Charley Lockwood Carries Out Old Pledge to Buddies

STILLWATER, Minn.—July 21—Thirty three vacant chairs, draped in black, stood as silent sentinels around a banquet table today, witnesses that Charley Lockwood carried out the covenant of the Last Man’s club. Lockwood, 87 years old, is the last man and today the club’s only law required of him what he considered the hardest task of his life, the dramatic labor of drinking a toast to 33 Civil war comrades who died before him and left him with the honor he has found empty. STILLWATER, Minn.—July 21—Thirty-three vacant chairs, draped in black, stood as silent sentinels around a banquet table today, witnesses that Charley Lockwood carry out the covenant of the Last Man’s club.

 

Lockwood, 87 years old, is the last man and today the club’s only law required of him what he considered the hardest task of his life, the dramatic labor of drinking a toast to 33 Civil war comrades who died before him and left him with the honor he has found empty.

                               Bouquet of Flowers

Before each chair stood a bouquet of flowers. Before Lockwood’s plate was placed the bottle of old Burgundy wine which the club set aside at its formation in 1885 for just this event. But the wine, like the honor, has soured, and a sip of it was all that Lockwood asked to keep his pledge. Tonight the bottle will be turned over to an historical society.

 

Lockwood and his fellows were survivors of Company B, First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and today’s weird banquet like those each year before was on the anniversary of the first of Bull Run in which the company’s losses were exceeded only by the Gettysburg. Each year fewer attended the reunions and at the last meetings only Lockwood, Peter Hall and Charles Goff answered roll call.

 

But Hall and Goff died during the past year and only one of that group who marched away to answer Lincoln’s call for volunteers in1861 lived to come today, and so the club’s destiny of dissolution had been reached.

                              Deep Solemnity

Today the banquet hall had a tone of deep solemnity in contrast with those meetings before when great feasts with many bottles of wine brought the old campaigners together for a day each year. Always, every member felt confident that he would be the last, Lockwood said, admitting to this feeling himself.
 

“But while we looked forward to it as an honor, I know now that it shouldn’t have been—instead it only makes me feel badly when I think of it,” the 87 year-old last man said. “But it was a sacred promise and so it is up to me to carry it out.”--Hibbing Daily Tribune--Monday, July 21, 1930

 

 

Body of Chef Who Tried to Go Over Rapids, Unclaimed

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont., July 7—The body of George Stathakis, Buffalo Greek chef, who suffocated in a barrel in which he shot the Horseshoe Falls, was at an undertaker’s today awaiting claimants.

 

In a sealed cask of oak reinforced with steel he took the plunge Saturday afternoon. He carried oxygen sufficient for three hours. The cask was recovered some 16 hours later, a bit battered and leaky. Stathakis was still strapped to a mattress he designed as a buffer. An old turtle—sacred, he called it—which he carried with him, was alive. No injuries were apparent. Coroner W. W. Thompson expressed belief Stathakis had lived six hours.

The journey from the cascades, through the rapids and over the falls occupied only 10 minutes.

The barrel was not thrown clear but seemed to drop through the curtain behind the falls. There it was held for hours. When it did appear it was five hours before rivermen could catch it and tow it ashore. It weighed a ton. Hibbing Daily Tribune— Monday, July 7, 1930

HIBBING MAN IS KILLED TODAY

Discharge of Gun Fatal to George Greiner

 

George Greiner, 49, one of Hibbing’s best-known citizens, died shortly before 8 o’clock this morning from a shot, accidentally discharged from a 30-30 U. S. rifle which he was cleaning in the greenhouse at 2525 Fifth avenue. The bullet passed directly above the heart and through the shoulder, causing death a few moments later while he was enroute to a hospital.

Mrs. Greiner, who was in the basement of the residence, and children at breakfast, rushed out to the greenhouse, located in the rear of the lot, at the sound of the shot and found Mr. Greiner prostrate across the concrete walk a few feet from the greenhouse entrance. After being wounded Mr. Greiner cried for help and staggered out of the greenhouse toward the residence, according to members of his family. Police were notified, but death came before medical aid could be given.

Four Shells Removed

Investigation revealed that four shells had evidently been removed

from the gun which Mr. Greiner was cleaning and that the empty shell was the last left in the weapon. A shotgun was standing close by and on the floor were rags which had been used in the cleaning of the rifle. Coroner F. W. Bullen, after a study of the facts, expressed his opinion that the shooting was accidental.

 

Survivors include his widow, four children, Kenneth, 19, a student of the local junior college; Lucille, 18, a graduate of the local high school this June; Dorothy, 16, and Marian, 14, both attending high school; two brothers, Robert, of Sarles, N. D., and Mrs. C. F. Henk of Hibbing; two brothersin law, A. C. Schirmer and William Schirmer, both of Hibbing; and a nephew, Victor Henk, also of Hibbing.

Funeral arrangements have been tentatively set for Thursday afternoon from the home.

Mr. Greiner played a prominent part in the civic and fraternal life of Hibbing since he moved from North Dakota, 20 years ago. He was affiliated with the Masonic lodge and the Elks, being particularly active in the latter organization, was head of the building association and was one of the men who contributed his efforts toward the construction of the new temple in South Hibbing; was prominent in the activities of the Range Master Plumbers’ association, serving as president for one term; was a trustee of the First Presbyterian church and aided in the supervision of the building of the new church in South Hibbing. Interested in horticulture, Mr. Greiner made the grounds surrounding his residence one of the show spots of the city, and was recognized as an authority in this field. For a short time he conducted Wood’s greenhouse, was a partner and bookkeeper of the A. C. Schirmer company for many years and at the time of his death was an employee of the water and light commission. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Tue., July 8, 1930

Identify Poison Found in Booze

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., July 8—Oklahoma City chemists today said they had identified tentatively as treocysyl phosphate compound, a slow acting poison contained in Jamaica ginger which caused a strange, paralysis malady crippling approximately 600 persons here.

 

The drug, the chemists said, is used in photography. Further experiments are being made.

Several chickens died after injections of the phosphate. All but one of six living have paralysis of the legs, a characteristic of the malady in human beings. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Tue., July 8, 1930

Wearing Ostrich Feathers as Apparel Was Too Much of a Shock to New York

NEW YORK, July 10—Earl Carroll, Broadway producer, whose testimony concerning his famous bathtub party landed him in federal prison for perjury, found himself involved with the law again today because of another scene presented on his stage.

 

A squad of policemen yesterday marched through the stage door of the New Amstedam theatre, advertised by Carroll as “the portal thru which pass the most beautiful girls in America,” and arrested nine members of the cast of his “Vanities.”

Warrants charging him with giving an indecent performance were also issued for Carroll and Louis Lotti, treasurer of the theatre, but they could not be found. At the close of the matinee performance, the policemen, who had arrived on the scene in shiny sedans served warrants on eight girls and one man, told them to put on their street clothes and “come quietly.”

The prisoners included Maomi Ray, comedienne, Faith Bacon, dancer, and Jimmie Savo and six show girls. Savo and the six girls were appearing in a scene entitled, “A Window at Merls,” in which the lone man finds himself among a group of wax figures that come to life, Miss Ray and Miss Bacon had dance numbers in both of which police charged they were scantily clad, Miss Bacon wearing only two ostrich feather fans.

Carroll drew attention four years ago by a party on the stage of his theatre in which police charged a young woman bathed in a tub of champagne. Hibbing Daily Tribune— Thu., July 10, 1930

UTICA CITIZEN KILLS HIMSELF

Matt Plese Kills Himself With Rifle

 

Police today, after an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the suicide of Matt Plese, 36, at the Utica location after midnight Saturday, were unable to voice any explanation for the action, other than that he had suffered fits of despondency ever since the death of his wife nearly a year ago. Three children, the oldest, 11, survive.

Officers vouched the information that for several months Mr. Plese had apparently tried to forget his loss, but his condition became more serious during recent weeks.

The body was discovered by the youngest son early Sunday morning. The youth ventured into a bed room to look for a coat and there found his father sprawled on the floor with a portion of his head blown away by a discharge from a large caliber rifle. The gun had evidently been lodged between the knees at the time that the trigger was pulled.

Funeral arrangements were still uncertain this afternoon. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Mon., July 14, 1930

Death of Young Woman Results in Two Men Claiming Her As Wife Today

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., July 14—Death of a 26 year-old woman late Friday, her death partially induced by the heat, has resulted in a police investigation as to her identity, with two men claiming the body as that of their wife. One, John Hobulick, is held in jail pending the investigation.

 

The woman is listed on the records at the county morgue as Mrs. John Hobulick. Her body was identified early today, however, by George Johnston, a clerk of a hoel, as that of his wife, who, he says, disappeared July 3.

Late Friday, Johnson told police, he received information as to where his wife was living. He went there and was refused admission by Hobulick, he said, whereupon he got two patrolmen and a detective to accompany him, and returned.

In the apartment, detectives found a hat which Johnson claims was worn by his wife the last time he saw her. Johnson went to the morgue and identifi ed the woman as his wife. Hobulick insisted the woman was his wife and that he had married her at Minot, N. D., two years ago. A post-mortem examination revealed the direct cause of the woman’s death was pneumonia induced by alcoholism, according to the deputy coroner. The heat also was held to be a contributing factor in her death. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Mon., July 14, 1930

We Are Not Secure

 

While range banking institutions can look out upon a series of bank robberies in Minnesota, the climax having been reached with the spectacular Willmar holdup of last week, they cannot afford to lull themselves into a false sense of security.

The range has been fortunate indeed, having experienced few if any bank robberies, but there’s always the probability of the first one and it is to guard against this eventuality that range police departments should be ready to pool their resources so that they will be prepared to meet the robbers the moment they get here.

With the police forces of the range possessing speedy motor equipment, machine guns, excellent telephone and communication facilities, burglars will find it difficult to invade this section of Minnesota. But the men who engage in this business are daring as the Willmar robbery disclosed. Five men held up the bank, one of the largest small-city institutions in the state. Twenty people were inside the building when the raid was staged at noon while nearby were hundreds of people in the streets. Yet despite all this, machine guns were brought into play and $50,000 loot was taken. If a group of men can do this in one busy city they can do it in others.

The range must be on its guard, prepared to act if an emergency should arise and ready to forestall one by taking precautionary measures. There should be at all times a close understanding between the banks and the police. We have had no robberies on the range. This has been due to good fortune and to precautionary steps taken. We can’t afford to become careless. We must be on guard at all times and by taking this attitude we are serving notice on robber gangs that we are prepared to meet them and give them a real combat. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Mon., July 21, 1930

Bear Inspires Lady to Set Fast Time in Walk Toward Kinney

 

Albina Anderson, Brainerd saleslady, saved several minutes in negotiating the distance between the point where the bus stops near Kinney and the residential district yesterday afternoon. She is inclined to believe that she set a new record for pedestrians over the route.

Soon after Miss Anderson stepped from the bus, she noticed a big black bear munching berries alongside the highway, only a few feet away. Unpleasant memories of school days and “A big, black bear bit a—” flashed through her head. She quickened her pace from a walk to a canter and from a canter to a trot, pausing in her stride only long enough to glance behind to see if the bear was as anxious to get near as she was to get away; but Bruin was too occupied with the juicy berries he was munching, and he gave her only a disdainful glance.

Nevertheless, Miss Anderson claims a record for the distance. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Tue., July 22, 1930

PARK ATTENDANT IS BACK AT WORK

Man Injured by Bear Makes Rapid Recovery; Will Have Use of Arm

 

Recovering from serious injuries when a bear attacked him at the Hibbing park zoo three weeks ago, “Shorty” Swift, attendant, will return to work this week, his physicians announced today.

Forty stitches were taken in Swift’s arm which the bear clawed before he knocked the attendant to the ground.

Only the timely assistance of two tourists saved the official from being killed. A water hose nearby was directed at the nostrils of the bear and he temporarily released his hold on Swift. Swift was rushed to the hospital and has been there until the early part of last week. Fortunately no complications set in, Swift’s physical condition aiding him in making a quick recovery, physicians stated. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Mon., July 21, 1930