The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-12-06
AMBITION OF KAUFMAN FAMILY.

Speaking OF police stupidity and queer
crimes said The captain musinsly, re-
minds me OF my first big case, how
cutely I worked il and what a failure It
turned out TO be from the public point
of view
odd Man Kaufman was cashier or the
Dexter National Bank, and lived in &C.
dar Grove. a suburb chiefly noted for
exclusive society Half the population
kept poor trying 10 cut a wide social
swath, and the other half lived IN misery
from envying their neighbors-
'-Old man Kaufman overlooked that.
and was the best. perhaps the only friend
had amongst the sweiis-
He had 4 big family, about seven
children-all grown young women OF the
'high-society' kind-and they didn't do a
thing TO the told mans finances What
with summer tours and winter gayeties,
pink teas. soirees. theater parties ana all
that sort Of doings, they kept the old
fellows nose TO the grindstone for true.
lie didn't have q thing in the world but
his home and his salary, and don't
think that was over three or four thou
sand. ] used TO sit with him IN the train
pretty often, and as he was stuck on
talking and I wasn't. I came to know
good deal about his affairs.
THE black sheep of Cedar Grove
owned the house next door to Kaufman 5,
and the chief ambition of the cashier was
to buy out his Objectionable neighbor.
His name was Heclsburg; he was q pro-
fessional gambler. and his wife was what
the suburbanites call vulgar. Once
about every month the Heckburgs would
have what they called house party.
but nobody ever came TO II except lot
OF hash-looking guys from town. They
used TO raise merry h at them parties,
and YOU could hear the poker chips rattle
all night long. That made the kaufman
ladies wild, and as Heckburgs' was a
diuky sort Of d cottage, built right up
against kaufman's lot, the old fellow,
mis- wife and his heightened daughters
had their hearts set on buying IL
1t amt worth more than 5000 kauf-
man explained to me one night, and I
could have had it for $500 last summer
when Heckburg went broke on the races.
I'll get him in the same fix again, hope.
lie won't sell now. Never viii sell so
long as he's flush. but the first time he
goes broke III get the place. Last time
didn't have the cash. and. gambler
ike, he wanted it right off-wouldnt
wait a day. I'm ready for him now,
though
And Kaufman tapped his breast and
whispered, got 5000 IN my inside
pocket. Carry it there all the time.
ItauS lot t1tchblIS 70 20 bIOAt. lttu
the old man that he was foolish to carry
SO much cash around with him, but he
said Heckburg was one of those men that
couldn't be induced TO let go for anything
but ready money. I carry it in my in
side vest pocket, and nobody knows it
but you and me. he said. l was a little
surprised TO know that he had SO much
cash OF his own.
"Of course. l didn't live in the swell
part of Cedar Grove. but at that time
my room wasn't more than six or seven
blocks from Kaufman's. 1t was about 3
clock one winter morning, just before
Christmas, when 1 was routed out of
bed by Kaufman's coachman. I lit the
gas and let him in. and while 1 was
dressing he told me that the old man
had just been murdered. Taint moren't
three days ago he told me if anything
ever happened to call you, and so came
here first