The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-01-24
WHAI PAkkEk UlU
Observation-Disclosures From
Wichita and Give Facts.
State He Did Not Say He In
tended to License Joints.
BRANDED AS FALSE.
Story About Visiting Joints is
Also Exploded.
Councilman Griley Tells How
Story Started.
MIR. Parker Will Return From
Wichita This Evening.
BRANDED AS FALSE.

ct do not believe that Mayor Parker
intimated to anyone that he expects to
license joints in Topeka
Bergundthal.
Mayor Parker did not tell anybody
that he would license saloons in To-
peka-' Councilman Warner.
Il believe that the report that Mayor
Parker said he would license joints in
Topeka is a lie. ie.''-Councilman Joseph
Griley.
Couneilmen Bergundthal Warner ana
Griley returned Thursday afternoon
from Wichita, and they strongly refute
the charge which has been made
against Mayor Parker by the morning
CAPITAL
1t is further shown conclusively by
these councilmen that Mayor Parker
did not visit Joints while in Wichita
for the purpose of finding out how to
license them.
Mayor Parker will not return from
Wichita till 4-4O o., lock this afternoon.
Councilman Snattinger, City Attorney
Spencer. City Clerk SQuireS, City En-
syineer NIcCabe and ex-City Attorney w.
A. 5. Bird are with him. The rest of
the party returned yesterday morning
and yesterday afternoon
In spite of the fact that the members
of the city council had nearly all re-
turned from Wichita before O'Clock
Thursday afternoon, the Capital this
in city political matters, made no effort
to find out the facts, but preferred to
print a collection of clippings from
Wichita papers, and a fake dispatch
from the town that made fake dis
patches famous, under its usual vel
low headlines, only they were four col
ums wide instead of five.
The Wichita correspondent" of the
Capital says: This was the verdict
given today by Mayor Albert Parker
after a thorough inspection of the
Wichita joints; The Wichita plan of
regulating the joints is all right. be-
lieve 1 will try the same plan in To-
peka in dealing with the joint question
there -
Mayor Parker himself says: There
. is not a word of truth in the interview
attributed to me by the Topeka Capital
1t is an outrage. 1t is altogether false.
/ have not given any interview to any
newspaper since / came to Wichita /
did not visit the joints
HOW THE STORY STARTED.
Councilman Joseph Griley gives the
following account of how the story got
started that Mayor Parker was visiting
all the joints in Wichita:
1T all started with a man named
k1rbaugh, one of the proprietors of the
Royal saloon. Kirbaugh had several
interviews in the papers telling about
how Mayor Parker visited his saloon.
Well L knew he was mistaken, and
went to him and said:
Are you Mr. Kirbaugh q
That's my name he said
Did you talk to Mayor Parker when
he came in here2' / asked,
Yes, l was glad to see him. too
You set 'em uD to Parker, sup
pose?'
Sure thing. Parker took whisky
Straight, like mani
What sort of a looking man is Par
whiskers'
Well I said. your story is a good
ma fI,s,t
anything, and his whiskers are black as
a crow
Il Investigated the story and found
that some man had actually been in
quite a number of the saloons at Wich-
1ta that day, pretending that he was
Mayor Parker of Topeka and working
the proprietOrs for drinks and cigars.
Kirbaugh said that he filed up Par
ker's pockets with cigars before he left.
Parker never smokes, you know. l be-
heve kirbaugh was telling the truth
but think somebody worked him.
GR1I4E4 LIKES WICHITA
Councilman Griley makes no secret
of the fact that he likes Wichita's sys-
tenn OF conducting the whisky business.
HE was elected to the city council as a
resubmisSionist. and he approves of the
license system
In Wichita says Mr. Griley. ssthev
get about $4,000 a month out of licenses,
and l did not see anybody drunk while
| was there. I saw three drunken men
after 1 got back to Topeka yesterday
afternoon. Everything is under police
protection and inspection there
THE mayor of Wichita and the chief
OF police invited Mayor Parker and all
the city officers and councilmeu to go
up into some of the gambling places
believe that all the party except Mr..
McCabe and myself went up to a couple
of swell gambling places They were
not joints, and 1 think it was perfectly
proper for the party to go up if they
wanted to"
BERGUNDTHAL'S STATEMENT
Councilman w. S. BergundthaI saws.
Mayor Parker. City Attorney Spencer.
City Clerk Squires. and nearly all of
the councilmen went up together into a
couple of gambling houses. Just to see
what they looked like. Most of us had
never seen inside of such a place The
mayor OF Wichita and some p0Iicernar
went with us to show US how thev run
things there. I do not believe that
Mayor Parker intimated to anyone thar
ne expects to license joints in Topeka
WHAT ]. S. WARNER SAYS
Councilman James s. Warner tells
this story of the trip to the gambling
houses: We all went up togetbeT- irto
the gambling houses and saw the men
sitting there behind the tables ready to
accommodate. anybody who showed n
desire to play. The mayor of Wicbita
explained to US what the different
games are, and how they are condIIct
ed We did nothing worse than a
minister might do-nothing worse than
ministers have done right here in this
town. We wanted to see the inside ,.f
a Wichita gambling place, and we saw
it There was no joint about it.
THAT attack on Mayor Parker in the
morning Capital is unwarranted and