Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-08-13
WEEKLY REFLECTOR ABILENE. KANSAS AUGUST 1a 1891.
DYNAMITE
Attempt to Blow Up j. M. Juve-
nails Residence.
A WOMAN SEEKS VENGEANCE
Windows Shattered and Pictures Shaken
From the WaIls-Occupants
Escape Death Bya
Miracle.

KANSAS CITY, Kan, Aug. ia
dynamite explosion tore to atoms the
front porch of ]. NJ. Juvenars resi-
dence at 627 South Third street,
Armourdale, at 1885 o'clock last night,
shattered the windows in that and q
neighboring house, threw the inmates
out of their beds and awoke people fol
blocks around
j.. NJ. Juvenal is assistant superin
tendent of the Consolidated Tank Line
Co. Though several lives were en-
dangered no one was badly
hurt Shortly before the time
of the explosion a woman was
seen stealing along Third street
from Kansas avenue. She was dressed
in black and had a shawl about her
shoulders. J. w. Jameson, of Cpl South
Third, saw her enter the front yard
at Juvenal's, and in a few minutes
emerge and pass down an alley to the
north of the house. Five minutes after
came the explosion. An investigation
subsequently showed that dynamite
had been placed beneath the porch and
that the fuse had extended from it to
the-front gate. Part of the burnt out
fuse was found.
In the Juvenal residence were Mr..
Juvenal and his wife, her sister, Mrs.
II. B. Ricketts,, and three children who
had arrived during the day from Excel
sior Springs to pay Mrs. Juvenal visit
Mrs Ricketts, was struck on the head
foil ~ a
slight scalp wound. Every window in
the house was shattered and all the
ohinaware broken. The house was
Jared so hard that articles of furniture
were thrown over. The windows in
Andrew Blain's house, adjoining Juve-
nails on the north, were shattered. All
the people in the neighborhood were
aroused and soon began gathering at
the scene of the explosion.
Upon the arrival of the police the
first clue sought was a motive for the
attempted wholesale murder. Juvenal
was inclined to be taciturn at first but
when it became apparent on account of
Jameson's statement that woman had
laid the fuse he said:
81 know who the woman is and will
help to find her."
Upon being pressed closely to dispel
as much as possible the mystery sur
rounding the case Juvenal said:
This woman who tried to kill me
wrote me time and again she intended
to unless l procured divorce and mar
ried her." But even then the excited
man refused to give the woman's
name.
Juvenal, with a Kansas City, Kan,
policeman, followed the trail of the
fleeing woman into Missouri. He was
sure of her identity, he said, and knew
where she lived.
Juvenal is about 81 years of age and
is a well known man in Kansas City,
Kan. Some of his experiences prior to
this time have brought him cOnspicu-
ously before the public. 1t was about
year ago that he was divorced from
his first wife. 1t appears they could
never agree. At one time a shooting
occurred in Juvenars house in which his
face and that of his first wife were
powder burned. Both tried to place
the blame on the other. It was not
long after his divorce that Juvenal cast
about for another bride. 1t is said that
he paid attention for some time to n
certain young woman at Twenty-third
and Summit streets in this city and
then to young widow, Mrs Anna Ba-
ker, whom he married June 6.
Some of the police limited to Juvenal
just after the explosion that his first
wife might know something about it.
No." said Juvenal, persistently, 81
know who the woman is. She has been
bounding me and threatening to take
my life long enough" But who this
woman was Juvenal refused to say.
'T'll let you know when we have found
her." he said, ''and this thing can be
fastened on her. too"
People who saw the woman il the
vicinity of the explosion just before it
occurred say she was of medium height,
wore a black dress and dark hat and
carried shawl on her shoulders. When
she disappeared in the darkness of the
Juvenal gateway the few observers
thought she entered the house. 1t was
fully five minutes before she emerged
into the light of the street. She then
carried thsshawl partly across her face
and walked rapidly toward the alley
about fifty feet to the north. Into
this she disappeared. The time the
woman was in the yard showed she ex-
ecuted her fiendish work with slowly
and with pitiless care that the dynamite
might surely accomplish the end she
sought 1t is probable that she did not
know of the presence of Mrs Ricketts,
and children in the house and that she
sought the lives of both Mr.. Juvenal
and his wife.
1t was discovered at $50 o'clock that
the woman for whom the police and
are searching the city is Miss
Millie Pfaffman, who lives at Twenty
third and Summit streets with her
brother-in-law, Andrew Shisserti. Ju-
venai acknowledged that he had been
very intimate with her and that he was
quite positive she had sent the threat
ening letters. He went to Shisserti's
residence an hour after the explosion
but the latter refused to allow him or
the police to enter the house, saying
that Miss Pfaffman had left for the
night The police were confident they
would capture her before daylight