Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, September 26, 1912, EXTRA 2, Page 3, Image 3
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
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('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.
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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
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you can obtain the highest of the high-grade Baking
Powders at only 20 cents per pound ?
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/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.
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