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Melvin Purvis — Part 1

103 pages · May 10, 2026 · Document date: Jul 22, 1934 · Broad topic: General · Topic: Melvin Purvis · 102 pages OCR'd
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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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