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Melvin Purvis — Part 1
Page 10
10 / 103
Ort 8 (Rev. 28-55)
~ sa ey »
Rambler |
Calle
os ws on
“Forgotten Mon
By GEORGE KENNEDY
fhe other day the Ram-
yler had some difficulty in
foeating Melv! urvis at the
Sapitol
Mr. Purvis has just taken
op his duties as majority
counsel for a Senate sub-
committee on “improving
the judicial machinery.”
That there was some daiffi-
culty in locating him was
net surprising. Thé subcom-
miitiee is a new one and has
; office space on
-top floor {the sixth) of
- new Benate Office
fleat none of the secretaries
suf telephone operators con-~
gulted seemed ever to have
heard of Mr. Purvis.
He is the former FBI
agent credited with doing in
John Dillinger, America’s
“Public Enemy No. 1,” near
g movie house on Chicago's
Morth Side 25 years ago in
pow §5 with hair ing
i grayin.
“@® the tempies but a trim
(5-foot-9, 144 pounds),
‘was delighted to hear
that he has become “the
fergotien man.”
“J hope you won't empha-
give mY lurid past,” he said.
“This job is a serious one.’
During al! his years in the
FEL Mr. Purvis dues not
seem to have lost his native
South Carolina accent. At
any rate, he has it now.
eel 1) ———_ ,
em i rie |
ee ee
i mittee.
-in-force practices,
HAS BEEN wpraciicing
Jaw in Florence, &. C., where
he owns the radio station.
This is not the first time
he has come to Washington
on an important assignment.
Eight years ago Senator Olin
D, Johnston of South Caro-
lina, who thinks he is one of
the ablest men in his State,
brought him here as counsel
for a subcommittee studying
civil service. Senator John-
ston is chairman of Post
Office and Civil Service and
is a member of Judiciary.
Mr. Purvis produced a 14-
volume report in more than
two years of investigation,
calling attention to the glar-
ing inequities of reduction-
lack of
incentive programs, personal
favoritism and veterans’
preférence. Then there came
@ change of administration,
he went back to South Caro-
lina and nothing much has
been cone about it.
Improving the judicial ma-
chinery jis just as difficult.
Last year Paul J. Cotter and
a staff made a study for the
Senate Appropriations Com-
They found that
‘cases on the old system of
‘ assignment sometimes
got
three years behind and, with
aonev, improved system,
sometimes got nine years
behind.
“Appointment of more
, Judges would be the easiest
: ger,
. er.
solution,” ‘Mr. Phirvis’ sald,
“and probably the most
unsatisfactory." .
THEN WE FELL to talking
about the old days when
Occurrences were more in-
credible than the Westerns
‘ of Zane “Grey: or. PV:: =
Purvis did not shoot Billin-
He didn't shoot at all.
He lit a cigar, a signal thai
this was the man. The
agents moved in on Diliin-
who broke and ran
down an alley, reaching for
BRun did not have. They
1 down. ee
i We talked about the kid-
napings, the Lindbergh case,
the Urache)] case, the
Boettcher case, the shootings
in the Kansas. City station
when gangsters tried to
‘yesone a prisoner, Frank
Nash. An FBI agent, three
police officers and Nash were
killed. Purvis was on the
Ohio cornfield when Pretty
Boy Fioyd, one of the par-
ticipants in the Kansas City
afiray, was killed by agents
in a gun duel. But there
again he ddn't fire a shot.
“T started a train once,” he
aT.
wre
bai. arrested
Verne Sankey in Chicago fer
the Kidnaping of Charles
Boettcher II, a wealthy Den-
. verile. We wanted to take
him to Sioux City for trial
i made arrangements with
the Milwaukee line peopie. I
| told them we wanted to put
hen
dia
ey in the last car of the |
train, which was to be empty,
to lock beth doors and bese
oa
Tolson
Belmont —__
DBeLoach ____
McGuire
Mohr
Parsons
Rosen
Tamm
Trotter —
W.C. Sullivan —_
Tele. Room
Holloman
Gandy
a SPS
him chained te a lower berth |
before the train started. We
didn't want another Kansas
City incident. .
“Mr. Purvis,” said the
superintendent, ‘the train
won't start until the engi-
neer gets your signa!’
“Everything went like
clockwork. Sankey Was
thained and the adodrTa were
locked when I stepped off
the rear platform and had
the thrill of
trait fo sig A
————s
The Washington Post and
“Tubee Heeaka | 0 7 ET
The Washington Dally News WW *
The Evening Star -
New York Herald Tribune —
the; "ity
ve OH
New York Jouthal-American i.
New York Mittor —_—
New York Dally News <a:
New York Post Ee
The New york Times
The Worker
Tne New Leader
The Wall Stree: Joumai ow
Date
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