Newspaper Page Text
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Detective and Inventor Have a
Squabble Over Price To Be
Paid for Its Use.
MOVIES FIGURE IN THE CASE
Film for Which Sleuth Had
Posed About To Be Altered
When Law Interfered.
NEW YORK, May 10.—William J.
Burns, the detective, and the dicto
graph, the deadly little eavesdropping
Instrument that has won him fame in
the iast three years in connection with
the McNamara case and the Colum
bus, Atlantic City, Detroit, West Vir
ginia and other notable graft cases,
have parted company. K. M. Turner,
Inventor of the instrument, has called
n all dictographs leased by him and
In use by the Burns operatives in the
Held. Frank H. Smiley, Arthur Bai
ley, E. S. Reed and David Barry, the
four Burns operatives who used the
dictograph in the Columbus, Atlantic
City and Detroit cases and who, as
oseudo lobbyists, worked up these
cases to a successful finish, have like-
, wise bidden good-bye to ‘heir former
chief.
The action of Mr. Turner in cutting
loose from Burns is the culmination
of a year's misunderstanding with the
detective. Burns, it is charged, tried
to dictate who should be permitted
to use the instrument and objected <T
paying the same rental for it as was
charged to other agencies that had it
n use. He argued that he was enti
tled to a special price and should have
other substantial concessions that
would give him an advantage over
other-detective and secret service or
ganizations.
Dictograph Worth Money.
In view of the prosperity that came
to the W. J. Burns agency fallowing
-hemeries of successful cases in whirl-,
the dictograph figured, Turner said he
could see no reason why the dicto
graph concern should not get some
thing more substantial than glory out
of It. He said he had to eat and wear
clothes as well as Burns. If the dicto
graph could so largely increase the
revenues of a man who used it -n
building up and clinching cases that
brought in their train a multitude of
other cases, the inventor protested
that the beneficiary should be willing
to pay for the instrument what others
were obliged to pay for it.
Turner now says he made a mis
lake in presenting Burns with several
dictographs and giving him a number
of Others at the actual manufacturing
cost following the Columbus graft
rase. This, the inventor declares,
made Burns think he should continue
to get them at cost. When Turner in
sisted that he was entitled to more
than an epitaph or a niche in “Who's
Who” for his years of patient labor
and his thousands of dollars of ex
pense in experimental work in devel
oping the dictograph. Bums is sai l
to have told the inventor that.the dic
tograph owed him a million dollars.
Turner retorted that he could not see
it, that the, boot was on the other
foot, that to date the only one who
was on the road to getting the million
from the use Of the instrument was
Burns.
Owed Burns a Million.
This was a little less than a year
ago. At their subsequent meeting
Burns, it is said, continued to te'i
Turner that “he owed him a million
dollars.” Turner, nettled by this, re
plied that Burns could search him,
that whatever money the dictograph
had earned had been made, without
thanks to Burns and independently
of him on its merits and that Burns
had contributed little to it.
The breach now widened and Tur
ner insisted upon placing Burns on
the same footing as other detective
agencies regarding the rental of in
struments. This led to some sharp
correspondence between them and
frequent letters jacking un the de
tective about payments for dicto
graphs his men were using.
Bums and Turner thus began to
drift apart, although the Burns
Agencv continued to send for addi
tional dictographs as it needed them
in cases.
Turner interested other agencies in
the dictograph, and its use in im
portant cases by them,’ it is be
lieved, annoyed Burns. Realizing
that the breach between him and
Turner was growing wider, the de
tective sought for some other device
to take the place of the dictograph in
the event of Turner's taking away
from him the instruments he was
using. He tried the teldgraphone, a
device made by Pulson, for recording
the voice on a wire spool. While
the wire would take the impressions
of the sound vibrations made by the
voice it was so weak that it was of
no value for the purpose employed,
and he gave it up. Then Burns called
at Menlo Park to see Edison to in
terest him in perfecting a device, but
Fdison was immersed in an impor
tant problem behind closed doors In
his laboratory and could not be dis-
Open Break Occurred.
Before the final break came one of
the large film companies had pre
pared an elaborate moving picture in
three reels entitled "The Band Swin
dlers" in which Burns himsg-lf had
posed as tile detective. In this pic
ture Burns used the dictograph to
trap the lobbyists engaged in the
swindle. Among other features the
film contained a scene purporting to
show Senator Gordon exposing the
swindlers in a speech in Congress at
Washington. The dictograph showed
conspicuously in the pictures. Half
a million circulars illustrating and
describing the film were printed for
advance distribution in the moving
picture theaters of the country. These
circulars also showed the dictograph
and the text matter referred to its
employment in trapping the schemers.
As soon as Turner withdrew the
dictographs from Burns the detefctive
had the film company print new cir
culars, substituting the name of the
microphone device for the dictograph
and a fixed picture was inserted in
the reels showing him holding the
microphone in his hand.
Would Destroy Reel.
The dictograph shown in the rgels
could not be eliminated without de
stroying the entire film, which is said
to have cost $16,00(1. This the film
AAA rrr'j' Mile. Napierkowska, the famous dancer and the equally noted
jOUfUUU rEX. 1 ““pedal extremities which she has insured for that sum are shown
to advantage here. When Mile. Napierkowska tool\ the precau
tion to guard against accident to the members which make her living on the stage she but fol
lowed a recent vogue which has prompted European actresses to insure eyes, hair, shoulders, or
whatever portion of their make-up plays the greatest part in adding to their chayti on the stage.
PETRIFIED TREES
company was unwilling to do. By
inserting the single fixed picture of
the microphone with its name in
scribed underneath the picture the
mutilation of the whole film was
thought to be unnecessary. The
change from the dictograph to the
microphone could be aCTeompiished so
far as the audience was concerned
with it.
Turner learned of the plan and
through his counsel, Leventritt,
Cook & Nathan, of this city, threat
ened the film company with an in
junction. Counsel for the film com
pany held a conference with Turner's
lawyers on the day the films were re
leased at the Broadway, Savoy and
Herald Square Theaters, in this city,
and fought it out. Turner accused
the film company of lending itself
to a deception on the public to please
Burns. He showed original copies of
the illustrated circulars, in the photo
graphs and text of which the use of
the dictograph was emphasized, and
then showed 'copies of the altered
version of the circulars, in which,
while the same pictures displaying
the dictograph were employed, the
name of the microphone was substi
tuted for that of the dictograph.
Fixed Picture Removed,
Counsel for the film company or
dered the removal of the fixed pic
ture of the microphone inserted at
Burns’ request and the elimination of
all reference to any instrument but
the dictograph. The pictures now be
ing displayed have thus, been changed
back to the original form. Thus in
the first scrimmage Turner won
hands down.
“Our relations with Mr. Burns,
said Mr. Turner, who is president of
the General Acoustic Company of
this city, yesterday, “were very ami
cable until we began tt> ask and press
him to allow the dictograph to make
a living out of the work it was do
ing for him. He became obsessed
with the idea that it was sufficient
remuneration for us to be able to say
that William J. Burns woa using the
instrument. In other words, Burns
was to make whatever charges he felt
proper to his clients for the use of
this instrument in their cases and to
get the benefit of the enormous in
crease in profitable business it
brought to his agency, while we were
getting practically nothing but sweet
praise.
-CHILDREN FORGETTING
GAMES, SAYS EXPERT
CHICAGO, ILL., May 10,—Children
of the present generation are forget
ting how to play in spite of the su
perior opportunities afforded them for
healthful amusement, was the asser
tion of Charles F. Weller, of the
playgrounds and Recreation Associa
tion of America, in an address here.
Mr Weller's conviction was based
on data gathered by an agent of the
association sent to Richmond, Va.
Milwaukee, W.is„ and aKnsas City,
Mo., to ascertain how children of a'l
classes spent their time after school
hours'. Thfse ci.ies were chosen be
cause of their uniform size and pop
ulation.
Reno Is Thronged
in Its “Last Days”
More Than a Thousand Rush to
Take “Cure” Before the Law
Changes.
RENO, May 10.—The last days and
death of the notable divorce colony
in Nevada, which is destined to occur
by provision of a new law within a
few months, is evidently to be made
memorable by scenes of activities and
extent of members in the final rush
unprecedented in history of this
unique and remarkable aggregation of
temporary residents.
Reno itself is housing more than
1,000 such people here for what has
commonly became known as the
“cure.” They are daily flocking to
this State, singly, in pairs and in
groups, many of them seemingly
wealthy, accompanied by maids or
companions.
Prosperous men in large numbers
are noted wandering aimlessly about
the city. Hotels popular with col
onists have all reached the limit in
their accommodations, and desirable
cottages are few. Only the depart
ure each week of previous arrivals
makes accommodations for newcom
ers.
One group of fashionable women,
with attendants, numbering in all
twelve, who arrived on the limited
from New York, were directed to
boarding houses, unable to get into
hotels, even the smallest rooms being
taken.
BABY CLOTHES HIDE DOG
RIDING ON STREET CARS
ST. PAUL, May 10.—Candy, a full-
blooded, ‘’high-brow” Boston terrier,
aided and abetted by his mistress', Mrs.
Ada Gregory, has hit upon a plan of
evading the street car company’s rules
against carrying dogs on the cars.
Mrs. Gregory figured out a way to
get the dog to a photographer to
get his picture taken. Pa by clothes
were procured, and Candy was soon
all “dolled nut” in the latest of infant
finery, even to long lace petticoats and
a knit cap. Then with Candy in her
arms she got on the car. *
The trip was completed with the
dog still wrapped in infant attire.
When the picture had been taken the
return trip was made the same way.
GOVERNMENT PLANS TO
USE “MOVING PICTURES”
WASHINGTON. May 10.—Movin';
pictures ar- to show what the Depart
ment of Commerce is doing for the
people of the United States.
Secretary Red field decided to-day
that such a system of education would
be of great value both to his depart
ment and to those interested in its
work. He appointed a committee to
confer with a New York moving pic
ture concern.
WASHINGTON, May 10.—No two
cabinet members have harder posi
tions to fill tjian the officials who hold
the portfolios of War and Navy.
Secretary of the iNavy Josephus
Daniels and Secretary of War Lindley
M. Garrison have fallen heir not only
to all the routine business of their
departments, but to the score of petty
prejudices and dislikes which have
existed in the army and navy froifl
time immemorial.
In the navy, for instance, there
always Is the feeling that the officer
who occupies a ‘‘desk job” at Wash
ington is liable to get more credit
than hi?* brother officer In command
of a ship at sea. The officer who Is
near the secretary is liable to de
velop more Influence than the com
mander who is away from the seat
of government.
Hence, when Secretary Daniels is-
sued-ftis new order, making sea duty
a paramount consideration to promo
tion, there was a cheer of joy from
the naval officers who had seen sea
service and who believed that at last
they had come into their own. This
order, however, followed by the re
moval from the position as chief of
navigation of Commander Andrews,
has caused the officers who formerly
held “deck jobs" to fear the worst.
Secretary Daniels has taken sides
actively with the sea officers against
the “desk” officers. But Secretary
Garrison has* thus far succeeded in
preventing himself from becoming a
partisan in the line-staff feud of the
army. He had indicated thlis far that
he may be the man to bring the fac
tions together and do away with the
enmity that found its outcropping at
the last aession of Congress when Ad
jutant-General Ainsworth was retired
and Representative Hay, of Virginia,
tried to force Major-General Wood
from his position as chief of staff.
Should he bring the officers of the
line and the officers of the general
staff together in peace and harmony,
he will have done a greater service
for his country than had he Won a
dozen battles^
One fact indicates that he Is try
ing hard. A few days after he came
into office Representative Hay, chair
man of the House Military Affairs
Committee and a sworn enemy of
General Wood, called at the War De
partment.
Previously Secretary Garrison had
retained General Wood as chief of
s’taff and had had several conferences
wilh him. When Representative Hay
called he and the secretary had a
nice long talk, and after a while the
secretary called in the newspaper
men.
“Mr. Hay and T agree on all sub
jects pertaining to this department
in a general way,” said Secretary
Garrison.
Mi. Hay nodded assent.
“Is that not so?” the secretary
asked Mr. Hay.
A “It is so,” said Mr. Hay.
CINCINNATI JUDGE^SAYS
TIPS SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN
CINCINNATI, May 10.—"Do not tip
any one. It is decidedly un-American
to tip any one who gets paid for what
he does. 1 hope that neither you nor
any one else will tip a public serv
ant."
With this advice. Judge Fricke dis
missed Mrs. Louisa Smith, who was
arraigned on a charge of failing to
have a garbage can covered. She was
cited to appear in court bv Mounted
Patrolman Rason. Mrs. Smith said
thai the collectors of garbage were
rough in their handling of the can
and lid, and that they threw the lid
to all parts of tjpo yard. She sai.'
that three weeks ago she found the
cover of the can lying in the car
tracks twisted out of shape.
“Besides. Judge, I do not tip any
body, either."
This remark drew the statement
from the Judge. Hom-vcr, he will
help the police to enforce the cov
ered garbage ran ordinance.
PITTSBURG MUSICIANS
PUT BAN ON RAGTIME
PITTSBURG, May 10.—Goodby
“rag;""welcome Straus in Pittsburg’
Between acts at the playhouse or as
th > diners chat in the cafes and res
taurants and even when the IJgnt
fantastic is tripped “ragtime” will be
a relic of the past in this city.
This remarkable evolution in the
mu? ic world of Pittsburg is all due to
the untiring efforts of J. Vick O’Brjen,
instructor of music in the Carnegie
School of Technology, who by untir
ing efforts at Iasi has secured the
agreement of practically all the or
chestra leaders in the city to fbrev* r
eschew the “brain storm” in music
and play the compositions of the mas
ters and the near-great.
Stranger in Strange Land Enters
House Next to His After
Night of Pleasure.
DENVER, May 10.—When Miss
Minnie O'Connell, just out of • high
“chool, awoke in the night and dis
covered a man in her room she did
not setvam. On her bureau was a
beautiful new toilet set that she had
just received lor her birthday. She
was positive that the strange man
was a burglar who had Come to steal
that new toilet set, and she decided
that she would lie very quiet and
get a good look at him, so she could
identify him and have him arrested,
and thus have her birthday gift re
stored.
In the meantime the man was* ex
periencing equally strange sensations,
but he was not so calm as was the
young lady. In fact, when h- struck
a match and discovered that ho was
not in his own room, but had in
truded upon the slumbers of a strange
young lady, he precipitately removed
himself, together with coat and hat
and vest, of which he had divested
himself before he discovered his sur
roundings. Very softly he sneaked
out. just in time to avoid discovery
by Mr. and Mrs. O’Connell, who had
been aroused by the noise.
When Miss (/Connell hytterically
told her parents that she had beer,
disturbed by a burglar they tele
phoned for the police. Several police
men ransacked th house without dis
covering the felon.
Next morning a woman w ho lives
next door came over with profue*.
apologies of her boarder, a young
man named Nuttali, who, it seemed,
had got into the wrong house.
The two houses are just alike. Mr.
Nuttali has been in Denver only a
short time, having come here from
the East. By mistake he entered
the wrong house.
DOG MAY BITE YOU IF
YOU HAVE PLPLLED HIS TAIL
WILMINGTON, DEL., May 10.—
Mr. 1 *. Mary McCormick was arraigned
In the City Court on the charge of
harboring a vicious dog, but after
the case had been explained to the
court by Prosecuting Attorney John
F. Lynn, Judge Churchman decided
tha the woman could not be held on
that charge, so she was dismissed.
The court was informed that the
dog had bitten a child after the lat
ter had pulUd the dog’s tail. Mr.
Lynn said that some court had de
cided that a dog could not be con
sidered vicious unless* it had bitten
more than one person, or in other
words, each dog is entitled to one
bite.
Judge Churchman said that he did
not agree with this rule, and that he
never heard any court rule that way.
He decided that If the child • had
pulled the dog’s tail he did not think
anything could, be done with the
owner of the dog. „
Prehistoric Used That Tool Con
clusion Reached by Scientist
After Examination.
GREAT FALLS. MONT . May to.—
Going to prove that men inhabited
this part«of the world In prehistoric
times and even then used axs and
showed judgment In felling trees. Sol
omon Abbott, of Shelby, north of this
city, has developed startling evidence
in his section.
Not far from the Sullivan ranch
and near the junction of Gut Bank
Creek and Two Medicine Creek, there
is a butte, probably 450 or 500 feet
above the surrounding country and
about seven miles’ in circumference.
It has cut banks so steep at every
point that they are impassable for
cattle and horses, and at but one
point is a fence needed to keep th.*
animals on top of the butte.
The butte Is absolutely devoid of
timber, but at one time on the sum
mit there grew a fine straight pine
tree two feet in diameter and not
short of 80 to 100 feet high. This is
proved by the fact that the tree now
lies full length on the ground, cut
into two-foot* lengths’, the ax marks
of the woodman being plainly dis
cernible In every cut of the wood,
which Is now’ petrified.
To fell the tree up hill, as was done,
it had t<> be chopped, on the side to
ward which it was to fall almost
entirely, and the petrified stump
shows that this w as done. Every one
of the cuts, which hint of commercial
‘purposes for the wood, gives indis
putable evidence of the woodman’s
ax.
Abbott Is a pioneer and if believed
to have been the first white man to
have climbed to tile top of the butte.
He found the petrified tree Just as
it is to-day. and the wonder is in
what age was the tree cut and what
sort of people did it and With what
sort of an ax.
CHILDREN BORROW PARENTS
SO THAT THEY MAY MARRY
KANSAS CITY', MO, May 10.—
Determined- to be married despite the
fact both were under age and neither
could obtain parental consent, Roland
H. Fairchild, nineteen years old, and
Lucile Hatfield, sixteen years old,
bargained for the services of two
elderly and respectable looking guests
of the Helping Hand to furnish the
needed ‘‘parental consent.”
The entire party was arrested la
ter at the Wyandotte County Court
house just as the two residents of
the Helping Hand were telling Pro
bate Judge John T. Sims they had
no objection to the marriage of their
offspring.
* The "near” bride and bridegroom
were returned to the homes of their
respective parents.
Small Boys Turn
Wild Lion Loose
Actress Easily Calms Beast and
Excitement in Freight Yard
Subsides.
WEST ORANGE, N. J., May 10.—
Mine. Lalla Selbini’s lion, Pete, was
loosed from a box car in the Eri-e
freight yard here to-day by two boys
who were investigating ‘‘empties.’
The freight yard is walled In, so th?
lion would not have been able to
hurt any one except the boys, and
they hid under the car.
Policeman Bernard Heslin stood on
a wall of the yard and shot his pistol
at Pete, but didn’t hit him. The lion
paid no attention to the shots. The
two boys under the car seemed safe
enough, but the wild horses of Joe
Amento, whose stock yard adjoins the
railroad, were wilder than had ever
been thought possible.
It was Joe who came to the rescue.
He used to be a cowboy. His first
throw with the lasso caught the
beast's shoulder. When the line slack
ened Joe got a half pitch around
Pete’s hind legs. The ex-cowboy had
the lion pretty nearly where he want
ed him when Mine. Selbini appeared.
While a big crowcT shouted advi .e
to which she paid no attention Mmo.
Selbini entered the freight yard and
mi snared the lion. Sue patted the lion
on the head, murmuring:
“What have the naughty men been
doing to my poor Pete.
Together ’ion and actress walked
back to the freight car. and Pete en
tered it as mild as a lamb.
Marriage Bars Man
From Cornell Crew
College Boy Takes Bride and Is
Given Release by Coach for
His Action.
ITHACA, May 10.—That marriage
is a bar to rowing, at least in Cor
nell. has been demonstrated in the
case of E. W. Pollard, until recently
a member of the junior varsity crew
and a member of last year’s crack
freshman combination, who has been
dropped from rowing by Charles E.
Courtney, coach. Pollard slipped
quietly out of town a few days ago,
telling Courtney he would be away
from crew practice for several (lays
because he had to go to Syracuse to
see a sick brother. The bluff worked
for a day or two. but Courtney picked
up a Syracuse newspaper which in
formed him that Pollard had married
a school chum in Fulton, where he
lives.
When Pollard strolled down to the
boat house last Friday, Courtney
said:
“Hello. Pollard, now do you nke
married life?” Pollard admitted he
liked it and waited a second for
Courtney to assign him to a crew.
No such order came. Just before
Courtney pushed out In his launch, he
turned and said: y
“What, Pollard, are you here yet?
You’d better look out, or the boys
will throw you into the Inlet." Then
Pollard knew he never would earn a
varsity crew C. No married man
ever has rowed in the Cornell shell,
and apparently Courtney will see to it
that nohe ever does.
Man in Minnesota Insane Asylum
Thought to Be George D.
Ramsey, Lost for Years.
WASHINGTON, May 10.—It was
suggested to-night that the myste
rious patient In the Minnesota State
Hospital for the Insane at Rochester.
Minn., who has forgotten his identity
and his past, may be George D. Ram-
fcay, usually called “Jack,” who dis
appeared from Washington In Sep
tember, 1908. George D. Ramsay Is a
son of Rear Admiral Francis Munros
Ramsay, retired, and his grandfather
was Martin McMahon, of New York,
once Minister to Paraguay.
Members of the Ramsay family are
keenly Interested in the suggestion
that the man in the Minnesota asv
lum may be their missing relative.
They have found no trace of "Jack”
Ramsay since he vanished in 1908,
although circulars bearing his de
scription. have been sent to eveiT
part of the county.
The description of the "man who
forgot,” as furnished to the Navy De
partment, says he is about 40 years
old. This would tally with the age
of "Jack” Ramsay. The height of the
man at Rochester Is five feet five apd
a half inches.
“If that is correct," said a relative
of “Jack” Ramsay to-night, ‘‘then the
man is not Jack. Hls height w r as five
feet nine and a half Inches.”
Ramsay was married. Hls wife and
three children moved to Los Angeles
after he disappeared. He never saw
service in the navy.
ROAD HELPS SWITCHMAN
TO FIGHT “LOAN SHARK”
KANSAS CITY. MO., May 10—Tha
legal force of the Missouri Pacific
Railway, under orders of President
B. F. Bush, have taken up the case
of Dan Dugan, a switchman, in his
efforts to save his wages from as
signment by a Kansas City (Kan.)
“loan shark.”
Dugan borrowed $40 in December,
1909. to help a brother switchman
pay his wife’s burial expenses. Al
though Dugan has paid $16, th«
“shark” says he still owes $80.
Dugan has offered to pay the prin-*
cipal and a legal rate of interest,
but has refused to pay a usurious
rate.
12 HALF-FARE TICKETS
TRANSPORT MAN’S FAMILY
• COLUMBUS, OHIO, May 10.—
“Give me four full fare and twelve
half fare tickets to St. Louis,” said
a man in the Union Station. The
ticket seller looked over the man's
shoulder and saw twelve children,
none of whom was oVer eight years
old. The purchaser was Daniel N.
Welter, an iron worker, of Sharon,
Pa.
THE HOUSE QF McMILLAN BROS.
Occupies a conspicuous place among Atlanta’s industries. Its establishment is located on
one of the main thoroughfares {No. 12 South Broad Street, the Bridge Bloc/f), easily ac
cessible to all car lines, being the largest transfer point onthe south side. The building is
equipped with every modern convenience to rapidly conduct its business.
A man with a farm, garden or lawn can get most everything wanted here in an up-to-
date variety. At this season many interesting displays of Decorative, Bedding and Vege
table Plants may hz seen In this department we can assure our customers of extra good quality
‘ARCH’’
Bell Phone 3076
McMillan Bros. Seed Co.,
Wholesale and Retail Seed Merchants
Growers and Importers of Everything to Plant
12 South Broad St. {The Old Journal Building)
BOB”
Atlanta Phone 593