Arizona republican., 1922-04-14
Of
Real Life in
America

Sleeps for Three Years
Capture Phantom Burglar
Cave-in Kills Three Boys
JaiIs Develop Criminals
FORT SMITH, Ark, April 13-
4 Medical experts of the United
States and Europe who visited Jim
Eslinger, the worlds champion sleep
er, before his death here today after
a three-year nap, announce they were
completely mystified by his malady
and physicians say death came as
result of refusing to take nourish-
ment.
Sslinger was in a comatose state
for one full week and resisted all ef-
forts to feed him. For eight years he
was a county charge. For over three
years he remained in stupor and
for the other five he slept possibly
three years of this period. He lay
for SO months without uttering
sound, his breathing denoting that he
was alive. He was brought to the
hospital suffering from pellagra-
Physicians and scientists assert
lAtdl WnAl6 LACLC cIS e4tA4AAcA SNNSOS VA
record none of them ever lived more
than two months. They aver his case.
was not sleeping sickness" but that
he was mentally paralyzed.
A French scientist who visited the
hospital about IS months ago. after
a lengthy examination, said this is
a case for Conan Doyle to solve" NO
physician or scientist has ever Of
fered a diagnosis of Elsingers case.
Physicians were arriving here to-
night from surrounding cities and
states to hold an autopsy, providing
relatives will permit.
=
NEW YORK, April 13-The daily
police lineup at headquarters
where the nights haul of burglars,
hold-up men and suspects undergo
the scrutiny of 250 masked detectives,
brought a sensation today when old
time detectives claimed they recog-
nized in William Fonner. 81, the
phantom burglar "of Fifth avenue
homes"
Peering out from the Sits in their
masks as they closely scrutineZeo
the long line of men who had been
arrested last night. several of the de-
tectives stopped as they came to
Fonner.
Again and again they examined
him, while Fonner saw nothing but
cleaning eyes behind jet black
masks which covered their faces.
They held consultations and finally
agreed that the man before them was
the phantom burglar"
The '.phantom" has eluded detec-
tives for a long time. Time and
I, ar1f d0ilxy
and nightly vigils in the vicinity of
Fifth avenue But always the bur-
glar slipped into houses, robbed them
and disappeared without being seen.
He was arrested last night in an
apartment house near Fifth avenue
by private citizens after a woman
had sounded the alarm.
TOLIET. his, April 13-Segregation
y of hardened criminals from the
first offenders is the best way to re-
duce crime. convicts in the state peni-
tentiary here today declared at a
hearing conducted by the law en-
force1aent committee of the Ameri- |
can Bar association to get the crimi-
naTs view of the cause of law break
ing. After hearing the prisoners ex-
press their opinions. the committee
said its members all agreed with the
convicts.
The committee. made up of nation
ally known men, heard from WIT
nesses stories of organized crime
rings. particularly in Chicago, bribery
of police officials and of schools for
crime"
one prisoner told of perfected crime
organizations in Chicago which guar
of
trouble through graft and bribery and
explained that had he been able to
raise $500 he could have bribed Of
ficials in the states attorneys office
and would not now be in the peni-
tentiary for robbery he committed.
One convict said prohibition in
creased crime, while another termed
the Cook county Jail at Chicago the
greatest crime schoor in the
country.
Several explained that the average
first offender is experienced and eff
ficient in crime after serving a sem
tenee with old timers who would put
him through a course of instruction
during the term. 1t was to avoid
this that segregation was urged by
the convicts. They also pointed out
that a man accused of crime should
be brought to trial promptly and not
left languishing in the Jail school
for crime" for a long time before his
guilt or innocense was determined.
Innocent men thus were made into
criminals, it was said.
Most of the convicts called before
the committee were well educated
and unusually intelligent. One was a
college man. 1t was agreed that their
names should not be made known.
TOPEKA, Kans., April 1S-The
frantic digging of a small white
dog in his efforts to reach his master,
who had been buried in a cavern, led
late today to the discovery of the
bodies of three school boys, who had
been killed when a boy scouts tunnel
in the banks of Ward Greek in the
western part of Topeka caved in.
The dog was seen by six tramps
who a few hours before had talked
with the boys while they were eat
ing their lunch in the cave. After
digging out one body they called for
help and the other two were recov-
cred. About ton of dirt had covered
he bodies