The San Francisco call., 1908-12-01
AGED VICTIM OF
THUGS ASSAULT
DIES OF HURTS
Mystery Wells Brutal Crime in
Lodging House and Battles
the Police
Many Peculiar Features of MUIR
der Serve to Make Case
More Complicated
Robbery Believed to Be Motive
for Fatal Attack on Old
Grand Army Man

?
aged. Grand Army man and lodging
house keeper, who was assaiied by foot
pads last night died at I:5o o'clock
this afternoon, the victim of murder
.airaling the notorious escapades of
sieiisen and Dsbn6r. the gas pipe
thugs who spread terror through San
Francisco.
The police today are baffied. Just as
the police in san Francisco were baf1ed
when lone victims.6f Dabner and Stem
sen We're found sprawled in secluded
places or i'm their own shops with
crushed heads and dying gasps Inves-
tigation Of the assault on Jurgens was
begun by the local police Immediately
upon the discovery .of the unconscious
lodging house keeper. swaddled in bed
clothes in one of the vacant rooms of
his lodging house. the 81. John, in
Twelfth street. between Broadway and
Franklin.
VIGILANCE CONTINUES
The vigilance of the police continued
Throughout the night. the watch of pa
trolfiaen going upon beats at midnight
being apprssed or the crime and in
structsd to look for suspicious charac-
ters. The red light signal was kept on
and the .neighborhood Of the St. John
house was searched with care. yet no
clew.ro the criminals which might lead
70 the clearing Of. the. mystery was
found This morning Detective Holland
worked along the whole line Of inves-
legation suggested by the associations
and habits Of the aged veteran, but
there was only one tangible lead un-
earthed for tie police TO follow.
This solitary bit Of information came
from Patrolmsn McC-eady and Special
Policeman Walter Burns. WHO are on
the beats in which the ST John house
IS situated. They reported to Captain
Of Detectives Petersen that last night
sar about 10 o'clock. approximately the
hour Of the murder, they saw two men
walk hastily in Twelfth street east and
turn into Franklin They believe that
the men came out of the St. John.
FOUND BY LODGERs
Il was hoped last night that some
available information could be obtained
from Jurgens when he was found by
". s. Dunbar and s. c. Jones, two lodg-
ers in the St John. They had been ac-
customed TO sit al nights with Jurgens
in his Office and last.night missed him
al about o'clock, when he is believed
To have left the house When they
found the battered form lying on bed
IN an unrented room Of the house Jur-
gems even then was unconscious.
la the door Of the room. according to
Jones, were hanging the bunch of keys
carried by the old landlord. Apparently
he had been asked TO show a room and
had unlocked the door, leaving the
keys hanging. and stepped inside Once
in the apartment. is Jones explanation
TO the police. the old man probably was
struck on the head With an iron king
bolt This is a heavy piece of solid
metal used in the construction of
wa gOns and because Of the thickness
Of the bar and its weight il was a more
fearful weapon than the pipes en-
ployed by Dabner and Siemsen. It was
found hidden under the mattress
At the first blow Jurgens. too old to
make resistance against armed assail-
ants. fell to the floor, for there are
pools Of blood near the bed. Not con
tent with telling the old man, the
thugs f1ayed him brutishly, and when
The unconscious man was taken to the
receiving HOcHiAdl l. StJcicAt N0Al4NS
we're found on his head, ranging in
severity from fractures of the skull 10
ugly contusions and decorations. Blood
streaming from them saturated the
garments Of the old man and ran across
the mattress Of the bed on which he
was placed by his foes
PECULIARITIEs IN MURDER
Many peeuliarities in the murder
have mystified the police When Jones
and Dunbar pressed into the room they
found the coat and vest Of the victim
laid across a chair. In a pocket Of the
coat was a blood saturated handker-
chief. which. il is supposed, was used
by the thugs in an effort to check the
nou Of blood caused by the first blows.
The shoes were taken from Jurgens'
feet. as II the assailants,. finding his
rIfelt hopeless and terror stricken
with the potential consequences of their
crime. had started TO put him, disrobed,
into the bed.
The victim. as found by Jones and
Dunbar. was breathing heavily from his
Injuries and because Of q heavy blanket
rolled over his head. Presumably this
was done 10 stifie outcries before the
thugs had escaped, yet it may have
been another attempt TO conceal the
bloodletting as long as possible. Still
another significant explanation of this
snothering with a blanket comes Of
the police knowledge that "yeggmen'
Invariably cover the heads of their
beaten down victims wherever it is
'possfble. usually tearing the coat tails
over the head and face.
ROBBERY As MOTIVE
A cursory investigation of the uncon-
scious form by the police last night
while it lay in the rooming house
awaiting the preparations of the ambu-
lance revealed a motive for the crime
vet even IL was obscured by circum-
stances. The old mans silver watch
was gone torn from the chain, and
small change was taken from the
pockets. but in the left hip pocket was
= wallet containing $22 belonging TO
Lyons post, Grand Army of the Repub-
lie. IT was widely known in the st.
John house and to acquaintances of the
oF man that he was ouartermaster of
f1Js post and collected dues and carried
money for an emergency fund, out Of
which he paid sick benefits to members.
il is the police theory that this fact
LED 10 the murder for robbery. yet IL
is unexpljcable at present how the
thugs took only small amount OF coin,
Excursion Sunday. san Mateo. Informa-
elou 1005 MonadnOck bid. S6c round tr1p@