The Omaha- Sunday Bee
MAGAZINE
,
FEATURES
U n
VOL. 51 NO. -27.
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1
JSy P. C. Powell
Adarrt was the first criminal.
He stole the apple and broke
the first law of the palm leaf days.
The reason Adam went wrong is
simple. .'
Eve tempted him. '
From that day to the present cer
tain of their descendants have in
herited the criminal instinct, or
phenomena, which defies the laws
made by men and built. around the '
10 "Thou shalt not" statutes.
- As the population . increased,
criminals multiplied in proportion.
The doorj of the Nebraska peni
tentiary are closed today to , any.
more inmates. County jails are
holding convicted men until space
is found for them jn the peniten
tiary. . v- '
Scientists and students of crim
inology have studied and endeavor
ed to find reasons for this criminal
phenomena for years. .. V
Reasons advanced are varied.
They include: . . , -J .
- Hereditary "weakness,- Ctt.viron- .
menr, faulty octal structure,
broken homes, laziness, greed, mod
ern 5ve, ignorance, jealousy,
drugs. .t ; ''; '
Blames Broken Homes.
Warden W. F. Fenton of the Ne- ,
braska penitentiary blames broken
homes, a desire for easy money
and weak minds.. J
"Probably SO ' per' cent of the
boys in here suffered the loss of '
a father or mother when young,
or their parents were divorced," he
said. "Maybe this condition made
them lose family, pride, envy other
boys, made them unruly threw them
among bad associates or left them
facing the world with little educa
tion. Any of these can start a boy
off wrong. .
"Many go wrong because it looks
like an easy way to get money.
Others are weak-minded." " -
State Sheriff Gus Hyers, whose
father was a sheriff and later war
den of the penitentiary, and who
has been chasing ' criminals him
self for years, looks on nearly all
criminals at weaklings. .,
"They may have courage, they
may have cunning, they may have (
fine minds, but they are weak, in
Warrta Discovers an Unusual
Restaurant in a Remote -Italian
Village.
"AH this glorious air and not a
window pen!" complained Helen.
"And they're so dirty you can hardly
see out of them." ..
"Well, we're.jalmost there now."
Warren peered through the grimy
glass that dimmed the sunlit heights
beyond. "This dinky little car's got
a lot of power to climb up here." ;
"If the cable should breakl" look
ing down at the sheer cliffs below.
"Doesn't happen to be a cable,"
eoatemptuous'y. Then glancing
back, "S how that track snakes up
here these Itallansre good engi-
But Helea felt relieved when they
faatfy drsw p in the market place
ef tilt quaint mountain-top town of
Pistole an hour's ride from Flor
aaea. A drowsy, Sanday-quiet . hung
rtr th square, deserted save for
. soma clucking chickens and a dog
stretched snder the shade of an old
i tons bench.
"Dear, this is one of the most an
cient Etruscan towns. Let me read
yo what it says," turning to the
"Environs of Florence."
"Now chuck that grids book!
explore lor ourselves. Corns
Sirsf Mkbtaska s-fafe prison
1 Kffli Iziii, J
who
life stnceheua& i?,
says- society cqad
ftaPe reformed mm.
some way, or they wouldn't ' take
such a chance," Hyers said.'
The murderer, official say, is not
an ; ordinary 'criminal and , he sel
donf commits more than one crime.
Statistics at the. Nebraska state
penitentiary show that only one
murderer who has been released
has been returned.- - ; ;
Reasons Apparent"
Excepting the holdup man, the
burglar or ,, the bootlegger, 'who
shoot in attempting to escape, the
murderer is usually a man crazed
with jealousy, an insane man or a
man laboring under extraordinary
emotion. Reasons for their wrong
doing, generally, are apparent.'
The same is true of the man who
forges a check while drunk, the
man ' who embezzles funds to get
an automobile or pay a mortgage,
the man who breaks into a store
for food and clothing for his fam
ily. They usually go astray once
and later become good citizens.
The type that continuei to ply
the "trade" of forging, "aticking
them up," breaking into homes or
stealing autos from the days of
knee trousers until the end is the'
phenomena. x
, Nebraska's penitentiary is full
of such men. They also, have
reasons for their wrong-doing, and
on, -let's see what we strike along
here." . .
They started up a narrow street
of low stone cottages. The door of
the living room, opening directly on
the sidewalk, disclosed intimate
scenes within. . ' . .
"Do they spend all their time eat
ing and drinking?" wondered Helen,
for in almost every house the fam
ily sat around a table on which was
the inevitable basket of bread and
fiasco of wine. . ' ,
"Guess they're at it all day Sun
daytheir one indoor sport. Doesn't
seem to hurt 'em they're husky
lot." .
"Yes, and the children are beau
tiful," pausing to watch three dart
eyed babies playing in an open door
y ay. ' .
Further on, small dingy , wine,
cheese,and bread shops yawned like
black caverns from the sunny street
"Dear, I don't see anything along
here that looks like a restaurant"
- "Well keep on till we find one Now
that we're np ,here, we're not going
away back to Florence for lunch."
The next street the last on the
mountain top, was lined with the
same low houses and open doorways.
The prospect for luncheon grw
more discouraging.
"Hello, . look at this bunch!,
MAGAZINE
oohtt vJ. &arnftatxlf,
fot&$rt, uas ashamed
eight of them chosen by officers as'
"typical" have told their stories. -.
Shot Way Through Life.
First comes Charlie Morley.
Morley is a professional holdup
man who has shot his way through
life from the time he was IS. He
h looked upon as one of the most
desperate men in the penitentiary.
Morley is sole survivor ot the trio,
which, headed by "Shorty" Gray,
killed Warden Delahunty and two
other guards and escaped. Gray
was killed and Dowd, the second
man, shot himself. .Morley is serv- ;
ing life. " '
, At the time of the escape he
, was serving from 1 to 10 years for
' holding up a drug store at Forty
third and Cuming streets, Omaha,
and prior to the Omaha crime he
served time at Jefferson City Mo.,
for robbery. One eye is gone. It
was shot out in a gun fight in
Kansas City years ago and the
bullet still is in his head.
Morley . reads continually: He
has' taken a course in shorthand
and has finished it He now is
taking a correspondence" course in.
engineering. He is 45 and except
ing his one brief period of free
dom, has been in the penitentiary
for 12 years. Warden Fenton says
he has developed tubercplosis re
cently. . .
Wonder where they're headed for?"
A laughing, chattering holiday
party had turned into ' the street
from the other end,. Pausing before
one of the cottages, they all filed in.
There was no sign, nothing to dis
tinguish it from the other houses.
Drawing nearer, Warren glimpsed,
through the open door, a vine
covered wall beyond. ,
"I've' a hunch that crowd's going
to feed here. Come on, we'll see
what's doing."
Reluctantly, Helen followed into
the dim, low ceilinged living room
small and stuffy, with an organ, a
porcelain stove, and a deep fireplace.
There was no one in sight Fol
lowing the voices and laughter, they
came out on a long flight of stone
steps leading to a garden below, the
house being built on the mountain
side. '
"How about my hunch?" exulted
Warren, as they went down the steps
td the yard 'in which were several
tables.
Three of, these were being shoved
together for the party of ten, all
gaily helping.
"Jove, here's where you get the
viewl" Warren selected a table by
the . (tone railing, overlooking the
whole country beyond. .
"Dear, this is the quaintest most
The Married Life of Helen and Warren- .
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 18,
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into house and ottf agam
"My story isn't a very savory
one, but I'll tell it," Morley said.
"I was born on a farm in Mis
souri, which bordered the famous
Jesse James farm. When I was
a boy, I used to see persons
thronging the James farm to look
it over and heard them talk in ad
miring terms of his nerve.
i Runaway at 14. ; , '
"My father died when I was
young and I had a nasty, will
ful temper. I wanted to be 'hard
boiled,' and I rati away to Okla-
unusual place we've foundl?
"Orioli said there was a place up
here where you got rattling good
food. Bet we've struck it right off
the reel. " That bunch don't look like
they'd stand for any second rate fod
der." :. '-
"Does everything have to be taken
up and down those steep ' steps?
Where's the kitchen? On the other
side of that living room? Oh, what
a dear!" Helen stooped to pet a
friendly puppy.
. "Got a regular menagerie here."
Two cats dozed on the railing, and
a big rooster was picking crumbs
under a table.
"And look at that goatl Dear, you
wouldn't think they'd wash on Sun
day?", ..
In the yard further down the
mountain-side, a soiled white goat
gravely watched an old woman at a
wash-tub. Nearby, a boy was pluck
ing a chicken. On a still lower slope
grazed several cows.
"Wonder what that bunch, is
ordering?" Warren was watching the
party, all talking at once. "That fel
low at the end'll foot the bilL"
"Why do they wear so much
jewelry?" Helen appraised his three
ornate rings, double watch chain,
conspicuous scarf pin and caff
buttons, x
vv vV
Zetrfoti. -Who
dtug'irafi:
3St?
reason
T
says Btme Bixiqti
CenfratMg&schoot
cwjttttvubJefoHottg'.
time. t ... ....
homa at 14. It was the 'wild west'
of those days.
"When I was IS I quarreled
with a man over a girl and shot
him. He didn't die. Oklahoma was .
a territory then and the United
States marshal took me to Fort
Smith, Ark.,, where I served time
in a county jail filled -with boot
leggers, gamblers and outlaws.
The jailer and the fellows in the
jail thought it was a good joke to
'put the kid', in a cell with a de-
generate negress, with v whom
celled for months.
I
"Yes, he's pretty well decked out,"
shrugged Warren, who loathed
jewelry.
"And why do so many Italian
women wear black? Those black
satin dresses dear, they look so hot
and inappropriate for a place like
this.' '
"They're out for a holiday in all
their glad rags." Great guns, look at
this!"
The proprietress was now coming
down the steps with an enormous
tray of relishes salami, pimentoes,
sardelles, and o.ther antipasti that
Helen did not recognize. Another
woman followed ; with two huge
flasks of wine.
"That's going to be some party 1"
grinned Warren.
"I don't see any menus," worrifd
Helen. "How're we going to order?"
"If we trail that bunch we won't
go wrong."
Surprised and pleased that her ob
scure restaurant had been discovered
by Americans, the proprietress now
approached.
Antipasti," ordered Warren, nod
ding at the variety on the large plat
ters. -
"Si, sil" Beamingly she started off,
then turned to toss a soiled napkin
over the rail to the washerwoman in
the yard below.
"That's what you might call effi
ciency." laughed Warren. 'Hey,
there!" at the goat that was nibbling
one of the tablecloths on the line
Shouts of approval from the long
table greeted neaping plates of spa-j
1921.
1 M
Jjdmtmsfrafion buildihMQbrasfea. petti fenrtarg
Loi? of eXci-femettf
pu-ftne tzere I am,
asserts Izxie Harris,
Otnanan, suspected of
dozen crtmes. ,
"I wasn't out long until I took
ill. The doctor who attended me
gave me drugs for two-months
until Ifecered. I became a 'dope w
: head and the rest. .of it is terri
ble. T .'.
"Society had a ' chance to . re
deem me when I went to the
Missouri penitentiary if it really
had cared, or if it hadn't been '
asleep. But they didn't try to cure
me of the habit, as they should,
and instead 'dope was used as an
incentive to get more work for the
prison contractors.
"I left the penitentiary as bad a
man as when I went in. I was
caught again after, that .. Omaha
job and sent here.' Again society
had itf chance and failed.'
Crazed With Dope.
' "The exposures made after our
break proved that dope was ped
dled almost openly. I was crazed
in those days. My system was
full of dope," my arms were terri
ble ulcers and. then maybe for a
day or two the supply would be
shut off. It was terrible. I; had
only a few months to serve when
we made the break. That in it
self would prove I was crazed.
"When I came back I faced a
life sentence.. Warden .Fenton
had stamped out the' dope traffic.
They gave me the cure. It nearly
killed me. I wanted to die. and
ghetti, a large bowl of tomato sauce
and another of giated cheese.
"If they eat all that they woi't
want anything eise.
"Don't you believe it. That
crowd's out for a arood feed.
"Did you get any of this tunny? '
Helen was miuciig over the anti.
pasti. "And. what are these curious
little fish?" .
"Holy smoke, are we expected to
mop up all that? as the waitress
placed before them a half gallon;
grass plaited fiasco of wine. ,
"Oh, this must be one of the places
where you pay only for what you
drink they measure it before and
after." Helen was always eager to
impart her guide book knowledge.
At the long table, the spaghetti, in
mouth-defying forkfuls, was being
rapidly dispatched. The loud chatter
in a room would have been deafen-
ing, but outdoors it was not unpleas
ant. "Dear, look, they've eaten all of
that spaghetti 1 " Surely, they can't eat
anything more."
"They've just started in," chuckled
Warren. "See what's coming now!"
Down the steps came the two wo
men bearing great dishes of cold
tneat-rsliced beef and lamb. With
this was served a wide bowl of
pickled green peppers.
Dear, we mustn t wach them so
it's awfully rude."
Huh, they re having the time of
their lives don't know we're here.
I like to watch that bunch eat"
Helen had thought the cold meat
would be followed by the dessert
tried to kill myself once with
a piece of glass and to hang my
self another time.
"I was cured, but for years I
was nervous, cranky and argu
mentative. Officers didn't like
- me. I have a bad prison record.
"I deserve a lot and haven't much
more to endure as this cough is
getting me fast. - Yet, I have this
to say. If society had taken more
interest in prisons years ago I
might be a different man today."
Morley's story of attempts to
kill himself are substantiated by
prison officials. .
John W. Barnhardt, is 70. He
'is serving time for forging a $3,000
check at Fremont.: Officers have
a record of a previous sentence
served by Barnhardt ' for a big
forgery in Wisconsin. , ,
Made Easy Money.
"I made easy money all my life,"
Barnhardt said.- "I Started, as a'
plantation .owner in Arkansas and
got to buying race horses. I fol
lowed the horses east and became
a bookmaker. . '
"Later I owned a saloon in St.
Louis. I ' Sold it because I was
afraid of the booze. I gambled for
years. Then I lost my pile. I
didn't like work, really was
ashamed of it, and feared the jibes
of my old pals if 1 did work, so I
turned crook."
v Robert E. Storie is serving time
for forgery. He has numerous
jail and penitentiary sentences to
his credit, always for the same
.. crime, forgery. . .
"The ease with which a person
can forge a check is one reason
there are so ' many forgeries," .
Stone said. "I can go into al
most " any 'department store, in.
America and 'get by with a forged
check, . :''.-
"How many checks have I '
forgtd, you ask? , . j.
"How many drinks of . water '
have you taken?
"I was left alone by death of
my parents at 14t At 15 I w.as ..
'vagged' by police in Boston. 1 1'
was released the next day but that
night- a man told me how easy it
was to forge checks. -
But later, to her amazement she
found the main course was yet to
come. , . ,
The two women and the boy, each
carrying trays of boiled chicken,
next trooped down the steps. x
"Told you they'd just started in.
Been teasing their appetiteVnow
they're getting down to business."
Warren was enjoying it hugely."
Once more the procession of
three, this time with great bowls of
vegetables string beans, mashed po
tatoes and spinach.
. "How can they?" amazed . Helen".
"They'll all be sick." .
"Not that crowd. Wouldn't want
to feed 'em under contract We'll
cut the cold meat and 16 vegetables
but that chicken looks mighty
good."
"Then you mustn't eat any more
of this," pushing away the spaghetti
Warren had ordered. "You neyer
feel well when yon eat too muchat
noon,"
"It's different over here you can
stand for a lot more grub. Signora,"
to the proprietress, Dnno polio
like that," indicating , the broiled
chicken.
"We're through with this." Helen
motioned for her to take the platter.
Disappointed that they had not
eaten more, she removed the
spaghetti
But with evident pride, she later
served the fragrant, richly-browned
chicken here was something they
must enjoy.
"Jove, that's the real Tasean
fowl," was Warren's vsrdkt, stanch
FIVE CENTS
j
"I am. a railroad switchman. I 1
never was a bum.
Couldn't Refuse Woman.
"But I never could refuse to
; , give a woman what she asked for.
"If I didn't have the money, I
got it."
; Pete Hughes is nearing 60 and is
sesving his third term for bur-
"I liked it, the thrill of getting
. into a house and getting out and
the.wonderful feeling of relief when
; I got out of gunshot distance of
the house with the stuff in my
pocket," Pete said simply. "I did
n't have to steal. I worked on
Omaha papers as a printer for
years and maybe the friends I,
made in the early morning hours
in the saloon might have been a '
reason, if there is a reason, that
anyone on this earth understands."
Sam (Izzie) Harris is known to
every Omaha policeman as a '
"vag" suspected of a. dozen crimes,
but convicted of few. He ia strict-
v. ly an Omaha product. Auto'
thefts and forgeries appear to be
his Hobbies. , He is serving time on
. the latter charge now.
Love of Excitement
"My dad used to run a hotel on
Thirteenth and Howard streets,"
Izzie said, "and he died of booze,
I guess. I never did work except
selling papers. Love of excitement
' maybe, more than anything 'else,
put me where I am."
Billie Bixler, Central High school
boy, Omaha, isn't more than 21,
but he has been in trouble for a
long time.- Auto thefts and petty
larceny charges have been placed
against him time after time. ,
"My mother is alone," he said.
' "I-was sent to the reformatory.
When I came, back , the Omaha
police wouldn't leave me alone and
' 'vagged me nearly every time
, they saw me. I got so I didn't '
'.. care.". i
Harry Knight has four prison sen
.. tences to his credit at 46 and a
wife and two children in Lincoln.
Forgeries and small thefts put him
in prison every time, except once
when at the age of 21 he served
time in the Pennsylvania peniten
tiary on a statutory charge.
ing a second joint "Best chicken
I ve had for a blue moon."
"They're going to have salad,
too, dismayed Helen. "And more
wine! After all that I shouldn't
think they'd want to eat for a week."
I'lf they had to pay New York
prices for that feed they couldn"t
afford to eat for a week!"
When the empty salad bowls were
finally removed, baskets of fruit and
a generous mnnM nf -Vi....
thf" served to the insatiable party.
That Gorgonzola looks fine jus
about ripe. .We'll have to fall for
that."
,'.'Xo no, we don't want another
thing," protested Helen. "It's taken
away my appetite just to see them
gorge."
But Warren insisted on having aa
order of cheese. .
"Well, this is what I call pretty
suck," when later, sipping his coffee,
he propped his feet on the railing
and leaned back in well-fed corneal.
"I'll bet not many tourists ever gee
to this place."
"Dear, no one but you could have
found it," always ready to play op ts
his egotism over locating restau
rants. "Takes me to spot 'em, eh?" gloat
ingly. "I'd a hunch we'd land some
thiner eood if we fn1!nwH h,t
bunch. You won't find this eatery
in your bally old guide book. Dig
OUt on voiir nwn (hit'i ffi n
gun up the star places to feed!"
Coprrlfht. ISM. kr Mbl Herb-it Hrrr.
Next Week Another Adventure im
Italy,