The Washington herald., 1912-10-17
LISTERS ind Papers Found h
Rooms Dispute Thsory
Of Insanity.
POLICE SEARCH EFFECTS
Stog Of llfs Is Ts|d 10 Docsasnis
Which Als Found 10 Room
at Hotel,

At Hotel,
New York. Oct. 16-Among the letters
and other papers found among ths ef-
fects Of John SchFank. In the Homestead
Hotel. - Cooper Street. Brooklyn, there
were no writings referring in any way
to the mans feeling against Col. Roose-
welt.
Among the papers were Schrank's birth
| certificate. . brief history Of his life
| scribbled on paper, poems praising Kos
suth. Kosiusko and other patriots. and
| . letter from his mother asking why he
did not write oftener since coming to
! America
Most Of the letters are from friends
whom he knew as q boy In Bavaria
Most Of these letters are Of . pleading
nature. The writers plead with him not
to forget his mother and request him to
write her often.
The police declared after . careful ex-
animation had been made OF the con-
tents. no literature Of an anarchistic ma
ture had been found.
Schrank's birth certificate showed that
his full name was John Nepomuk
Schrank. and stated that he was born
March s. 1878. at Erding. Bavaria The
certificate shows that his father was
Michael Schrank and his mothers name
was Catherine. There was also a GER
tifcate Of baptism in the City Church at
Erding by Curator Myerbocher.
Father Left No Money.
In the batch Of letters. some of which
were written years ago. was q letter
from the Royal Court Of Bavaria, which
informed Schrank that his father had
left no money. Schrank often told
friends. the police learned to-day. that
worth several thousand dollars It Is
said that Schrank several times at
tempted to borrow money from store
keepers on the strength Of this story.
but as rule failed. -.
The history Of his life. written by him.
self. showed that he came to this coun-
try on the steamship Fulda from Bremen
haven. accompanied by his uncle. Domi-
nick Planning. and Mrs. Planning. He
arrived here under the name Of John
Planning. and was about eleven years
and six months old.
After Schrank's arrival in this city he
went to live with a family named Bur
dewick." who at that time lived at 1859
Avenue A. There was also a legal docu-
ment showing that he was the sole lega-
tee of the estate left by his aunt. Mrs
Planning. This estate consisted Of q
house in Yorkville. and was assessed At
$4,000. The document was executed In
one Of the surrogate courts In this city.
No RsliG1eas Papers.
There were no papers Of . religious
nature. The police declared after the
search that everything in the way Of
writing bearing on Schrank proved con-
clusively that he was sane.
A school report dated Erding. July 2.
1859. stated that Schrank had been q mod
el boy in school on the other side. and
that he stood well in reading and writing.
Following q telegram received by In
spector Faurot from Chief ]. d. Jannsen.
Of Milwaukee, to send all Information
available regarding John Schrank. a let
ter was sent to that onicial this evening
stating that an investigation reveals that
the man is thirty-six years old. and that
on March 8. 1872 he was five feet five
inches tall. had auburn hair. and a sandy
mustache. the report says that the uncle,
Planning, who brought Schrank to this
country. was buried In Fresh Pond Gene
terry on February last. and died at the
age Of seventy-three. The aunt died in
1910.
Insanity In Family.
Although there was nothing among
the papers to indicate that Schrank was
out Of his mind. It was learned to-day
that for at least three generations there
has been a taint Of insanity in Schrank's
family. The grandfather Of Colonel
Roosevelt's assassin. who was q wealthy
brewer in Bavaria, II was learned yes
terday. became insane and died shortly
afterward. It il said that other members
OF his family died after becoming in
sane, and that several cousins in Eu-
rope are confined IN insane asylums
In tracing up Schrank's career in this
city the detectives have run across
many persons who. at the mention of
Schrank's name. reply: 'Oh, you mean
that crazy crank?' Persons who have
seen Schrank in saloons and other
places declare that he showed every
sign Of being mentally unbalanced.
borrowed $50 from Harmon Larunger,
brother Of the proprietor Of the Home
stead Hotel before he left the city. He
said he needed the money to settle an ac-
count on mortgage. Schrank never paid
the money on the mortgage. He borrow
ed this money last September Later on
Larunger received tho following letter,
which was dated from the White House
Hotel in this city:
Il have Just received news that q rich
uncle Of mine died at New Orleans. III
am going there at once. VIII send you
word from Charleston. 8. c."
schrank never wrote after sending the
above letter.
Schrank made regular visits to the
Evergreen Cemetery, where his aunt,
Mrs. Planning. is buried,
Charles Dersch, president of the slo-
cum Association. stated tonight that