Hold Girl for Slaying Rival

1920

DETROIT, Michigan. — Eleanor Greer, 33, is dead and Birdie Bradford, 18-year-old girl, is held by police following a revolver duel, which the officers say, resulted from a quarrel over a man at a rooming house here.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 5.

Woman Shoots Out Her Aching Tooth

1920

BALTIMORE, Md. — As remedy for a toothache Mrs. Teresa Kwedar, 50 years old, of Mount Winas, sought to shoot out the offending tooth with a .32 caliber revolver. Mrs. Kwedar was brought to St. Agnes Hospital here with a bullet wound near her right ear. Her husband said she had carried out her threat to shoot her tooth out if it did not get better. At the hospital Mrs. Kwedar said the wound was less painful than the toothache.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 4.

New Gun to Shoot Eighty Miles.

1920

LONDON, England. — A gun is being built at the Vickers Works at Sheffield 80 feet long that will hurl an 8-inch shell between seventy and eighty miles. Announcement to this effect has been made by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 3.

Recent Events

1916

What is believed to be first shipment of wood pulp to this country from Europe came in Boston last week in Danish steamship Dania. It consisted of 15,000 bales. Shipment is first of a series to be sent over to relieve paper situation.

Secretary Lane of the Interior announces that during August, 1916, more than 1,124,000 acres of land were designated as non-irrigable and subject to entry under the enlarged homestead act.

In New York City the Mothers' Pension department established by law — with funds collected by taxation — reports that it cost 5 per cent for administration of Pensions to Mothers.

New world's record in naval gunnery has been made by new United States superdreadnought Pennsylvania. Twelve 14-inch rifles, mounted as a main battery in four turrets, on a simultaneous discharge in a recent trial registered five hits on a small target 11 miles away. At that distance a target is not visible to gunners.

Major General Albert L. Mills, chief of the Bureau of Affairs, died at Washington on September 18.

The Montgomery, Alabama, Board of Education announced on September 13 that a tuition fee will hereafter be charged all pupils entering the public schools. The action is caused by deficiency in income.

The estate of James J. Hill, the railroad financier, according to a preliminary inventory by the Probate Court in St. Paul, Minn., approximates $40,000,000, upon which the State will receive $1,250,000 as inheritance tax.

The Province of Ontario closed all bars and liquor shops on the 16th. This is in compliance with a war measure that is to remain in force three years unless repealed. Liquor dealers will be permitted to sell "soft drinks," including beer with two and a half per cent alcohol.

A protest against the presence of four Negro officers as members of a court martial composed of twelve officers trying white soldiers at San Antonio was filed at Washington on September 13. The protest alleges that this is the first time that enlisted white men were compelled to stand trial before Negroes.

54 Hits in 58 Shots by the U. S. Ship Florida

1916

Norfolk, Sept. 23. — Fifty-four hits in 58 shots with 12 inch guns is said to be the record established by the battleship Florida, in the Atlantic fleet's individual target practice at short and intermediate ranges off the Virginia coast this week. Officers tonight predicted that this record would put the Florida at the top of the gunnery list by a wide margin.

The fleet came into Hampton Roads tonight for the week end. The records of the various battleships are not available, but it is known the Texas made the second best showing and the Wyoming was third. The Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Arkansas, the newest superdreadnaughts, have not yet finished their initial firing.

Practice will be completed next week and the ships will proceed then to their home stations for repairs, preparatory to winter maneuvers in the tropics.

Small Lads Confess Murder

1916

Brothers, Aged 11 and 12, Rob and Shoot a Teacher.

BOISE, Idaho. — Lynn and Harold Lovelace, brothers 11 and 12 years old, have confessed to authorities at Twin Falls, Idaho, that they murdered F. Thomas Hamill, a teacher from Carson, Nev., whose body was found at his ranch recently. The lads, first taken into custody as runaways, were found in possession of Hamill's horse and wagon, pocketbook, provisions and eight guns and a revolver. Both have admitted the killing, which occurred when Hamill surprised them robbing his cabin.

He ordered them away, but they retreated into the house and covered him with his own guns. He parleyed and asked for food, and after they came out Lynn stood guard over him while Harold entered the cabin to get him some bread. Hamill grabbed the younger boy, and Harold then shot him in the head.

The boys then left in the wagon and drove 120 miles over a trackless country in six days, camping out at night. They were headed for Lebanon, Oregon, where they say a grandfather lives. The elder boy is moody and shows no regret, but the younger cries now and then and says he is sorry.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 5.

Who's Afraid of Big Bear?

1916

Not This Idaho Woman, Who Shoots One "Thoroly Dead."

BOISE, Idaho — What would you do, Miss or Mrs. Chicago, if you were suddenly confronted alone in the wilds and removed from call of help, by a huge bear?

Faint? Run? Scream?

Mrs. H. L. Walter of Boise, supervisor of the kindergarten at Margaret's Hall and wife of Professor Walter of the high school, was placed in just such a position recently at the Walter camp on Lambing Creek. She was placidly fishing in the creek. Glancing up she saw bruin headed her way under full steam.

She picked up her trusty rifle and proceeded to shoot Mr. Bruin until he was thoroly dead. Her steady aim proved she was not in the least flustrated.

A. B. Zu Tavern of the high school faculty, who tells the story, says he saw a handsome skin hung on the cabin to dry. Its size, he says, tells the story of what might have happened had Mrs. Walter not been a good shot.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 11.

Has Charmed Life

1919

Deer Holds Record of Many Close Escapes From Hunters.

LEWISTOWN, Pennsylvania. — In the Seven Mountain region near here there is a deer that seems to bear a charmed life. This deer, known as old "Barney," has been seen by hunters for many seasons, but they have failed to bag him. A few years ago a hunter managed to cripple him in one leg, but he got away. It left him with a stiff leg.

One day a hunter got close to Barney, but when he went to shoot his gun held fire and Barney got away.

At another time, three hunters were getting warm around a little bonfire when Barney, frightened, ran right into their midst. One of the hunters got a shot at him at close range, but missed.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

Wild Ducks Freeze in Ice, and Fly Away with the Lake

1919

Hunter Catches One of Struggling Birds by "Hind" Leg and Pulls It Down — Then the Whole Flock Becomes Exhausted and Falls Into His Eager Hands.

NEW YORK, N. Y. — Here is a real duck story. It is from South River, N. J., and the correspondent swears to its truthfulness. He walked five miles to deliver it to a South River editor, but has since been missing. The story follows:

Mayor-elect George L. Burton is never happier than when aiming his shotgun at a flock of ducks. However, according to a friend, he has never been known to bag a single duck until the recent zero weather. Here's how it happened: He was snugly stowed away in his houseboat when a flock of ducks flying over the bay with loud squawking awakened him at 10 a. m.

He rushed on deck and discovered he was surrounded by a flock of ugly ducklings, who threatened to carry away his boat. The leader of the squawky tribe decided, however, to take a swim in the icy water.

No sooner had they alighted than they were frozen fast by the zero weather. George noticed that the ducks were struggling to get away, but could not force themselves from their icy mooring.

This is my chance to get one, murmured Burton. Seizing his trusty gun, he jumped on the meadows and set out to bag a few. His approach frightened them, and with one supreme effort they struggled into the air, carrying with them a heavy sheet of ice, which bound them together. They flew directly over his head and were so low that George caught one of them by the "hind" leg and pulled it loose.

The loss of this duck — a large one — made the ice too heavy for the rest of the flock, which began to settle slowly. As they were circling over the houseboat, the old drake became exhausted. He could not hold up his end and, with a resounding crash, the entire flock fell through the cabin door.

When George returned he found he had captured a whole flock of ducks without the use of his gun. He is now telling his friends that he shot them.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

Girl Artist Captures Intruder in Cabin

1919

Finds Queer Young Man Attired in Her Pet Toggery.

PITTSBURGH, Pennysylvania — At the point of a revolver Miss Gertrude Zeigler, an artist and decorator residing in a rustic log cabin in the woods, near West View, marched a male intruder whom she discovered in her home, over a mile through the snow to the office of Herman P. Brandt, justice of the peace of Perrysville.

Miss Zeigler discovered the young man, Ralph Rutledge, 21 years old, of Mount Pleasant, Pa., busy preparing his breakfast.

Rutledge had eaten of the best while in the Zeigler home and when caught was attired in a ladies' golf sweater, silk hose and a pair of pink pumps belonging to Miss Zeigler.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

How to Carry a Gun

1901

There are only two directions in which the muzzle of a gun can safely be pointed; these are up or down. A shot fired in the air can scarcely injure anyone or anything and one discharged into the ground is equally harmless. Therefore, in all the different positions which the gun assumes, see that it is pointed either up or down.

Sometimes a man will be seen who carries his gun reversed, holding it by the muzzle while the fore end rests on the shoulder and the stock projects behind. Happily, this practice is not common, for it is extremely dangerous, and many men have been killed by carrying their guns in this way. If a man stumbles or steps in a hole or catches his foot on a root and falls, his gun will very likely be thrown forward with the muzzle directly toward his body and may easily enough be discharged.

Sometimes one may see a boy or even a man who will carry the gun across the back of the neck, with one arm over the stock and the other over the barrels, sometimes with the hand resting on the muzzle. This is certain to give a very uncomfortable feeling to anyone who happens to be walking by the side of the person carrying his gun in this fashion and opposite the muzzle end. While the danger of a discharge is perhaps not great, it is unpleasant to be walking along with a gun pointed at your neck or head. — Forest and Stream.

Cock Shooting In Tall Corn

1901

Cock shooting in tall corn is as easy to the expert as it is puzzling to the novice. You will, of course, work with the rows, not across them, and if you are wise you will shoot at every glimpse of a bird and very frequently after an instant's sight of him, when you can only guess where he is. Sharp work, say ye, my masters. Yes, in a measure, but not so wonderful after all. You certainly must be ever ready and swift and smooth in action, but actual sight of the bird at the instant of pulling trigger is not necessary.

Green corn won't stop even fine shot, and your charge will give a pattern as big as a bushel basket: hence the shaking of a leaf, the flick of a vanishing wing, are enough for the master of the art. In an instant his gun is on the spot where a species of lightning calculation tells him the bird should be, and the trigger is pressed without the slightest delay. The difficulty with the novice is to get him to shoot at once instead of waiting in vain for a clear view. Experts kill bird after bird in this way. The novice must dismiss all thoughts of empty shells. No good sportsman worries over misses, though he will learn from failures how to hold next time. There is no royal road to success in the field. Nothing but experience really counts. So let the novice crack away, although he may only get one bird in ten. We all know what he'll get if he doesn't shoot at all. — Outing.

Seeks Action, Kills Self

1919

FREEPORT, L. I. — The desire of Stanley Simon, 19, for "more action" in a short story he was writing caused his death according to a coroner's verdict. A magazine returned a story to Simon, suggesting he get "more action" in it. Simon was experimenting with a revolver, when it exploded, killing him.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 5.

Rats Lured Into Traps by Rodent Leader Who Acts as "Pied Piper"

1919

SHERMAN, Texas. — Sherman's Pied Piper, an aged, bewhiskered and tailless rodent, is no more. A frisky terrier, unaware of the importance of the tailless wonder, pounced upon him one day this week as he was leaving a trap where he had led hundreds of rats to their doom, and brought his useful career to an untimely end. And Sherman folks are sad. They feel like wearing mourning. Meanwhile rats which have infested the city have become "leery" of traps and are multiplying.

It was several weeks ago that the rat killing campaign was begun here. They were trapped by the hundreds. The killing was done by dogs assembled about the traps to pounce upon the captured rodents as they were turned out. One day what appeared to be the "daddy of all the rats" was found in one of the traps. One of the wise citizens suggested that this rodent's tail be amputated. He declared the old rat was the leader of the others and that his pride in leadership would make him leave the city. when his long tail was cropped off.

The operation was performed and the old rat turned loose, and admonished to leave the city.

But did he? Not much. The following morning the old rascal was found in one of the traps with forty others. The others were killed and the "leader" turned loose again. The following day he was back in the traps with more than a score of others. This continued from day to day. The people began to believe they would soon have the rats exterminated.

But the unusual happened. One morning this week in letting the captured rats out of a trap the "daddy" rat ran out with them. The terrier failed to recognize the "leader" and leaped upon him. Before any assistance could be given the old rat was killed. Since that time but few rats have been found in the big municipal rat trap.



Bullet Knocks His Hat Off

POTTSTOWN, Pa. — Only by the narrowest margin, John Stoudt, conductor on a trolley line, missed death when a bullet passed thru the number plate on his cap and knocked off his headgear. It is thought the bullet was fired by a would-be robber, who was scared off by the arrival of night-shift men.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 5.

Schoolma'am Gets $100 for Slaying Five Lions

1919

Pretty Girl Did Not Know How to Load Gun Three Years Ago.

REDDING, Cal. — Miss Hazel Hightower, teacher of the Lone Pine School, is adding to her fame as a modern Diana. Miss Hightower called on the county clerk when she visited town the other day and was paid another $100, the bounty on five mountain lions she killed near her school.

Miss Hightower is making a specialty, out of school hours, as a lion hunter — or huntress. During the three years she has taught the Lone Pine school she has killed over a dozen mountain lions. The State of California pays a bounty of $20 for each lion killed and Miss Hightower, who says she expects soon to return to Chicago and get her aged mother to come to live with her, is putting by quite a "nest egg."

The pretty little school teacher did not know how to load a gun, let alone shoot it, when she came to this county, three years ago. A cowboy, who could neither read nor write, decided to go to school. He learned to read and write and Miss Hightower learned from him how to shoot. She can handle a revolver as well as a rifle. With a shotgun she is said to be hard to beat.

Jury Acquits Girl On Slaying Charge

1920 (actually happened in 1919)

16-Year-Old Defendant Plans To Resume School

Clara Bartel's Plea That She Slew Father in Family Defense Wins Freedom

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — The plea of Clara Bartel, the 16-year-old girl accused of the murder of her father, Charles Bartel, that she had killed him in defending the lives of her mother and her sisters resulted in her acquittal by a jury here after only 20 minutes' deliberation.

The defendant burst into tears when the foreman of the jury announced the verdict. She swayed as if about to fall, and Mrs. Charles R. Nightingale, the probation officer who has taken care of her since her arrest, caught her in her arms. Then the crowd in the courtroom surged about her, showering her with congratulations.

Clara threw her arms about J. Hibbs Buckman, her chief attorney, and sobbed on his shoulder.

"Oh, I am so glad," she said. "Now I can help take care of mother."

Warns Against Sympathy

Judge William C. Ryan occupied thirty-five minutes in his charge to the jury.

"We have all been moved by the pathos of this case and story of the dark tragedy," said the court. "But it is your duty to render a verdict unaffected by the sympathy for this defendant of tender [years.] If she acted in [self-]defense or in defense of her mother, she would not be guilty of this offense."

"I shot my father. I had to do it to save us all."

That was the girl's first statement as she took the stand in her own defense at her trial for the murder of her father at their home near Edgewood, Bucks County, on the morning of August 22.

Three jurors wept openly as the girl told her story of a father who, she averred, abused her mother, herself and the other small children.

Bartel's aged mother, Mrs. Amelia Bartel, 81 years old, said Clara told her: "Grandma, I killed him. I had to do it to save us."

Says Father Beat Her

Under direct examination she told of finding a bundle of letters written by another woman to her father hidden in the peak of the barn. She testified that she read the letters and kept them for several days and finally showed them to her mother. For this her father beat her, she said.

After she had been given a medal for selling Liberty Bonds, she said, her father said he was "going to kill her" and expressed the hope that "they sink every d—n American." She also told of several instances when Bartel had threatened to kill her and her mother.

One night, she said, her father ordered her to go out into the barnyard and find a stick with which he drove his hogs. She told of his beating her mother the morning of the shooting and also chasing her downstairs, shouting, "I am going to kill the whole d—n lot of you and do it now!" She said he went to the place where the guns were usually kept, but they were not there. Then, she said, she ran into another room and got a shotgun and, closing her eyes, pointed it at her father, not knowing it was loaded. The gun was discharged and the shot tore thru her father's body.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 3.

Note: Two words in brackets are supplied because of breaks in the paper and so they're missing. Of course they're obvious to the context.

A Rattlesnake Story

1910

In "Life and Sport on the Pacific Coast" Horace A. Vachell relates one of his narrow escapes from a friend's bullet.

"My cousin and I had been camping and hunting for several days in a sort of paradise valley. One day during a long ride on horseback we had seen a great many rattlesnakes and killed a few, an exceptional experience. That night my cousin woke up and saw by the light of the moon a big rattler crawling across my chest. He lay for a moment fascinated, horror struck, watching the sinuous curves of the reptile. Then he quietly reached for his six shooter, but he could not see the reptile's head, and he moved nearer, noiselessly, yet quickly, dreading some movement on my part that should precipitate the very thing he dreaded, and then he saw that it was not a snake at all — only the black and yellow stripe of my blanket, which gently rose and fell as I breathed. Had he fired — well, it might have been bad for me, for he confessed that his hand shook."

Meant to Have His Life

1910

Vicious Attack by Australian Natives on Trespassers in Their Country

Men who venture into the interior of northern Australia are likely to meet with adventures at the hands of hostile natives. Here is a matter-of-fact yarn concerning one James Runine McPherson, engaged in pearl-shelling operations:

On July 18 he was fishing for trepang (sea cucumber or sea slug) at the mouth of the Liverpool river. He landed in a dingey on the east bank of the river, where a bush smokehouse for the curing of trepang had been erected. He dispatched a Malay with canoes and working natives to gather trepang around a distant point, while two natives who paddled the dingey went off to the lugger, which was anchored more than a mile out, with a load of fresh water. He remained at the smokehouse with three old Junction Bay natives, who assisted him in manipulating the trepang. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, feeling tired, he was reclining on the floor of the smokehouse, with a rifle across his knees, when he was startled by the loud swishing sound of several spears passing through the bough-covered enclosure.

McPherson immediately rushed out and saw seven or eight Liverpool river natives at the back of the smokehouse with spears shipped and with murder in their faces. Another shower of spears fell around him and he retired toward the water's edge and as he dodged one another long-barbed spear struck him in the hip. He felt no more, he says, than a burning twinge from the wound at the moment and instantly broke it off with his hand, leaving about eight inches of the barbed point buried in the fleshy part of his hip, The natives at this time were about forty yards away, having never shifted from their first point of attack near some thick bushes.

The man who had wounded McPherson was in the act of throwing another spear when McPherson shot and hit him. He then emptied his revolver at his assailants, who immediately disappeared in the adjacent scrub. Hearing shots, the two Daly river natives came hurrying ashore with the dingey, and conveyed McPherson to his boat, where he subsequently succeeded himself in tearing the barbed spearhead from the wound. Several barbs shaped like fishhooks were broken off in the process and remained in the wound.

The following day McPherson shifted his trepang gear and crew to another part of the coast and started for Palmerston to report the matter and have the wound attended to.

Girl Twice Bade Suitor 'Shoot' in Suicide Pact

1915

Town Gossip is Blamed for Maryland Tragedy

The town gossiped about them. The story spread and the morsel of scandal was rolled 'neath many tongues. So they made a pact. They went out into the woods, kissed each other good-by and then there were shots. So much for gossip.

CRISFIELD, Md., Dec. 16. — Dying as the result of two bullet wounds in her lung, Miss Hilda Sterling told painfully but graphically of the part she played in a suicide pact. Her partner in the tragedy, C. Clifford Reese, a druggist of this city, was buried the other day. His widow is in a critical condition as the result of shock.

The coroner's jury rendered a verdict of death as the result of a gunshot wound, self-inflicted, and made an ineffectual effort to suppress three letters, two of which Reese had written before his death. One was written to Reese by Miss Sterling, who had been in his employ. In it she said that because of gossip she no longer would come to the store, tho she could speak to him on the street and still be friendly.

The Suicide Pact

The other notes were written by Reese and professed true love for Miss Sterling. They announced the purpose of the pair to commit suicide on account of the town gossip.

Miss Sterling told of their decision to commit suicide. She said they secured a blanket and went to a woods in an isolated part of the county. After wrapping up in the blanket together each took six grains of morphine, which Reese had brought, and lay down to die together. They went to sleep, expecting never to awaken, but both recovered, chilled and dazed.

Reese then drew a pistol and asked the girl if he should shoot. Upon her replying in the affirmative, he pulled the trigger; but the pistol refused to work. He then declared he would go to Crisfield and get a pistol that would shoot.

Kiss Each Other Good-by

After he had gone she decided to leave the woods, but found she was too weak and dazed to move. Upon Reese's return they talked for a little while and then agreed to complete the pact.

After kissing each other good-by, Miss Sterling sat upon the ground. "Shoot, Clifford, shoot!" she begged. He fired three shots into her body, of which two pierced her lungs. He then shot himself in the chest and this not proving fatal, put the pistol into his mouth and fired.

The two lay there for several hours. Finally the girl recovered sufficient strength to crawl to his lifeless body. She wrapped the blanket about the corpse, brushed leaves up over the lower part of his body and placed her own coat upon it.

She fell across his body unconscious, but regaining a little strength, crawled to the side of the road where she was afterward found numbed with cold and dying.

Tallest Man Reported Ill

1915

Captain Bates, Aged 70, Is Nearly 8 Feet in Height

SEVILLE, Ohio, Dec. 16. — The tallest man in Ohio is ill at his home near Seville. He is Capt. M. V. Bates and is 7 feet 11½ inches tall. Bates' wife, who is caring for him, is slightly over five feet.

Being ill is a new experience for Capt. Bates. Until a few weeks ago he worked daily on his 150-acre farm here.

Capt. Bates quit the circus sideshows in 1880 and settled on his farm. He is now seventy years old.



Bullet Kills Rat; Also Man

Glances Off Rodent's Body, Hitting Spectator in Stomach

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Dec. 16. — The bullet which killed a rat in the restaurant at 239 Cedar avenue, claimed its human victim when Daniel Golden died at the City Hospital.

Tuesday night Thomas Christo, employed in the restaurant, took a shot at a big gray rat. The bullet killed the rat, glanced and struck Golden in the stomach.