New Britain Herald Newspaper, April 4, 1925, Page 1

Send i “ydaq ABAQYL )WY RN ESTABLISHED 1870 a P uuoyy ‘piojjavy i JApYy UU0,) NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1925, —SIXTEEN PAGES. I‘ (] o \ b [} \l HARTFORD RAILWAY MANIS " KILLED IN TRAIN SMASHUP AT CONN. BRIDGE JUNCTION Villam Lawlor Meets NFY COAT GOMPANY Death As Result of BEINH MAN‘ZE“ Crash This Morning — Road Issues State-|D. and . R. R. Proposes fo Transfer Its Properties ment. — ctim on Platform When |STOCKHOLDERS T0 VOTE Collision Occurs — C“slxo Plans Have Been Outlined by Are Thrown ACTOSS} Directors Concerning Proposed Tracks. ‘ ‘Distribution of Securitics to | - — | Stockholders. | Hartford, Aprll 4.—William J.| New &ork, April 4.—Segregation | ot the anthracite coal holdings of |the Delaware & Hudson Co. was proposed today by the railroad’s |board of managers. Stockholders lawler of this city, railroad em- pioye was killed as the result of a rain collision at the Connecticut river bridge which connects the CONVICTED, STiLl. ROBBERY OF MAIL TRUCK GAINED WAN OF HYSTERY Chepman Steadlastly Refusts ) Chapman’s Engineering Divulge Real Identty | of $2,400,000 Theft SERVED 13 YEARS IN PRISON| In New York Start of His Limelight Career. Only 5 of the Last 18 Years Has | Escape ‘Atlanta Prison Gave Country | Thrill—Murder of Skelly Climax of His Crimes. 'SOLDIER SENTENCED 0 FORTY YEAR TERM U. S. Private Attempted to Organize Revolu- tionary League He Been Outside Walls—Belicved Son of Respecta- ble’l’mnla‘ Penitentiary From | By The Associated Press, Honolulu, April 4.—Private Paul Crouch, 21st infantry, stationed at Schofleld barracks, was sentended to | 40 years imprisonment and given & New York, April 4.—Gerald Chap- man remalns a rhan of mystery, his real name, his antecedents, his birth. | | | | | ace and his family hietory un- :()Lqm‘\"na i ? i { | dishonorable discharge atter s, gen- He has revealed wWith frankness v | eral courtmartial found him guilty of attempting to organize a revolution- ary communist league among sol- dfers stationed at the barracks. Crouch was charged with belng the leader of a self-styled ring of communists and with having fssued propaganda under the pretext of be- ing a teacher of Esperanto at army schools. ; The plot was nipped by the au- thorities when Private Crouch open- ly defended communism through a By The Assoclated Prese, New York, April 4 —Gerald Chap- man, often called a modern Jesse James, first gained notorlety in his daring leadership of the sensational $2,400,000 holdup of a government mail truck on lower Broadway in Oc- tober, 1921, Chapman and his band had watch- ed the downtown post office for| some details of his career of crime. But much of his life story remains a scaled book. He has used many ‘names during | his criminal career of eighteen years —of which only five have been spent outside prison walls, But Gerald Chapman is not his name, nor is his | | name apparently any of the others| he has adopted, as allases, About 37 Years of Age He is sald to have been born in | | GERALD CHAPMA! Father Is Accused of Patting Son in Chains Binghamton, New York, April 4. —Norrls Rejebian, a farmer was ar-: ranigned in children's court here ‘BRITAIN HERALD NOTORIETY FOR DARING CRIMINAL lof the common at their annual | meeting on May 12 will be asked [to approve the transter of the coal | properties to a new corporation, all the stock of which will be owned by the Delaware & Hudson | pany, No plans were outlined by [ board for a distribution of the pro- posed coal company’s sccuritics to | Delaware & Hudson stockholders. *In asking for authority to order Hartford tracks with the East Hart- ord yard, this morning. An explanation by the operating ‘partment of the N. Y. N. H. & H. diroad at New Haven later was to effect that two work trains in- lved In the crasht and that tracks and 2 were blocked for a time, No, track being cleared at $:50 a. m. aln operations at that point were | | has ewerved from proper paths, It has heen said that he has brother who is a busineses man the | high position and repute. com- shrouded his personal past. New York about 37 years ago, of a respected family, of which he is be~ lleved to be the only member who Chapman | has verified none of these things .. has consistently refused to life in the slightest the veil with which he has He has | weeks. Learning of a rich shipment of reglstered mall, they followed the selected mail truck in an automo- a|bile When it started to the general of | post office uptown just before day- break, Drawing alongside, they crowded the truck to the curb. With both vehicles still moving, Chapman boarded the government van and covered the driver with a pistol. He | last night charged with chaining his |six year old son to the wall of a | locked room for several days with- | out food or water. He pleaded “not guilty” and was ordered held in de- fault of $2,000 bail, Humane Officer Samuel J. Koe bel, the complainant said the boy's mother had admitted the circum- stances and said she was compelled to listen to the cries of her child without daring to help him because local newspaper. 1t {8 reported that eral others will be courtmartialed. Five Men Killed When Train Hits Automobile Grass Lake, Mich., April 4.—Peter Ehrig and George W. DBrighton, Jackson, Mich., and Frank Farr and Verne Tilbean, Grass Alek, were in- stantly killed last night when their car was struck by a fast Michigan | re somewhat delayed, it wa ted, "The railroad statement was that a i engaged in transferring frelght rs in the Hast Hartford yard was 1d up at the bridge by a signal, A ght engine "for the yard was'held v behind the transfer train, Work rafn 350 for the East Hartford yard vas stopped behind the light engine. Vork train 129 also bound for thé ‘ard approached from the rear and it train 350, Cars were thrown wcross the tracks. Lawler was on |9Uate and advantageous. the platform of a car and was killed | T1¢ Delaware & Hudson is ene of Akl {the few railroads which has been = allowed to retain possession of its h a vas s - | . o hatement was made 83 to fuT | 4o5) noldings while other roads in b the east were forced to segregate TO STOPTRANSFER Judge Refuses to Issue Injunc- Soal Co. for dicr tion in Big Motor Deal GEMS WORTH $2|],[][][| HEARING ~ NEXT TUESDAYi STOLEN IN HoLoup ‘gnnlz:'d as a railroad but as a canal {and coal company. | The |rler and owns extensive Tried To Restraln Mrs. Matilda R. | 5 . [Showmen’s Club in Chicago | e e . tate of Anna Margaret Dodge‘ Visited by Six Darmg Daughter ot John ¥, Dodge. Bandits he segregation, the board explained that there would be transferred to the new corporation properties )ownad or controlled by the Dela- |ware & Hudson Co. pertaining to |the .mining, preparation and mar- keting of anthracite, including the | stock of subsidiary corporations, for | such ‘consideration in the form of {stoeks, .bonds or other seccurities of |the .purchasing company as the board of managers might deem ade- In the anthracite districts. Tts en- | tire output at present is sold to the | Hudson Coal Co. for distribution. Dodge From Selling Assets of Es- Detrot, Mich., April 4. — Judge | Harry Dingeman in the “’ayne‘ county circuit court, today refused to grant a temporary injunction sought by attorneys for John Duval Dodge, restraining Mrs. Matilda R. Dodge, from selling, transferring or incumbering any of the assets of the :state of Anna Margaret Dodge, posthumous daughter of John F. Dodge and half sister of John Duval | Dodge. Judge Dingeman, however, order- d that Mrs. Dodge appear before im next Wednesday to show cause vhy an Injunction should not be {is- wued, Chicago, April 4.—Forty mem- | bers of the Showman’'s League of America, meeting in their club rooms in the heart of the business district, were held up last night by six men, two of them armed with shotgyins, and robbed of money and jewelry valued at $20,000. The robbers worked so quietly | they failed to attract the attention of wives of the members, meeting on the floor below. They after herding their victims into a small adjolning room and threatening them with death if they stirred for five minutes. scapec | Edward P, Newman, club treasurer, ‘m\-od $460 of the league's money by | tossing it behind a radiator. As thie men passed the women's | meeting on their way upstairs one of Becomes Executive Assist- | the women tried to sell them tickets 5 to a party. ant at General Offices in Waterbury 1 Most of the loot was n | studs and stickpins and sums of | money ranging from $2 to $1,500. | sponded. “I'm going upstairs to get some money. I'll stop on the way down.” On the way out one robber told another woman the meeting upstairs was .over and the members would “be down in a minute.” “So you're Barnee, ¢h?” the rob- bers greeted Fred M. Barnes, presi- dent of the lea, “You carry a lot of money and jewelry. Shell it out.’ i Barnes lost a diamond ring valued | at $6,000; a scarfpin valued at $800, cuff links valued at $600, a $75 watch and $112 in cash, Transfer of A, 8 Jourdan, local manager of the Connecticut Light nd Pofver Co.,, will be made to the xecutive offices of the company at Waterbury on April 15, according to unnouncement today. The following | statement was issued by the com- | pany: | “Effective April 15, A. 8 Jourdan | will be transferfed from New Brit- ain to the central offices of the Con- necticut Light & Power Co., at Wat- | erbury as executive assistant. *“Mr. Jourdan will be succeeded in | New Rritain by Mr. F. Putnam, | FORMER GOVWERNOR DIES. who has been superintendent of the Charleston, W. Va., 4— Norwalk district of the company for George W. Atkinson, 10r of [ several years. Mr. C. D. Briges, now | West Virginia m 1897 > 1901, 1 assistant superintendent of the Nor- | died today onia. Among | walk district, will succeed Mr. Put- | fices he¢ held was judge of the United nam as distr9t urt of claime and one termw that district.” superintendent’ of | road is primarily a coal car- properties | “Wait a minute,”" the robber re- |, | Then the robbers turned the truck into Leonard street and removed its wealth of cash and securities at their | lelsure. Chapman was traced and caught |a few months later in fashionable she feared the wrath of her husband. | Central passenger train here. Judge Jennings is Bristol Man protected his family. Is Well Educated Chapman—As it is indicated he iwlll continue to be called-—has given evidence of considerable culture, al- {$h0urs By encatil oo, | Gramercy _ Park . where he wik o . 0 [ha s ioon eoufiyed to high | found living in a luxurious apart- And “ t P f Much of this ls attributed to his | rond HVInE In a P € Ity 15 froud O im reading and study whilé in prison, and also to the influence of George “Dutch” Anderson, college graduate |and super-crook, who was his fel- low prisoner and pal and later associate in the great $2,400,000 mail truck robhery In New York eity— |y hurrow ledge, high above Bro one of the biggest Jobs modcrnv““y and opposite the Woolworth crookdom has known. building. He had nearly reached a Chapman’s criminal career is be- | \windqow in another office farther lieved to have begun in 1907, When | goun which would likely have led he was 19 years old, when he Was| (o frocdom. sent to Kimira reformatory for pet- | chapman and George R. (Dutch) Ity thieve under the name nf‘, Anderson, an accomplice, were sen- | George Chartres, tenced for the mall robbery in Even then, he refused to reveal| Aygust, 1922, hoth recelving During his subsequent grilling on an upper floor of the Federal build- |ing, he suddenly disappeared | through an open window while his | captors’ backs were turned. He | was cornered after crawling along Jurist Who Sat on Bench During Chapman Trial Was Formerly Superin- tendent of Schools. (Speclal to the Herald) Bristol, April 4.—Bristol is proud of Judge Newell Je judge in the case of Gerald Chap- nings, the trial any\detalisbpaceveriresaitiERE R, ygaritermatingfhol Rederal dpenttandli o il S s es e in Sl family. {tlary at Atlanta, Georgia. Both | ™2™ 8 : | After the first sentence at EIMIra |agtorward - escaped. Anderson s [the &ty and one of its foremost | he alternated, until 1912, in periods | g1y at jarge. citizens but he has achieved distine- jof briet freedom and comparatlvely| Chapman made his own first suc-| tion in the legal halls of the state. | short sentences for petty burglarles. | ceseful dash in Marech, 1923, He| A ol In 1912 he was sentenced to SINE |was rocaptured {wo days later.| JU08¢ Jennings has risen from Sing for 12 years. for petty larceny, | pleeding from various wounds, and | he ranks ot the legal profession to and served untll 1919 When he Was|'aced in a hospital in Athens, Ga. | hiS present office in the superior |released for good behaviour. | Within a month, and still fn tha caro | COUTt by sheer abil Asa | During this time he came 10 know | o¢'surgrons. ho eseaped muysterione. | ber of 1h6 firm of Newell & Anderson, who is supposed to havel), 5 yc:ong time. I'or montks ho | ing8. he practiced law and {exerted much influence upon IS \uqcq & nation-wide search fn | V48 chosen as 3 ant state's a[-‘ career. | whicli some of the bust man-trash- | [0TDeY, an office in which he distin- T [ors in the country tcak his fran, | Sished himséit as an aid to Hugh | while, which apparently coulc 1ot Le | CUTTed on the benc St !S LlFE‘nuw«m explained, wera put dowa [ flied by Its appointment, appc ] SAVE DYING GIRL'S LIFR| st pine. v ot owa | 2 B SO e o) | variably, however, thay proved o 1Use of hls sticction sl ) R ENIN G | have been done by someone else, At . ¥ £ g In Meantime Alleged Av«vmpllcvsil“p—.n-m," ; Jflm?‘s Skelly of New quul .km; 1>r;nl::m‘l“ ‘;rs.'l‘“sl.»l T. i | surprised two safe blowers fn a de- | o B0 0 SR TEO O e, tack Are Sought tment store Sunday morning, Atlortattanda e Bristol Indianapolis, April 4—Physictans |y 00T 0% Lt Hihot nis | Schools he e : ies won him |today were hopeful that the blood | trans esorted to yesterddy in | save the life of N dge Oberholtzer, who is said to be in a dying condition as the re- way out. The other was cau proved to be Walter E. Shean, of a 8p 1d, Mass.,, hotel ow Shean lapman was the who got away. Deaths in Bloomsbury Mansion House Not Yet man sult of an attack by D. C. Stephen. | "12 O S AhEes son, former grand dragon of the ku | T! " e Ty o | warid ey I‘ull) Solved Klux klan, would be successful. Much | fast. Chapman Wwa . TN ) | boats. Following t r joubt, however, was expressed as to |earth in Muncle, Ind, by postal nee ho entered Yale Law Schoc ihe recovery of the girl who has|agents who had never relaxed thelr | ooy "Con beted the t London, ADril (G A suraiise oas T onscious since Thursday |tW0- year hunt. He was taken back s. He then en M i " lto Atlanta, but was later brought | [T Sy o T N " lophenson, who Is under indict. [to Conecticut for trial for the o ment for assault and battery with (Skelly kill 2 intent to kill, malicious mayhem, | 1o bed Bristol conspiracy to commit a felony, and | o kidnay 7, is at liberty under bond | . of $25.000. Meanwhile search Is | s being conducted for Earl Klenk, - deputy sheriff, and Earl Gentry, New Haven Man Fined $100 and - named the dictment charging | s L ;.n»rfun | sent To Jail For 60 Days Tn Mer- ore,the coroner ad 2 William Fai od conspirac le test city ow a business trip. iden 'On Liguor Count—Compan- | {°ndent Karl A girl's injuries are said to ed'to succeed AL Cookce ¢ have been aggravated by polson, | oo conien g He served Bristol as its assistant {0 a8 poisor © which she is said to have faken af- | : reseeniing L tiornEy eral |Indication 1 ter the attack which according to| yferiden, April 4.—William Siata aidiIatar sevecal b6 as cor. | Posioning m S of New Haven, prefer 52 and sentenced to ty days by the loead court today a the indictments, took place on &, Sialt train en route to Hammend, Ind. | g, 00 in an attempt to commit suicide, poration counsel ¥ ce of law as corporation couns 1t of the compl re expressing a fir Mrs. Bertha el Cc The indictment charging assault |y o %o 0 tles of New Haver =) Et . avows that Stephenson hit, be us fined §R007 and’ Jailed for te ey inventor and_poet s roughly assaulted the girl while the (w28 (1M 8 & T e iy waa. i > first witness, s be separated indictment charging Mayhem avows | 43¥% Y Fere rEHE e s rom her husband In Janvars a he o v the po- 1 sa m ece At their ¢ fhat e attacked the glrl with Ih- |y 1ignt of March 27 after the po- | announced. RO Ul frooanty EAC e : tent maliclously to maim and QIsfig- |, 00 103 fired at them in an automo- | s state's attorney, he assis she said, Cooke que are (e bile chase Attorney Alling of New 1 see acutely depressed Stephenson will be arratgned in bl v e DL Pt gl et A criminal court next Monday. | | oianly e tasoua. PlewsWa Fesbehib by se, which 1 A TO HAVE ROTARY THE WEATHER Lo, g e - ot i i =g ed a judge, an epoch |young victim of s v before the league of For New Britain and vicini- Judic - rday whe ty: Generally fair tonight and } . y yeva business men Sunday with lule change in 2 three | Eric Drummond secretary-gener: temporature. h the Teague, that they were about to 2 |organize a Geneva Rotary club, Average Daily Circulation For Week Ending 12,121 PRICE THREE CENTS March 28th , 'BANDIT TO HANG ON JUNE 25 FIRST DEGREE VERDICT FILED Did Not Think I Had a Chance,” Prisoner Says. “They Didn’t Con- vict the Man Who Committed the Murder, But They Convicted Ger- ald Chapman Solely On His Past Record”’—Groehl Weeps At Jury Report — Judge Jennings Denies Plea To Have Verdict Set Aside (By The Associated Press) Hartford, Conn., April 4—Gerald Chapman, spec- tacular mail-bandit, jail-breaker and criminal extraor- dinary, today was sentenced to hang in the Connecti- cut state prison June 26 in payment for the life of a New Britain patrolman, of whose murder last October 12, a jury had convicted him less than an hour before. Chapman, the stoic notorious criminal did not flinch | or falter as sentence was passed. With his arms folded { across his breast, and his frail hody held stiffly erect, he listened to the judge's words spell out his doom with | only a flushed face to mark his emotion. | Sentence is Pronounced Judge Jennings convened court for the grim busi- {ness of the death sentence at 11:35 o’clock. | “Mr. Sheriff,” he called, “make proclamation of |silence while sentence of death is pronounced.” ¥ | “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez” called Sheriff Edward Dewey {from his official post. “I now declaim a silence in the courtroom, while the prisoner is sentenced to his death.” Chapman, his ever vigilant guards pressed closely about him, was led before the judge’s high hench as the ominous words of the anciens proclamation died away. Chapman Has Nothing to Say The prisoner, his prison pallor suffused by one of {his rare flushes, braced himself on his slender iegs, |crossed his arms, and with head thrown back stared directly at the square-built judge out of his cold blue eyes. To the customary question as to whether he wanted to make a pre-sentence statement, Chapman an- iswered in clear, level tones: “I have nothing to say.” [ “The sentence of this court,” Judge Jennings pro- | ceeded, “is that you, Gerald Chapman forthwith be | taken to the state’s prison at Wethersfield and there | confined until June 25, 1925, when, hefore sunrise of that day, you shall x x x x be hanged by the neck until you are dead.” : The prisoner’s gaze fell. That, with the flush that | still mantled his cheeks, was his only evidence of emo- | tion. | The jurors were not due to report in court until 10 {o’clock to which hour court had been adjourned by | Judge Jennings last night after they had considered the case without decision for eight hours and 82 minutes, i But at 9 o’clock Samuel S. Chamberlin, Hartford busi- ness man who was elected foreman after the case was | submitted, told Sheriff Dewey that the 12 men, re- freshed by their night’s rest, were eager to resume deliberations. The 12 immediately were taken to the plain little jurors’ room in the courthouse building and locked into their conference, although neither Judge Jennings nor the spectacular defendant had yet arrived. Chapman in Heavy Irons Chapman arrived from the state prison at Wethersfield, four miles from here, shortly before 10 o’clock. He was heavi \4 manacled and ironed to one of the five guards constantly with 1im when he is out of his prison cell. The prisoner appeared as debonair as ever, despite the strain of waiting. He was reported to have slept as soundly s he had on every other night since he was brought to Wethersfield from the federal penitentiary at Atlanta, to stand trial for the murder of Patrolman James Skelly. Shows No Emotion n, standing in the bleak prisoners’ dock in the courtroom, gave no evidence of emotion as the court cler ].gciu: Fuller, read the verdict handed him by the jury for man. | ma Groehl Will Appeal Frederick J. Groehl, chief defense counsel, had previously announced that he would file an appeal in the event his spec- tacular client was convicted. After dismissing the jury and congratulating the juros “on reaching this verdict which I believe is a just verdic Judge Jennings recessed court for half an hour, which time set for hearing defense coun r H H s it he sel motion to set aside the verdict. hand and re “Oh, right sentenc urist said 1 defense d the lips verdl pre s manacled 1 " Groehl Says, him, n his base- Groehl said ment cell, asked a cigarette of one 1 1|0t his guards into a whispered Grochl The stark lighted it and went consultation with verdict was brought in dly, on the fairest day land has had since the I trial of the superiative (Continued on Page 12) o