Chicago Tribune
PROF. THOMAS GIVES A BOND
AND QUITS CELL
Mrs. Granger, His Companion, Escapes Arrest Because She’s
Ill.
Prof. William Isaac Thomas, lecturer on sociology and morals, entered upon a petulant mood yesterday afternoon when an iron door, in South Clark street station, ground shut behind him. Uneasily he paced back and forth, pulling at a cigaret. Then he spied a dark corridor and retreated from prying eyes.
He had been arrested at his home, 6132 Kimbark avenue, on a warrant issued by Judge Hugh Kearns of the Morals court, on request of Hinton G. Clabaugh, chief of the federal bureau of investigation.
George Carlton and J. W. Murphy, detective sergeants, who served the warrant, also carried with them a warrant for the arrest of Mrs. R. M. Granger, discovered with Prof. Thomas in a room in the Brevoort hotel.
Professor’s Companion Ill
Mrs. Granger was found also at the Thomas home. Mrs. Thomas told the officers that she was ill. They asked proof. The men were then ushered into the guest chamber, where they found the woman in the “company bed.”
“Don’t arrest me!” she cried, and then with sobs, “Please don’t take me to jail.”
A certificate from a physician was produced. It gave evidence that she was really ill. On the boarder of hysterics, her appearance bore out the statement.
In cases of this kind the law permits officers to use their discretion about making an arrest. They agreed that it would be dangerous to the woman to take her. Prof. Thomas was booked at the station it was agreed that the woman will be permitted to make bond through an attorney for her appearance.
“Thomas f’r bond!” sang a desk sergeant.
Thomas Gets Out on Bond
Prof. Thomas appeared from this dark corridor of refuge. The key in the door turned and he walked out. An officer took him to the office of the station.
Here John C. Vaughan, the stedsman, was waiting and both Mr. Vaughan and Prof. Thomas quickly signed the bond. A crowd of reporters flocked around. Prof. Thomas, apparently in an angry mood, shook his head defiantly at them and said:
“Nothing for you! Nothing! Leave me alone!
A big man, broad of shoulder and massive, he shoved them aside and made for the open air. Outside he briskly struck out south on South Clark street, stumping along like a man in a passion.
Other Charges May Be Made.
At present the Morals court charges are the only ones against Prof. Thomas and the young woman. It was intimated at the federal building yesterday that an investigation is under way which possibly may lead to other charges Monday.
Prof. Thomas, appeared at the federal building in the morning and asked to be permitted to see Mr. Clabaugh. He was told that the chief of the bureau of investigation was busy. For two hours he sat on a bench outside Mr. Clabaugh’s office and waited.
At the end of the two hours Mr. Clabaugh was still “busy” and the professor went sadly away. Prof. Thomas’ arrest came as no shock to him. He had been expecting it. Just as the detective sergeants arrived at the Thomas home the professor was called to the telephone.
Dresses for Ordeal
“Some one is waiting to seem me,” he said, with a laugh, and gave this as his excuse for not being able to talk. He asked to be permitted to put some finishing touches on his toilet and shortly afterward announced his readiness to go. He was carefully attired and groomed for his public appearance. On the way to the station the care, driven by a woman volunteer war worker, dressed in a uniform of blue, Sam Brown belt and a dinky military cap made much speed.
In fact the pace was so swift that a car, in close pursuit carrying reporters, was stopped by a traffic policeman and the number taken. Those in the care were notified to appear in police court on Monday to answer a charge of speeding.
Mrs. Granger’s Sister Loyal.
Last night a new face was added to the “family circle” in the Thomas home. The addition was Miss Della Rains, artists’ model and ex-movie actress. Miss Rains, whose graceful lines and youthful form have often been admired of artists, came into the professor’s home as an invited guest to counsel with her sister, Mrs. Granger, and the professor. Miss Rains is the model who created something of a sensation some time ago at the Art institute by refusing to pose in an art class attended by Negroes.
No Gloom at Thomas Home.
Nor was it a mournful gathering that gathered last night at the Thomas home. Although they denied themselves to reporters who called, the sounds of merry voices came floating down the speaking tube to the entry hall below.
Reportorial ears, glued to the tube, eagerly waiting answer to the bell (and a little bit longer), heard tinkly laughter. The cheery voice of Miss Rains, artists model, was not the least among them.
One time Mrs. Thomas appeared and said that the professor was in
no mood to give out a statement not. She might, later, she said, although her
mind on this is not made up. The plan of the family circle, Mrs. Thomas
admitted, is to lie low and seek retirement until this thing which has happened
is more or less forgotten and the sensation “blows over.”
Efforts to identify the husband in the case, now in France, who home is given as
in Texas, last night brought the following telegram from Dallas:
Husband May Be Texan
“The only Granger of Dallas who has a commission in the army so far as can be learned here is Second Lieutenant R. M. Granger of the signal service. He formerly was a telegraph operator employed by the Western Union of Dallas. He has relatives in Fort Smith, Ark.
“Lieut. Granger is married and has one child. He won his commission after he entered the army. Friends say that if he is the husband of the woman mentioned in the Chicago dispatches in connection with the Prof. Thomas affair, there will be another war after the European conflict is ended.”
Taken in Room, Not Lobby.
Another development of the investigation of the “affair” yesterday was the fact that what occurred at the Brevoort was turned and twisted in the telling to fit the lives of those giving it out. Instead of being arrested in the lobby of the hotel, Prof. Thomas and Mrs. Granger were arrested in a room, it was said, fully an hour after they had secured it.
When officers knocked at the door, Mrs. Granger, lightly clad, hid in the bathroom and there was found.
When a squad of eager reporters and photographers waylaid the professor near his home yesterday morning and sought to question him, trouble befell certain ones of the clustering party. The 22 year old son came to the rescue of “Dad” Thomas and proceeded to belay right and left with fists.
Some blood was spilled.
