Bismarck daily tribune., 1902-01-24
Millionaire St. Louis Business Man is
Suspiciously Murdered in a Bath
& 3 house There. u.
Employe is Under Arrest and Robber,
is Believed to Have Been Motive
|. g-as for the Crime. ts "
Injured Man Lives for Several Hour:
after Injury but Does not Re-
gain Senses. ~


day as the result of an assault in
which his skull was fractured while in
the cooling room Of the Vista Turkish
bathhouse, at Grand and Franklin
avenues. sst$ ..
William Strother, the negro attend
ant at the bathhouse, who was on duty
at the time and who notified Mr.. Coop
er's family shortly after midnight of
tae assault, is held as a prisoner at
the Dayton Street police station.
A diamond ring valued at s1,50O and
diamond pin worn by Cooper when
he entered the bath were found in the
basement of the bathhouse. They had
been concealed under the flooring in
a crevice above the top of a joist.
1a A sledge hammer. bearing fresh
blood stains was found in the base
ment soon after the police had been
summoned to the scene of the assault.
The hammer was one which is used IN
the basement for breaking up coal.
/ Strother told the police at the time
of his arrest that two women and a
man had called to see Mr.. Cooper, who
was proprietor of the place, shortly
after II o clock. They came in a car
riage and were preceded by a boy with
note. The colored man said that he
had admitted them to the cooling room
and had returned to the basement. He
did not know, he said, when they de-
parted. a,g1. d 3. .s.e
Strother said that two colored wo-
men-Josie Houston and Florence
Banks-had visited him in the base
ment earlier in the evening.
Erastus Fountain, janitor of the
Vista block, says that, the two women
| were in Strother's company at $3.50
o'clock, when he made his last visit
to the premises. The police say there
is no other evidence than Strother's
statement to prove the visit of two
women and man to the bathhouse.
cooper's Family Informed.
A few minutes after midnight Theo
dore Cooper, son of A. Dean Cooper
answered the door bell at the family
residence, 3713 Washington boulevard
Strother was at the door. 80
"Your fathers been hurt" said the
negro to young Cooper. "He's over at
the bathhouse now." e.
Without, stopping to question the
man closely Cooper hurried to the
Vista block. In the cooling room of
the bathhouse, on cot in the middle
| of the long compartment, he found his
| father, covered by sheet.
Doctors were Immediately called and
the police notified. The latter made
an investigation and discovered the
| blood-stained hammer. Young Cooper
told the police that the ring usually
worn by his father was missing and
they made another search, finding the
ring and pin in the cellar, as already
stated. ..,--gs
| For some time the physicians
worked over Mr.. Cooper, who did not
regain consciousness. They decided
to perform an operation and remove
the pieces of bone from the Jagged
| wound in the skull that were pressing
on the injured mans brain. This was
successfully performed, but Mr.. Coop
er passed away few hours later.
Strother stout1y maintains his in
nocence. Fountain, the janitor, was
taken to the police station but was re-
leased after telling about the presence
of the two colored women in the bath.
house when he left.
| Josie Houston, aged 26, and Florence
Banks. aged 36, the latter married
both colored, are held at the Dayton
Street police station, where they are
being sweated by the police. The
women were arrested as a result of the
statement by Strother, who said the
women had been with him at the bath
| hOnSa dnrinp tho night