Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, September 26, 1912, EXTRA 2, Page 3, Image 3

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A Searching Character Study oi James L. Beavers---the Fearless Chief of Police and Conscientious Man "SCARECROWS/ 1 WILL NOT HAMPER REFORM MOVEMENT, HE DECLARES «*wSHBNH9'■”■ .wf ”■’ ~7 A 00l^ 4- /s* — A*oß J) \ A '•, x - *.«hK * -. \ \ \ : ' / ■SraßreF A , >Vk st '\ \ \ i >W-’ / W ; \ \ v J ~ i Ww^ ; w " l ''" WW"-- \ \ > WB 11 iZwiWt ' 4SSts« •-' flßi 1\ i \ \ I d Wftessfc ' WJ 'bW ».. M K - ' / w; ? 1 ' . # W J ‘>V 'W “ JIHI' // , B k W ';MF ' ) // WK; . W-U? I f /.f s*' /If / JiT #/W jM V Oihifewa;. ■•’ /» *■* Y i F ZHr /*< ’ s - '; il ; L IA JWrs .< \ w- - F n '. wWMhfc - F ■' - ' % wlk 1 fill xX <MW // v . >* Y>RWailihii mL-> m (w /it V ' ('hie!' James L. Beavers in a happy mood. “I'll Guarantee There Will Be No Disorderly' Houses, Public or Private, in Any Part of the Citv,” Asserts Vice War Leader; “It’s the Men * Hurt Financially Who Are Howling.” By DUDLEY GLASS. Nine years ago this fall Cue. football teams of Georgia and Auburn were playing a great game. The score was tied, the battle half over, when a Geor gia man. standing under his ow n goal posts, made a magnificent run for a touchdown. A crowd of 3,000 swarmed upon the field, breaking down the bar rier.-. cutting the ropes. Supporters of the rival colleges clashed in tin field. A riot was imminent. "Send for the police reserves!" shout ed somebody. The message went in. Suddenly there dashed through the gate a mounted policeman. His horse was flecked with foam from the long gallop to tiie field. The officer. was alone He rode into the 3,000 yelling .fanat ics. slowly, but deliberately. From side to side of the field he rode, the col legians giving Way before his advance. He made no threats, displayed no tem per. hurt nobody. Rut in a few mo ments by force of his own splendid personality, by his own coolness and 'oiii age. he had absolutely cleared the Held. And he kept it clear. Scores of Congratulations. Tiie officer was Policeman .James L. Beavers. Afterward he became (Jap lain Beavers. Now he is the chief of police, and for three days his name has In i n the most frequently spoken in At lanta. ’file writer talked with Chief Beavers for an hour in his office at the police ''..lion. (Jr rather, he tried to talk, but there are two phones on the chiefs and they rang insistently. Over tlm wire catne message after message, Ml congratulations to the officer who "nil done what he considered right. i’liout counting the cost. The mes -cs had been coming for 48 hours. The chief had a word of thanks for ■ " h new found friend, lint he looked "■ary of it all. in the outer office the secretary was riling telegrams to trail a fleeing thief. In tiie coVridor a pair of plain ' lothes men were discussing a robbery T the night before and the best way •o land the robber. Beyond the hall, in 'be dirty old police court. Recorder P'oyies was trying an array of young ""men. creatures of the streets and so. ■'died hotels, first catch io the dragnet 'fs' by the police into the muddy wa- -of the underworld. < tther girls re crying in the gloomy corridor. I He chiefs campaign against vice had h> gun. "Nothing Behind My Move." They say on the street that there’s ■"'thing queer behind this move— t it’s ti smooth political game." l'h< chief's eyes sna ppi d Hi flus h* d b ' f angrily. I*o they say I’m a politician? ('an they show where 1 ever played poli- I ties?" he replied. “Get this straight there’s nothing behind my move but my i own mind and .my own conscience. 11 thought it over; 1 decided what was the right thing to do, and I did it There isn't the shadow of anything else in it. That’s straight.” "They say the women driven out of the district will open resorts right in respectable neighborhoods, next door to private homes." Chief Beavers snapped his fingers. "That’s a scarecrow." he returned. "That’s a bug-bear. It isn't true. I'll guarantee it won't bo true. "The police department will see to it that these women do not open resorts, public or private, in the residence dis tricts or anywhere else. That’s always the cry when a step like this is made. And where does it come from? 1'1! tell you. It comes from the men.who have money in the business. Where the Howl Comes From". "No wonder there has’gone up a howl. Look at the money invested in the dis trict. Look at the losses the owners will sustain. That’s the answer." The chief turned to the phone to lis ten to another message of congratula tion and thank the man at the other end of the wire. These interruptions had come every minute or two. "No; I can’t say there was any one especial incident that made me make up my mind," he said, in reply to a ques tion. "I had been thinking it over for weeks. 1 looked at it from all angles; J considered it from everybody’s stand point. But. after all. there was the law. And what right had 1. as chief of po lice, to say to these women, 'You can live and ply your trade in this street, but not in that; you must not come next doot to my house, but you may go to Manhattan avenue.’ I had no such right; no man had such right. "The hardest thing of all was actual ly to take the step anti write the order. I knew I was right, but it was hard to do it, with all the circumstances. But when I made up my mind I determined to go ahead, without regard to its ef fect on my own affairs." Not a Student of Sociology, i Chief Beavers isn't a student of soci ology; he isn't a reformer in the ac cepted sense of the word; he isn't a card-index chief. Ho is a practical po liceman. who has worn the uniform since he was old enough to vote; tramp ed his beat through sunshine and rain; fought with crooks and murderers; climbed from the beat to higher places; dropped under th< influence of political bosses, and climbed again. Perhaps nobody knows the police force and its Individuals better than the new spapet men who have "covered’ the police run in the past 2ii .'.ears. When the retlre- itlL A i LA.X'I’A GEORGIAN AM) XEWS. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 191 W. i * I Intent of Chief Jennings wa- forecast a year ot twit ago and speculation as to I his successor began, there was but one m in picked by the police reportetpast j and present. "Beavers is the man." they agreed. "He ma.v not. land, for. he isn't much of a v. ire-puller. But he's th, right man for the place." James L. Beaters was born in ('lay ton county, fifteen mil ■■ from Atlanta, 'in 1866, which makes hi i 46 tears old He is erect, fresh-looking, clear-eyed. In citizen’s clothes you would not take him for a police officer. There is none of the slang of the criminal world in his conversation; none of the rough ness which comes to so many police men after years of association with lawbreakers. He is quiet, rather diffident in man ner; apparently embarrassed today by the notoriety he has received. He looked as though lie would like to go fishing for a week or two until the newspapers and the public have for gotten him and turned the spotlight on somebody else. On ths Force Since 1389. Jim Beavers came to Atlanta when he was 21 and the next year, in 1889, found a place on the police force under Chief A. B. Connolly. He has worn the uniform slip He serverl ten yetis as patrolman, call officer, mounted po liceman. and then climbed to a ser geantey. He was a sergeant for six years. When the Woodward adminisr nation went into office, the old fac tional warfare ip the police board took a new turn and heads were lopped off freely. Sergeant Reivers went back to the ranks. There was no charge against him. It was just a "shake-up,” a frequent occurrence in the days lie fore civil service rules protected the department. In about eighteen months Beavers was made a roundsman. Not long aft erward. in April, 1907, he jumped from roundsman to a captaincy. And then, when old Chief Jennings retired, tiie police board picked Captain Beavers as the right man to head the department, and he was elected chief. No other inpn in tin force could have been so acceptable to the rank and file of the department. His final step was made in Augm-t. 1911 just a little more th in a year ago. I'hief Beavers is a member of Wal lace Presbyterian church, and his aged father |j» an elder in Druid Hill; Pres byterian church. It has been a God fearing, religious Georgia family for generations, "No. I don't got to church very oft en," the chief said, smfiingly. "I wish I could, but a policeman's life i- irreg ular. Rut I try to du what's right, and when a man’s duty lies as straight ahead as mine did, there's nothing "Ise for him to do and be square with him self and his oath. I belle, vi- 1 did right, and I’m ready to take full re sponsibility.” . ■ ■ A A: ■ / ' '■ I'liiei’ Beavers in deep thoiitrhl. LOOM IDEPUTY, IS OEM End Comes Suddenly to At lanta Pioneer—Had Lived Here Forty Years. "Mike” Blount is dead. Seized with an attack of acute indi gestion. tiie vet* ran of the Fulton coun ty sheriff's office expired suddenly at his home, 465 South Pryor st.eet, at 10 o’clock last night. He was 61 years old, had lived 40 yc.iis in Atlanta and had been ten y ars in the service of the sheriff's office. His death cam" almost 'without warning. Il" had complained for two days of indigest iop, but members of his family and friends were not alarmed Yesterday he quit work at noon and: went to his home. Tim attack which caused his death occurred at 9:30 o'clock. Although M. N Blount spent the greater part of his lit'" in Atlanta in the ■•■ci-vice of tin- Western and Atlantic railroad, lie was b. st know n through his connection with tiie sheriff's office, lb w e ma lea d -puty by J. J. Barnt s ten y ars ago. When ('. W. Mangum took office Blount was retained as clerk. His quick knowledge of the work made him a vaiu.ibl asset to the sheriff's inside (<>.<., Funeral to be Tcmoirow. He was born in Augusta, but spent tt n years of bis boyhood in Ir land. On his return to the United States he set tled in Atlanta. Always' prominent in fraicrnal circles. he was first president of the Atlanta lodge <n the Ancient Or de of Hili' rroans. a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Knights and the Royal A'-canum. He wa" also a member of the ('hutch of tile Immaiulat* Concept ion. Ho is sui vivid by fils wife, two -mi-. Emmett and John I-'.; two daughters, All's. L. c. Fiillet and Mrs. D. W. Bowie, ami iv." s.ste , Mis. Mary Murphy and Mrs. Maggie Hayes, all of Atlanta. Th f ipeiai v : vices will be held at the C ; ch of I b.e Im: i u niat* ('ono p tion lorn 1 ,;ov. nio.nlnt at in o'clock, the Rex. Father Kennedy in charge. , Inti . m-nt will b tn (lakland <■ ni< >. GIRL FOR WHOM TWO NAVY OFFICERS WERE NEAR DISGRACE WEDS CHICAGO, Sept. 26.—Miss Dorothy Heater, of Evimslon, for whose sake ;l«o naval officiis faced disgrace and .-canilal, yesterday became the bride of Harold L. Dahl, a civilian. After tin ceremony at tiie girl's Evanston home the couple left for Los Angeles, where Dahl is employed. Miss Hester figured as the cause of a quar.el that culminated ala ball given at the navy yard in Boston in 1910, in w’hich Dr. A. H. Robnett. an assbtant surgeon in the ntiv\ ; G. P. Ault, a navy payma.-ter. and Dr. Edward Spencer Cowles came to blows. The girl was engaged to marrx Dr. Robnett. Site charged that Dr. Cowles had stolen a photograph of her and refused to re turn it. The quarrel at the ball was over this charge. Both the naval men afterward faced eourtmartial, were convicted and re duced five marks. The sentence was afti rwa d altered, however, Dr. Rob nett being reduced two grades and sen tence against Ault being revoked. MEET IM 15 YEARS, FIND THEY WILL WED SISTERS Dl'Ll'TH, MINN. Sept. 26. Meet ing today for the first time in fifteen years anil learning that they are en gaged to two sistets is the experience of J. Mayer, of New York, and I'. B. Smith, of ('hie.igo. traveling salesmen. The men met In a hotel by chance and began to talk over old times in Elkhart, Ind., where they separated aft er leaving school. Mr. Smith volun teered the information that he was be trothed and Mr. May, r said he was, too. It soon developed that they were to marry sisters at Elkhart. "Let's make a double wedding," sug gested Mr. Mayer. "All right," said Mr, Smith. . | WILL WED CALIFORNIA'S $22,900,000.00 HEIRESS WILKKS-HARIIH. I’A., Sept, 26. In- | of returning to the Mtu<ly of law at I Fordham college, John J Brennan, of this < ity, went West to become Die husl»an<! of California's richest heiress and guardian of her $22,000,000 estate. He has married 'Hh. Ar<a<iia Bandina Scott, <»f Santa Monica, Calif. When ver> young Miss Scott was adopt ed by Mrs Arcadia Bandina Baker, with whom she lived. When the aunt died last wk K h< r vast estate became the property of the niece ('bid’ Bi'iivcrs in a characteristic pose. IM OFFER TO OEN. OROZCO I But Rebels Consider It Sign of Weakening and See Their Success in It. MEXICO ('ITY, Sept. 26.—1 t was an nounced this afternoon that President Madero has offered to grant amnesty to General Orozco, the rebel leader, if he will surrender. The government claims to have direct information that Orozco has been awaiting only this offer to call off his pvolt, though he had previously de clared that hu would yield only when Madero Is driven from Mexico. The offer of amnesty has had the op posite effect from that intended, how ever. Revolutionary sympathizers here have notified the forces in the field that this indicates a weakening of the govern ment and that if the various revolts continue Madero will be driven from office. Madeto offered amnesty on his own initiative ami against the advice of his supporters. Hw had hoped that the of fer would be accepted as a pledge of his desire to rule by kindness rather than the sword ami is disappointed by the rebels' attitllde. Why pay 30 to 40 cents per pound for a high-grade Bakl.ig Powder when by using [IMPING PCWVDraRU you can obtain the highest of the high-grade Baking Powders at only 20 cents per pound ? • Sold by ull good Grocers. Insist on having it. iiin ewinana——M— ßG. Griffin’s .SB., /ok Scientific Equipment Painless Dental Ways Set Teeth., $5.00 ® Delivered Day Ordered. 22 * R Go,d Crowns • • 5300 TiwfW* PerfectßridgeWork..s4.oo Phone 1708. Lady Attendant & Alien Drug Store—24L< Whitehall 'REJEGTEDSUITOR iSHOOTSJNSELF Athens Young Man Tries to Encl Life at Girl’s Door—She Loved Another. ATHENS, GA.. Sept. 26.—Preston Arthur, a well knowngyoung man of Athens, today is at the point of death as the result of a self-inflicted pistol wound. He shot himself in front of the door of the girl who an hour before had refused to marry him. Before he was Jilted he told friends that if she did not accept him he would commit suicide. The girl—Miss McKin non-rejected Arthur’s proposal because she loved another —Gerdine Phelps. Both Arthur and Phelps had pro posed to Miss McKinnon. Each knew that the other loved her and had asked her to be his wife. She had told both that she would give them her answer last night. Tiie two young men went to the McKinnon home to learn her decision She accepted Phelps. He remained at the house, while Arthur went down-town. He played pool for an hour. Then he returned to the Mc- Kinnon home. As he reached the front door, he pulled his pistol and shot him self. He was carried into the house, where the girl who had rejected him assisted in dressing his wound. 3