San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-29
CRIME IN NEW YORK


Great cities, because of the congestion
of their population, are naturally pro-
ducers of crime in quantity. dispropor-
tionate to the rural districts. Public
morals, taken ongthe> average, are about
: the same everywhere in any particular
country. The percentages of honest
people and of criminals run about the
same in all localities, but it does seem
as though the city of New York has,
Of late, been producing rather more than
its share of spectacular crime. Possibly
the. spectacular part of it may be in
some measure due to the fact that there
are many newspapers in New York City,
that there are many thousands of peo-
pie all over the United States who are
interested in whatever happens in New
York City and that therefore, publicity
to New York crime comes easily and
naturally.
For all that, however, there have been
within the last two or three years, more
mysterious crimes. in New York City
than in any other part of the United
States except, possibly Herrin, Illinois,,
where twenty-odd men were killed with
out being killed by anybody and in
Bastrop, Louisiana, where two men met
death in a shockingly violent manner
without being apparently harmed by
anybody.
In New York, 1t is only short time
since man named Elwell, well-knoWn
throughout the city as man-about-town
and one of the great authorities of the
country on bridge whist, was found dead
in his apartment. No more is known
today of the manner in which he met
his death than was known the minute
his body was discovered. There was
great outcry over the crime, the police
worked desperately for weeks and
months trying to clear up the crime, but
the darkness that was settled over it
the instant Elwell met his death is still
hanging there. Absolutely nothing has
ever been discovered,
Then came the Hal1-Mills crime. in
New Jersey. This was not committed
in New York proper, but was at her
door and to all intents and purposes
may be classed as. crime of New York.
For months the papers were filled with
stories of this crime, the solving of vari-
Jus dIu SulluIN ClCWS Out nOullnS was
ever brought home to anybody. There
was in this case, some reason for be-
lieving that the authorities of the To-
cality in which the crime was COM
mitted did not at first do their utmost
to ascertain who the criminals were and
made little effort to bring them to JUS
tice. However the truth in that par
ticular may have been, the fact is that
the Staying of the Hall man and the
Mills woman remains today mystery
that will never, in all probability, be
solved.
Now comes the case of Dorothy Kee-
nan, young lady who was found MIR
dered in her apartment in New York
City. There is no particular reason why
anybody should have killed her and the
supposition is that the criminal took
her life while trying to obtain from ker
some letters that had been addressed
to her by wealthy men. the object OF
obtaining these letters being to black
mail the writers on the theory that they
might not be willing to let it become
public that they had been writing letters
TO Miss Keenan,.
For a week the police of New York
have been making every effort to solve
the mystery OF this killing, but there
is small change that they will be sue