Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-08
DOCTOR'S HIDDEN FOE
DENOUNCES HIM AS
CRIMINAL ASSASSIN
Tvpewritten Notes Freely
Distributed Over the City
by an Enemy Whose
Identity Is Unknown to
the Police.
Victim Has Received BLACK
Hand" Letters and Tells De-
tectives He Suspects Former
Patient - Threats and Ma
lignant Accusations.

Ambrose Rock tsrned the key in the
.oor Of his barber shop at 40 North 18th
.,rset He pushed open the door and saw
ANAL white envelope on the floor. Even
h.tore his fingers reached 1t his eyes
caught these typewriter words across the
back:N
important; warn people,"
Rock turned It over curiously and saw
that II bore no address. The opening sem
,snoe read ITO whom It may concern"
and the rest was slanderous, 30 much 80
that after turning It over in his mind for
some time the barber notified the police.
In due course, the note, which was neat
Iy typewritten, single spaced. on n small
white piece OF paper that might have
been torn from a piece of business sta
tonery reached the Detective Bureau.
There It was examined carefully and then
placed with 30 or 40 exact repllcas of 1t
that have been picked up here and there
about the city since last December.
Dir. Rufus Reed, a specialist, of 1910
Spruce street, who lives at Pitman N. j.,
sage ITO whom it may concern" is un-
printable. Each of the notes is signed
"A Friend, Camden, N. j."
The best brains of Philadelphia's de-
tective force have been wrestling with the
problem of the scurrilous notes since De-
cember. They have learned nothing more
than that the man or woman distributing
them gets over large part of the city
They do not know the motive of the
writer and they have not the slightest
shadow of a clue to his Identity.
The investigation is under Lieutenant
Wood The detectives believe the notes
were written by an expert typlst.
NOTES FREELY DISTRIBUTED.
Recently suspicion pointed toward a
former patient of Doctor Reed, and for
days he was shadowed between his home
and office, which is located in the CEN
trail part of the city. Later this man
was exonerated by the detectives.
Not day passes by without one of the
mysterious notes being found either on
the street. especially in the shopping SEQ
ton, or In the corridor of an office build
Ing. short time ago four notes were
found In an elevator in downtown build
Ing Four days later six similar notes
were found on the ground floor of the
Witherspoon Building, where Doctor Reed
has an office on the seventh floor
The other missives have been found in
Railways of boarding houses and also in
the vestibules of business houses located
between the foot of Market street and
the City Hall
The writer mentions Doctor Reeds ad-
dress in this city and also his country
home at Pitman. N. ]. Referring to Doc
tor Reed. the writer calls him a Criminal
assassin" and also the condemn muir
derer." Other sentences of the note arc
unprintable.
Doctor Reed is a native of Illinois, He
has been in this section for more than 30
years. Ho lived in Camden for 25 years
before coming here. He Is a member of
the Camden Baptist Church and owns
considerable property at Pitman, N. ].
For years he has been a specialist.
LETTERS SIGNED BLACK HAND"
It was learned from Doctor Reed today
mat before the mysterious notes were
dropped in Railways and other places he
had received more than a dozen letters
which were signed THE Black Hand"
Those letters, according TO Doctor Reed,
made no mention Of money. Each letter
denounced Doctor Reed and also read
that 1t was simply a question of time
when he would be wiped out of existence.
Several weeks ago a mysterious phone
message reached Doctor Reeds home urg-
Ing him to meet a man at once In a GER
tain hotel in Camden. Mrs. Reed, who
answered the telephone, asked the man
at the other end for the name of the per-
son who wished to meet her husband.
Never mind the name: Just have the
Doctor come to the hotel and he will find