The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-16
king OF DUDES" FREE.
j. WaIdere Kirk, Who Shot Richard
Mandelbaum, Released from Custody.

NEW YORK, Dec. 15.-J. Waldere Kirk,
who recently shot Richard Mandelbaum in
a hotel in this city, was discharged from
custody to-day Mendelbaum failing to APP
pear in court to prosecute the case.
J. Waldere Kirk, when he lived in Chi
cago, was sometimes called the king of
Dudes,' but he was really an impression
ist," at least he made himself felt and
heard. The Times Herald says: "Envious
fellow-men ridiculed him when they passed
him in the streets or hotel corridors or
met him in the cafes. They said that to
meet him was to think that a Ali fire
alarm had just been rung in which needed
the personal attention of Chief Swenie. 1t
was May of this year that ]. Waldere was
in Chicago last. The first time he set foot
the soil of the city that gave him a
start in fame, if not to fortune, was four
teen years ago. Those who knew him then
didn't call him ]. Waldere. He was plain
Kirk, without any frills, but with a stack
of ambition of a certain kind. In time ne
got to the point where he went on the road
for the house and had few diamonds and
was being pressed. He saved his money,
for all the time he was going through the
starvation period that comes into the life
of an aspiring dude just as it does to an
aspiring young lawyer. He didn't use his
middle name until the starving period was
over. That period came when he had
bank account and ten suits of clothes that
had only been tried on. In the meantime
he had given up travelling and had plunged
into mining speculation in CSlora ID, ian, and
somed out as j. Waldere Kirk, and started
in to regulate fashion and dictate the kind
of clothes men folk should wear.
Kirk was first recognized a Sartorial
STARTER in Chicago the year of the worlds
fair He suffered temporary setback be-
cause he blossOmed out in stunning golf
ing suit when golfing hadn't caught on
with the firm grip that it now has. He went
down to the fair grounds one day with the
suit and didn't create a bit of sensation.
People thought he was a freak from the
Midway and passed him up until they could
get time to see him on exhibition with the
rest of his kind. That disguised him and
he packed the suit in moth balls and cam
phor on the bottom of a cedar chest and
devoted his attention thereafter to trousers
that come down to the shoes.
When the fair was over Kirk went to
San Francisco. Ills repertoire" had in
creased to fifteen suits in the meantime.
On the coast he was ridiculed and carfca-
tured. but he didn't mind it bit He felt
that he was man with mission; He as as
shOrt-lived custom of tying mems cuffs with
ribbons He was jeered at by the hood
parade with his famous Willy Boy coat.
But he reveled in the sensation he was
creating.
''Tiring of San Francisco, Kirk returned
to Chicago last spring to prepare for an
onslaught on New York. He likes Chicago
tailors and haberdashers. and when they
had filled all his orders his repertoire had
increased to thirty-fve sartorlal sensations.
He didn't need any pictorial printing to
announce their coming. Even a window
Autograph would have been superfluous-
the suits did their own talking. Kirk failed
to make an impression in New York. For
a few days he was a mild sensation. Then
he dropped into obscurity, to be resurrect-
ed by the shooting affair.
Kirk is a tall. good-natured man, and
makes friends readily He is entertain
ing talker and laughs good-naturedly when
he is sneered at for his dudish attire and
manners,