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Witnesses of Birns’ Shooting M Joined at Resort by Notorious Levee Characters.Notwithstanding denials made by their friends among the police and levee lords, there is every reason to believe that at least two of the most important witnesses of the Birns shooting in the red-light district are hiding in ‘•Jack” Burk’s resort at Cedar Lake.“Ed” Woods and Loraine Woods, whom State’s Attorney Maclny Hoyne and Major Funkhouser ha\e been seeking, were within fifteen feet of Chicago detectives late Friday night, but escaped arrest by hiding behind a clump of bushes on a road between Burk’s place and a cottage owned by “Becks” Moriar-ity, who is another important witness of the shooting. There was general rejoicing among the friends of the much wanted witnesses when the detectives left Cedar Lake empty handed.Cedar Lake now has all the ear-marks of Chicago’s former tenderloin. Well-known characters of Chicago's underworld are arriving there dally and preparing to make that town a wide-open resort. A score of gunmen are constantly guarding the premises of Burk and Moriarity against invasion by detectives or investigators.Investigator Is Kidnaped.Following a tip given the police by the Examiner a. few days ago, Major Funkhouser sent Investigator George Ackerman to Cedar La.ke to apprehend “Ed” Woods, Loraine Woods. “Becks” Moriarity and John Turio, who were loca.*d by the Examiner. But the investigator returned to Chicago yesterday thankful that his life was saved.George “Knockout” t’rown. of Chicago, who is visiting at the resort, took one glimpse of Ackerman, re. nized him. and then sent out a general warning among the witnesses and their friends.“When my identity became known Burk unred me to get out,” said Ackerman. “I said I would stay. ‘You’ll lose your life if you do,’ Burk warned me. ‘Men are starting from Chicago to gef you.’“About 1 o’clock in the morning Burk grabbed me, threw me into an automobile and took me to a hotel in Crown Point.“ ‘I’m doing this, not for your sake, hut because I don’t want to have any trouble in my place,’ Burk said.“There were a number of well-known levee characters at Burk’s place. Turio and ‘Saffo the Greek’ Larro had fled and so had ‘Frenchy’ Van Lever. I fool cer tain that the Woods people still are there, but I left before I had a chanceto get them.“Burk got me away from the placeafter he received some instructions over the long-distance telephone from Ike Bloom.”Confer With Levee Messenger.Early last evening Burk, Woods and q dozen others piled into a motor boat and crossed the lake, where they met a mysterious visitor, apparently a messenger from the levee. He weighed about 210 pounds and was poorly dressed in a soft white shirt, dark trousers and dark coat, with small stripe. Ilis face was smooth shaven, with the skin unusually red and rough. He carried a small black hand grip.Earlier in the day the same crowd met a character known as “The Kid.” who arrived from Chicago. He is short of stature and has all the appearances of a gunman. He said that he was a chauffeur for Burk. Just before leaping iutc the machine “The Kid” pulled out a revolver and casually remarked: “We mayneed this old boy soon.”Immediately after the arrival of the mysterious stranger the crowd jumped into automobiles, which were driven to Morinrlty’a cottage, where a conference was held. Surrounding the cottage were several typical gunmen ready to prevent outsiders gaining entrance to the cottage during the conference. Any attempt on the part of the authorities to place members of the gang under arrest is bound to cause trouble, as the men are armed and ready for battle.
Newspaper Details
Chicago Examiner
Chicago, Illinois, US
Sun, Jul 26, 1914
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Lake C.
IN, USA 04 Feb 2023
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