New-York tribune., 1908-05-13
THE" ALLEN DEAD
CORONER INVESTIGATING.
Foul Play Suspected IN Fate of
Notorious Gambler.

death in ordering an autopsy He halted the
enbalming of the body, and early this morning
examined the relatives and household of the
former poolroom man and gambler.
Aliens physician, DR.. Hermann Booker, of
No. 102 East 6Sth street, said his patient died
from locomotOr GtaXia. but one of the dead
mans brothers, Martin Van Buren Allen. of
No. $50 West 146th street, declared it his belief
that Allen was the victim of foul play.
The coroner not apprised of the death
until midnight, although Allen died at 1880
| o'clock in the evening. He was informed that
Allen had been i'll and out of his mind since
| last Thursday and since that day had been in
the care of a trained nurse, who told the coroner
| he had found the sick disturbed both physi-
caly and mentally, and had been told that Mr..
Allen insane
| Allen leaves three brothers-one half
| brother-and all were in the house when Coro
| ner Hamburger made his investigation They
are William Allen, the hafbrother; Martin
| Van Buren Allen and frank Allen Martin Van
| B. Allen said that he had been sent for last
| Thursday. but that persons in the house had
| told him The" believed that he (Martin)
trying to poison him and that this angered
| him he stayed away Last night when he
| Informed that his brother dying, Martin
| hurried downtown He emphatic the
| subject of foul play.
ne tolu tfle coroner 1neOCOre ndd SAID 10 at
| least a dozen people that he believed he had
| been poisoned
The also learned that so fearful was
Allen that he would be poisoned that he would
not take drink of water without first seeing
some one else take sip of it.
The coroner nterrogated the other brothers.
and they both said Allen had been fearful of
being poisoned, but this, they said was due
alone to his disordered state of mind
William Allen, according to the coroner at
first denied that his brother had talked of
poison, but when It suggested that he
think again he said to have made the ad-
mission that what Martin said was true.
The Allen, the "wickedest man in New York"
who defed and crowbar and writ more
than fifty years. seventy-five years old. His
career dates back to the palmy days of the Mer-
Ger street precinct. when that place the
sporting section of New York. 1t began in the
SOS, when Allen who had served his country hon
orably in the Civil War returned to New York and
set himself up the king of gamblers. the sport
Of sports.
The records show that he had been indicted time
and time again; that he had been arraigned in the
police courts nearly two hundred times; that he
had been in the Appellate Division of the Supreme
Court three times; that he had been in the Court
of Appeals twice. and that he had been in the
federal twice.
When he first taken IL, about two years ago
him that he through with the gambling bust
ness forever. Il would have quit long ago. he
said, but didn't feel like backing down under
fire. I always thought the Percy-Ciray law was ur-
constitutional, and that TO fine inprison me for
violating it while other gamblers being pro-
tected by the authorities the rankest kind of
injustice That's why L hung on
BEGINNING OF GAMBLING CAREER
Allen became a gambler through accidentally
meeting professional who took interest in him
and initiated him into the business He born
in the old 9Th Ward and began his living
when he ten years old. lie worked in a
butcher shop owned by ''Bill" Pool. who after
ward murdered by Lew" Baker. During the Civil
War ne served s lieutenant in the 25th New York
Volunteers and honorably discharged its
close.
His two brothers, Wesley and Jesse Allen, who
We're better known ''Wess' Jess were
bright of the sporting life in New York
forty-odd years ago. when The was known as
the wiCkedest man in town Besides being known
to the police gambler, The" had the reputa-
tion of being of the most successful barroom
''scrappers' in New York. Once he got into n
fight with Italian named Carrera. who tried re-
peatedly to stab Allen. After a few minutes of
rolling the floor Allen managed to get hold of
a heavy mineral water bottle, and with it he
knocked the Italian unconscious, after the latter
had nearly bitten his off.
Ed Malloy "Thes" partner. was shot and |
killed by pistol in the hands of Allen in 1878 !
The murder indictment. however, dismissed |
after Allen told his story in court.
OF his civil War record he used to say: My !
record? l went into the first battle of the |
civil War, and remained in the service until the |
last fought. Six months after enlistng l |
was assigned to the secret service. | assumed the !
role of a fugitive from the Confederate States. |
went to Montreal. had a reward of $4,000 placed on
my head, and to get information for my govern
ment. joined the raiders in their attacks on ST.
Aibans Vt. | captured there by the United |
States forces and sentenced TO be executed the
day. A telegram from Secretary Stanton Gen !
eral Schoheld, in command of st. Adams "a, ed me-
That. l suppose. the narrowest escape from |
death l ever had was Henry Ward Reecher |
who, by telegram. informed Stanton my plight.
Beecher billed to lecture in ST. Adams the !
day of my arrest
Aliens slight figure (he stood ) feet 6 inches in
height for the greater part of half century |
familiar Greenwich Village. was credited
with running the West End Club. No so Sixth
avenue, for more than quarter ot century. |
ATTACKED BY BOSS TWEED.
Away back in the old days Boss" Tweed at
tackled Alien. There may have been a reason for
the attack by Tweed and his subordinates but
Allen never gave up he put This
after the of Malloy and Allen dated his
solitary ife'' from the hours following his
after killing Of Malloy, when he found himself
saying: It's against the world
from On this side Of the Jordan River
I'll never stand and deliver"
The" Aliens wife a very religious woman,
and The" used to butt in OF her pr-
vate work among the very poor in the old Green
xich Village section.' The known to the
majority of garrcts and easements in the section
and his money always given freely and plenti-
fully In his lifetime ne paid the funeral expenses
Of nearly four hundred persons, men, women and
children. They used to call Sixth avenue at about
sth street Rock Hollow"
Alien adopted five children in his lifetime. His
own daughter. Minnie died young, but grand
daughter survives. one of the adopted children is