Trailing the Erie Criminals
By George T. Pardy
A True Chronicle sf One the Achievements sf John Wilson Murray*
T the beginning of
the year 1867 John
Wilson Murray be
came one of that
famous body of ex
perts appointed by
Uncle Sam to wage
war against wrong
doers whose specu
lations excite the
attention of the
federal govern
ment—the United
States secret serv
ice. It was then,
at the age of 26, that lie began to
accumulate a rich store of experience
in dealing with counterfeiters, the
arts of burglars and other varieties
of thieves, and the training thus
acquired was destined to be of
incalculable value to him in
after life. He spent nearly two years
as special agent for the government
and was then persuaded to go to
Erie, Pa., where, during his early days
on the lakes, he had made many
friends. Mr. Thomas Crawley was
chief of the Erie police force at that
time and at his invitation Murray be
came a detective under him.
Shortly after his arrival there a
wave of sneak-thieving swept over the
town and assumed very serious propor
tions. Even the furniture of private
houses disappeared as if by magic.
Clothing took to itself wings and
vanished into the great unknown.
Ploughs made strange and unaccount
able exits from the farmers' fields
leaving no trace behind. Horses can
tered away unseen by their owners
and their stables knew them no more.
Whole contents of stores were carried
off. and from one of them 20 dozen
pairs of shoes appeared to have walk
ed into oblivion in the full glare of
noon. It was all so mysterious as to
be almost amusing—except to the un
happy losers and the outraged mem
bers of the police force who were to
tally unable to appreciate the humor
of ihe situation.
Finally Murray met a farmer who had
seen a fellow drive by his house in a
new ••democrat" about the time that
Tolwarthy’s wagon disappeared, and
the description of both wagon and
driver convinced him that he was at
last upon the right track. Accom
panied by Crawley and an officer
named Snyder, Murray hired a team
and drove along the road the stranger
haa followed with the missing wagon.
For fully 15 miles they traveled, stop
ping at every farm, but found nothing
to reward their exertions. Deciding to
feed and rest their horses they turned
off the main road, and in a secluded
clearing with several acres of pine
woods around it perceived a lone
house.
No one was in sight, but in re
sponse to a hail a buxont woman,
about 25 years old. made her appear
ance and inquired if the party want
ed anything. Chief Crawley asked
for the man of the place, saying that
he wanted to feed his horses. The
woman whistled shrilly, and from be
hind a clump of bushes near the
barn, there came a little weazened
man about 50 years of age. The in
stant Murray saw the newcomer his
eyes brightened. The boy’s description
ot the stranger who left the ancient
v.-agon in the shed exactly fitted the
mar who stood before him.
‘‘What is your name," Murray asked.
“George Knapp," replied the with
ered individual.
“Have you lived here long?”
“Me and my wife have been here
about a year,” was the reply.
“Is that your wife,” inquired the de
tective, glancing at the young woman
who was standing in the doorway of
the house.
Knapp grinned and nodded assent.
He was not disposed to be communi
cative and his eyes twinkled cun
ningly as they met Murray's steadfast
gaze.
The detective yawned and looked
around in a nonchalant, uninterested
fashion. Presently he returned to the
attack.
“Have you seen anything of a
stranger driving past here in a new
democrat wagon lately?" he inquired,
but Knapp shook his head.
“I ain't seen anyone drivin' past
here," he responded. “Xot likely that
I would either, for there’s no place to
drive to. seein' that this is the end
of the road.”
Plainly Mr. Knapp was armed at all
points against curious seekers for in
formation. The officers proceeded to
make a thorough search of the prem
ises but their explorations of barn,
house and outbuildings proved fruit
less. Murray, however, felt intuitively
that the wily Mr. Knapp was not as
innocent as he would have them,be
lieve Strolling past the barn and
surveying the ground carefully the de
tective took tote of a stretch of clear
ed land running down to the creek
and saw that the sod had recently
been turned in one or two places.
Slight indications frequently lead to
big results and a sudden suspicion
flashed across Murray’s mind.
"Knapp,” he said pleasantly, “I
moan to try my hand at fishing in that
creek. Lend me a spade.”
"What do you want with a spade?”
asked Knapp, tightening his lips.
"To dig bait with, of course,” re
plied Murray readily.
Knapp looked uneasy, but produced
a spade and handed it to th' aetec
tive. Murray walked toward the |
creek and came to-a halt at one of
the spots where the sod had been
turned.
“There’s no sense in digging here,"
remonstrated Knapp; you won't find
any worms. It was dug over the
other day. Come a bit further down.”
“Not for me," returned Murray.
“1 he kind of worms I'm after are
right here, and it's easier work than
in the hard places."
Knapp said nothing in reply, but the
perspiration broke out on his wrinkled
face. Murray drove the spade into
the gtound. and smiled as he felt ihe
blade strike something hard, lie
turned back the soil with a few vigor
ous strokes, and there 'came to view
one of the wheels of the missing dem
ocrat wagon, buried beneath a foot of
earth. Murray looked at Knapp who
grinned in sickly fashion. The de
tective called his companions and
placed Knapp under arrest. He was
told that the best thing he could do
was to confess his thefts, and after
reflecting a few moments he nodded
and led the way to the house. His
wife met the party at the door.
"Get nte the shingle,' said her hus
band.
The woman obeyed without a word
of piotest. She went indoors and re
turned with a broad shingle, covered
with red dots, which Knapp explained
were made by chicken blood. One
broad, red blotch signified where the
barn stood, and the smaller marks in
dicated the spats where Knapp had
buried his plunder. The detectives
selected one of the marked places and
began to dig. The first thing to come
to light was a large coffin. This
looked as though some tragedy lurked
behind, and they lifted the casket out
of the earth. It was very heavy and
hastily' they removed the lid, expect
ing to see the mutilated form of one
of the robber's victims. But instead
of the remains of a human being sev
eral dozens of boxes containing shoes
were revealed. The weazened thief
standing beside them laughed harshly.
"Corpses ain't the only things found
in coffins," he remarked sagely.
The officers pursued their search
digging up every place indicated on
the shingle map. and great and varied
was the list of property that came to
light. Among the things unearthed
were a shroud, toilet set, a baby car
riage, 40 silk dresses, gold watches,
seven ploughs, a harrow, surgical in
struments, a churn, a log chain, a
grandfather’s clock, a set of grocer's
scales, hats, overcoats, pipes, a bar
ber's pole, even a policeman's shot
gun, which Knapp hau stolen from the
owner's house.
The men took turns at digging and
even the thief himself was pressed
into service, until fully ten wagon
loads of plunder lay in sight. It was
truly a fine exhibition of wholesale
thieving, and the marvel of it all was
that Knapp swore to having done it
single handed. Subsequent develop
ments proved his statement to be cor
rect.
Knapp and his wife were taken to
Erie and placed in prison. A large
vacant store was hired and all of the
recovered property placed on exhibi
tion therein to be identified by the
rightful owners. There was no room
to spare, for Knapp had stolen enough
stuff to equip a small department
store.
For several years, it appeared, the
cunning veteran had been plying his
pilfering trade. In burying his plun
der he had boxed it up securely, pre
paratory to sending it away. His
methods were sweetly simple. He
would drive into town in a wagon, ap
parently for the purpose of selling
farm produce or garden vegetables,
and in that way obtaining a thorough
knowledge of different houses, always
managing to sneak in later and carry
off whatever he could lay his hands
on. Nobody knew anything about
him. w ho he was or whence he came.
A year prior to his capture he had
settled in the secluded belt of timber
and kept entirely to himself.
He was tried, convicted and sen
tenced to 16 years in the Alleghany
penitentiary, and his wife, against
whom nothing could be proved, was
released. But Knapp was of far too
original a turn of mind to rest satis
fied with serving out his time. He
simulated insanity, was transferred to
a lunatic asylum, and soon after
sawed the bars of a window, escaped
through the opening thus provided,
and was never caught.
It was not lojig after the Knapp
episode before thieving on a pretty
large scale began again in Erie. This
time it was burglary instead of sneak
work, as was demonstrated by the
marks of jimmies on doors and win
dows, and the disappearance of quan
tities of fine* silverware and jewelry.
Chief Crawley was at first of* the
opinion that Knapp, who had escaped
from the asylum in the meantime, was
operating again, but Murray did not
[ share this opinion, knowing that
Knapp, who prided himself upon .his
unique methods, would consider bur
glary a clumsy way of stealing.
After the third robbery it became
evident that no lone burglar was at
work. Obviously there was a gang en
gaged in the depredations, for some
of tlie jobs required the services of
a watcher or lookout on the outside,
while a pal was inside the houa«. A
Mr. Skinner’s house was plcja'dered
and a great quantity of silverware
taken, and soon after the Skinner rob
bery. the home of Mr. Bliss was en
tered and a rich haul of jewelry
made.
Murray and his brother officers
worked vigorously. They forced every
stranger in town to account for him
self. They sent out the drag net and
gathered in all the ■■regulars" in the
suspicious character line. Patrols at
night were doublet} and a vigilaat, un
ceasing watch kept, but the burglaries
continued as usual. One night a house
in one end of the town would be
robbed and the next night the bur
glars would operate sucessfuliy in an
opposite direction. Murray, annoyed
by the audaciousness of the criminals,
devoted all his time and energy to the
task of running them down, but the
only clue or trace of them that he
could discover was a peculiarity in
the jimmy marks, showing that a
piece had been chipped or cut out of
one wid of the jimmy.
One night about 12 o’clock, while
talking to an acquaintance in the !
Keed house, he chanced to notice a
woman slip quietly down the back
stairs of the hotel and out into the
street. On three succeeding nights he
observed her doing this. On speaking
of the circumstance to the clerk that
worthy informed him that she was a
scrub woman who worked late and
lived outside the hotel. There was
nothing suspicious about that, but
as the clerk declared that he did not
knowr w'here the woman lived, Murray,
out of sheer, idle curiosity, determined
to shadow' her to her home. When she
slipped down the stairs as usual Mur
ray followed her into the street, but
before he had traversed Mve blocks
realized that his trailing was useless.
The mysterious scrub woman had dis
appeared as though the earth had
swallowed her. Murray, surprised at
the seemingly elusive powers of the
ancient dame, laughed over what he
considered a good joke on his ability
as a shadow artist and w'ent home.
On the following morning the Erie
papers reported another burglary as
having occurred in a house four blocks
front where the scrub woman had
vanished into thin air. Murray said
nothing to his associates but. that
night he took up a station at the
Reed house and waited. About one
o'clock in the morning the figure of
the scrub woman flitted lightly down
the stairs and Murray followed her
into the gloont of night. For 15 blocks
he trailed behind, when his quarry
turned a corner, and when he came
up she had again disappeared, That
night yet another burglary took place,
and Murray, still with his mind cen
tered on the vanishing scrub woman,
began a third vigil at the Heed house.
At one o'clock the chase began anew
and the detective was fain to confess
to himself that the female floor pol
isher was one of the most artful
dodgers he had ever came across. He
bellowed her until after four iu the
morning, up afreets and down streets,
through alleys, across lots, around
buildings, and then across lots again.
It was an exasperating experience,
but Murray persisted and gave her
no chance to slip out of sight. Soon
after the chase first began a cat had
mewed loudly in the vicinity of pur
suer and pursued, and he remembered
afterward that this sound had caused
the dim figure in front of him to start
violently. Dawn was breaking when
the woman headed away to the out
skirts of the town, and stopping in
front of a double house tossed a peb
ble against a window and a moment
later went in.
Murray sat down to think matters
over. He was greatly puzzled, for
women burglars were art entirely un
known quantity in his experience. Yet
to think that an old woman after
scrubbing hard for hours in a hotel
would seek relaxation from her labors
by going for a stroll and prowling
about all night was surely out of the
question. He waited until broad day.
light, and. as the woman did not re
appear went, to police headquarters.
There he was greeted by the chief
with the doleful news that another
house had been broken into and
robbed during the night.
Murray thought of his weary ram
bles in the dark. It did not seem as
though his aggravating old scrub
woman could have had a hand in the
affair for he had never lost sight of
her. All the same, acting upon an im
pulse he could hardly explain but was
not disposed to resist, he resolved
upon paying tier a visit. He went out
to the house where he had last seen
her. On one side of the double build
ing lived Mrs. O'Brien, a respectable
woman. Her knowledge of the occu
pants of the other side was limited to
the fact of their being women who
had resided there less than a'year.
Murray knocked at the door and
received no answer. He rapped
loudly again. There was a scurry of
feet in the hall and finally the door
swung open. A big robust girl, 23
years old, stood on the threshold.
Without further ceremony the detec
tive strode in.
‘ What is your name?" he asked.
"Mary Ann Hall,” was the answer.
"Do you live alone?"
"I live with my mother,” responded
the girl. j
"Call her,” said Murray shortly.
Mary Ann complied, and in answer
to her summons the ancient scrub
woman skipped out of an adjoining
room in a manner that suggested the
activity of 16 rather than the natural
decrepitude of 60.
Murray fixed his penetrating eyes
upon her and was greeted with a co
quettish leer.
“I want to know your name," he
said.
“My name is Mrs. Julia Hall." re
plied the old woman, still grinning
broadly.
"Just so." remarked Murray. “Well
who else lives here, Mrs. Hall?”
For answer the old woman's mouth
opened and gave vent to a yell of
“Maggie!”
This call brought to the front a
small sharp-faced woman some ten
years younger that the active Mrs.
Hall. The latest arrival smiled at her
comrades and confronted the detec
tive unabashed.
"Sit down ladies.” requested Mur
ray, and the trio promptly responded
by depositing their respective iter
sons on the floor of the room where
the Interview was taking place. The
detective glanced around and ob
served that the chief articles of
furniture in the apartment were a
cook stove, a rough kitchen sable
and one shaky rocking chair.
“You work out all night, ma'am?”
queried Murray, addressing Mrs. Julia
Hall.
“I always am.” she replied coolly.
"Julia isn’t able to sleep nights,"
broke in the second oldest of the
trio, adding by way of explanation,
I'm her friend, Mrs. Maggie Carroll.”
“I can only sleep daytimes,’ assert
ed the ancient scrub woman. V'l work
or walk all night.”
“When she was young she had a
fever and has been that way ever
since,” volunteered Mrs. Carroll.
Murray, much puzzled, stood eyeing
the three odd figures on the floor. He
questioned them as to their mode of
life and mentioned the recent bur
glaries, but obtained no satisfaction. -
They protested their innocense of any I
wrongdoing and maintained stoutly
that they were only hard-working j
women. Murray sat down on the ven
erable rocking chair to pursue his ex
amination in comfort. It gave way |
under him and he rolled upon the j
floor. The kettle on the range, struck I
by his foot, crashed down beside him. I
The three woman laughed heartily. !
but as the lid of the kettle fell off a !
sudden silence succeeded to their up- 1
roarious merriment, and their eyes |
rested upon the apparently innocent
GOD BLESS OUe- HOHE
A J’UDDE.n j-UitnCE JUCCEEDED
THEIR. UPR.0RI01W flERRHIETlT.
kitchen utensil in gloomy apprehen
sion. Their trepidation did not es
cape the detective's watchful gaze. He
rose to his feet, picked up the kettle
and examined it. Inside was a steel
instrument about the size of a stove
lifter. Murray took the object out
and gave a sigh of relief. The proof
he wanted was in his grasp—a bur
glar's jimmy—and what was more, a
jimmy nicked at the edge.
Placing the three women under ar
rest he proceeded to search the
house. He discovered great quantities
of jewelry, silverware, fine linen and
clothes. The stuff belonging to Mr.
Skinner and Mr. Bliss, plunder from
all the other houses that had suffered
in the recent raids, was founud on the
premises, also a kit of burglar's tools j
and complete set of pass keys. Two
of the women, Mrs. Julia Hall and
Maggie Carroll, were sent to the Al
leghany penitentiary for four years ■
and Mary Ann was released.
Curious as to the exact events of ,
the night when he was trailing Mrs.
Hall, Murray asked that vivacious old
lady for an explanation. He learned
that she and Mrs. Carroll were to
have broken into a house together on
that occasion, and Mrs. Hall had ar
ranged to meet her confederate at two
in the morning. But Mrs. Carroll es
pied the enemy shadowing her com
rade and mewed suddenly like a cat j
as a signal to Mrs. Hall that she was
being followed. The latter conse- j
quently proceeded to walk about all i
night, while the ventursome Mrs. Car- i
roll went on with her burglarious task i
alone. The Carroll-Hall combination
was the only case of women burglars
working alone that Murray encounter
ed during his detective career. They
were first caught by the authorities in
Ireland, sent to Australia, where they
again made trouble for the police and
then sought fresh fields in America.
Following the capture of Mrs. Hall
and Mrs. Carroll, Murray found ldm
Gossip of the Planets.
It would bo nice to have a few words
with Mars and Venus or both of them
and get them permanently on our cir
cuit. It might be worth much 10 learn
their political systems, what they
know about big navies for keeping the
peace, how they deal with prison
grafters, what rights their women have
and what kind of hats they are wear
ing this season or expect to wear next
fall, the standing in their respective
baseball leagues, their method of
handling trusts, whether the Salome
dance goes there, whether they have
germs under control and if they pay
any attention to the phases of the
moon in conducting their affairs.
There is a lot more to gossip about,
but the rest will keep until the con
versation opens.
The Artist.
The artist, the man who is striving
to actualize an idea, inevitably feels a
(sense of human'dignity or worth >to
which the mere paid laborer is a
| stranger.—Henry James. v
THE SCREAM OF THE EAGLE
Southern Congressman Soared High in
Speech in Eulogy of His Na
tive State.
The following is quoted from a pros
perity speech of a southern congress
man: Has it ever occurred to you.
Mr. Chairman, that the cotton cloth
made in South Carolina annually
would make a sheet big enough to
cover the entire face of America and
Europe and lap over on the toes of
Asia? Or, if all the cattle she raises
in each year were one cow, she would
browse on the tropical V vegetation
along the equator, while her tail
switched icicles off the north pole, and
that her milk could float a shipload of
her butter and cheese from Charleston
to New York? Or. if all the mules we
market each year were one mule, it
would consume the entire annual corn
crop of North Carolina at one meal
and kick the spots off the sun without
swelling its sides or shaking its tail’
Or, if the hogs we raise annually were
one hog, that animal would dig the
Panama canal in three roots, without
grunting, and its squeal would be loud
enough to jar the cocoanuts off the
trees along the canal zone?
Good to Remember.
When death has come it is never
our tenderness we repent of, but our
severity.—Eliot.
self up against a problem such as Bad
frequently enlisted bis attention dur
ing his term in the United States se
cret service. It was concerned with
the appearance of a number of coun
terfeit $20 bills in Erie financial cir
cles during ths winters of 18(19 and
1870. A man by the name of Fred
Landers kept a restaurant in the
town, and one day when the detective
dropped in the proprietor told him of
a fellow who had ordered a light
lunch, paid for it with a $20 bill,
bought a drink as he went out and
offered a second $20 bill to the bar
tender who said he could not change
it.
Murray looked at the bill Landers
had accepted. It was cleverly de
signed but not well enough to de
ceive the practiced eye of a man
trained to detect such forgeries. Lan
ders described the fellow and Murray
caught him at the railroad station,
but did not find any of the counter
feit money in his possession. He was
merely a "shover of the queer,” one
who passes the bad money and re
ceives only a couple of phoney bills
at a time.
In no other line of criminal work
is there such scientific organization
shown as in that of counterfeiting.
The men who pass the money never
do business with the man who makes
the plates. The plate maker is an en
graver who usually receives a lump
sum for his work. Those who print
the money are the manufacturers anil
they dispose of the queer in whole
sale quantities to dealers, who sell to
retail dealers, who have, iu turn,
their "shovers out” passing the
money. The man who fell into Mur.
ray's hands was a shover. Having
made the arrest and searched him, he
found on a piece of paper in the pris
oner's coat pocket the name, ‘'Tom
Hale, New York.” Murray at once
sent a telegram addressed to Hale as
follows:
“Come on. I am sick. Stopping at
Morton house. Room 84.”
Murray made arrangements with
the clerk of the Morton house to keep
track of any person who called and
asked for the guest in room 84. No
body came. The shover, who was
known as 'Poke” Sales, stayed in jail,
having been identified by Landers
and the bartender. A week passed
without any fresh developments. A
heavy snowstorm had been raging for
several days, the trains were block
aded and ail traffic delayed. Bat oa
the ninth day there was a tew ar
rival at the Morton house. Although
it was an excessively cold day he
wore no overcoat. He inquired ft>r
*r. Sales in room Si and was instant
ly itounced upon by Murray who was
close at hand. Upon being taken to
headquarters and searched several
hundred dollars was found upon him,
but nothing in the way of counterfeit
money. Still, Murray detained him
with the intention of hunting for his
baggage, for it was obvious that a
man wearing such expensive clothes
as adorned the person of the prisoner
would be likely to have an overcoat in
the vicinity somewhere.
On the following morning Murray
began a systematic hunt for the miss
ing overcoat. During the course of
his search he stepped into a saloon
kept by a man named John Anthony.
“Here's a curious thing happened
yesterday,” he said. "There was a
well-dressed chap came in here,
washed his hands and walked out
again leaving his overcoat behind him.
You'd think that would be about file
last thing he'd leave on a bitter cold
day.”
"Seems funny,” responded Murray.
Let me look at that coat, John.”
The overcoat was produced and in
the first pocket Murray examined he
found $1,000 in counterfeit $20 and
$100 bills wrapped up in a handker
chief. They were such excellent coun
terfeits that they actually deceived
the eyes of several bank experts to
whom they were shown. Murray went
back to the jail and approached his
prisoner.
"Hello, Hale, here's your coat,” he
said.
"All right, thank you,” said the
stranger.
“Then it is your coat. Tom?”
queried Murray.
"Why, certainly,” replied the pris
oner.
Murray produced the counterfeit
l money from the pocket and Hale, re
! alizing what a grave mistake he had
j made, denied that the garment was
! his property. Murray compelled him
I to don it and the fit was perfect. The
saloon-keeper identified him as the
stranger who had left the coat in his
place.
‘ Poke’' Sales pleaded guilty to pass
ing counterfeit money and received a
five-year sentence. Hale was taken by
the I’nited States authorities to Pitts
burg, then to New York and finally to
Washington. He was a smooth talk
ing fellow and made the government
officials believe he would be o! great
use to the secret service department.
He promised to expose the entire
counterfeiting business and Wood,
who was the chief of the secret serv
ice, engaged him on the force and
sent him to New York.
But Hale's promised exposure of his
former colleagues turned out to be a
fake. He enabled the secret service
men to get hold of a few small shov
ers, and that was all. Then Wood left
the department and Col. Whiteley be
came chief. Whiteley proceeded to
call down Hale for his failure to ac
complish anything worth while. Hale
became insolent with the result that
he was arrested, taken back to Phila
delphia and tried. It was proved that
he stood in with thieves, and at the
finish he was convicted and sen
tenced to the penitentiary for 14
yeais.
(Copyright. 1909. by W. G. Chapman.)
(Copyright in Great Britain.)
The dispatches announce that an
American girl in the duchess of Man
chester will entertain two kings—
those of England and of Spain. Pos
sibly a better and truer way of put
ting it would be that the two kings
will be entertained by an American
girl, for the pleasure is theirs.
For a king to abdicate .nis throne
because his wife is unwilling to he
queen is probably a unique incident in
history. But then, Christmas island is
a unique kingdom.
Mew Illinois Senator Former
Street Car Conductor.
William Lorlmer Rose to Present
High Post from Humble Begin
ning—Has Been in Congress
for Several Years.
Chicago.—The dec-ond native of
England to be elected to the present
United States senate is William l.ori
ner of this city. The other is Senator
Sutherland of Utah. No one would
?ver suspect Senator Lorimer of being
in Englishman, but he was born in
;n the city of Manchester. England,
48 years ago.
He looks about 25. anil acts as
though he were about 25. He has
been going to congress ever since
the Fifty-fourth congress. His first
two terms were from one Chicago dis
trict and the rest from another. This
change in habitat was brought about
by a little political necessity, another
man having grabbed the nomination
while Mr. I.orimer was not looking.
He was not feazed by this iittle man
oeuvre, but promptly moved into the
Sixth district and was nomihated from
that place.
"He is a man of ability, character
and force." said Speaker Cannon of
him the other day.
"He is about the hottest politician
in the United States." is the private
opinion of most of the good judges of
politicians in Washington.
Thirty-two years ago Lorimer's
folks took him to Chicago. His first
education was gleaned from the
streets. Next lie was doing a man's
work for a man s pay by wheeling salt
in a Chicago packing house. The next
promotion was to the hack end of a
State street oar in Chicago. He coi
lected fares for the street ear com
pany by day and cultivated the friend
ship of tlte boys in his precinct by
night. The first thing the precinct
William Lorimer.
knew Billy Lorimer was carrying it
around in his vest pocket. He kept
out of big politics until he the
boss in little politics. Then he had
himself elected to the Minneapolis
convention as a Republican national
delegate. He had been graduated
from the street car platform and was
a real estate dealer. He also interest
ed himself in city affairs and was
known throughout Uie western metrop
olis. I-orimer was for Blaine in the
Minneapolis convention, but the Cook
county organization was for the re
nomination of Harrison.
It is a characterization of Lorimer
that he has stuck to his friends. A
couple of weeks ago he was talking
the senatorial deadlock at Springfield
over with a friend in Washington.
“Why don’t you jump in ami take it.
Billy?" he was asked.
“I don't want to,” was the answer
"I am going to try to elect one of my
friends."
“Well, if you can't elect a friend,
are you going to let Hopkins come
back?"
“If I cannot elect a friend I will
take it myself. I know I can have it,
but I will not take it unless they re
fuse to unite on a friend of mine.”
Although Senator William A. Hop
kins did not know it, that was the un
derstanding of Lorimer's friends an !
his election was not a surprise to
those who knew him.
Personally Lorimer is a delightful
character. He is a chubby man with
a leonine mane of blond hair. He
wears a Texas mustache of a reddish
hue and is a simple dresser. He i=
not much of a debater, and cuts little
figure on the floor of the house. He
is a strenuous worker in commiftee
and is constantly busy in the interests
of his constituents in Chicago. He pre
sents the paradox of a politician who
is an ideal family men . He is the
father of eight children and spends
all of the time he can at home with
them.
Mrs. Lorimer. who was born in
Canada, is a devout Roman Catlioli
and her work for charity and institu
tions in Chicago has been unflagging
She has given her services as a vocal
ist freely to newly created parishes
for years until they were in a position
to retain paid singers. She has been
equally generous in other charitabl.
movements, appearing with her chil
dreu for public charity affairs and a!
ways contributing generously to I. :n
fits for eleemosynary institution:
Nearly all the children are musician;
Her Idea of the Auto.
An old inmate of an almshouse in
New York, age 86, who had never in
the course of her life seen an auto
mobile before, fell in a dead faint in
the street when one whizzed bv her.
with the horn tooting. When she re
covered she told the doctor who had
attended her that she had been in
hell and had seen Satan. Some of the
victims of the speed maniacs would
not quarrel with her diagnosis of th ■
situation.
Honor Great Explorer.
Tn a few days the tercentenary of
the discovery of Lake Champlain by
the man whose name it bears, will be
celebrated by New York and Vermon
A statue of the discoverer will be un
veiled with appropriate ceremonies.