The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-05-25
BAD BOYS KNOW N
Those Who Desecrated High
School Auditorium.
Harold Galbreath Makes Com
plete Confession.
HE WAS NOT ALONE
Gives Names of Three Others
Who Assisted.
Boys Are All Sons of Well
Known Families.

Four young men. every one of
them old enough to know better were
this morning found to be implicated
in defacing the interior of the High
school assembly hall, through the
confession of one of the gang.
The four boys who committed the
outrages are:
Harold Galbreath. 224 Greenwood
avenue.
George Willard. 1O4 Greenwood
avenue.
Quay Diven, 613 Lincoln street.
Robert D. McGifert, 1924 Topeka
avenue, senior in the High school.
The police have been working hard
on the case since it was first reported
Monday morning and there were sew
eral threads of evidence which led to
the apprehension of the guilty parties
Young Galbreath was located by the
police this morning, and the evidence
! which had accumulated around him
was pretty strong, and when sweated
he made a complete confession, which
implicated all the members of the
gang.
All the boys come of prominent
families. Galbreath is the son of Jo-
seph L. Galbreath. who is a special
agent for the Shawnee Fire insurance
company. Galbreath is about 20
years of age, and was high school
student until a few weeks ago.
George Willard. is a son of F. G..
Willard the artist. He was formerly
a high school pupil and was at one
time a star on the high school football
team.
Quay Diven is a Freshman in Wash
burn college. He is a son of d. @
on Kansas avenue. Diven graduated
from the high school a year or so ago.
Diven developed a fondness for high
school depredations during his career
there and was almost always interest
ed in the parties of students that broke
into the school and committed little
acts of vandalism in the spirit of class
prestige.
McGiffert is a member of the senior
class and was one of the brightest
pupils in the class.
Late this afternoon Galbreath was
the only one of the boys who had been
arrested. The other boys, however,
will be arrested as soon as they are
found. George Willard went to Mar
celine Sunday night to work for a
Santa F'e civil engineering party. and
he will return to Topeka at once in
response to message from his father.
AS soon as Galbreath had made his
confession, Judge T. F. Carver, who is
handling the case for the board of
education, went to the county attor-
ney's office where he swore out COM
plants of a criminal nature for the ar
rest of each of the offenders. They
on a civil action charging them with
defacing public property.
Ga1breath's Confession.
The police officials has been hot on
the trail of the offenders since early
Monday morning. AS soon as the in
formation had been conveyed to the
police. Chief Eaton, and Officers Hut
ton, Wonderly and Lawson went to
work on the case. Chief Eaton said
this Afternoon in talking with a State
Journal reporter:
1.-The boys will be prosecuted to the
full extent of the law. OF course 1 re-
gret very much that the boys should
have been connected with such promi-
nent families, but that does not tighten
the offense one bit. The boys will be
prosecuted on both civil and criminal
suit. All the boys were old enough to
know better and the law must take its
course
Galbreath in his confession to the police
said: I'VE did not intend when we went
into the building to commit any vulgari-
ties We just meant to do little painting
such classes have always done there
But we got started and wanted to do a
good job, and in our enthusiasm we went
too far. We did not at the time, I don't
believe we realized that we were commit
ting such a serious offense. I know I
didn't"