MOWRY WAS KICKED TO DEATH

MOWRY WAS KICKED TO DEATH

Ypsilanti Man Was Thrown Out of Saloon

AND ROUGHLY HANDLED

Three Men Arrested by Detroit Police in Connection With the Matter

(From Ypsilanti Daily Argus.)

It looks very much as if Orlando Mowrey, the Ypsilanti man who was found late Friday night in the alley in the rear of the notorious Billy Goddney saloon on Michigan avenue in Detroit, was murdered. The body was found by Patrolman Daley, who stumbled against it while going through the alley at 11 o'clock Friday night. Mowrey was lying on his back with his feet towards Gaffney's saloon. Blood was oozing from his mouth and nose. The patrolman could find no sign of life and neither could the doctors. At Emergency hospital it was found that two ribs were broken and an artery cut by a broken bone casing profuse internal hemorrhage.

Bartender Jacob Kelly, Frank Cavanagh, aged 35, James O'Brien, aged 35, of 284 Harrison avenue, and John Bradd, aged 32, of Fort and Beaubien streets, were quickly taken into custody.

Kelly makes a statement to this effect: Mowery came into the saloon at about 8 o'clock. He was drunk and demanded drinks, for which he had no money to pay. Kelly told him to go "way back and sit down," and, in order to give emphasis to his command, grabbed the staggering stranger's hat and placed it behind the bar.

The man fell down in a chair and soon was sound asleep. Some two hours later he woke up and began to ask again for liquor and insist that his hat be returned to him. Kelly then says that the stranger was put out of the place.

It appears that one thing on which Gaffney insists is that order be maintained and that gents either leave their money with him or leave the saloon. When some poor drunkard violates this rule of the house, Billy has his own characteristic remedy. He or his bartender simply says: "Put him out," and at once two or three perennial hangers-on who stay there for that purpose and receive their reward in free lunch and liquor, grab the victim and "lead" him through the dark little room in the rear toward the back door. The method of this "leading" can be judged only by precedents. The victim is pushed, jerked, punched until he reaches the exit. The door is opened and he is shoved outside. Should he struggle, as is usually the case, the force is increased, and then, when the door is reached he will receive a blow that usually lands him half-way across the alley.

In the case of Mowery, Bartender Kelley led the way with the key to open the door, while Bradd, Cavanagh and O'Brien had hold of Mowery and effected the eviction.

County Physician Sanderson, from his observation of the body at the autopsy, makes this assertion: "The man received a blow on the chest with club or fist, or was kicked there. Whatever it was, it was a powerful blow. The pulmonary artery was lacerated to such an extent as to cause speedy death by internal, profuse bleeding."

From appearances, the doctor thinks that the victim was drunk at the time, but, to make this point certain, the stomach has been turned over to County Chemist Clark for further investigation.

James O'Brien, one of the habitues of the saloon, who was arrested, has been released by the police, who think he had no hand in the affair.

The detectives assigned to the case are confident that Mowery was kicked to death by one of the men under arrest, and suspicion rests most heavily on Cavanagh. The chief says Cavanagh admitted that he ejected Mowery from the rear door of the saloon, and that Mowery resisted and considerable force was necessary to eject him. The chief belives Cavanagh "put the boots" to him, as he expressed it.

At Gaffney's saloon during the morning one of the brothers, Charles Gaffney, attempted to make it appear that Mowery had stumbled and fallen on a stone, which caused the fatal injury. He even produced the stone and insisted that, when discovered, the dead man was found lying upon it. This, however, is disproved by Patrolman Daley, who says the stone wasn't there when he picked up the man.

"Billy" Goffney's saloon is, perhaps, the most notorious saloon in Detroit and has frequently been the scene of assaults and robberies. It is a place where nightly congregate the roughest class, men who would use the slungshot or the knife on the slightest provocation. For a long period Gaffney defied the police to break up his klondike gambling game, and the place has been the scene of numerous police raids. Quite recently a hand-book was conducted there and when a big winning was made the book welched and refued to pay the ticked.

Gaffney is an ex-pugilist and has become quite wealthy from the profits of the joint. Recently he purchased a brick block on Monroe avenue for $20,000. He owns an automobile and has a small fortune in diamonds. Gaffney had just returned from the Detroit opera house when he learned of the finding of the body.

The day on which Mowery met his death was the 20th anniversary of his marriage.