Twin Killing

Leona was dead.  She was two months old.  She died on impact.  Her brain had crushed and dislodged from her tiny, still soft skull.  The date was March 10, 1936.  John was brought to the city jail and later transported to the county jail to await trial.  He never spoke after the incident.  He just stared into space, eyes clouded and defeated.  Three nights later, he was found dead in his cell.  He had hung himself with the sheet from his cot, tied to the ceiling fan.  A wooden chair, kicked over, lying on its side, witnessed the suicide.

On March 11,1936, Springfield experienced a torrential rainstorm, dropping 3” of rain on the city.  The rain and thawing temperatures led to the worst flood in city history.  Dikes burst in the north end and 8,000 people left for higher ground.  Although there was some water damage to their basement, the house on Newland Street weathered the storm and flood.

It was learned later that the Kinne factory had closed its doors that fateful few days earlier, a casualty of the Depression and Mr. Kinne’s myopia.  The multi-story plant made production difficult, expensive, and an inefficient use of space.  Instead of modernizing and investing in the company, Mr. Kinne spent his inflated salary and much of the company profits on parties and material possessions for himself and his son.  He refused to see the signs that his business was in trouble until it was too late.  He knew that sales volume was slipping, but tomorrow would pick up, he blindly rationalized.  When the realization hit him and he hustled to save the “sinking ship”, it was too late.  The market for his product had eroded.  Money was scarce and businesses were failing all around Springfield.  Thousands of Springfield workers were underemployed or unemployed, working for reduced hours or reduced wages, or not at all. 

Meekins, Packard, and Wheat went into bankruptcy, and was unable to sell off its inventory of retail goods, estimated at $300-400,000, even at half price.  The Barney & Berry Skate Company, producers of ice and roller skates, was also a recent victim.  England’s Rolls Royce Company, known

world wide for its production of quality automobiles, had built several models in the United States, but was closing the production factory established in 1920 in Springfield, in 1936.  A company a week, it seemed, shut down, and closed its doors for good.  In 1929, 400 manufacturing concerns employed nearly 48,000 people in Springfield-based factories.  By the mid-1930’s, less than 300 concerns employed about 17,000 people. The Kinne Candy factory had joined a long list.