Bird Dog, All Alone, Shoots Wild Game

1920

Bird Dog, All Alone, Shoots Wild Game; Pulls Trigger of Gun with Hind Foot

Clever Animal Bags 111 Ducks During Present Season

PIERCE, Neb. -- What is declared to be the most intelligent and remarkably trained hunting dog in the country is owned by a hunter of this village, Bruce J. Boyd. "Cognac," for that is the animal's name, is a large, spotted bird dog. He not only searches out his own game, but also shoots it and brings it home to his master, who is proprietor of a local grocery store.

An automatic shotgun was made to order for Cognac by an Omaha gunsmith and is strapped to the dog's back by means of a cleverly arranged harness. The gun is arranged with a patent trigger, which is pulled by the animal's hind foot.

"Aiming the gun doesn't bother Cognac at all," declared Boyd. "The dog seems to depend upon his instinct and gets just as good results as a human being would by carefully sighting before he shoots."

Brings All His Game Home

Cognac also carries a wicker basket strapped to his side, in which he puts his game after he kills it. He bears the game back to his master at the conclusion of a day's hunting.

In the past few weeks, during the local duck hunting season, along the north fork of the Elkhorn River, Cognac has bagged no less than 68 mallard ducks, 43 teal and a number of wild geese. During last winter's rabbit-hunting season, the dog killed more than 300 cottontails. Boyd, who is in his store all day and has little time for hunting, thus has his table always supplied with fresh game, and declares that it has reduced his living costs more than 40 per cent.

"It was about a year ago that I got the idea of training Cognac," says Boyd. "Up until that time he had been merely an ordinary hunting dog, with no especial talents. But I always noticed that he wasn't the least bit shy of a gun and I evolved the scheme of teaching him to shoot.

"I tied my automatic shotgun to his back with ropes and then pulled the trigger. Cognac just wagged his tail in glee. The next time I went hunting I fastened the gun to his back with a harness and shot at least twenty times. After a little more of this training, I had the special shotgun made which Cognac now carries.

"It took several weeks to train him to pull the trigger with his hind foot, but he never had any trouble at aiming. For a time I was afraid to trust him out alone, but I soon learned that he understood the danger of possible accidents, and was really more careful than a human being.

"So each morning, during this duck-hunting season, Cognac comes to my bed about 3 o'clock and awakens me. I strap the gun to his back and he trots out. By 8 o'clock he is back with all his ammunition gone and one duck or more for every shot he has fired.

Will Teach Dog to Reload

"When I have more time this coming summer I expect to teach Cognac to reload his gun. As it is now, he is done for the day when he has fired the six shots in the chamber and magazine."

Other hunters have become familiar to the sight of the lone dog and do not interfere with him.

"I have been offered several thousand dollars for Cognac by eastern sportsmen," declares Boyd, "but millions couldn't buy that dog. Aside from his value as a hunting animal, he takes care of the baby, wheeling the carriage about the streets, and is a willing helper about the house."

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 9.

Woman Coughs Up Bullet

1920

Injured While Listening to Ellwood City Celebration

Ellwood City, Pa.—As Lucinda Capano put her head out of the window at her home New Year's eve, to listen to the whistles, bells and shooting which ushered in the new year, a bullet struck her in the face. It penetrated near the right eye, went through her cheek and penetrated the roof of the mouth and finally lodged in her throat. She coughed it up. The police were notified.

A celebrator is believed responsible for the shooting. The bullet first struck the edge of the roof of the house and then took a downward course, striking Mrs. Capano. Dr. H, E. Helling declares the wound is not serious.


$200,000 Subscribed for Children

Philadelphia. — More than $200,000 for the needy children of Europe was subscribed here at a mass meeting under the auspices of the European relief committee. Gen. John J. Pershing was the principal speaker. The largest subscription was a check for $100,000 given by an anonymous donor. "More than 3,000,000 children are facing death unless they receive aid," said General Pershing. "One dollar per month a child is needed for the next 10 months."

—Bedford Gazette, Bedford, Pennsylvania, January 9, 1920, page 4.

Walter, Aged Seven, Downs Hun Aeroplane

Indiana, 1918

If Papa Would Only Let Him Keep Up the Work, He'd Soon Be An Ace

"There's a German aeroplane!"

Little Walter St. John, seven-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. George St. John of Indiana avenue, aimed his father's rifle at one of the border designs on the wallpaper in his bedroom.

Bang! The bullet pierced the imaginary aeroplane and left a hole in the wall.

Walter was sprawled out on the door, where the "kick" of the gun had sent him. John Lichtley, his little cousin, ran to him crying, "Walter, are you dying?"

"Naw," said Walter, "I just shot down a German aeroplane. Ain't you got no 'magination?"

It all happened while Mrs. St. John was working in her precinct as a Liberty loan solicitor and the father was at his work.

Of course, they couldn't spank Walter for being so patriotic, although the gun has been placed out of his reach.

--The Lake County Times, Hammond, Indiana, September 30, 1918, page 7.

Man Blows Off Head with Shotgun, Temporarily Insane

Waupaca, Wisconsin, 1912

BLOWS HEAD OFF WITH A SHOT GUN

George B. Rhodes Suicides While Temporarily Insane

RELATIVES ARE SUMMONED

Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Sweet, 227 North Main Street, Called to Waupaca by News of Sad Tragedy.

Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Sweet, 227 North Main street, were called to Waupaca Monday by the suicide of their son-in-law, George B. Rhodes, who took his life early in the morning by blowing the top of his head off with a shotgun.

According to a message received from Waupaca this morning, Rhodes, who has been employed as a sexton at the Riverside cemetery there for several years has been despondent of late and it was the verdict of the coroner's jury that he took his life while suffering from a fit of temporary insanity induced by despondency.

Sunday afternoon Rhodes dug a grave in the cemetery. Monday morning he arose at 5 o'clock, without arousing other members of the family, lighted the fire in the kitchen of his home and then left the house. Shortly after 6 o'clock his body was found back of an outbuilding.

Physicians who examined the body testified at the inquest that Rhodes placed the mouth of the muzzle of the gun against the back of his head and reached around to pull the trigger. The top of the head was literally blown off. The shot gun that was used had been left at the house by a friend.

Rhodes was formerly engaged in the barber business. He leaves his wife and two children. According to Waupaca dispatch he was confined in an asylum years ago because of mental disturbance, but was released later and pronounced cured.

Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes were visitors in Fond du Lac on several occasions.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 17, 1912, page 5.


RETURN FROM FUNERAL.

Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Sweet and Roy and Clifford Sweet have returned from Waupaca where they attended the funeral of George B. Rhodes, who committed suicide in that city ten days ago. The funeral was also attended by Eugene Sweet, of Berlin; Ross Sweet, of Rhinelander; John Rhodes, of Rhinelander; and Mrs. James McCallister, of Hancock, Wis.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 24, 1912, page 1.

Note: A couple mistakes in the headline fixed, not called to WAUPUN, and not M. B. Sweet.

Here's George B. Rhodes' cemetery information: Lakeside Memorial Park, Waupaca, Wisconsin. Lot #529-L, Space 2, born 1863, died 1913, age 50. [They say 1913, but it would appear he died in 1912.]

Poker: Four Deaths Because of Five Aces

1911

FOUR DEATH DUE TO POKER

"Bad" Ace in Pack Starts Bullets Flying at Kayler, Pa.

Kittanning, Pa., May 23. — A poker deck which, it is said, held five aces is responsible for shooting which took the lives of three miners at Kayler near here. Charles Sendric, Andy Braltis and Rocco Braltis were killed instantly and Walter Spilesh was fatally injured.

The "bad" ace was seen in the hand of Dick Sendric and he was given a severe beating by the other players and thrown out of the house. Sendric later returned with an automatic gun and, it is alleged, fired its contents into the home.

Uniontown, Pa., May 23. — Frank Pecan, aged twenty-nine, was shot through the breast and killed instantly as a result of a shooting affray in connection with a poker game at the Sunshine Coke works, twelve miles south of this place. Frank Renite, aged twenty-five, was shot and seriously injured. The police are searching for three brothers named Logwabaca, one of whom, it is alleged, did the shooting.

—Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1911, page 3.

Father Has Son Kill Him, Says It's Not Loaded

1911

FATHER PREVAILS ON SON TO KILL HIM

Tells Boy to Shoot, Saying Gun Wasn't Loaded

Greenwich, Conn., May 19.—Fred Husted, a prosperous farmer, aged forty-six, prevailed upon his twelve-year-old son Lester to pull the trigger of his shotgun which blew his father's head off.

Husted laid a double-barreled shotgun on the kitchen table and told the boy to pull the trigger as he wanted to see how it sounded. The man knelt on the floor, cocked one eye and looked directly into the muzzle of the gun only four inches away. The boy hesitated and his father said: "It isn't loaded." The boy snapped the trigger but the gun did not explode.

The father cocked the rifle again. "It isn't loaded. Pull the trigger and see how it sounds," he again told the boy. The boy did as told and the father dropped dead instantly.

—Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1911, page 4.

Con Men Selling Electric Money Making Machine

1920

BOORS ARE NOT ALL DEAD;
BUY MONEY MAKING MACHINE

By United Press Leased Wire

Milwaukee. -- Two men in jail here are said by the police to have fleeced several Milwaukeeans of hundreds of dollars by selling a new money making machine. The men are Frank Goeber, 39, and Samilo Bargieb, 35. Five of the bills used for demonstration purposes were of $50. The machine has electric equipment and the practice, say the police, was to give the intended victim a shock before selling him the machine.


PREACHER'S SON LEADS GANG OF HIGHWAYMEN

By United Press Leased Wire

Chicago. -- Henry Olson, alias Johnson, who claims to be the son of a Peoria, Ill. evangelist, was arrested today and charged with leading a gang of thirteen hold up men who have terrorized Chicago for several weeks. Police say Olson confessed.

Olson with seven companions was arrested after a revolver battle. Two of the bandits received minor injuries.

According to police, Olson confessed his gang had committed at least eighty holdups with the last few days. He also confessed, police stated, to shooting Patrolman John McNamen when the officer attempted to arrest them following the looting of a south side jewelry store.

--The Appleton Daily Post, Appleton, Wisconsin, January 6, 1920, page 1.

Dangerous Man Resists Arrest, Armed with Winchester, Two Revolvers

Edgermont, South Dakota, 1909--

A DANGEROUS MAN.

Armed with a Winchester and Two Revolvers, He Resisted Arrest by Officers.

Edgermont S. D., Aug. 16.— The authorities here have in custody an apparently dangerous man, who recently was captured at Ardmore after an exciting chase.

The prisoner, whose name is unknown, had been working on the ranch of Albert Seske, near here, but left suddenly, taking with him a Winchester rifle and some other property belonging to his employer. Learning that the fugitive was at the ranch of a man named Bell, Frank Heppner was deputized to proceed there and arrest him.

When the officer arrived on the ground, the fugitive stood him off with a couple of revolvers and the stolen rifle and compelled him to return empty handed.

The fugitive proceeded to Ardmore where he finally was captured by George Sweet, a local officer. The prisoner will now be compelled to answer in court to the charges of grand larceny and resisting an officer, both of which are penitentiary offenses.

--Weekly State Spirit and Dakota Huronite, Huron, South Dakota, August 26, 1909, page 7.

The Whole Family is Wiped Off The Earth

Shippenville, Pennsylvania, 1912
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WHOLE FAMILY ARE WIPED OFF THE EARTH

Wife's Head Blown Off, Daughter Shot, and Father a Suicide.

Shippenville, Pa., Aug. 15. - When neighbors, who had missed the family, broke into the home of Bert Dearloph, at Westling Corners, this morning, a gruesome sight met their eyes. On the floor lay the bodies of Dearloph, his wife and a daughter of the latter by a former husband.

Mrs. Dearloph had been choked and the top of her head blown off with a rifle, which lay on the floor. The daughter had been shot in the breast.

Dearloph had one end of a rubber hose in his mouth, the other end being attached to a gas jet, from which the gas was still escaping. He had tied the hose carefully in place with a string, the knot being at the back of his head.

Dearloph and his wife were about 40 years old and had both been married twice.

--The Evening Observer, Dunkirk, New York, August 15, 1912, page 1.

Noah Wiggs Shot Through Finger

Denton, Texas, 1918
----------
Noah Wiggs Shot Through Finger

Noah Wiggs, 20-year-old son of Z. Wiggs or Denton, accidentally shot himself through the first joint of the first finder on his left hand while examining an automatic pistol at Pilot Point, where he was working as ticket agent, about 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon. He was examining a pistol which a man had offered to sell to him, and told him it was unloaded. The ball went entirely through the finger and it was feared amputation may be necessary. He returned to the home of his parents here Saturday night.

--Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, Texas, November 11, 1918, afternoon issue, page 8

Comment: That must've been a major DUH moment for him.

Train Bandit Dies, News Fatal to His Father

St. Joseph, Missouri, 1920
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SHOCK OF BANDIT SON'S FATE PROVES FATAL TO THE FATHER

Shock of the discovery of his son's criminal career caused the death of L. T. Walton of St. Joseph, Mo., father of Horace LeRoy Walton, "lone wolf" train robber killed in a battle with a squad of Chicago police after the young bandit had robbed a mail car of the Chicago-bound New Orleans limited when within two hours' ride of Chicago, and killed a Chicago policeman in an attempt to escape with the loot.

When the lone bandit left the train at its first stop within the city limits he carried a black satchel containing about $70,000 in cash, which was recovered after the police had shot and killed him in a desperate battle at his apartments, a few blocks from where he left the train. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of $35,000, the remainder of the $105,000 said to have been stolen from the mail sacks, is one that the police are still endeavoring to solve.

Walton, the elder, was en route for Chicago with Mrs. Walton, for the purpose of taking their son's body back to St. Joseph, when he was stricken with paralysis as the train pulled into Bucklin, Mo. He was immediately removed to a hospital, where he died within two hours. Mrs. Walton brought her husband's remains to Chicago and the bodies of father and son were buried side by side at Champaign, Ill., where the boy was born.

When the widowed mother stood in the Illinois Central's train shed and watched while the bodies of her husband and son were shoved into a baggage coach she was too grief-stricken to weep. There was too much to look after, even with the assistance of kindly officials, to permit the little lone woman to give way to her pent-up grief. Time and place for that later.

Dick Smythe, aged 19, high school comrade of Horace Walton, the 22-year-old train bandit and slayer of a Chicago policeman, was arrested at his home in St. Joseph, charged with being an accessory in Walton's crimes. He was brought to Chicago, where he had been for a week or two as Walton's companion and guest.

Smythe is said to have confessed that he fled from Walton's apartment on the night he was killed, leaving at the bandit's urging and taking some of the stolen money which, he says, was thrust into his hand.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, May 22, 1920, page 1.

Love Letters Flood Peggy Beal, as She Awaits Trial for Slaying False Lover

Kansas City, Missouri, 1922
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Love Letters Flood Peggy Beal, as She Awaits Trial for Slaying False Lover

Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 18.—Three hundred men have written Peggy Beal, slayer of Frank Warren Anderson, "the perfect lover," asking her to marry them. Among the suitors for the hand of the fair slayer are ministers. Also many men who claim to have great riches.

Peggy Beal, who shot and killed Anderson, scion of an old Philadelphia family, in a hotel room in Kansas City, June 3, has just left the hospital where she recovered from wounds inflicted upon herself after shooting Anderson.

She is charged with murder and will face a jury in Kansas City in the near future. She herself is the moving spirit back of plans for early trial.

"I want to stand before the work vindicated," she said. "I want other women to know what I suffered. I want them to know that I killed Frank Anderson to save other women from his clutches."

Minister Proposes.

Meantime the proposals of marriage come flooding in. In one of them, a man calling himself a Detroit minister, says in part:

"I am sure you are not all bad. No woman could have written the wonderful love thoughts that you have written and be bad at heart. I would like to make you my wife and lift you up from the depths of despair.

"As a minister, it is my duty to offer you a haven in my heart and home."

Peggy Deal, before revealing the letter, clipped the writer's name from it. She said she would not give out the names of any of those who have written love letters to her. A man describing himself as a Galveston, Tex., sea captain wrote that he was sure he could make her forget the drear days that have followed the killing of Anderson.

"If you will marry me, I will see that you forget the past," he wrote. "I am not so terribly handsome or so terribly good, but I would be willing to give every hour in the day to trying to make you happy.

"If you will say the word, I will get a year's leave from my work and will come to Kansas City at once."

From a Widower.

From San Diego another man writes:

"First I must confess I am a widower, but in that confession I ought to make myself more desirable to you, for I have learned how to put up with the whims of women.

"I have read that you trusted Frank Anderson and then learned he had 50 other sweethearts.

"I want to say that I never have paid court to more than one woman at a time. You could count on me being loyal and true to you."

Peggy has not answered the letters -- at least not many of them.

One of the letters, she says, is from a former convict.

"I have had my troubles and you have had yours," he writes from near San Quentin, Cal.

"I have $90 I made doing fancy work while in prison. I'd like to send you that to come out here and we would see if we couldn't be happier together.

"Please answer at once whether you would marry a former convict if he is trying to do right now."

Love letters do not thrill Peggy Beal as they once did, she says. It was when Frank Anderson, just out of the army, wrote such strong protestations of love that she received her greatest thrill.

"The Perfect Lover," the young woman styled Anderson, when she spoke of him to other women.

She exhibited letters, from which the following is an excerpt:

"Dearest Peg: I have just finished reading one of the most wonderful books. 'Thuvia -- Maid of Mars.' Honestly, sweetheart, I never knew I was such a big cry baby. I read it with a handkerchief in the left hand and I had to use it constantly to clear my visage. If you have not read it, by all means get a copy."

Apparently Peggy got a copy for after Anderson had come to Kansas City to join her, he was found dead and she near death from bullet wounds inflicted by her in a hotel room. By her side lay a copy of the book. "Thuvia -- Maid of Mars." It was open at an illustration of Thuvia, character of the novel of her victim, a dagger in her hand.

List of Women.

A list of names of women, a list printed carefully with a pencil by Anderson, was found in the room. It was the list that brought death to Anderson, according to the story police say Peggy told them. She chided him about failing to keep a promise to marry her, she is alleged to have said, and he showed her the fist.

"Peg, I'm a devil -- I love no woman," he said.

A bullet from Peg's pistol was her answer.

After the shooting, when Peggy Beal was recovering at a hospital, she said:

"I killed him to save other women from the fate of the 50."

For weeks the young woman lay between life and death. Physicians had given up hope when from Terre Haute, Ind., her former home, came this telegram.

"Tell mamma I love her and I want her to get well."

It was from Louis Beal, 13 years old, who lives with his brother, Stepehen, 16, and their father in Terre Haute. The children have lived with their father since their parents were divorced several years ago.

It was the child's telegram that caused Mrs. Beal to have a determination to recover and to seek vindication by an early trial.

--The Helena Independent, Helena, Montana, September 19, 1922, page 3.



Peggy Beal Acquitted

SAYS SHE'LL MAKE GOOD WHEN FREED MURDER CHARGE

Peggy Beal Faces Life With Renewed Determination When Acquitted of Slaying Lover

(By The Associated Press)

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 24—Marie L. (Peggy) Beal faced life with renewed determination today, freed after a brief trial for the charge of having murdered her lover Frank Warren Anderson, who she said boasted he bad broken the hearts of fifty other women.

Leaping to her feet as the verdict was read last night, Mrs. Beal thanked the jury and asserted:

"Now I am going to stay right here in Kansas City and make good. I'm going to send for my little boys in Terre Haute and make a good home for them."

The court ordeal was comparatively brief, there were few witnesses and the testimony was adduced speedily. She took the witness stand, pallid and nervous and the story of the shooting was drawn from her by the attorneys.

From the first meeting in Dayton Ohio. Mrs. Beal, a young divorcee related in chronological order, incidents of their association which terminated in her fatally shooting Anderson and seriously wounding herself in a room which they occupied in a local hotel June 3. He lured her there, she said, with a promise of marriage. She had been reading a passage in a romantic novel in which a woman killed her lover. She shot Anderson as be lay upon the bed and turned the revolver upon herself, sending a bullet into her breast.

"I met Anderson in a restaurant in Dayton, 0.," she testified. "He asked me to marry him before he left Dayton and I told him I would give him my answer in June."

Twice she visited him in Kansas City. They moved to the hotel where the tragedy occurred. She asked him to marry her, she said. "I was nearly stunned when he told me he could find no grounds for divorce," she said. "I asked him what I was going to do," she told the court, "and he said 'do as you please.' "

She asked him why he had sought her love and he answered, she declared, "because I am a devil." She said that she could not recall shooting him but remembered shooting herself.

--The Olean Evening Herald, Olean, New York, Oct. 24, 1922, page 1.

Hapless Happy's Unhappy Mishap

While Killing a Dog Wednesday the Czar of Central Park Shoots Himself in the Foot.

The sharp crack of a revolver followed by an agonized yell of pain startled the people around the police station Wednesday.

The next instant fearless "Happy" Dow, the Central park cop, who has won an enviable reputation for the bravery which he has displayed in shooting any small dogs which happen to invade the sacred precincts of the park, dashed into the police station and with a shaking voice which percolated through the aperture in his pale face, he exclaimed, "I've shot myself! I've shot myself!"

As the faithful keeper of the flower beds and overseer of the Central park zoo did not appear to be in any imminent danger of kicking the bucket, the officers who were about the station did not consider it necessary to call an ambulance and after a time "Happy" recovered sufficiently to tell that while he was indulging in his favorite pastime of shooting a dog in the yard adjacent to the police station, he had shot himself in the foot. He had held the dog in one hand while he shot with the other and he aimed the revolver in such a way that after passing through the little dog it struck the rubber boot which he was wearing, just over the great toe of his left foot, resulting in a slight abrasion of the flesh.

The great danger, say those who were near when the accident occurred, was that "Happy" would die of fright, but after being soothed and reassured he was able to return to his Central park domain.

The suggestion is made at the police station that "Happy's" real revolver be replaced with a large and imposing looking paper cap pistol, which could scarcely be told from a real one when seen sticking out of the officer's hip pocket and would be much less dangerous, at the same time answering all ordinary requirements of "Happy" in the performance of such duties as mowing the grass in Central park and feeding the fishes and the squirrels.

--The Mansfield News, Mansfield, Ohio, April 22, 1909, page 5.