dennlson came
to Morris In a great state of excitement
and he said, 'Pollock Is here.' He had
known htm for many years. lie bad been
waiting for him. 'He is In tjwn. He bus
shown $75,000 worth of diamonds. lie Is
going to Sioux City tonight. You take the
truln, you get u coupling pin or a lead
pipe and get those diamonds. Ho carries
tho wallet in bis Inside pocket.' He suys,
'Morris, I want thofco diamonds. Get on
that train, go to b'loux City, rob him and
get the diamonds. You will be rich."
"Shercliffe says he was ut thut time only
22 yeurs of age, and thut If ho bud had
inore age and discretion he aicver would
have committed so great a crime. Ho says,
'I would nut have done anything uch us
Denuisou wanted me to do.' But Morris
went and bought a fains moustache uud
disgulced himself a little and got on the
train. Dennlson accnmiuiuled him down to
the train und he got over into Iowa. He
put on the false whl.-kers. pit up his gun
Into thn, fate of poll. irk nnd s.ivs, 'I want
them diamond.' Ha hands blin out a
pocketbook. "That Is not what I want; I
want them dlumondu." Pullo;k showed
HIS GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS
Facsimile of Handbill Aanoancemeat.
Omaha and the Crime of two States
Address to be given by
ELMER E. THOMAS
A.torney for the Omaha Civic Federation whose HOME WAS DYNAMITED,
Tuesday. November 22nd, at 1:20 a. m.
First Methodist Church
Cor. ClarK and Washington Sta.
THURSDAY, JAN. 5. AT 7:45 P. M. SHARP
MUSIC WILL BE FURNISHED BY THE M. C. C. BRASS BAM)
hort Ad4rtttt mt Walcimt will tea ! Wj
REV. DR. FRANK G. SMITH. Pastor Warren Avt. Conf relational Church.
ATTORNEY CHAS. R. HOLD EN. Firm of Kraus.AIchuIer & Holdcn.
MRS. MATT1E GUILD SQUIRES, Secretary Chicago Y. P. C. T. U.
TWENTY irCOND MONTHLY "DOWN TOWN" RALLY OF TNI
CHICAGO YOUNG PEOPLES CHRISTIAN TtMPCRANCC UNION
ADMISSION FREE
THE STORY BRIEFLY TOLD
F-IrtlPP P ' Thiinifl ' Attorney for the Civic Federation, competed of Ifiriing Omaha fctiiineM
1-I1I1CI L.. I llUIIIaS mtn, bandrd together (or the purpote ol accomphihinf local reforms in
municipal affair.
Mr Thornai. representing the federation, w ;qtly responsible for the indictment, lat iprinp, of
Tom Dennlson, the famous Polity Klnf. f ambler and political boa of Omaha, for complicity in ore cf the boldett
train rohhenrt of recent vcars, on a Sioux City train twelve yean ago.
The story of evasion of law bv t hi manipulator of municipal affain, and the clemency shown his criminal
associate, through hii "political putt" by Iowa and Nebraska Slate an. I City official, covert one of the blackest
page of political corruption ever exposed to a shocked and indignant public.
In addition to his frarle exploit ion of the guilt and. villainy of this dir'ntor of Omaha Politics, he ha
li-en cnff iged in a rrtxade to compel the enforcement of tha Sunday and Midnight Cloalnff Saloon Las, and' a
l'-w houis previous to the wrecking of his home, he conducted an investigation of charge Igainit Chief of 1 o!itt
lonahne. before the Pol'ce Commission, on a charge of not enforcing the law.
Nine thouiand dollars reward hat been offered by the vaious organization of the Citv, for any information
which shall lead to the capture ol the criminal.
Certain City officials have brought down the wrath of Press, Pulpit and Public bv endeavoring to divert sus
picion from the probable source, by venturing the theory that it wa the work of some cfhnk or half wTtted penon.
Conservative, mm cursed, crime-inlectcd Omaha i arrouted and calling for vengeance on the perpetrator
of thi dastardly deed
FROM PEOPLE AND PRESS
"They can hilt me, but (hi, fight will go on." Elmer C. Thorns,.
I rtnnot umlentind bow Mr. Thnmai or any ol hit family escaped with their lii ei, for Ihe man that put
ihit bomb there, lid it with Ihe intention of blowing the place and everybody in it, into eternity.
Chief ol Detectives Dunn.
'The people of Ihii City have seen gambleri and thieve, protected in their nrfariou, calling, bv official!
who are paid by the people,' money but the people will stand for no shilly-shally ins in this latest outrage."
Omaha Dally Nwa.
"l et us face the fact, fairly and squarely. It was the handiwork of some powerful men against whom
l-.lfter li. Thomas has labored in the interests of law and order." Omaha WorldHerald.
flKht and shoved him with hta arm so as to
dispel liltn. Morris pays ho struck that
man over tho head with n shot hug; the
shots sprinkled over the floor of the cur
tho shot from thut sliolhuK went rolling on
tho floor. He reached for the diamonds and
Kot them tho first time hn reached, lie
knew Just where they were, because Dennl
son hnd told him. He reached for his
satchel and pullc-d the nlrbrako and made
his escape In the darkness. It wus In No
vember on th? 6 o'clock train.
t moments on tho rasaeiiftrs.
"Well, you say, this was a passenger
train. Where were ull the people? Sitting
In the smoking car, fifteen or twenty people
In there. What did they all do? It Is a sad
commentary upon the lack of courage thut
every man In that car, when their fellow
man waa In trouble, they got up and went
to the door and left the cur und two of
them jumped out of the car and fell down
an tnibunkment rather than go to the as
sistance of this mr-i. There was one man
who stayed In the cur, and the reason he
stayed In was he had a wooden leg and the
wooden leg got caught in the car seat and
he couldn't get away.
"Shercliffe stayed in the woods that night
and the netx duy he borrowed a, neighbor's
horse and went to Missouri Valley. He
burled those diamonds. Pollock had ex
pressed a large number of the diamonds,
and this satchel did not contain anything
but diamond sleeve buttons. Morris burled
them In the edgo of Missouri Valley and he
went to Turn Pennlson and told him those
diamonds tare behind the school house In
the edge of Missouri Valley. 'You go up to
the hill to the fence und six feet south of a
Btay post, you strike In there with your
knife und you will find the diamonds.' Tom
Dennlson went up and he didn't find them
the fliHt time, but he came buck with a
butclietknlfe nnd tried agnln and struck
them the llrst time. Dennlson then said he
sold them for 17,500. His statement shows
thut ho got $13,000 for them, for the dia
monds he got for Dennlson. Shercliffe waa
afterward enptured and whs tnken to Lo
gan, the county seat of Hnrrison county,
and was convicted und sentenced to seven
teen years in the Fort Madison peniten
tiary, but he was released after eleven
years nnd pome mouths of service.
Indictment of Denlaon.
"Tom Dennlson was Indicted before th6
grand Jury upon'shercliffe's story last year
for, .among other things, receiving stoVen
goods. Ho sought to escape trial by a ha
beas corpus. He clulms that you cannot
extradite him Into Iowa, btcaute he waa
not a fugitive from Justice, und he tried to
prove before the district court that ho hud
never been in Iowa, but we produced the
hotil register with his name on it showing
he had been In the state of Iowa, although
he hud 'brought in six policemen from the
police force of Omaha to ehow that they
shadowed him for eighteen days after this
ctime. and they were positive ho never left
tho city at all.
"The district court ordered him sent to
Iowa. J 1 r appealed to the supreme court
of the state. The supreme court has ruled
thut he has got to go to Iowa. He haa ap
pealed to tho supreme courf of the United
States and we have no doubt he will hnve
to go to tho state of Iowa for trial.
Klilaode of I lie Itomb.
"The very Instant our bark was turned
upon Tom Dennlson, that bomb waa placed
ut our house, und there is not any question
on earth but that that was the highest art
of thut gang of thieves. They expected to
kill me uud, in order to kill mo and escape
detection, in the dead of tho night thej went
up to my .house and placed the bomb there.
Undoubtedly they were scared, because the
Job was not well done. There was enough
explosive, of whatever nature there waa In
that bomb, If it had been placed In the
ground, to have torn that house to atoma
and to tiuve scuttercd our remains to the
winds of heaven.
"But I wus Impressed then, as I am now,
with the fuct thut there Is an ever-ruling
I'rovlilence In these affairs. 1 stood there
over thut bomb; so did my family. If we
had stood there one second longer than
we did wo would have been torn all to
piices. My wife started to the kitchen
and I started liiKldc of the house, and wa
wero both in absolute safety at the time'
of the explosion, If that explosion had
occurred one minute luttr than It did, as
you that
Ho over-
there Is a id in Israel and that
rules the attains of Ills people, ami that
Hu protected me that night. . You could
not make me believe that He did not if
ynu talked to me a thousand years. I
ubKoluttly think Hu did, for I know now,
what 1 was not then sure ,of, that this
work w ure doing in Omaha 1 good and
11. nt as long as there a any work there
UP niu' to do i will be spared to do It, and
I would not care after tlU what happens.
I would rather dio with tny. boots on at
COME, BRING YOUR FRIENDS
tho age of 40, fighting a good cause, than
to live to be as old ns Methusehv and then
lie down In peace. (Applause).
"Life, after all, Is not everything. I
would rather be a dog than let this crowd
of crooks run the town. I nm not alone.
I want you to understand that every mem
ber of the Clvlo Federation stands Just
where I do, and they say, come what will,
that town Is going to be cleaned of all
crooks and vicious elements thut now In
fest It. We have had a meeting of 4,0'JO'
people who protested In most pronounced
form against the form of outrage that
they practiced upon mo and mine. ,
9
Proud of a Compromise,
"I protested against seventeen saloons In
the Third ward district the low district
of the town protested against their being
granted a license. I withdrew this protest
upon un agreement with the brewers. The
brewers did not go to tha officials; they
came to us and the officials of tho Civic
Federation. They said: 'What are your
terms?' And I say the greatest day In
the history of the Clvlo Federation was
the last day of December, when the
saloon keepers came to our organization
and said: 'What do you want? We will
obey the law. What do you people want?'
(Applause).
"We told them what we wanted. We
aald we will withdraw those seventeen
protests if every saloon In Omaha, now
and henceforth, shall close at midnight;
shall absolutely cut out Bales to minora
and shall divorce the social evil from the
saloon business, and the low theaters shall
be refused a license unless women are
kept out of them altogether. The police
told me that they were going to stand to
our back and that that agreement would
be kept to the letter. We expect to clean
out tills gung of thieves, and, from the
success we have made, I know we will be
successful.
Salvation for lileaa".
"What did I come here to do? I came
here to see If I could atir you to do a
little business on your own account. With
such magnificent leadership ns you have
got you can accomplish anything. You
have a magnlllcent organization. This Young
People's Christian Temperance union is
capable of doing anything In Chlcugo thut
you determine to do. You cun do It, under
the leadership you have here, and you cun
clean this town na clean as you want to.
You are an organization who are making
public sentiment. That Is good. Your work
la fine. You have made a gram! sueciss.
You have created public sentiment in this
community; but, as I said In the begin
ning, und I say now, I urn a man of
action. I never could content myself to
be making public sentiment.
Host to Fix mpaper.
"I wmt to the newspapers In Omaha
and said: 'Why don't you people support
us In our movement?' Well, they suld:
"When you get busy and do something
you will get all the support you want.'
That la the way we went down there and
waited upon the editors at different times,
and they professed their willingness, but
they dldn's do anything. When we got
uftor Colonel Tom Dennlson. page after
page of publicity, with the most startling
heud lints; everything we wanted In the
way of publicity and advertising came to
us, nnd from tliMt day to this wo don't
huve to go to the papers and. ask them
to print something. If this meeting here
tonight had been held In Omaha there
would have beeu uu announcement In
every paper In Omuha In every one, except
The Pee a most conspicuous announcement
of this meeting. A reporter will come
to my office every day and ask for the
news, for tho people will have It. .
"But I say to you that I would rather
hava an organisation llku this backing
me up In my work und have the Moral
support. I would know that the hearts
of the people were with me. I would Know
that then. Now, I know It is u cold business
proposition. These men of the Civic Fed
eration are very busy and tlity cannot give
up the time they would like to. They can
not give that royal moral support, to It
that Is bo necessary for the good of tho
cuuse. What I suy to you Is, if I were
permitted to auggevt, thut if you want to
make public sentiment, and make It fast,
you will get action In the enforcement of
the law. You enter upon a law-enforcement
crusade In this city. You will make
yourself a factor nnd power In the nom
ination of people who are to be nominutcd
In this city.
"I thank you very much for your cordial
reception of me. If I have said anything
tonight, It lias been with a view to be
Incentive to you Ihe only purpose thst
could have Induced me to leave rny wife
and family and fuliw here. You, seeing
our good works, If you consldir them good,
might emulate and exemplify them. Thut
Is my only purpose In coming. 1 don t
rare how many or how few of you get to
gether. If you determine upon a better state
of things In Chicago you C(m do It I
thank you." (Applause).
thank Dr. Pierce
for the kind advice
he Have when I wrote
to him."
"IsmthsnkfnltotVfrlenrl wjio frit recora
mended your tnedirlsie," writes Mr. Annt M.
Brnox, of StnithArla, Pnyette Co., Pa.
have a twelve pound Nihr. three sreeks old. I
took tntr bottle of faTorlte trCTtptioa
hclore hahv cume. sad the time was only est
hour an I a half. Hare had five children, and
twlore thn alwarts had a severe time, lasting tv
or three dav. and never waa able to do n
work fur about two month! afterward Now I
am d"tng all the work for four children. Uy
trienda sar I lo'k better now than ever bw.
We t ld one of my sinter to take ' Favorite
Freacnption,' which she did. and when bar
chti.i was born the time of suffering waa very
alvut She haa brttet health now than alncv)
her itiimirf, some veari aga nn
rrnUe Ir. Pierce medicine enough. I thank
r Pierce tor the kind advice he gave when I
wrote to him. Whenever 1 see ccet aomfl
siiflering 1 tell mem about you wonderful
medicines."
The benefits resulting front consulta
tion by letter with Dr. IVrre are testified
to hv thousands of grateful women who)
have' bou made new women by his med
ical advice and fatherly counsel given
absolutely without cost or fee.
Sick and ailing wotnen, especially
thoe suffering from chronic diseases, ar
invited to consult l)r. Pierce, by letter,
frte. All correspondence held a
strictly private and sacredly confident!.
Address Dr. R. V. lierce, Buffalo, N. Y.
Dr Pierce's Fnvorite Prescription 1
the best medicine for the cure of woman
ly ills. It establishes regularity, drie
weakening drains, heals inflammation
and ulceration and cures female weak
ness. It ia the beat preparatiTw foe
maternity, giving the mother strength to
give her child, and making tha baby'i
advent practically painleaa.
Dr. Pierce's ravorite Prescription con
tains no alcohol and is entirely frea from
opium, cocaine and all other narcotic.
The. Common Sense Medical Adviser,
looS large pages, in paper covers, ia sent
free on receipt of n one-cent atampa to
pay expense of mailing only. Addiee
t)r. R. V. Pierce, Buflalo. N. Y.
RARE SKILL JDF BLIND MEN
How atnre In Many Inatanees Make
Amentia for Its Vital
lie feet a.
A wonderful couplo aro the Barron broth
ers, who live on Ilroad atreet. Gainesville,
(in. Although they nro both totally blind
and have been ho afflicted since birth, they
ura n-i.il educated and well read. They ara
about 20 and 23 years of age, respectively.
They go arm in arm wherever iney wmn i
go, without tho aid of a gulda or even a
walking cane.
They aro familiar with the town and go
niiont i ho ut reels, iloilirlnu teams and street
cars and never Jostle against their fellow
pedestriuns. They frequently Visit me posi
ofllce anil can go to any store In town If
given ordinary direction for finding It.
They are cheerful and get more out of Ufa
than many who are moro fortunate.
i
About four miles east of Mayetta, Kan.,
live two, brothers who for twenty yeara
have conducted their farm and kept house
for themselves, although one la entirely
blind and the other nearly so. Their munaa
ara Elijah and William bunnell. They Ilva
In a dugout, which Is a sort of combination
of a sod house and cellar.
mijah Bunnell haa been blind for tha
last twenty years and William haa loat
the sight of one eye entirely and the vlaion '
of the other la extremely limited.
Elijah chops wood and does the ordinary
farm work and either of them cooka and
nepforma the usual stunt of housework aa
if he were In possession of all his faculties.
Recently William was Jn Topcka, being,
treated In tho hospital for about a month,
and during his absence Elijah, the one who
Is entirely blind, carried on the farm, car
ing for all the stock and preparing hi own,
meals. These men are apparently oblivious
to the Inconvenience of being without eye.
They huve never asked help because of
their afflicted condition. They ara alway
cheerful and go about singing and whis
tling. Stephen Slelllnger of Denver, Pa., does
things reinarkulile In one who moves; aa he
does, In continual darkness. Ills sense of
touch and heuring are very keen. 11a
works In the field, lie sows, uses the rake
and spnde, helps hurvest the crops, milks,
climbs trees and. what Is Btlll more re
markuble, drives spirited horses and rldea
a bicycle.
The boy Is as bright and cheerful aa anf
of his associates. Ho Is nble to harness a
horse unaided and to drive several mile
to the village where the household aup
pllea are obtained. Every morning It la
his duly to hitch a horse to a milk wagon
and drive a mile to Denver village. In
this drive he is compelled to cross rail
road tracks ut two points.
Spirited horpes are his delight, and two
1)longIng to his futher which ara too wild (
for the average mun to handle with safety,
aro used by him without a thought of
danger. It is unwise for othet1 persons than
he to approach these animals. Tha young
man dues not work, ride or walk In a bea
Ituting munner. after tho usual fashion of
the blind. He tukes a fast horse out on tha
road and gallops ut full speed, turning out
for vehicles und other horses and rounding
sharp corners without pulling up. On his
win el he riiles uh if possessed of full sight
and can be seen ahme miles from his home.
A blind typewriter operator, George W,
E. Ruper, is employed at the Atlna englna
works, Indianapolis. He not only la an
operator, but Is u rapid and accurate one,
und no one would suspect, Boeing his rapid
and confident manipulation of the keys,
thut ho cannot see. He works in the same
manner us his numerous companions. Let
ters, mcFwuges und telegrams are dictated
to u Kruplii'plione, aud the graphophone In
turn dictates its message to the typewriter.
In learning the use of a machine ha had
plueed on the keyi, raised dots, known a
the New York count system, that repre
sented letters corresponding to those rep
resented by the keys. When ha learned
the location of the keys tha raised dot
were dispensed with, and now he can use
almost any typewriter with a universal
shltt keyboard. He haa been employed ia
several establishments as a typewriter op
erator, not using a graphophone, but tak
ing dictation direct upon his machine. Mr.
Raper is handicapped In one manner, and
that la In the correction of his manuscript,
nut on account of this handicap his work
ia superior to that of the ordinary type
writer operator who can see, aa he ha
learned to muke exceedingly few typo
graphical errors.
llarueaalng lllab Tides.
It Is believed that It will not be very long
before adequate steps aro tnken to harness
some of Die practically unlimited tidewater
power of tho liny of Fundy and of tha
fiuta nnd lowlands that mark tha eatuarle
nf tho streams that flow Into the bay. On
the Minus busln a head of from thirty
five to forty f t would be available. This
sustained by the limitless volume of ocean
water, repltnishlng the basins every twelve
hours, would afford uu aggregate power
far beyond the utmost rupaelty of Niagara.
This Is only orH lntuneo of tha power of
tho Kay of l'undy that now goaa to waste.
At Morel, m the tide risea to a height Of
thirty liit. beginning with tha famous
rusl.iiig "bore" six fett III height. This
power could be utilised and . tha harbor
Improved without destroying tha faacl na
tions of the "bora." Indianapolla Nswa.