Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, September 25, 1912, FINAL 2, Image 2

Atlanta Georgian., September 25, 1912, FINAL 2, Page 2, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text2 The Remarkable Story of How Atlanta’s Police Head Determined to Wipe Out ‘System ’ Tolerated for Fears CHIEF BEAVERS WEPT AS HE ANNOUNCED WAR TO POLICE BOARD HEAD Mayor Winn Backs I p Chief's Action, A1 - though Xot Consulted. Candidates Silent as Whole City Is Stirred by Crusade---War Now on Vicious Hotels. Continued From Page One. lame line as Chairman Mason. None of them was aware of the chief’s plans, ami all received the sur prise of their lives when they ’.earned that he had suddenly taken the vica situation in his own official hands and had done what no other chief of police had ever dared to do. In assuming full responsibility for the wiping out of the resorts, Chief Beavefs s*ys that he had been carefully study ing over the matter for some time and Lad become convinced to the satisfac tion of his own mind and conscience : tat it wa;- his plain duty to follow the 1 '.w and close ail such places In the i tty Asked when he definitely decided on his plan of action, the chief replied: Intended to Quit If He Didn’t Succeed. "The night previous— Monday night. I hail weighed all phases of the situa tion with the utmost care, and came to the conclusion there was nothing c »e for me to do but enforce the law. When I left home yesterday morning my mind was fully made up as to all of tiie details and I told my wife what I was going to do.” The chief paused a moment, and then •aid: ‘‘Convinced that It was my duty to • lose these places, I determined to do this duty or quit my job." The chief declared he intends to vig. orously enforce the law as to all forms of vice in Atlanta. Not only does he intend to exterminate the tenderloin district itself, but he has formally opened war on the cheap hotels of the city that may be conducted in the manner of Illegal houses Much com plaint has been received by the chief concerning these places, and he asserts that they must maintain "a clean bill of health." In the event evidence Is ob tained against any of these places, he said, they will be closed and the pro prietors prosecuted. Not to Tolerate Vice in Hotels. '•We will not tolerate vice in the hotels of the city.” said the chief. "We will keep a watchful eye on these places ami those we find to be operated as an Illegal house will be given the same treatment ns a regular house in the tenderloin." Chief Beavers said some of the cheaper hotels are a peril to young girls, and that much complaint has been made to him in this respect. "I intend to do all 1 can to save the young girls of the city. We must throw a protecting arm around them and ehield them from the lure of vice, he •aid. That Chief Beavers will receive the backing of police court in his crusade there is no question, .lust before starl ing out yesterday with Captain Poole and Policemen McWilliams and West to close the tenderloin, the chief held a conference with Recorder Broyles in the latter's office in the police station, explaining to him what lie was doing. The chief emerged from the conference satisfied as to the attitude of the court. Mayor Winn made this comment on Police Chief Beavers' order today "There are state and city laws against such houses. Inasmuch as Chief Beavers has undertaken to en force this law it is the duty of the police commission to back him up. "It is my duty as a sworn official to support him in his efforts to enforce the law." Mayoralty Candidates Avoid Making Comment. Candidates for the mayoralty nomi nation shied today when asked for comments on I’" ice Chief Beavers or der wiping out the restricted district. "I stand by my announcement plat fotm." said .James G Woodward "It was a bad m’stak* to teat up Collins street and scatter those peopie over the city in respectable neighbor hoods The socia evil question is one ttiat needs prompt attention, but it should be handled w:tn good, common sense and not fanaticism Aldine <'hambets said ’-hat he wouict have to official,} act on the matter when the vice commission makes its report to council on ovtobe < He said he would do his dots then, bir that lie did not think it was a matte for him to pass upon tiov Contents of Vice Board s Report Secret. In George Broun said that he was n«»t now connected with the ’ it\ 80V ei nment and lh.it he did n»’ ? care io comment on the nnti’. 1 . .!• eason that it would ptebab 1 b seulet’ u.f or the term of mayor fur wh. h he run nir.y b>. .. Joseph a M > u<l •nu man o r tn Vice commission mated b\ h-hlic; at the ttqnt •! -d ti e Men : nd lb igiun Forward .Uou-nirn; said in did n care to make any statement . s :in vice c o: 4 mis tdon "ou ■ aake forma :• • P" tu M;< • • r W.nn on (ictt.u. • 7 He said that all the momb*t> "f the v. <re swQm to sevi*eC> - - -----_- - - r ~,, I he Atlanta Georgian—Premium Coupon ! ! ~ C ' Dorl w fce ,cc< ” sted at our Premium Parlor, 20 Ea«t Alabama at., J pe-t si payment for any of the beautiful premium 3 oobs displayed there. j Premnin Parlor Announcement on Another 1 I , Dramatic Suicide Marks Ciean-Up "This is the end. They have ordered | > me to close my house, and 1 have no- ! where to go. I might as well die j Please don't tell my .sister anything I ’ i about it." Thus wrote Nellie Busbee, a woman i ' I of the restricted district, who early this | ! morning, after brooding the night over) , the sudden co .sing order of the police. went to htr room and plunged the three-inch blade of an ordinary jack knife Into her heart. She died almost I instantly, without outcry. A negro maid, throwing back the I shutters of the drab little dwelling at 11 • o'clock this morning, discovered the body of the woman a crumpled heap . In pink kimono—lying sprawled across i a lounge In a downstairs room. She had been dead several hours I Blames Closing Order. A rambling note, which assigned the i police closing order as the motive for ' the deed and the picture of a midrile ' aged man were found clasped in one hand. The knife with which she ended 1 her life was still in the single wound that'accomplished her death. She had been dead for hours when the body was discovered. Vivian Stewart, the only other in mate of the place declares that while the Busbee girl had appeared despond , ent over the closing order, she gave no intimation of her intention to end her ; life. j “She told me last night that all her I troubles came at once,” said the Stuart girl. “She was mad about a man, and I , think that worried her, too; but she told tne she didn't know what to do, , now that the houses had been closed." , The Stuart girl said that she went to bed at. 3 o'clock this morning but Nel lie Busbee had retired an hour or so , earlier. The Stuart girl said that she . heard no outcry during the early hours , of the morning, although she was about the house at 5 o’clock. . Coroner Paul Donehoo will hold an inquest at Poole's undertaking estab lishment at 3:30 o’clock this afternoon Chief Expresses Sorrow. Chief Beavers, when Informed today of , the suicide of the Busby woman, ex pressed sympathy for her I am sorr.v to hear of this woman's tragic death." said the chief "I sympa thise with the lot of these fallen women. We are simply striking at an Iniquitous system—-seeking to stop open and flagrant violations of law This department ts de sirous of aiding the women In any way it can We are merl.v enforcing the law. as , it appears on the statute books.' , 1 about lhe contents of the report until it «as submitted to the mayor. ” Ihe act of Chief Beavers was as great a surprise to Marlon M. .Jackson, head of the Men and Religion Forward Movement, as to the man on the street. At 10 o'clock yesterday morning. Mr. Jackson told a Georgian reporter there was no indication of early positive re sults from llie campaign waged by the movement. At 1 o’clock he was in formed by Tiie Georgian that Chief Beavers was on his way to the re stricted district to close the houses. The news came to Mr. Jackson as a complete surprise. But he was quick to act upon the new turn affairs had taken, and at once began steps to care for the women driven out of the re sort s. But Mr. Jackson is not satisfied to ■ let matters stop with this one step. ] He considers the closing of the houses i but one skirmish in the war against evil. i It is but a scratch on tile surface." • i he declared "We must cut deeper—to 1 tiie very center of this cancer. The 1 . crusade against vice will sweep the 1 city clean. It will eradicate tiie so- 1 , called hotels.' where men and women 1 are hat bored: It will wipe out the 1 houses of rendezvous and the disrepu- 1 i table boarding places. Cheap Theaters To Be Watched Closely. " file cheap theater, these places i j which The Georgian has exposed so < | thoroughly, w ill be prevented from re cruiting girls for the dens. They are 1 recognized as jHirt of the game. The , theaters and their people will be kept I , under strict surveillance by the police. < All forms of amusement for young girls . will be censored, and the girls guarded < from barm. i "Every possible breeding place of I vice in Atlanta will undergo rigid in-I 1 . i vtrtigation by police and our oiganiza I tion In their places will be Inaugu- I 1 J rated methods of-uplift for girls whej have wandered from the path and for those in danger. They will be given an 1 : inc, tithe to lead useful and Chrlstion lives." ; Th, full-page advertisement in the ' Men and Religion Forward campaign against "the houses in our midst" tin- ' . Iderwent , marked change upon the news of Cl.i f Ileaiers' raids. 1 ester- ‘ on afternoon it was an appeal for the ■ >; <ing of th" hou-es Today It carried the same forceful drawing of tiie bens! 1 an,i the white slave, but its text was ' nanged into a paen of thanksgiving ' t'o, a poi, • , hl,like Beavers and an ' : itvitat., >n to women of the district !•> 1 < ■ \‘ th,- aid of the organization and 1 lead better lives Think God for a man who dates to ■!<> hi duly ' said the advertisement I'r.- , re,lit should be given to Chief ■ J Bea ver.s " An off, r to aid the inmates of the ' , .1.4 A 1 14.A AIA HEORGIAK ANT) NEWS.U HDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 25. 1912. Fritzi Scheff and Her Husband May Separate "MOODS" KILL ROMANCE I ... ——— 1 " Mb i 1 w I Fritzi Scheff, ■ the Comic Opera Prima Donna, / Her Husband, 'L John Fox, Jr., From % O I She \ May m Separate Jf ... , iM' twlHw' district followed: To our sisters, God's children now .stray In the houses: We offer you help. We wish to to save, not harm you. If you desire to leave your pres ent life, go to: Miss Eckert, the secretary of the Young Women’s Christian Asso ciation. Mrs. Roberts, at Wesley Memo rial church. Mrs. F. M. Robinson, 172 For rest avenue. The Associated Charities in the Gould building, or To any minister of the city of Atlanta. Any one or all of these will put you in touch with this committee, who are willing and ready to care for you and help you to your feet The executive committee. The telephone of the executive committee Is Main 4705; its office, the Young Men’s Christian Asso ciation building. Exodus of Women To Other Cities On. Tne men behind the movement real ize that even the unfortunate outcasts of the underworld have a right to live, that they can not abandon the life they lead without some livelihood to take its place. The women can not simply' be ordered out on the streets and com manded to be good and virtuous and happy They must be helped to keep the path. The closing of the resorts is being followed by an exodus of the women. Macon. Columbus. Jacksonville, Bir mingham will be the objective points of many of these hunted creatures, vic tims of the system They a e used to "moving on.” from bad to worse But there may' be some who are ready to try once mote if they can feel that there is an honest desire upon the part of "good people” to extend them sym pathy and aid. It is to these that the organization will offer a helping hand. Religious men and women of Atlanta will be urged to consider this phase of the problem and join in offering oppor tunity to these outcasts to earn hon est livings and lead decent lives. The Associated Charities will have this 1 work in charge, and already it is re- I ceiving appeals from the women, j Whether situations where the unfor- i tunates may' earn a living will be of- , sered; whether employers will keep these women in their places in the face of criticism, is yet to be determined. In the presence of G W. Beavers, the aged father of Chief James I, Beavers and an eide: in the Druid Park Pres byterian chu i ch, the Atlanta presbytery at the College Park church adopted r<-- olutions last night commending the act of the chief and urging all ministers I and members of the denomination to | give him support. Dr Dunba: H Og den pastor of the Central P esbyterian i church, offered the resolutions. Quiet on Borde'. \shing it >N. Sept. 25 -The wai department was notified today that General Otosco with 1.000 troops had retired from the border and that pot lion of the lipe patrolled by L'nited States cavalry is quiet "1 was iured of oiarrhoea oy on< 'ese ■' chamberlain's Colic, Cholera | ■ r>< Diarrhoea Remedy.’ writes \I £ I Gebha ■ oriole. Pa - noth jng better I-'or sale by till t Ad vt.) Literary and Artistic Tempera ments Refuse to Biend—Still Love Each Other. BALTIMORE. Sept. 25.--John Fox, Jr’s., literary temperament and Fritzl Scheft’s artistic disposition do not blend in a harmonious duet, and their friends were not surprised at rumors that the novelist and the singer he married a few years ago have agreed to separate. Mr. Fox has “moods.” When he is feeling right he is a jolly good fellow. When one of his moods comes on he is something else. Miss Scheff was asked once, when her engagement to Fox was first announced, what she would do when John was attacked by one of those same moods. "Why, I’ll smile once," she replied. "Maybe I’ll smile twice. If that doesn't straighten him out. why—” And she shrugged the shoulders which have helped make her famous. Rumors for weeks have been circu lating that the fascinating Miss Scheff and her novelist husband had agreed to separate. There was io be no fuss no florid discussions of sentimental differences which had shattered their love. Both agreed, it is said, upon a quiet dissolving of their matrimonial pat tne’ ship. This was two months ago at the Plaza hotel in New York. Mr. Fox went to his home at Big Stone Gap, Ya., while his young wife—more Ilian fifteen years his junior—took up re hearsals for the season she has just be gun in a new opera. "The Love Wager," composed b.v t'ha:i?s J- Hambltzer, whom Miss Scheff discovered p'aying in a hotel orchestra in New York. She Regrets the Publicity. At her hotel here Miss Scheff ex pressed regret that any rumors of mat rimonial discord had reached the pub lic. While having nothing to say about the separation o the possibility of an action being instituted b.v her, the sprightly prima donna denied with 'some asperity repoits that Mr. Fox in- I tends suing for divorce. "Why should I discuss my affairs | with the public?” she asked. "It is the I usual attempt of some irresponsible person to discredit a ’ eputable woman of tne stage. My husband w ill not sue j tne for divorce and my intimate friends know this to be true." 4 P. M. Sunday Fixed As Closing Hour i iuef Beavers today fixed 4 o'clock next Sunday afternoon as th< official hour : when ail illegal houses in the city must I close their doors. The chief will detail a squad of plain clothes officers in the ■ I tenderloin to see th,at his closing order is I curried out to the letter The first per- , son who attempts to defy the order will : be arrested and locked up Just before the hour for closing, the 1 plain clothes officers will see that ail ' houses are cleared of all persons but the j inmates. These officers will continue to I do duty in the district and keep the houses I under close surveillance until the occu- i pants move out Chief Beavers said today that he would ' give all of th.e occupants "reasonable” time to get mu Many women. It G i - ported today. have announ-eri their ir,-' ten: on of leaving the city ut once. I- Department Head,After a Week of Agony, De cides Action Is His Duty and Proceeds With Sensational Move, While Official Atlanta Stands Silent. A man in blue uniform stumbled f:om the private office of Carlos Mason, chairman of the police commission. A diamond-studded badge upon his breast marked him as the chief of the Atlanta police department. Atlantans have known him for years as an officer of indomitable physical courage. Yet, ha was crying like a child; tears streamed down his cheeks, his voiec was broken as he cried out: "I’ve got to do it. I'm going to do it. I can't help it, even if it costs me my place. It's the law ; it's the right.” The man was James L. Beavers, chief. He had just reported to his superior, head of the commission, that the orders had gone out for the closing of the ten derloin. He did not ask permission, did not desire advice. He had obeyed man dates higher than the authority of a police commission—the law and his own conscience. Beavers had _ proved his moral courage as great as his physical bravery. He was ready to take lhe consequences. Chief Through a Week of Agony. Chief Beavers had been through a week of agony. He had lain awake with his conscience. He had seen the light. He had done his duty. He knew he would be lauded bj’ many, censured by many more. He could not know whether his act was to be worldly wise. But he knew it was his duty to himself and to his oath of office. For James L. Beavers is not only a policeman, but a man: not only an of ficial. but a’ good citizen, a churchgoer, a man who loves friends and family and right living. His record in the po lice department has been singularly free from the taint of partisan politics, | his persona) conduct always beyond reproach. The system had been there when Beavers joined the force. It had ex isted through his apprenticeship, when he was a captain. It was there when he became chief of his department. It was recognized, tolerated, even com mended as a lesser evil. The city had wrestled with it under the spur of pop ular movements; grave bodies of wise men had debated the problem which Is as old as Babylon and had not agreed. James Beavers' superiors, the men who made him chief and who might unmake him. were content with conditions as they existed. They called him chief, but it had been an unwritten-law of the department that no such step as this might be undertaken without especial authority. No chief in Atlanta's his tory had taken such a burden upon his shoulders. System Tolerated For Many Years. There was the system, and there was the law For many months James Beavers had tried to reconcile the two. In the midst of his debate with his con science there began the campaign of the Men and Religion Forward Move ment, the war upon "the houses in our midst.” The committee behind this movement hammered the fearful truths of licensed vice into the minds of At lantans day after day. And no man read and listened with more deep thought than Beavers, chief of police. For four nights James Beavers had lain sleepless in his little home in Law ton street. For four days he had paced the floor of his office in the station. Carlos Mason, head of the commission, was absent from the city, but it is doubtful whether the chief would have consulted him in any case Beavers wanted to know what was right; not merely what might be expedient. He considered the question in all its phases: remembered the half-pledges Os immunity given the women when they were moved into the new district of Manhattan avenue, thought of their mu i n h n.mwwiuißii—fWMuiiwwiuwiiif—mm nmn.[nMiMmjnjiMujL. Superfluous Hair IleSTliracfe Removes It Quickly With Certainty and Absolute Safety. This perfect method for removing superfluous hair is the cleanliest and most convenient to use. It is decidedly the surest, safest, quickest and most inex pensive depilatory known. Why experiment when you can buy this world-famed preparation at our toilet woods depart men! at OUR SPECIAL PRICES 1.00 bottle 79 c 2.00 bottle 1.69 Ae recommend DeMiracle because it is the only depilatory of proven merit. It was the largest selling depilatory ten years ago. and more of it has been sold each year since than the combined sales of the ques tionable depilatories. Chamberlin-Johnson-Dußose Co. Corner Whitehall and Hunter Sts. ATLANTA GA Chaingang for Violators—Broyles "Any person who defies the orders i of Chief Beavers in this fight will be given the limit of the law. No fine will be Imposed—it will be 30 days in the stockade straight, and the offender will also be bound over to the stale courts and headed for the chaingang. I in tend to back Chief Beavers to the full limit of my powers. We mean business In this fight. Vice must go—that's all there is to it." This strong statement, made today to The Georgian by Recorder Nash R. Broyles, leaves no doubt as to the stand of that official in the war of the chief to obliterate vice from Atlanta. It means that Chief Beavers has the sym pathy and unmistakable backing of the recorder, and that offenders will be dealt with severely. “Chief Beavers has displayed grit and courage that will bring to him the ad miration of all of Atlanta,” says Judge Broyles. "He has done a brave and manly thing, and the right thing. He is enforcing the law. and will receive the full and complete co-operation of police court. Any person brought be fore me for failing to obey the chief’s orders need expect no leniency.” Judge Broyles holds that illegal houses violate both the city and state laws. The offenders can be given a term in tiie stockade, and also held for further trial in the state courts. Chief Beavers said today that in every case brought into court, where the evidence proved a violation of law, he would ask that the limit of the law be imposed. "We intend to stop these violations of law by illegal houses, even if we have to put a whole lot of people in the chaingang," he said. Housewives Offer Women Employment Realizing that merely ordering lhe wom en out of the district does not end the evil, John J. Eagan, chairman of the Men and Religion Forward Movement, and Marion M. Jackson, head of the executive committee, today began a canvass of At lanta to see where homes and work could be found for the unfortunate women who | will express a desire to lead a new life. A personal visit to the district will be ' made by the two campaign workers, and I the women interviewed. Those who ex- i press a willingness to reform and who will I accept aid. will be asked what kind of i work they prefer. "The women who desire to reform will , be dealt with as individuals." said Mr. ; Eagan. "A number of Atlanta house- I keepers have pledged themselves to re- ' ceive these girls into their homes as serv- I ants if the girls will accept. We had a sufficient number of such homes pledged before our campaign was publicly begun. "We shall not wait for the women to come to us," he continued. “We shall go to them." ALABAMA SUICIDE. COLUMBUS, GA.. Sept. 25.—J. T. I Roberts, aged 88 years, committed sui cide at his home at Phenix City. Ala., at noon today by drinking two small phials of carbolic acid. He leaves a wife, two children and other relatives. He formerly lived at Hollins. Ala. I plight when thej' were driven from | their lairs faced the certainty that ' many of them would scatter into the ; residence streets and must be searched | out, house by house, and ordered out again. He saw all the dreaded conse quences of the step he contemplated; heard In advance the censure which would come to him from the powers that rule in politics. But on the other side he saw two answers inexorable: The Law and the Right. Then Beavers acted. He told his sec retary to write the orders notifying the women of the restricted district that they must abandon their quarters and give up their careers of vice. He sum moned his officers and told them to prepare for a round of the district. Then he went to the chairman of the police commission and announced his act. The commissioners had announce I that Beavers would be chief in fact as well as tn title, and Beavers had ac- I cepted the challenge. SAYS WOODIo USED OBSCENITY Chambers Declares His Rival’s Charge of City Ring Is -Ab surd on Its Face.’’ Some spirit was thrown into t hp quiet mayoralty contest todav wi K . n Candidate Aldine Chambers atta. Candidate James G. Woodward r , using obscene language in discussing on the sweets the issues of he H paign. Mr. Chambers was speaking at n,„ r „ to the employees of the Atlanta Stov» Works. In referring to Mr. WooLva . he was replying to a speech mad. y (s terday by Mr. Woodward to a number of railroad men in Inman \ j "If I were mayor I would not a' any member of council to remain , >a man of an important committee :i passes upon contracts when his r.ct ner in business is the attotney Pv t > contractor,” said Mr. Woodward. make no charge of improper conrlu,- but. you will admit, it looks bad " Mr. Woodward renewed his , that the city was being run by ,h P . of political ring that would inevhab .• tesult in corruption and graft. Mr. Chambers declared today iq any statement that he had ai am h been unduly influenced in his actio-- as a councilman was absolute!} fal-< He said that Mr. WoouwmdT C ;L that a political ring was running t city government was absurd on h-Lave. 25 MARINES REPORTED SLAIN IOICARAGUA PANAMA. Sept. 25.—A tel. - ceived here today says that 25 Am can marines and 40 tebels have i„- killed in a battle in Nicaragua T:>,- report is unconfirmed. 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