MYSTERY OF THE BROKEN CROSSES Capture of Insane Vandal Re veals Tragic Love Story. BLAMED CATHOLIC CHURCH FOR HiS TROUBLES Jilted by Sweetheart His Mind Gives Way— Takes Revenge by Wrecking Gravestones in Cemeteries of Northerrv Wisconsin arvd Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Chicago.—Residents of the cities and villages of northern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan can once more rest in peace. The fear that for months has been haunting them that they might awake to find the tombstones erected to the memory of their departed loved one burled in their local cemeteries wrecked, has vanished, for the mysterious cross smasher has been captured. The arrest of (he vandal has brought to light a tragic story of Kazo Kazi mir, whose love for a girl in Hungary took him from the priesthood and of his loss of the girl through his deser tion of the church she loved more than him. Two months ago a little cemetery at Pound, Marinette county, on the northern tier of the counties of Wis -*■ -wr. /rrjcM/i&t consln, wan visited by a vandal. One morning the visit of the grave diggers disclosed a wreck. Crosses on tombstones Had boon hammered off, apparently by some stonecutter's tool, for the work wan done cleanly, and (lie several croase:-! lay on the ground beside the tonib- Htones. On one atone the rro < cut on the face of the if one had been backed out. In a corner of »ii little cemetery a woolen cr'tsa erect**ll ov< r the K rave of * bt mcnU-ader whut bad l«lt 100 itiue for the erection of a marble gravestone, had been broken down and the crossbar wrenched from the upright. Practically every grave in the ceme tery was marred in some such manner. The Protestant cemetery across the road was untouched. The vandalism angered the settlers, but the next night, 50 miles away, in Oconto county, another Catholic burying ground was visited and the work at Pound repeated. The authorities were unable to find that any stranger had been in the vicinity of either place. After the wreck at Pound and Stiles, there was little surprise when the Cath olic cemetery at Oconto Falls, Oconto county, was also raided. Lynching Threat*—ted. There began to be wild talk of a lynch ing party when the cross-smasher waa raptured. The night after the Oconto Kalis visitation, D. <i. Classon.a lawyer, i of Oconto, found a note under his door, ! reading: "Vou will soon be called upon to ile- ! fend one who ha - reversed the [ oUtiini activity of the Cathode church upon that church." The note contained a aeri< s of Scrip- | | tural allusion* about overthrowing th«j ; mammon of unrighteousness, lawyer Clat on, wh i was formerly ae< i i'tary of state of Wiscoi. tin paid no alient ion to I j lae u„Us buyout! uuuouuctng in the ut.v»»- CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1905. papers that he did not take up cases presented to him in that way. Secret Society Suspected. The authorities of all the northern counties began to watch for mysterious strangers in carriages, also for religious cranks. It was finally believed that the cross-smashing wa& tue work of some now mysterious secret society, working among the citizens, for in no other way could the country police explain the midnight visits of the cross-destroyer and the failure to find any trace of a stranger in the vicinity. The country districts were aroused, but it was not thought that the fanatics would dare to visit a city graveyard. Uconto, however, was the next victim, and two cemeteries were smashed, dam age of more than $2,000 being caused. The same night a cemetery in the west ern part of the county a considerable distance from a railroad, was visited. This seemed to destroy the theory that one fanatic was doing the dork. Reward Offered for Capture. After the Oconto visit the number of cemeteries ravaged increased rapidly. In two weeks a dozen had been left wrecked. The cross-smashing epidemic spread nortli into Michigan. One night at Escsanaba the cross-smasher, not sat isfied with wrecking the stone monu ments, piled all the wooden crosses into a pile, and 22 graves were left with no mark at all, no recotd to show who was interred there. The Catholic societies offered rewards, but in vain. Bishop Fox, of the Catholic diocese of Green Bay, declared the feeling of his people was such that there would cer tainly be a lynching when the fanatic should be captured. In all this time no Protestant cemetery was touched. Suspect Taken. Some days after the Escanabaepisode, Gladstone, to the north, was visited. The same night a suspect was captured at Escanaba, and though his patched shoes fitted the impression left in the Escanaba cemetery, he was able to show that he had reached Escanaba from the south the day of his arrest. He talked rationally and was released. Three hours after his release a ceme tery to the west of the city was raided. If the suspect did the work he had just been able to catch a train to get to the country graveyard to smash the crosses and return, with only a few minutes to spare. The Escanaba police thought i his was evidence that two or more were at work. Caught ia tha Act. The next night the Ishpeming ceme tery was visited. Tha following night at Negaunee men on guard saw a man lurking among the tombstones and watched him lift a stone and with a well-directed blow knock the cross off a monument as cleanly as though it had been done with a chisel. The man was the one who had been arrested and released at Escanaba. Every graveyard in northern Michigan and Wisconsin had been under guard, but some hal been ravaged so quietly that the guards had heard nothing. The prisoner was taken to Marquette, where he gave his name as Kazo Kazi mir. He said he was a stonecutter, and his behavior indicated that he was in sane. The authorities had been so puz zled by the manner in which he had ap peared. as though by magic, at widely distant points, that it was thought im possible he had doue the work alone. Two months have passed, however, and there has been no more cross-smashing. Reveals Story While Hypnotized. During this two months the police have vainly endeavored to learn some thing of his former life. Their efforts were in vain until a specialist hypno tized the man, and he dug up from a big old pipe which he continually car ried a time-worn scrap of a letter, dated Nadudyar, Hungary, which revealed the story of a shattered romance. Kazo Kazimir was the son of a peas ant, but had determined to become a priest. His lowly condition proved no bar to liis ambition. He passed his novi tiate and was soon to be ordained. One day he saw a girl, Maria Kakosvakacz. His dreams of eminence in the church faded, and the young priest-to-be made desperate love to the girl. She repulsed him. saying he was a disgrace to the church. Thereupon he renounced his vows, declared his intention of becom ing a doctor and again sought the girl. She avoided him and he wrote a note asking her to meet him. The letter found in his pipe was her reply, of which this is a translation: Renounced by Loved One. "Thou renegade priest. Sooner would I die than be the woman of a false man to his church. Jau Snoviske will be my man." According to letters from Hungary, received after an investigation of this note, Kazo became silent after his dis missal by his sweetheart. Shunned by churchmen, barred from his father's house for his desertion of the church, he became despondent and secured work as a stonecutter. He sel dom spoke to his associates, by whom he was little liked, and finally came to America. He worked in the Pennsylvania min ing districts, but his taciturnity pre vented hiin from making friends. He learned little English, tut what he did say was in denunciation of the church, which he had come to biame for his troubles. His insanity finally took the form of an attack on the crosses In cemeteries and with the entire less of his sanity came the devilish shrewdness by which h calculated to a nicety bow to dodge on a freight train, hide under the cars, on ihe bumpers, anywhere; reach a vil lage at night, smash the crosses in the MUH't ry and escape without having been seen by a soul. Ills <a>•* Is helloed lo bo incurable and he will probably spend the rest ol his days in an asylum, while a trail ol i r du it to#i i 'tones mark* the k>u'-nun. path of hi-> liiaaully. _______________________ i Why New York Need Not Fear a Hostile Fleet I City Too Well Defended to Suffer from Attack of Most Powerful Foreign Foe. The visit of Prince Louis of Batten berg to this country is now but a mem ory—pleasant and picturesque—but the question which the British admiral raised as to the helplessness of New York before a fleet of the most mod ern and powerful battleships is still a living issue. In fact, like Banquo's ghost, it will not down, at least not until it is downed by the array of formidable facts as to the defenses of the great eastern metropolis. Prince L<ouis is reported to have said —either in jest or in earnest —that the 18 battleships and cruisers which sailed into New York harbor under the command of Admiral Evans and himself could reduce the city to a heap of ruins in less time than the chef on the prince's flagship, the Drake, could prepare an omelet, and naturally the remark created no little sensation, and Father Knickerbocker nearly had cold chill, notwithstanding the warmth of the reception given to the royal guest. Are the defenses of New York city Incomplete and insufficient? Could such a fleet of fighting ships as Britain might muster, or France, MAP OF NEW YORK HARBOR, SHOWI NO SIX OP TIII3 GREAT FORTS THAT GUARD ITS NORTHERN A ND SOUTHERN APPROACHES. or Germany, get within striking dis tance of the city and pour in such thunderbolts of fire and steel as to re duce the city to a heap of ruins? These are questions that are being asked these days not only in New York city, but throughout the whole country, for no such calamity as was hinted at by Prince Louis could befall the eastern metropolis without affect ing the entire nation. Perhaps these ; qucustions have been answered before, but just now people want them an swered again, if for no otner reason than to prove that our royal guest did not know what he was talking about. The 15 forts and batteries in and about New York harbor answer an em phatic no to the questions propound- j ed. There are nearly 200 massive, pow-1 erful guns mounted in those forts and j batteries, ready at an iust ant's notice to thunder forth such a mighty denial of the charges of weakness and inefii- I ciency as to make a veritable sieve out of every armorclad battleship that! would have the temerity to poke its nose within speaking distance of the American shore and New York harbor. Nearly 6,000 soldiers are on the alert J day and night and drilling constantly. Every day the big guns are oiled and polished and made ready for the time ] when they may be needed'. A hostile fleet approaching New York 1 would bo greeted by the shot and shell from Forts Hancock, Hamilton, Wads-! worth, Rodman, Trumbull, Wright, j Terry, Slocum, Scliuyler, Totten, Jay and other powerful batteries, long be-1 fore they could come to and get into! action. At Fort Hancock, on Sandy Hook, the most powerful guns in com mission are mounted, and admitting that an attacking squadron would be! able to safely run the gauntlet of mines with which the outer harbor would be filled, it would have to reckon with them. One of the guns is a 10- Inch slant, capable of hurling a 2,400- pound projectile 21 miles at the rale of 2,300 feet per second. W bile this gua Is not mounted, it being inexpedient to keep It In training In time of peace. It could be quickly placed in position aud sweep the harbor approaches with its terrific fire. And even grunting Its In effectiveness ut the 2t>-inlle range, tlieie Is no question th:U (t would be a for midable weapon at the U> or 12 mile range. Should th« attempt be made to reach the city by way of Long Island sound the invading fleet would have to run a gauntlet of forts, beginning with Fort Rodman, near New Bedford, to Fort Trumbull, at New London, and on down the chain to Forts Wright and Terry, standing on islands that divide the fairway of the sound into narrow channels. But should the enemy get into the sound, a feat by the way which the North Atlantic squadron failed to accomplish during the naval maneu vers two years ago, he would still have to silence the powerful batteries of Forts Slocum, Schuyler and Totten. By reference to the map it will be seen that Fort Slocum stands off New Ro chelle, while Schuyler and Totten stand sternly vigilant five miles nearer the city, and would be sure to bring down any ships which might possibly get by the guns of Fort Slocum. In these two forts there are 16 great guns, and no battleship or company of them could hope to survive their raking fire. Every device and agency known to modern warfare have been mustered to render these defenses of New tfork impregnable. At the prpesent time Fort Hamilton is being rapidly strengthened, and in a short time will be the finest fort owned by Uncle Sam. Between 52.000.000 and $0,000,000 have been asked for to make this possible. The map shows how the deep water channel runs directly under the guns of Fort Hancock, on Sandy Hook, aud then, bending abruptly northward, races through the narrow gateway be | tween Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth. Military experts declare that owfhg to the narrowness of the channel, it is doubtful whether any ships of war could be brought so near the city save by American pilots, and when the hos tile ships had to deal with tlio deadly i mines strung between Homer shoals j and the Narrows, the case would be quito hopeless. But another factor must be reckoned j >\ ith in considering the forces against which a hostile fleet would have to con tend, and that is the fighting ships, big and little—from the great battle ships down to the submarine destroy ets and torpedo boats —of Uncle Sam's glowing navy. What would this force amount to? There are five 16,000-ton battleships, which entered the water in 1904-11)05. while there are others yet to be launched, 15 in all. namely: me Connecticut, Kansas. Virginia, Nebras ka. Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Idaho, Louisiana, Minne sota, New Hampshire, Vermont, South Carolina and Michigan. The Connecti cut and Louisiana were launched a year ago and both are under contract to be delivered next year. The Vir ginia, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Nebraska are also at hand, and the contract for the New Hamp shire has been closed, a step yet to be taken with the South Carolina and Michigan. In addition to the above the amored cruisers California, South Dakota. Tennessee and Washington are all 85 per cent, completed, as are the protect ed cruisers St. Louis nnd Milwaukee, while the Charleston can bo put In full war trim on slight notice. And to the-,., must of course bo added the Mulne, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Alabama, lowa, Massachusett. Went V Iriinin, Pennsylvania. Colorado lv> arsarge and Maryland, ths ships whl.h comprised Admiral Kvat.s' squadron when he p.-iyi-q j,o«t t 0 Prln •(* lleury. WILLIS H EPSON. MINISTER TO CUBA.. H. G. SQUIERS RESIGNS, E. V. MORGAN APPOINTED. Change in Diplomats Grows Out of Recent Isle of Pines Incident —lnteresting Careers of Both Meu. Washington. Simultaneous an nouncement was made at the state de partment the other day that Herbert G. Squiers, of New 'iork, since May, 1902, the minister of the United States to Cuba, had temfered his resignation and that it had been accepted, and that Edwin V. Morgan, also of New York, and United States minister to Korea, had been designated as Mr. Squiers' successor. The resignation of Mr. Squiers Is ■aid to be a result of the recent trou- EDWIN V. MORGAN. (Former Minister to Corea Appointed to Cuban Post.) bles growing out of the Isle of Pines incident. The relations between Mr. Squiers and the Cuban government have been strained for some time. It is charged that the minister afforded much encouragement to American col onists on the Isle of Pines in their ef forts to have the island annexed to the United States after their declaration of independence. In this he acted in opposition to the administration, which advised the islanders to submit them sci.ves to Cuban government. The ac ceptance of Mr. Squiers' resignation, it is said, was necessary to maintain cor dial relations between Cuba and the United States, the Cuban government having cabled a complaint, according to reports to the state department, relative to Mr. Squiers' action. The career of the retiring diplomat is an interesting one. He entered the service first in 1894. when he was made second secretary of the American em bassy in Berlin. He retained that place for three years, when he retired for a few months. He became secre tary of the legation at Peking in Jan uary. IS9B, and went through the Boxer troubles there. Prior to his entry into the diplomatic service Mr. Squiers waa in the regular army. His knowledge HERBERT G. SQUIERS. (Recent Minister to Cuba Who Has I signed His Position.) of military affairs gave him a hi position in the defense of the le' tions, and he was soon made chief staff to Sir Claude Macdonald, w was placed in command. Mrs. Squi was within the legation compound d ing the siege. From China Mr. Squi went to Havana as United btates n ister. His salary there is $12,00( year. The career of Mr. Morgan Is e more interesting than that of Squiers, and he has risen rapidly the diplomatic service of the Un Slates. His first service was secre to the United States commissioner the Samoan islands in 1899. Follow that he was appointed secretary of legation at Seoul. He remained t until March, 1901, when he was pointed second secretary of the bassy at St. Petersburg. He retu to this country from Russia with I'eirce, then secretary of the em' ut St. Petersburg, and who wast appointment to be third assistant rotary of state. Mr. Morga;<f was Secretary Pelreo's confidential He retained that \vusition for years, and in January, 1904, h( made consul at Dalny. The wai vented his going to his post, and awaiting an opportunity tog Dalny he was made Minister to 1 Until a f-'w days before his U,J ment as nlnister to Cuba here this position it was then deck' the state department to alxilU mission to Korea, in view of th that Japan had taken over all tl lomatlc business of l\oi*a und protectorate. Mr. Morgan was r< and will come to Washington a as j»M*ihle after Milling the all his legation. Mr. Morgan s In l eased rrom $7,51W to $1 i ouo Poir Consolation. it dues lint re. ot)i lie a J«?; i i v.ho is Irjtir l ia u ui; j,| w know tii tt t!i» fitin < n ri'i.UK wa , olu-> uji.ei» t .v| t Ua.li * iuu U
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers