New-York tribune., 1920-02-01
Canada Tabs Handy
AS Handy, Bad Man,
Who Looked Sissy
Winnipeg Police Chief Iden-
titles Dead Robber, bu,
Details Do Not Fit; Had
Formidable Name i'm West
Special Correspond.


was put to death at Sing Sing prison,
New York, Thursday, as Gordon Faw-
cett Handy. was Gordon Fawcet Han
by, formerly of Ss Cathedral Avenue,
Winnipeg. Man, according to Chief of
Police O'Connor. of this city. Handy
lived at that address with his uncle
and aunt. Mr.. and Mrs. George Handy,
Cnief O'Connor said to-day, and for a
time was employed by the Ross Naviga-
tion Company. of The Pas, in the Cana
dian Northwest.
Shortly before he left the employ of
the company he told his boss, Chief
O'Connor said, that he would like to
pull off" big bank robbery Handy,
the officer went on, lived for a while with
his father, John Handy, at 947 Wind
sor avenue, Chicago, city where his
brother Frank had the reputation Of
belng daring gambler. Nothing could
be learned of Hanby's mother The
police traced him to Chicago through
letter to young woman, in which Han
by salo he was going to enter an avia-
tion school there. The elder Handy
was an advertising solicitor.
Robbed Bank in Minneapolis
He went to Chicago from Minneap-
oils, where he lived at a well known
hotel for q few days after holding up
the Western State Bank in Mnneapo-
lis. Chief O'Connor gave out a report
he received from the Chicago police
more than four years ago on Hanby's
activities there He is referred to in
it as "Allen," the name which Handy
preferred to any of his other aliases
The report says:
clay Allen left for Chicago from
Owatonna, Mimi, at 6 p. m. December
10. He had black leather travelling
bag, new black derby hat, size Z; two
Lew dress shirts. size Ia; pair of
tan bedroom slippers. size 6. He wore
dark gray overcoat, blue serge suit,
a diamond ring purchased in Mime
apoifs. price sl75, and small. fine
doub watchchain with q small locket,
diamond in the center, value $40.
He will be sure TO $50 ~ Grst class
hotels and spend his money freely, and
as rule always makes up with the
bellboys and tips them literally.
He is dope iend,' uses heroin o'
morphine, is a good looking fellow
and never would be taken for a thiel
or highwayman. He has the ap-
pearance of q minister's son, powders
his face with talcum powder, and in
some respects is sissy However, i
you arrest him, have your men take
no chances, for he viii shoot on sight"
The man who oied in the electric
chair at Sing Sing without disclosing
his name always had an antipathy for
the name Handy, under which he WIS
arrested, convicted and put to death
Frequently he would refuse to answer
questions unless addressed as Allen
Jay Boyd Allen was close enough to
his real name for all practical pur-
poses, he sand.
Although he refused always to give
his name ard evaded questions about
his family, Warden Lawes of Sing Sing
gathered in conversations with the
prisoner that his mother was dead and
his father probably was alive some
where in the Middle West.
The Western State Bank mentioned
by the ST Paul Chief of Police was one
Of thosa robbed by Handy, according
to his own account of his career and
he had said that st. Paul was the only
city where he could be convicted be
cause Two of his accompices were in
Jail there and might be compelled to
testify against him.
Description Does Not Fit
The robber who killed two men ir
Lie E-ASt btOOhiSb SdHtHSN Damn iOU-
berry OH December 13, 1918, and was
executed at Sing Sing, WAS five feet
ten or eleven inches in height. how
ever, and weighed 165 pounds prior to
his Imprisonment in the DEAN house.
While records Of the size of his shirts
and shoes were not obtainable last
night, a size fourteen shirt and size
six shoe would be unusually small for
such a man.
Nor was there ever any suggestion
that the principal figure OF the Brook
lyn hold-up was drug addict. The
cool assurance of "Hamby" during the
months he spent at Sing Sing awaiting
death tends to contradict any. asser-
tion that he was slave to drugs
"Hamby" had said that he tried once
to enter the Canadian flying service
but was rejected because he refused to
answer Certain questions"