The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-04-08
TELLS WEIRD STURl
SUDDEN RETURN OF CAPTAIN
MURPHY OF VOLUNTEERS.
He Was at the Head of the Branch
of Volunteers of America; Had
Collected 200 Belonging to the
Organization; Disappeared; Now
Declares He Was Kidnapped; Po-
lice Discredit His Tale; Arrested.

st. Paul, March 3l.-Captain limo
thy Murphy head of the st. Paul
corps of the Volunteers of America,
missing since Monday, March 81, is in
Jail in st. Paul. His temperance was
as sudden and as mysterious as his
disappearance. The police, discredting
lis story, arrested him. For while
Murphy is back, the 81, 250 in money
belonging to the Volunteers which he
had in his pockets when he disappear
ed has not been found.
John Higgins, secretary of the Vol
unteers, was in Murphy's home, 34j
Aurora avenue. late Tuesday night.
Suddenly at ll:25 the door bell rang.
Rushing outside, Higgins found "A
man fiat on his back on the steps lead
ing up to the porch. 1t was Murphy.
and he was unconscious. A handker
chief had been tied over his mouth and
nose. DR.. E. J. Brown was called. He
said Murphy had been drugged either
with opium or choral.
Murphy Tells His Story.
In order to make his story clear. let
it be said that Murphy was last seen
March 2l. at 1870 p. m. when he left
the Woodlawn Park Baptist church.
where he and other Volunteers were
to be guests at a supper He told MS
wife he was going to a drug store one
block away to telephone fellow
worker. Now, Murphy says, he never
reached that drug store. Fifty feet
from the church. he says. he noticed
an auto approaching. In it were two
men, and one of them lost his hat.
1t fell right near Murphy, who picked
it up and gave it. he says, to the
man in the machine.
Kidnapped, He Says.
As he approached. the man in the
rear seat. who had lost the hat opened
the door and as Murphy offered the
hat the man seized him by the arm
instead he says, pulled him into the
machine and knocked him down, while
the other man started the motor at
terrific speed. That is the last Muir
ply SAYS he can remember until he
awOkc i'm dark room in basement.
1t was near railroad, lie says, be-
cause he could hear the exhaust from
locomotives, but he could not look out.
The robbers stripped him, he says, and
took the Volunteers $3.50 and his
watch One of the robbers, Murphy
declares, said this was easier than
holding up Carvings.
Has No Recollection.
After that, Murphy says, he has no
recollection of what happened to him
and no notion OF time. He cannot tell
how he reached his house. when he
regained consciousness in his own bed
he professed to believe he had been
absent only one day and night. Later,
at the police station, he said he re-
icalIed having been fed four times by
the two men, and asserted that the
coffee given him each time was black
and bitter. When he was put to bed
first. search of his clothing disclosed
60 cents in silver and $40 in Cana
dian paper money. He does not ex-
plain how he got it, nor where his
uniform overcoat was substituted for
the plain one he had Oh when found.
He was arrested at 1890 Il. m. yes.
terday and was taken to the central
police station where he was examined
) by Drs. A. J. Dohm, Arthur w.
Sweeney and Alex. r. Goldin. They
found his heart action normal and
declared there was nothing the matter
with him except possibly the bang
over effects of liquor or drugs.
Police Are Skeptical.
/ The police say Murphy's beard Is
not long enough for his absence, un
less his alleged captors shaved him.
How he got the Canadian money is
another complication. The police be-
lieve Captain Murphy made flying
visit to the far north. The missing
money was collected in st. Paul OIL
ST. Patrick's day through the sale OF
tags and was to be used for the cree
ton of home for working girls.
Murphy drew the money from the
bank in the morning of the day he
vanished, demanding and getting twelve
800 bills and one $50 bill. That
afternoon he met with committee
which was to apply the sum on the
purchase of site. Action was defer
red and as it was past banking hours
| Mrrpbv kpnt tho money in his DOcket.