Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1912-10-23
JOHN sCHRANK, THE CRANK.
Investigation Shows WOuld-be Assas-
sin Unbalanced for Years.

New York, Oct. 17.-Inspector Jo-
seph Faurot, II Of the expert identi-
fication men of. the New York detec-
tive bureau, will spend the next fort
night gathering every available de-
tail regarding John Schrank's life in
New York city. The police declare
that he came from ancestry in which
insanity was frequent and had prob.
ably been slightly unbalanced for
several years. The u%nhinging of his
mind is believed to date either from
the death Of his aunt in 1907 or from
the death Of a girl friend in the Slo-
cum disaster.
Schrank Is a native Of the village
Of Erding, in Northern Bavaria. Sew
eral members of his family still re-
side there and are in very good re-
pute. He came to this country with
al uncle named Planning. Schrank
at the time Of his departure for
America, l6 years ago, was regarded
as a most eccentric character, and he
was unable to secure employment in
the vicinity. He has been carried on
the army mobilization lists as q de-
serter since he left.
His father Is said to have suffered
from ~delusions, and his grandfather,
a wealthy Bavarian brewer, also ex-
hibited unsoundness of mind. The
Flammings became saloon-keepers on
the East Side and prospered. Eight
years ago they retired with a COM
Portable little fortune invested in real
estate. Upon their death this went
to Schrank.
Mrs. Planning died in a hospital
in 1907 and her husband died a few
years later. Schrank, who was de-
voted to his aunt, made a scene in
the ROOF where she died, refusing to
leave her body until he was forcibly
elected. He again became violent at
the funeral, and for several days re-
manned at the grave, weeping. After
the death Of his uncle Schrank moved
his scanty effects to a little hotel in
Brooklyn, a block from the cemetery,
and for days thereafter he spent
hours at his aunt's grave, which he
covered with flowers.
Police headquarters is holding a
bundle of letters and other papers
taken from Schrank's room in the
Brooklyn hotel. The nature Of these
documents has not been announced.
The man left the Brooklyn address
nine months ago and took up his
residence at the Canal Street lodging
house, where he lived until about
September goth, when his pursuit of
Roosevelt began. An effort will be
made to find out If Col. Roosevelt,
while police commissioner in New
York, ever caused Flammings' sa-
loon 10 be shut up for excise viola
tions.
Friends Of the family declare that
1T was always an orderly place and
that Schrank must have been mad If
he said his hatred dated from the day
the policemen raided the place.
Schrank has no police record in
this city. An investigation of the sa-
loon licenses issued on the lower
East Side shows that license No.
1866 vas issued on April 80, 1905, to
John Schrank, as proprietor. The To-
cation Of the saloon is given as $40
East Tenth street. The place Is now
q grocery.
The conviction that John Schrank,
Roosevelt's assailant, is insane is
expressed in a statement given out
by three prominent New York alien
lists, Drs. S. G. Macdonald, William
Mahon and Max Schlapp. The state
ment adds:
ut is apparent that R%oosevelt's as
sailant belongs to the class of mental
detectives who are potential crimi-
nails, liable at any moment to commit
deeds OF violence upon the slightest
provocation. There is no way of Sc
curing protection against them"
ALL SYMPATHY FOR ROOSEVELT