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A Searching Character Study of James L. Beavers---Fear less Chief of Police and Conscientious Man
‘'SCARECROWS” WILL NOT HAMPER REFORM MOVEMENT, HE DECLARES
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Chief .Tarncs L. Beavers in a happy mood. *
“I'll Guarantee There Will Be No Disorderly
Houses, Public or Private, in Any Part of rhe
City, ’ Asserts Vice War Leader; “It’s the Men
Hurt Financially Who Are Howling."’
I :
By DUDLEY GLASS.
Nine years ago this f:i.t th< football
•earns of Georgia ana Auburn were
playing a great game. Tin sc< re was .
*l“<l the battle half over, when a Geor
gia man. s’tCndilig under his uwn goal |
posts, marie a mugii.ficen'. run or aj
touchdown. A crowd of 3.000 swarmedi
upon the field breaking down th<> bar-;
riers, cutting the ropes. Supporters of
the rival colleges clashed in the field.
A riot was imminent
"Send for the police reserves!" shout
ed somebody. 'Die message went In.
Suddenly there dashed through the.
gate a mounted policeman. His horse
was flecked witli foam from the long
gallop to the 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.
H“ 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
courage, he had absolutely cleared the
field And he kept it clear.
Scores of Congratulations.
The officer was Policeman fames L.
Reavers. Afterward he became Cap
tain Beavers Now he Is the chief of
police, and for three days his name has
been the most frequently spoken in At
lanta.
The writer talked with Chief Beavers
for an hour in his office at the police
station. Or rather, he 'ried to talk,
but there are two phones on the chiefs
desk, and they rang insistently. Over
the wire came message after message,
all congratulations to the officer who
had done what he considered right,
without counting the cost. The mes
sages had been coming for 48 hours.
The chief had a word of thanks for
each new found friend, but he looked
weary of it all.
In the outer office the secretary was
writing telegrams to trail a fleeing
’hief. in the corridor a pair of plain
clothes men were discussing a robber)
of the night before and the best way
to land the robber. Bevond the hall, in
’he dirty old police court. Recorder
Broyles was tryjng an array of young
Women, creatures of the streets and so
tailed hotels, first catch in the dragnet
cast by the police into the muddy wa
ters of the underworld. Other girls
were crying in the gloomy corridor.
The chief’s campaign against vice had
begun.
"Nothing Behind My Move.’
They say on the street that thereis
•oniething queer behind this move
that it’s a smooth political game.
The chiefs eyes snapped He flushed
half angrily.
"Do they say I’m a politician? Can
they si.ow where I ever played poli
tics?” he replied. “Get this straight— .
there’s nothing behind my move but my ,
'ov. n mind and my own conscience. 1 j
; thought it over; I decided what was
| the > is'ht thing to do. and I did it.
There isn’t the shadow of anything
i 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.”
t'hif l 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 be 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? I’ll tell
you. It comes from the men who have
money in the business.
Where the Howi 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 I looked at It from all angles;
I considered it from everybody’s stand
point. But, after all. there was the law.
And what right had I. 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 door to my house, but you may
• go to Manhattan avenue.’ 1 had no
such right; no man had such right.
“The hardest thing of all was actual
i ly to take the step and write the order.
; I knew 1 was right, but it was hard to
do it, with all the circumstances. But
when 1 made up my mind I determined
• to go ahead, without regard to its ef
i feet’on my own affairs.”
Not a Student of Sociology.
; 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. He Is a practical po
’ liceman, who has worn the uniform
• since he was old enough to vote, tramp
-1 ed his beat through sunshine and rain.
fought with crooks and murderers;
climbed from the beat to higher places;
i dropped under'the influence of political
bosses, and climbed again. Perhaps
nobody knows the police force and its
individuals better than the newspaper
mon who have "covered” the police run
i in the past 20 years. When the retire-
iiiE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NFAVS
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men! of Chief Jennings was forecast a :
year or two ago and speculation as to
his successor began, there was but one :
man picked by the police reporters, pas:
and present.
"Beavers is the man,” they agreed, j
“He may not land, for he isn't much of i
a wire-puller. Rut he’s the right man |
for the place.”
James L. Beavers was born In Clay
ton county, fifteen miles from Atlanta,
in 1866, which makes him 46 years 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 tvorld 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 he 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 the Force Since 1889.
Jim Beavers camo 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 since. He served ten years
as patrolman, call officer, mounted po
liceman, and then climbed to a ser
geantcy. He was a sergeant for six
years. When the Woodward adminis
tration wont into office, the old fac
tional warfare in the police board took
a new turn and heads were lopped off
freely. Sergeant Beavers went back
to the ranks. There was no charge
against him. It was just a “shake-up,”
a frequent occurrence in the days be
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, the
police board picked Captain Beavers as
the right man to head the department,
and he was elected chief. No other
n an In the force could have been so
acceptable to the rank and file of the
department. His final step was made
in August. 1911. just a little more than
a year ago.
Chief Beavers is a member of Wal
lace Presbyterian church, and his aged
father is an elder in Druid Hills Pres
byterian church. It has been a God
fearing, religious Georgia family for
generations.
“No, I don't get to church very oft
en,” the chief said, smilingly. “I wish
I could, but a policeman’s life is irreg
ular. But I try to do what’s right, and
when a man's duty lies as straight
ahead as mine did, there's nothing else
for him to do and be square with him
self and ills oath. 1 believe I did
right, and I’m ready to take full re
sponsibility.” .
!
Cl ief Beavers in deep thought.
JAPAN DEVASTATED
BY GREAT TYPHOON:
300 LIVES ARE LOST I
TOKIO, Sept. 26. More than 300
lives have been lost in a terrific ty
phoon which swept the southern coast
of Japan and cut this city off from the
world from Sunday until last evening.
Wire communication with points east
of Tokio was only restored today, and
the full extent of the disaster is un
known.
The torpedo boat destroyers Fubuk!
and Tachibana were driven on the rock
on the northern coast of Yokaichi, and
two other naval boats were blown
ashore. The entire crew of one of the
destroyers was lost. Hundreds of naval
coasting boats, fishing smacks and
other small craft that ply between the
numerous islands on the south coast
and the mainland were sunk.
Thousands of buildings were blown
down or washed away by streams
which were swollen out. of their banks
by the cloudburst which accompanied
the typhoon.
At Nagoya, capital of the prefecture
of Aichi, part of the city was destroyed
and twenty persons were killed. Thou,
sands there are homeless.
The island of Shlkou was swept by
the storm and tremendous damage done
there. A score of-fishing villages were
devastated.
It Is estimated that the damage will
aggregate $5,000,000.
The government is taking relief meas
ures and Is sending supplies to the
storm sufferers.
THIRD GIRL IN FAMILY
KILLS HERSELF FOR LOVE
SEDALIA, MO., Sept, 26. The third
daughter of Frank Dunton to kill her
self because of unrequited love died
here from poison. She was Minnie,
sixteen years old. When her sister,
Daisy, seventeen, ended her life in 1903
the father killed her admirer, for which :
he is serving a 28-year term in prison. 1
An older sister killed h> rs-ls in St.
Louis several years ago fur love.
MAN LOST TEN YEARS
FOUND,‘WILD,’ IN HILLS
1
POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y„ Sept. 26. -
■ Ragged and covered with hair and
. barking like a fox, Arthur Britton, who
I has been missing for ten years was
■ found in the Pawling mountains near
, heie.
GIRL FOR WHOM TWO
NAVY OFFICERS WERE
NEAR DISGRACE WEDS
CHICAGO, Sept. 26.—Miss Dorothy
Hester, of Evanston, for whose sake
two naval officers faced disgrace and
scandal, yesterday became the. bride of
Harold L Dahl, a Civilian. After the
ceremony at the girl’s Evanston home
the couple left for Ixts Angeles,
where Dahl is employed.
Miss Hester figured ns the cause of a
quarrel that culminated at a ball given
at the navy yard in Boston in 1910, in
which Dr. A H. Robnett, an assistant
surgeon In the navy; G. P. Ault, a navy
paymaster, and Dr. Edward Spencer
Cowles camo to blows. The girl was
engaged to marry Dr Robnett. She
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
courtmartial, were convicted and re
duced five marks. The sentence was
afterward altered, however, Dr. Rob
nett being reduced two grades and sen
tence against Ault being revoked.
MEET IN 15 YEARS. FIND
THEY WILL WED SISTERS
DULUTH, MINN.. Sept. 26. Meet
ing today for the first time in fifteen
years and learning that they are en
gaged to two sisters is the experience
of J. Mayer, of New York, and U. B.
Smith, of Chicago, 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 Mayer 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
$22,000,000.00 HEIRESS
WILKES-B XKKE. PA., Sept. 26 In
! stead of returning to the study of law at
Fordham college. John J. Brennan, of this
[city, went West to become the husband of
'California's richest heiress and guardian
of her $22,000,001) estate. He has married
Miss Arcadia Bandina Scott, of Santa
Monica. Calif.
When very young Miss Scott was adopt
ed by Mrs Arcadia Bandina Baker, with
whom she lived. When the aunt died last
week her vast estate became the property
of the niece.
<■
Chief Beavers in a characteristic pose.
3 DIE IN»
ON SOUTHERN
Eight Seriously Injured When
Car of Fast Train Overturns
Near Rome.
ROME, GA., Sept. 2«.—Three dead,
eight seriously injured and others who
were badly shaken up when the Chi
cago-Jacksonville express of the South
ern railway was wrecked two miles
north of Plainville and twelve miles
from Rome late last night were brought
to Rome today. The Injured were
placed in a hospital here, while the
bodies of the dead were prepared for
burial.
The three killed were:
J. B. Mitchell, of Brooklyn, N. Y„ a
government engineer, en route from
Guild, Tenn., near Chattanooga, to Au
gusta, Ga.
James and Maggie Scott, negroes, of
Rome.
The most seriously Injured 1s Does
Bearden, of Rome. Others sertously
hurt are Edward Heron, of Chicago;
A. F. Sanders, of Elk City, lowa, and
five Rome negroes—Essie, Ella and
James Scott, 1.. W. Taylor and George
Rucker. The Scott negroes killed were
parents of the three injured.
Combination Car Overturned.
All of the dead and seriously injured
were riding in the combination smoker
and negro coach. This car left the
rails and overturned. Mitchell was
thrown through a window and the car
fell on him. His body was mangled be
yond recognition.
A relief train was rushed from Rome
to the scene of the wreck with a half
dozen physicians on board. A wreck
ing train was also sent from here to
clear the track, which was blocked for
several hours. The relief train returned
to Rome with the dead and injured
about 3 o'clock.
A defective truck and spreading rails
are said to have caused the wreck. The
train was making good speed, as it
was not scheduled to stop until It
reached Rome. Eight cars left the
rails, but only the combination coach I
overturned.
Why pay 30 tc 40 cents per pound for a high-grad«
Baki-ig Powder when by using
MM '
[bamng powderi
i mmtiw
you can obtain the highest of the high-grade Baking
' Powders at only 20 cents per pound ?
Sold by all good Grocers* Insist on having it*
W
AMNESTY DEFER ~
TO GEN.OROZCO
But It Is Revoked Again When
He Fails to Accept at Once.
Madero Disappointed.
MEXICO CITY. Sept Ma— Tt was an
nounced today that President Madero
yesterday offered to grant amnesty to
General Orozco, the rebal leader, if he
would surrender. How.tw, Ovoooo
failed to accept the offer at once end It
has been oanoelled. and bo will bo tried
as a traitor if captured. The after will
stand to M« followers If they will de
sert him, however.
The government olalmo to have direct
information that Oronoo han been
awaiting only tide offer to c*H afß hU
revolt, though he had prevlouoty de
clared that he would yield only w<>en
Madero Is driven from Mexico.
The offer of amnesty has had the op
posite effect from that Intended.
Revolutionary sympathisers here have
notifled the farces in the field that this
indicates a weakening of the govern
ment and that If the various revolte
continue Madero will be driven from
office.
Madero offered amnesty on Ms own
initiative and against the advice of his
supporters He had hoped that the of
fer would be accepted a» a pledge of
his desire to rule by kindness rather
than the sword and Is disappointed by
the rebels’ attitude.
Mexican federal troops have over
whelmingly defeated the main forces
of the rebels In the state of Guerrero.
The battle was fought at Tiangulsten
gu and. according to advices received
here today, more than 300 rebels were
killed and wounded.
The textile strike in the state of Mex.
Ico is daily becoming more serious. Two
large mills have been burned.
A dispatch from Hermosillo today re
ported that the band of rebels led by
Scobosa had been defeated decisively
and that the rebels have scattered in
every direction. Condition# in north
ern Mexico appear to be much im
proved. Bridges are being repaired and
trains are being run regularly on the
INaeozari line southward. No disturb
ances are reported along the border.
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