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thin ShotJrur uys Douadur and Kent told him. It »«» proposed that Shoffner take turn along Xinui make-believe bet. He ire* net to pot up ■ cent—be wai luet to appeal- a* Kent'* backer—Conner* would fural.h aU the ca.hStuffed Hie Pocket Bo Mr, ghoffner pat 8*J» in hi* pockether* with Donnocker end Kent, registering at the Lriaod Hotel. Mr. ghoffner met Conner*, who explained that colonel Roberta, a wealthy Board of Trade man; Qua Montgomery, who owned a Jot of coal mine*: Major gtillson, the famous turf man and owner of the larger l etock farm in Illtnola. and a number ef other millionaire* would back Mat- ft bvUt'i.MH«HRSlt;RR8808, Connors U.500. Donnaeker 81.280 and ghoffner *1.250 on the race which wae tobe thrown by Matthews. In order to give » standing a* a backer Bhoffnrrwan required to depoeit his 12.500. brought from Itullana, in a bank. It wae not to be used, understand, but to remain there no Colonel Robert* and Me friends couldsee that Kent’s backer had a financial rating. _Mr. Bholfner was wined and dined, made much of and treated aa a millionaire guest.Conner* at different time* gave him big bundles of money, which. Bholfner prompt -iy bet on Kent, turning the money over to Connars, who was referee and stakeholder.Thla want on for almoat a week, ghoffner bad placed In Conners’s hands 87.80) of his (Conners’s) money, and It had been promptly covered by Colonel Roberta and hi* friend*. Then ghoffner loot hi* head and drew hi* 82.5M from the bank and gave It to Conner* to make up a *10.040 bet. Well, the race was run. Kent fell down and Mr. Conners turned the money-*10,000—over to Colonel Robert*. That raceHe was sure and U wai for Itt.OW---------money. Juat make hla financial standing good.Raigad More Money.ras proposed to have another race0. ghoffner wae not to put up anyghoffner went to gullivan. Ind.. and executed a note for *,800 to bis brolher-ln-Nick Hood's Twenty-Four Hour Job inHead uBurner* in a Martinsville Plant, and Upon His Practiced Eye theof a Burning Principally Depends.Riggs a chattel mortgage on the Green*-burg store. Then the rame back here to get even and win some money. Conner* gave him 88JX» to bet on Kent, Conners again being the stakeholder Money passed freely until it was all up and the M,100 ghoffner got at gullivan w»* In Conners’* hands. July 1* the second race waa run. Kent loat again, and once more Conners turned the money over to Colonel Robert*Until after the second race flhoffner say* he had no Idea that he waa being fleeced After bis tl.OUU wss all In. he tumbled, as he expresses It. Then he proposed that there be a third race, and that ha would furnish the sucker. ghoffner went to Terre Haute and era- : ployed J. g. Hughe*, of the law Arm of ; Hughes A Caldwell, brought him to: Springfield and introduced him to Con- i ner* a* a wealthy bicycle dealer, with I ■porting blood In hi* veins.Th* Gang Arrested.Hughe* got In with Conner* and learned Just how the swindle had been worked on ghoffner. Then he quietly dropped out. ghoffner learned that Colonel Roberts waa Tom Brewer, a ekln gambler and member of the Board of Aldermen. Qus Montgomery waa ene Jennings, who Is supposed to be Oscar Maxon, a former employe of the Standard Oil Company In Springfield.Major gtillson waa a barber, ghoffner caused the arrest of Brewer, Conners, gtillson and Donnaeker, the latter being arrested In Indiana and brought here. He gave bond In *8.000, the supposition being that Conner* and his gang made the bondsman safe. A warrant waa Issued for Jennings, alias Maxon. but let fled. In addition Bholfner brought a aam-ie suit for *1,000 against th* crowd. Including Kent and Matthew*. In addition wilt take tho matter before the UnitedStates grand jury and try to Indict them for using th* malls to defraud, they having written him a number of letter* oonflhoffner n bedded stnnd ha* frightened th* crowd, and an effort has been made to compromise with him, but he has refused all overtures, lie could get tt.ooothe proposition. The loa* of the *8. says, lake* about half what he la worth. He will spend the balance, he say*, to land the crowd In the penitentiary HI* brother-in-law, J. R Riggs, of Sullivan.th* case to the encl.uty Sheriff Frank Ryan, who has more than * local reputation as a detective, la also on the cg*e. In addition, two of the* brsl law Arms In Springnehl and several good lawyers In Indiana have been employed.Member* of ■ Syndicate.There I* no longer any doubt that Conner*. Brewer and their gang are a part of th* syndicate of awtndleri who worked[From « Staff rorrftapondftnt.] ARTINSVILLK. Ind., July M-The [Ml people who know of Nick Hood. 11 | | admit without hesitancy that be |j X| has a steady job. They marvel * also at the endurance of th# man,who. for nearly a quarter of a century, has hardly known what a full night's sleep means The physiologists, whose book* teach that a man should have eight hours' sleep, would be amazed if they knew of Nick Hood's experience. He refutes their pet theories, es he does not sleep on an average of more than three hour* a day. and at the age of flfty-thre* la strong and healthy.Sometimes Hood does not go to bed for a week. He never, on ordinary occasions, turns In before 2 In the morning, and It la generally nearer l«i when he begins his rest. In spite of his late hour for retiring ha la always up by ( A m.. ready for bla long day’s work. And a thing- that makes hie accomplishment more remarkable Is that he I* a negro, whose race, a* a whole, Is not noted for being wide-awake under trying clrcum-brlck plant here, and to quote him, he It drawing pay for straight time—meaning that he It being paid for both the day and night shift. Hood has been tbe day and night man for the Adams company for nve years, in which time he Bays he he* been away from bis work but two Sundays. Hi* contract with tbe company call* for seven day* and seven nights a week, with no half holiday*. He say* that during hts nve years' service here he has not visited the business portion of the city as often as twice a week.He has a comfortable little home near the brick plant, and when he la not going from furnace to furnace In the kilns, he la to be found there, getting as many winks of sleep as possible. But the hot. dusty, grimy kilns require most of hla attention, and It Is among them that he spends at least twenty out of every twenty-four hours. The kilns are practically his world. He U where he can see th# trains speed by every hour and the people driving along the highway. The other employe* of the plant come in the morning and leave at night, or come at night and quit In the morning, according to the shift they belong to. But Nickmust remain by tbe Ulna, or lose for both himself and the company, so he patiently grinds away at his stralghi-tlme” Job. Bob Davis, foreman of the plant, said It was a lifetime Job. Nick nodded an assent as If being In for life had no terrors for him.His position Is one of responsibility. If it was not, he would not have to stand by it every hour. A burner can make or break his employer by not being faltb-fu] to his task. It Is for his practiced eye to determine whether or not the heatlight time. And Nick has thla pat. He is regarded as one of the best burners In the business, having eighteen years aa head burner to his credit.bums over a ----- —has a number of Immense kilns, In each of which are stacked 400.000 brick during the burning. It take* eighteen or twenty days to get them ready for shipment after they reach Nick’s hands, and during those eighteen day* they receive closer attention from him than a child does from his mother. It Is frequently the case that everything does not go exactly as he plans, so he has to stand by them twenty-four hour# a day, until he knows there Is no danger. It Is hla business to see that the bricks never get too hot nor too cold, so he goes from furnace to furnace, looking In to see the condition of the Are*.th* fake foot races at Brookvllle, and Who had a branch at Ureenaburg. H. A. Duvall, of Lewiston, III., who lost *1.780 at Brookvllle, is expected here to-night to Identify Btlllson aa one of the men who helped rob him In Indians, and for whoa* arrest a warrant Is out. .Johnny Haghan. th* fake racer who assisted In throwing down Dfevall at Brookvtile, and who Is now serving a senteace In the Indiana Biale prison, was around here for several month* and helped Dull off! be here Monday. The gang got a diamond ring and a draft of 83.S00 from him, butnumber of race*. A1 King, the Brookvllle man who committed suicide In the Frank tin .county Jail to escape the penitentiary.and with him came Johns, the Brookvllle saloon keeper serving time with Haghan. Two men from Oreensburg. whose arrest Is predicted, also came here to see the crowd.Charles Gehlbaugh. of Lincoln. III., willREADY FOR BUSINESSPKacaamlaK 1,1 la o we rise from the ashes of our fire of July 14th. With our new and improve 1 facilities tor laundering we are In a position to give better service than at any time in the past. We thank our patrons for the indulgence shown us during tbe past two weeks. Toindulge!those who had any goods with they call at the office, 17 Capitol Avenue, South, and we shall try andt at the time c: fire, we ask thatadjust the lot*.phono 249 THE EXCELSIOR LAUNDRYAMUSEMENTS.PA1K HAXK EVERY EVENtNOudSaturday Afternoon.WEEK JULY 28-TWO STAR ATTRACTIONSREGINALD ROBERTS andMISS MONA DEMERESTOSTENDORFS CONCERT BAND-35 MusiciansSix Soloists. Church Chimes Popular Program* Change Ntrhtly. ADMISSION OMV US Oats. BRATS FREK.he stopped payment ' Aill hthe draft. Con-vlctlma from Illinois, Indiana. Ohio,fig fn-fiuld and will Identify the gang (It willth* Springfield Fake Foot Race Victims.Swindler's Big Booty.Thla syndicate of swindlers ha* been operating In Springfield for a long time. In a year or such matter It has pulled oft twelve foot races, and so far as the detectives can find out, has cleanedup 842.000.It has been shown to be one of the worst gang of knaves In America. They,fao7., y tricks and kept well posted lawyers who are adept* in legal legerdemain and the victim never had anyshow for his money from the start. The rang hag flourished under the very lt;the police, and It Is common reiof the police, and It is common report that Springfield hi.# become a place where protection can easily be purchased withed members of the club were coined by him and he arranged the printed matter for the club—in fact, worked out the entire fraud.Politics Creep In.To Increase protection for the club It was decided to elect a man named Bolte. who Is Conners * head bartender. and Brewer to the Board of Aldettoen. The city attorney Is charged with being Brewer’s attorney, and he went on the bonds of the men as soon as they were arrested.The preliminary examination of the gangwill be held her* July Si.____W. H. BDODGETT.IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE.Noblesville Party Goes to Join the Other Prosecutors.protectiongold, and those ----- -------law do so in a sinful manner.The accusation is made that there Is a case of -nx all along the line, and that members of the police department get their ”btt for protecting the gamblers, crooks and fake foot racers. \V hen a victim squealed” he was advised to get out of town for hi* own safety. And it la said that one or two men who dared protest against their robbery have been assault-[Speoial to The Indianapolis New*.)NOBLE8VILLK, Ind., July Prosecutor Beal*, accompanied by attorney Ralph Kane and Ludu* Stout, have gone to Springfield. 111., to procure. If possible, additional , evidence In the bunco-eteerlng ease against Tyler Carruthers, who is In Jail In this dty, charged with being in-lnstrumental In causing Stout to lose 83,100 on an alleged fake foot raoe at Sprlng-rteld. In May.Stout is a Mason, and the member* ofSpringfield Aroused.So notorious has become th* lawlessness and so notorious th* protection given the lawbreakeri that It la proposed by the respectable element to hold a public Indignation meeting the latter part of next week and demand that the officers either enforce the law or reelgn; if they do not i resign or carry out the law. a demand I will be made for tbelr Impeachment.The headquarter* of the clique is In 1 John Conners' saloon. Conners Is an ex-prlae-fighter. and poses aa an alder and , Ab-ttor of athletic snort*. Hts three-that lodge are assisting him In working up the case. The local authorities have already Joined the Greensburg (Ind.) and Springfield (111.) officials to Investigate all of the allethose who have had a hand In engineering them. Prosecutor Beals has In hts possession an affidavit against a prominent man In Hamilton county, charging I him with conspiring with Carruthers to defraud Stout. This affidavit was sworn to by Btout.It will be presented to Judge Neal Monday. and the latter will Immediately Issue a warrant for the arpest.Stout first became Infatuated with a desire to win money on foot races when 825 on Carruthers at West-PAIRVIEW PARKthe stranger who gets In there is to be congratulated if he and his money get away together.Th* master mind that organised this syndicate Is said to have been Oscar Maxon. atlas Jennings, who Is now a fugitive from Justice. The Independent oil companies were making a cut In prices and Maxon came here for the Standard Oil Company to drive the independents out of business In time he got in with Brewer and Conners and Invented the fake foot race business for thla territory.Maxon got into some kind of trouble and skipped out. He was gone for several months and returned as Jennings, a foot-(- racer.j He organised what b* called tha^‘^Gentlemen's Athletic Club. Colonel Robert*rowed tSUOO of the Westfield Bank and gave his mother as security. He hustled off to Springfield and wagered every penny that he had and lost.FOOT RACE FAKIRS HERE.Worked Outsiders Mostly, but Gus Rahke was a Victim.The crowd that haa operated the fake foot race business at Brookvllle, Ind.. Greenaburg. Ind.. and later at Springfield. III., “pulled off*' a number of races In Indianapolis and It* vicinity. For the most part the victims were *trang*ra who were brought here to be fleeced, and non* of the local sport* had a share In
Newspaper Details
Indianapolis News
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Sat, Jul 26, 1902
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Brent E.
NA, 03 Sep 2023
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