davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
PAUL CHAPMAN AND HIS
MOTHER

other to be consulted. That was
! Leonidas Davis, Hughey's 23-year-old
brother. Leonidas was married and
lived in Providence, R. I. That even
ing he had popped up unexpectedly
in Brooklyn. Together Hughey, Leon
idas and Paul sailed forth. They
rode on the Brighton L and Hughey
left Leonidas and Paul waiting on
station platform while he took him
self off on an errand. He had ex-
pected to bring back another boy, with
whom the ultimate decision should
rest in regard to Paul. The fourth
boy, under parental restraint, couldn't
join the expedition; but Hughey
brought back with him various para
phernalia of crime which, Paul under
stood, had been stored with the stay
at-home.
BY that time Hughey had upon his
person two automatic pistols rubber
gloves to shield tell-tale finger tips, a
jimmy, black jack.
Paul said-always has sad-he be-
gan to lose his nerve right there. He
didn't like the look of the pistols.
Plain stealing was another matter. This
array of deadly weapons looked alto
gether too desperate.
But the fact is that Paul didn't then
and there back out Of the party. The
suggestion from Hughey that he was
nj VI
cient to steel him. He went ahead.
Moreover he was persuaded to carry
one of the pistols. Hughey and Leo
midas were to have been the armed men
of the expedition, according to Pauls
story, and Paul's share in the enter.
prise was to have been to serve as out
side lookout. He was to stand in the
street and at the approach of police
man to signal to Leonidas, who was to
have been posted at the back door of
a shop which afforded a clear line of
vision through from the sidewalk.
Then Leonidas was to have passed IN
the warning to his brother
1t seemed, though, that Hughey had
no mind to let Paul earn his suit of
clothes SO easily. First he called it
to Paul's attention that Leonidas had
wife and baby. 1t wouldn't do, if
anything went wrong, for him to be
found with pistol in his possession
Better to have the bachelors take
chance. Couldn't Paul, as man and
bachelor, see that? Paul could. Re-
luctant or not, nevertheless he took
the gun and slowed it in his coat
pocket.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
Leonidas Davis
Goes Scot Free

There is Paul Chapman's story.
And in what degree was Paul Chap
mans gAllt greater than the guilt Of
Leonidas Davis?
Leonldas was tried after Paul's case
had been disposed of. The police had
FOUND Hughey''s brother in bed when
they reached his home, but they bad
wrung a confession from him. Paul
chapman would have testified, had he
neen brought down from the Desth
house as a witness, that Leonidas had
been standing watch outside the Reg
ensourg store no more than twenty
minutes before the shooting. That
must have threatened the alibi supplied
by the defendants mother and step
rather, who testified Leonidas wa
nome and in bed at that time. Then
There was another potential witness
Mrs. Agnes Powers, who was not
called. Mrs. Powers, a neighbor Of the
rregensourgs, says she saw two boys run
from the entrance hall at 636 Park
race shortly after the shooting, one
OF whom disappeared around the cor.
ner while the second darted back
into the building. Neither of the
PAIR. she is sure. was Paul; so the in
ference to be drawn from her stor
~S viz IVY WuO returned INV Wv
house was Hughey, and his companion
a third participant.
District Attorney Lewis did not ~.
pear personally in the prosecution q
Leonldas Davis, and in general shs
state did not seem to prosecute win
nearly SO much vigor as in the trial
of Paul.
1t was Justice Cropsey, Mr.. Lewis
predecessor as District Attorney ID
Kings, before whom young Davis W.
tried. In public speeches the justios
had more than once upheld the con.
viction of Paul Chapman, yet when :
came time for him to charge the jug
with whom the fate Of Leonidas Dsvs
rested he pointed out they might con.
wet on several lesser counts than
nrst degree murder.
notwithstanding that the verdict "
not guilty" Straightway other 10.
dictments pending against Davis wss
quashed. He is scot free. He nssa
can be tried again.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
He Was Ready
To Tell the Story

Paul was arrested the next morning.
BY refusing to admit his completely he
might have saved himself then and
there. Not bit of evidence stood
against him except that of the note
book. He was acquainted with Hughes
Davis~~that was all
Getting Paul to talk, though, was no
difficult task. He seemed glad Of an
opportunity to free his mind Of what
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
The Story AS
Paul Told 1t

Now, aside from the question of Paul
Chapman's age-if for single moment
1t is possible to explore into the facts
and forego that question-there is GER
tainly another as to the measure of
his guilt.
At the trial expert had faced expert
and the wise men had disagreed. One
set was sure that some of the bullets
which had been fired had come from
the automatic pistol carried by Chap
man. Another set, equally learned in
the use of firearms, had testified It
wasn't so. Paul, retelling his own
story on the witness stand-exactly
as he had told it again and again on
the day of his arrest~-had asserted
ne had abandoned the crime before
ever the shooting started
II was in it, and ought to be pun.
ishcd; but I backed out short of muir
der and l shouldn't be killed"-that
was the gist of his narrative, and that
was his plea.
1t wasn't apparently just a matter OF
words, nor Of playing for effect. What
Paul Chapman said he seemed sincerely
to believe. He felt that punishment
and severe punishment, was his due
he had said as much to Matthew
Wood, his lawyer, and Wood at his sue.
gestion had proposed to District At.
torney Lewis of Kings that his bow
client be permitted to plead guilty to
second degree murder. The sentence
then could not have been less than .
twenty year term. 1t might have been
imprisonment for life.
The prosecutor was rather conf;d.n,
then that he could prove Paul was on
the firing line with Hughes Davis
when the Regensburg brothers awoke
to find burglars at their elbows. To
convict. he didn't have to prove
that. 1t is the Law that ono who
joins in the plotting Of a crime i,
equally guilty, if murder grows out Of
IT, with the murderer. II is not even
necessary to conviction that the CO.
plotter OF the first part be present
during the commission Of the crime.
He may be sixteen years old or sixty
s-ths same law applies. He may in.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
Jurors Sign a
Clemency Petition

The twelve men who convicted him
think it is too much that Paul should
die Every one of them has signed a
petition urging clemency Herein is
their final judgment. They may be
jurors no longer, nevertheless they
are the same dozen who heard and
weighed all the evidence which the
state was able to pile up against Paul.
What they did when they returned
their verdict finding Paul guilty of
murder in the first degree they are
now only too anxious to see undone.
Is it too late?
The Society" whose will the Law
aims to interpret is an abstract thing
More often than not the voice which
speaks through the Law is the voice
turtles have rolled.
Will the actual Society" Of to- day
the men who vote and think and the
women who always have thought and
now may vote-countenance the exc
cution of Paul Chapman?
Paul, as he sits in his cell in the
Death House, is neither angel nor
devil. He is just boy, sixteen years
old, and, calamitously for himself, "big
for his age" With a mans physique
to carry him through, he had tasted
something of mans experiences be-
fore he came to the moment of temp
tation. Of his stature and his minor
adventures in life the state made much.
They were put into issue against his
age in proof of his accountability.
But Paul Chapman is only sixteen
years old. The brain which directs
the body that has OUTRAGED it is a six
teen ear-old brain. That the jury, re-
considering, has come to realize The
hue and cry has subsidized long since
and there has been time, all around,
for reflection. Directly as result of
the fate which confronts Paul a bill
passed the Assembly at the last session
of the Legislature providing that only
men past twenty-one may be required
TO pay the death penalty The bill was
lost in the confusion Of the last three
days in the Senate, so that, as concerns
Paul Chapman, the legislation inspire
by his plight is hint to the Governor,
and nothing more-a suggestion Of $50
clety's" will in regard to Paul.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
The Lure Held
Out to Him

Paul was in desperate straits-in
what way will be developed further on.
de needed clothing and was bound to
have it. Readily he fell in with
Hughes's suggestion that the two col
laborate for profit. Paul didn't have
the stamina which keeps many a poor
boy from making q bad thing worse
for which an explanation is coming.
he was willing to go wrong In fair
ness that must here be conceded. az
Paul conceded it in his confession.
Just before the Regensburg murder
hughes Davis had planned another
Job" He and another boy went into
hardware store in the Bedford sec
ton of Brooklyn, leaving Paul posted
across the street. When the others
returned. as Paul said, he learned for
the first time they had contemplated
robbery. They had known the brooms
were kept in the cellar and while the
proprietor OF the store was getting one
for them it had been the scheme to
rlne the cash register. 1t might have
worked-but the hardware man had
company.
That was Paul's introduction to the
source of Hughes's easy money. 1t
was good and sufficient warning that
hughes Davis wasn't square and a
preparation for what happened sub
sequently.
On the following Sunday evening
Paul met Hughes in Brooklyn pool
room by appointment. Hughes said
he thought he saw way to make a
little money for an old friend-one.
say who needed a new suit and had
no means of getting it. He wasn't
sure. He just thought he could help
out. The final decision rested with
others than himself.
AS it developed there was only one
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
deed. be no more than seven, and the
law will call him killer.
Put On AS His
Own Witness

1t was this technicality in the law
which menaced Paul Chapman. Wood
found another technicality to serve as
foundation of the defence. For the
law allows opportunity for repentance.
Let transgressor weaken in his Grim
inal resolve and turn his back upon
the crime in contemplation; from that
instant he is clothed with innocence.
Let him be frightened. away from a
crime and kill a policeman, say, in his
higkt---it is written then that it was
not in pursuance of a criminal act he
did the killing. 1t is all highly tech
ncal.
Anyhow, Wood decided to put Paul
on the stand. Satisfied the boy had
been telling the truth right along and
would tell it again in the same
straightforward manner, the lawyer
called him as his own witness. When
Paul was sworn the main facts in the
case had been established. For that
matter they were conceded
There was no disputing that the
murdered Regensburgs had been de-
cent and peaceable citizens, and for
their taking off there was no excuse.
Harry Regensburg, years before, had
opened little stationery store at
636 Park Place, Brooklyn. He and his
wife had moderately prospered there,
and there a son was born
On the night of Sunday, October %,
1917, the Regensburgs had about $400
on the premises, hidden in divers par
cells in the shop and the living rooms
to the rear They weren't expecting
burglars; the precautions were routine.
Sam Regensburg, Harry's brother,
had been visitor that evening He
helped in the store until it was closed
at II o'clock and then accepted his
relatives invitation to spend the rest
of the night with them
At 1880 Harry Regensburg, his wife.
his four-year- son and his brother
were all in bed and asleep. An hour
later Sam Regensburg, sleeping with
his small nephew curled to him, awoke
with a start. The window beside his
bed was wide open. He rose on his
elbow to meet blow from a blackjack
or jimmy. There was a heavy odor of
chloroform in the place. Sam strug-
gled to his feet, screaming
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
What the Public Thinks
of the CHAPMAN Case

A dozen letters to The
Tribune voicing public opln-
ion on the case of Paul Chap
man appear on Page /, Sec
ton VI, of this issue. These
letters were written in re-
Spouse to a brief article pub
lished some weeks ago, and J,
is in response to a demand
for fuller information Oh
the subject that the abose
article is printed.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
Getting Away
From the Scene

Nobody questioned Paul when he
walked out the front door. For few
minutes he stood in the scantily attired
crowd on the sidewalk. Leisurely then
he strolled away. Between the crowd
and the ~" station for which he was
heading he met policeman.
Guess you're needed back there"
Paul blandly informed MIN. There's
been a robbery"
And at that moment. Paul insists. he
didn't know crime graver than rob-
berry had been committed.
An Il" train carried Paul safely away
from Park Place He snatched a little
sleep on station bench and in the
morning resumed his search for work.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09

tlne. hegenSpufgS eyes opened. He
saw the dark figure bending over him
and started to climb out of bed.
Hughey raized his black ack-and in
that instant lost an accomplice.
Of course this is all Paul Chap
mans story. No witnesses survive to
corroborate or contradict him. But the
police have no reason to doubt that
Paul told the truth here as he did
everywhere else.
Protecting
A Family Man
AS Hughey moved to strike Paul
says he was seized with panic. For
there had been another change of plans
to which Hughey had won his agree.
ment through the old argument that
Leonidas was "family man" and it
was Paul who at the last moment had
been assigned to act as the lookout
in the yard. Leonidas, as Paul's story
has it, was in the street and compare
lively safe. CAS- after events proved
he was all but absolutely safe.)
Paul resolutely denies he stayed long
enough outside the Regensburg window
even to see Hughey's blow fall. 1t
had been in the compact there would
be no violence. By PauPs lightning
reasoning the partnership was dissolved
when Hughey lifted his arm. There
upon Paul was through. As his story
continues he turned and fled into the
cellar, lost his way in the darkness,
bumped his head and tumbled while
searching for the stairs into the build
ing and at last CROPPED his way back
into the yard, there to meet Hughes
Davis
Hughey had flash lamp. He was at
the top Of cellar steps when Paul re-
Joined him and fairly flew down, his
light twinkling. Paul followed. In
the glow of the fash lamp the other
stairs were quickly located.
AS Paul reached the first floor hall
at Hughey's heels he saw a shadow
fit past the front door. He took it
to be policeman's shadow and raced
blindly on upstairs. When he paused
for breath he and Hughey were on the
roof together. But by way of the
roof there was no escape. No. 636
Park Place is an "island block"
At Hughey's suggestion Paul threw
away his pistol Hughey did like
wise. Then he slipped onto the dumb
waiter. There was only room for one.
II two trips must be made, Hughey
would go frst-he was that kind Of
leader
Paul didn't wait for the dumbwaiter
to descend and come back to him. He
started down the stairs Half way to
the street he met a man.
Coin down to see what's the mat
ter" Paul painted, and the man was
satisfied
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
The Woman Only
Survived the Crime

Harry Regensburg, half awake. came
running from the next room. He never
knew what hit him. AS he appeared
IN the doorway, white target in the
blackness, spatter of lead eliminated
him as combat factor-also as a
factor in the Park Place cigar, cigar
cite and stationery trade. His wife,
following him through the door a mo-
ment later, was hit by several bullets
of the fusillade which greeted her.
She was red-haired woman, With
wounds that ordinarily would have
been mortal she kept her feet, ran to
the front door through the store and
gave the alarm by breaking the glass,
collected the $4O0 from its several
hiding places, told the first policemen
to arrive what she knew of what had
happened, and finally insisted on walk
ing unaided to the ambulance which
had been called for her. And she is
alive to-day, widow. She still runs
the stationery store in Park Place and
lives in the rooms behind it. There
are bars on the windows now.
But Harry Regensburg and Sam Re-
gensburg had received their death
wounds Before the end each had
spells of consciousness, but if the po-
lice had been forced to rely on what
the dying Regensburgs could tell there
would have been scant hope of bring
ing the murderer to book.
Eyewitness testimony, however, was
not necessary to make it plain that the
windows opening on the back yard had
been used to enter the Regensburc
home and again to escape from it
Detectives climbed into the yard. A
couple Of them started over the fences
Others found cellar door open and
stumbled down the precipitous steps
stumbled straight onto what they were
seeking
In the dumbwaiter shaft an unnat.
ural commotion had arisen. Somewhere
above tenant had reached out into
the shaft and caught the rope and was
holding on for dear life. The dumb.
waiter was stuck between two floors
Aboard it was passenger The DO.
llcemen, achieving a vantage point over
his head, called on the passenger ia
explain himself. No answer came from
the dark figure below. Threats to
shoot were likewise ignored. And then
the detectives turned loose.
Hughes Davis, Immediately recog-
nized as one time tenant in the PARK
Place apartment house, was dying
when he was lifted out of the shaft
Naturally he couldn't have much to saw
then; but notebook found in his
pocket talked for him. In the book
were names and addresses of several
boys. Paul Chapman's was among
them.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
WILL NEW YORK GIVE BOY OF 10 TO ELECTRIC CHAIR?
Brooklyn Women's Club and Other Organizations
Circularize Governor in Youths Behaf-Rec-
ord Shows Generous Spirit in the
Grip of Wanderust

full men have had in their boyhood az,
have lived to laugh over. A trp.,.
officer visited his mother one even;,~
In the preceding month, as he demcn
strated, Paul had skipped scandal
Gus number of days at school.
AS a result of the truant of,cs,,.
visit Paul was given his choice Of :.
tending school regularly or ouitt;,.
altogether. Even before then he ~
wanted to get n job. Soon af.erw.,d
the summer vacation came, and for
months he tried one job after anoths,
None suited him. He wanted outdoo,
work, ard such work he couldn't s,s
in New York
He went back TO school again in ~.
fall. was as discontented as ever ana
in December persuaded his mother -
let him strike out for himself e..
put him aboard a train bound f..
Bridgeport, Conn, with a ticket in
his hand and SIS in his pocket II.
was only fifteen then. but the moths,
contented herself with the THOUGH.
he was man-size.
In the Grip Of
the Wanderlust
Bridgeport didn't look as good >,
Paul close up as it had looked FINN
distance. He stayed there only an
hour and half, sent telegam ~
his mother and struck for philaa.,-
phia. There he worked while ~,
an express company as a husky s,d
then moved on to the du Pom. plan.
at Carney's Point, \. j., opposite Viii.
mington, Del
The letters Paul wrote to his moths,
from Philadelphia and Carney's Point
were good manly letters. Any mother
might be proud of them. He wa, max.
ing his way in the world and wa,
satisfied with life. A good share of tn.
time he made his home in Y.M. c. A
dormitories.
After several months the wander.
lust renewed his grip. The trace o.
it is in the letters TO Dearest Mother
Sometimes Paul wrote of plans IA
travel on 20 the Pacific Coast: again
to ship for Europe. When he actuallv
did weigh anchor Paul came to nor.
at at lamp Meade in Delaware From
there he went to Akron, from Akron
TO Cleveland. from Cleveland to Dun.
KIRK, n. Y. where he worked for a
TIME IN vineyard; from Dunkirk TO
jamestown, and so on home.
SO long S he had been regularly
employed PauPs letters to his mother
were regular. Two or three of them
reached her every week. After ba
ie1t Carney's Point jobs were harder
to get. Occasional postcards took IN.
place of the letters. '
1t was rough sleddinp for Pan, il,
ONO, and rougher on the way East
once he had resolved to get back home
Mostly he Journeyed on freight trains
and when he reached New York bis
clothing was in tatters. $50
October 10, 1917, was the cate of
psuIs return. That was his sixteenth
birthday. For II his rags and his CRIME
ms mother took him literally to her
paul's stepfather gave him an old
suit, and a hat and a pair of shoes
were bought to fill out his TEMPORARY
wardrobe. 1t wasn't exactly the cut.
MT that Paul would have picked to
wear on a canvass for work, and when
ne found it hard to get a Job he laid
the difficulty to mis- clothing He
wanted another suit. wanted it badly
and along came Eughey Davis.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09
Then He Was
Left to Himself

Harold died, and was buried at Lib
erty What spare time Mrs. Chapman
, had she had spent with him, and Paul.
perforce, had been permitted to run
Wild He didn't become wicked-just
Wild. He conceived dislike for school
and study. There were pieasanter
things to do with his time, he discov-
cred, than to sit in classroom.
Mrs. Chapman has called herself a
"half-time mother" That is an over
estimate. She didn't have time enough
to herself for half-time motherhood.
From early morning until evening her
work kept her away from her home.
Paul, who had been tremendously fond
OF his brother and had been restrained
by him, was his own master. He might
! go to school or not as he pleased. When
his numerous absences showed on the
report cards scolding was the worst
that could happen to him. His mother
didn't believe in corporal punishment
Left to himself Paul became law.
shiftless-but not bad. Just once he
got into trouble, when he and other
youngsters threw stones at a PASSING
train.
Perhaps as much to put a stronger
general manager over Paul as Tor anv
other reason, Mrs. Chapman married
again. Her second husband vas
younger than she. He was a man with
some material prospects, but one who
neither at that time nor now had n
sufficient earning capacity to meat oil
the bills.
MRS. Chapman kept on working. And
fsui continued to do largely as he
pleased
once again Paul got into trouble
sacn trouble as good many success-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-06-09

His first stop Of the day had been
arranged in advance; and some very
fine police work had been done Wilt
he slept. When Paul arrived to keep
his appointment detectives were on
hand to receive him. few minutes
later they were listening to his con-
fession of completely.
Manifestly surprised when told that
murder had been done, Paul at once
denied he had used his pistol. The
two guns found on the roof swere put
before him and he picked out the one
he had carried. There were seven
cartridges in the magazine, which
might have held nine. In the maya
zine of the second pistol two car
tridges were left. Ten might have been
squeezed into it.
The fact that two cartridges were
missing out of the pistol which Paul
admitted having carried might have
meant much. Again it might have
meant little. By the closest police
calculation just eight shots had been
fired. Eight empty shells to CORE
spond had been found scattered about
the rooms behind the Regensburg store.
While Hughey's pistol was technically
nine-shooter, there might have been
ten cartridges in it when he cut loose.
They would have been a tight fit, but
the pistol would have held them and
discharged them. Ten cartridges to
start with, minus the two that were
left-eight fired. Eight shots fired
from Hughey's gun and eight car
tridges found where they had fallen
from the ejector; it tailed.