The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-08-04
A LOGANSPORT MISER
STORY OF THE CAREER OF -HON-
EST DAVE HUMPHREY.
Notorious Character whose Life His
tory Reads Like q Romance-Hts
Nickname BESTOWED In satire
Lived NJ n Reciuxe In the Mtds,
Of q Town. His Only Food Crack.
ers and Niik-Suspected of Mr.
der-Remorse Preys Upon Him TIL
His Mind Gives Way.


Humphrey. says the Chicago Record. Fer
years ne has conducted a secondhand
store. and lack of companionshlp and
breeding over an alleged murder commit
ted Ave years ago are supposed 10 h. re-
speas!hie for his present condition IL, q
about q years old and in his early man
hood Humphrey was fairly well respect
sd He WAS well read and few men kent
In closer touch with current events. He
was close student of political problems
ana was ever ready To debate the issues
of the party whose cause he championed
Even in his first ventures In business hs
displayed remarkable sagac3,y in driving
a bargain. but later hts dealings BECAME
so questionable that in Il spirit of satire
he was given the sobriquet of Honest
Dave. He is known by that name 10
every citizen Of Logansport and 10 every
patron OF his secondhand store. No one
was allowed 10 enter mis- private room.
and there he ate, slept and struggled with
remorse Until he was taken to jail, a bone
less maniac
He always had a plentiful supply of
money and always purchased any article
of value which was offered to him. He
never refused 10 advance money on any
article. He never paid half what the goods
offered him were worth, and his prices
were invariably so unreasonably high
that purchasers usually left his store in
disgust. AS a consequence of always buy
ing and rarely selling the store filled up
rapidly with odds and ends of every de-
scription. The front was stacked full of
clothing. household utensils, guns, fur
nitare and other bulky articles A two
foot passageway was left through the
center ana any one with sufficient iorti-
tude 10 venture 10 the rear end of il
would ind Honest Dave seated in an
OLD chair in the center of a small space
enclosed by starks of stuff which reached
TO the ceiling. Light entered through a
narrow. dirty window which opened into
an alley. winding stairway led TO the
rooms above. but the peculiar old man
allowed no feet but his own TO mount it,
Half of the space in his little cubby-hoIe
on the first floor is occupied by two time
worn safes and the contents are the re-
suits of years of careful buying of jew
elry. The few who have caught glimpse
OF a portion of the treasures say that the
safes contained watches, rings and dia-
monds TO the value of many thousands
OF dollars. While such extravagant state
ments are not generally believed, there
are many things about Honest Dawes
life to confirm such a belief. For years
he has been suspected by the police Of
being in league with local criminals as
we'll Chicago thieves.
On numerous occasions stolen property
has been found in the old store. but
Humphrey ever ready tongue kept him
out Of trouble. The only time he got into
serious trouble was in October 1892 On
the morning of the 18th of that month
the body of Joseph Stevenson, a worth
less character. was found at the rear of
Humphreys store with his head nearly
blown off by "A charge of buckshot.
Humphrey admitted that he did >2le shoot
ing. saying he fired because he thought
stevenson was burglar He was tried
for murder but there was absolutely moth
ing to go upon but Honest Dawes" story
and he was acquitted. The opinion was
freely expressed. however. that Steven
son was murdered in cold blood. He was
known to Humphrey and may have gone
TO the alley window to ask for admittance.
From the day of the tragedy Humphrey
showed signs OF q change. He became
more quarrelsome. avoided companion
ship OF everybody except the lowest
creatures and would sit for hours on an
old store box in fr,nt of his store and
mutter 10 himself A sudden sound would
startle him beyond measure and he APP
peared TO be fearful of some impending
blow. He evinced abject terror at any
mention of the Stevenson killing and
about year ago ii began to be remarked
that Honest Dave" was going crazy
People avoided him more than ever and
be was only too glad TO escape attention.
Each morning he bought a quart of
milk from "A dairyman and this with
few crackers and sometimes a morsel of
meat was his daily diet. He did not ex-
pend cent unless IL was absolutely
necessary, and ii became. apparent that
he was either starving himself or that
disease Wa making inroads on his sys-
tenn. Recently he would not show himself
for days at a time and visit from the
humane officer would Invariably result
in a vol4ey OF curses. Saturday morning
Honest Dave stepped from the door of
his establishment braudishing an ugly
looking revolver and filling the air with
demoniacal shouts. People scurried for
cover aud he accelerated their movements
by threatening Ia shoot. \ telephone
message brought three policemen to the
scene and Humphrey having retired TO
the interior Of hts building they stationed
themselves near the door The old man
reappeared a few minutes later and was
GisarDed after short struggle He
fought desperately against going 10 Jail
bur WAS finally put behind the bars He
| has Gained down somewhat but r7liitters
iDcohsrently about Stevenson. his dia-
| monds and the old store. He refuses 10
! eat anything and sleeps but little Ply
| siCIams say he is perfect wreck and that
| his death is only q question of few
| weeks. sheriff Adams has the keys TO
| the store and VIII explore the interior Of
| il and inspect the contents OF the nays,eri-
! oUs safes as soon as the court appoints
| a guardian for Humphrey. The store *
| watched night and day 10 prevent any
| attempt at robbery.