The times., 1899-08-12
.GREBLE KILLED MOBLEY
The Guilty Boy, Sixteen Years Old,
Makes Confession.
A SeIf-Defence Claim Set Up by the
AssaiIant - BrOomstick Used in
the other Participants In the
Fight observation-disclosures To-day.

the Other Participants In the
Fight Observation-Disclosures Today.
The responsibility for the death OF Kirby
Mobley the seventeen -year-old boy VINO
| died at the Emergency Hospital early yes
terday morning, as the result of injuries
received in a fight in the triangular park
ing at Tenth and 1 Streets on Thursday
night was established yesterday by the
complete confession of William Wallace
Greble, sixteen years old, who is now under
arrest at No / station. The young man
made a clean breast of the affair, and stated
positively that he alone struck Mobley, and
that he did it in self-defence.
Greble claims that the blow was struck
with a broomstick, piece of which was
found on the scene by the police shortly
after the affair happened. He exonerates
ali the other boys who were in the crowd
during the pitched battle at the park, and
shows no disposition to implicate anyone.
Because of his straightforward manner, the
youth has created an excellent impression
with the police. He expresses great sorrow
because of the sad ending of the affair, and
says he had no idea the blow he struck
would prove fatal, or even result in an in
jury.
After Greble had voluntarily taken the
blame of the affair on himself the other
boys under arrest with the exception OF
Gordon Krause, seventeen years old, were
released Krause was with Greble in the
park when the fatal blow was struck, and
is being held as the principal witness. The
boys released were Arthur F. Fenton, four
I'LL
LIE Roy Krause, thirteen years; Abraham
and Malcom Hamline, aged respectively fif-
teen and seventeen years; George w. Lucas,
sixteen years; David Fowle, twelve years.
and Grover Cleveland fourteen years of
age. All were released without bond. Sam
uel T. Stiles, twenty-three years OF age.
arrested in connection with the affair, who
was charged with carrying concealed wea-
pons, was released on $50 collateral. The
boys named were arrested by Policemen
Edwards, Burton, Warren. and Dodge, who,
under the direction of SergeantS Moore and
! Sprinkle, worked hard and faithfully on the
case.
An Inquest Ordered.
Now that the responsibility for the death
of Mobley has been established. as far as
tho police are concerned, everything is in
readiness for the inquest. which Acting
Coroner Glazebrook has ordered convened
at No station at IL o'clock this morning.
Acting Deputy Coroner Mcdonald, at the
direction of the acting coroner, performed
an autopsy on the remains of Mobley yes
terday afternoon. The autopsy revealed
| that death was due to hemorrhage OF the
brain resulting from lacerated tissues and
rupture of the cerebral artery, and from
compression. caused by the formation Of
blood clot. The blow which caused death
| fell ON the skull just to the rear and about
| two inches above the left ear. All the
| boys who have been under arrest in the
case will be examined at the inquest this
morning.
| Young Greble is bright youth He will
| be seventeen years of age on August 16.
He gives his occupation as a messenger
and is the son of James J. Greble, local
manager of the money order department
| of the United States Express Company,
who lives at 931 Rhode Island Avenue
northwest.
In speaking of the death of Mobley and
| the fight which led up to ii, Greble stated
! TO Times reporter last night that he
struck the blow which caused Mobleys
/ death
81 am anxious to tell the truth about the
matter" said he, land do not want to i'm
plieate the other boys, as they had nothing
TO do with the unfortunate part of the af-
fair. 1 had engaged in the fight with the
! other boys at the start and during it was
struck in the back by Mobley with brick
which he held in his hand. He ran before
I could get at him. We all separated and
later when crowd of us were in the park
Mobley appeared. All the boys, with the
exception of Gordon Krause and my
! self ran off, while we stood our
ground. Mobley. whom l knew as
Kirby, struck Krause and knocked him
| over. He then turned and struck me and
was shielding his head at the time, as
though he expected me to strike. Just as
! | struck at his arm Mobley lowered it and
made lunge at me. The blow I struck
fell on the boys head and he sank to the
pavement. calling oh, Harry He then
| yelled murder and police and l became
frightened and ran.
When l learned that the boy had gone
TO the hospital l was more frightened,
and went home in the hope that the
police would not know that 1 was mixed
up in the affair. | was not surprised when
the police got me out OF bed early in the
morning, but was not only amazed but
sorry and worried when they told ME Mob
| ley was dead. The police did not suspect
that l had struck him, and though / was
tempted to tell them that l did, / re-
Trained from doing so in the hope that
nothing more would be learned When |
heard them locking up other boys it was
more than / could stand. I did not want
20 see others suffer for what I had done.
and made a clean breast of the affair, so
that the boys might be released. / knew
that I had struck Mobley in self-defence
and | felt that nothing would be done with
me. When they see that the blow was
struck In self defence they will not do any
thing with me, will they?"
GrebIe,s story Corroborated-
Gordon Krause, who is held as the prin-
cipal witness. lives with his parents at
1921 New York Avenue, where his father
conducts a paper hanging business.
Krause is an electrician, and Is seventeen
years OF age. He corroborated the story
told by Greble as far as the striking of
the fatal blow, but claims that he did not
see the blow struck. He says he was
struck By Mobley and knocked over When
he got on his feet he saw Mobley sinking
on the ground and heard him say, ''Oh,
Harry" He was frightened and ran. Gre
BILE was standing and looking at Mobley
when he left. Krause was arrested at his
home shortly after II o'clock. He did not
know that Greble struck the blow which
felled Mobley, but supposed that he had
He saw Greble with a broom handle In
his hand just before the Mobley boy ap-
| peared In the park. The broom handle
was about three feet long, thick at one
end and thin at the other. II was the
| thin end of the stick which the police
found. and it Is very light. The opinion
prevailed that it would have been impos-
- Ill