Exeter Ice House

The strange case of the murdered police chiefs

Patrolling on foot on the night of July 28 in 1918, West Wyoming police Chief Ralph Daley encountered a group of young men loitering outside an ice cream parlor blocking the sidewalk on West Eighth Street between 10 and 11 o’clock. As he had been ordered by the borough’s burgess, or mayor, to crackdown on gangs blocking sidewalks, Daley asked the men—described as “Italians” in police reports and newspaper articles – to move.

When they refused Daley “gently”, as described in one version of events, pushed one the men who was identified as Louis Mancino, 24. Mancino either pushed back or punched Daley. Daley hit Mancino either in the hand or head with his night stick.

At that instant the ice cream parlor lights went dark and two shots rang out. One of the .32 caliber steel-tipped bullets fired hit Daley just above his shield, passed through his heart and out his back. He fell to the sidewalk and bled to death in minutes, as the group of men scattered into the darkness.

The police immediately identified Mancino as a suspect and learned he was on the lam with a friend, Antonio “Tony” Rizzo, 20. Three hours later around 3 a.m. on the morning of the 29th, Wyoming Police Chief Edward Brennan and Officer Hiram Long were stopping vehicles and teams on Wyoming Avenue as part of the investigation into Daley’s slaying, when they were told the suspect had been seen in the area of First Street.

Telling Officer Long to continue the road block, Brennan went to investigate. Minutes later two shots were heard. When Brennan did not return to the road block, Long thought Brennan had fired the shots and was chasing the suspects. But Brennan may not have been armed. His niece Florence Jumper, 98, was five then. She said Brennan had been rousted out of bed by a phone call after a day of blueberry picking and hurriedly left his house on Fourth Street without his gun and holster.

Meanwhile a posse of all 45 state policemen from the Wyoming Troop P, private policemen (what we would call security guards today), county detectives, and hastily deputized citizens were scouring the area in automobiles, on horseback and on foot, while borough police in Exeter and West Pittston set up perimeters. One of the state policemen found Brennan dead in bushes along the avenue. Like Daley he had been shot through in the heart and neck.

Exeter IceHouse hosts annual tournament | SeacoastOnline.com

EXETER — One of the longest running hockey tournaments in New England, the 37th annual Jim Houston Tournament, will be held at the Exeter Ice House this weekend.

The three-day youth hockey tournament, which is a fund-raiser for the Jim Houston Memorial Fund and Exeter High School Boosters Club, begins today.

The tournament began in 1971 in tribute to Houston, a local merchant, selectman and supporter of youth activities in Exeter. He was instrumental in founding Exeter's youth hockey program in the early 1960s and in bringing the first hockey team to Exeter High School in 1967.

After Houston's death from lung cancer in 1970, a memorial fund was established in his memory to assist needy children who could not afford to play hockey. The tournament began shortly after.

"His buddies said let's do something to commemorate what he has done for hockey in Exeter," said EHS hockey coach Jim Tufts.

Tufts and his brother Peter Tufts, vice president of hockey at The Ice House, have been a part of the Jim Houston Tournament since the beginning. In its first year, Jim officiated the game while Peter played.

"For us, it never happens without somehow being involved," Jim said.

The long-time involvement of participants is something they enjoy and say is special about the Houston Tournament.

"One of the things that's really fun about it is that it's multi-generational with adults who played in it refereeing now and their kids play now," Jim said.

Players in the EHS hockey program, the majority of whom played in the tournament as children, now work in the tournament, Jim said.

"It really is a community event. It happens every year at Christmas and it's something that people will put on their calendar," Jim said. "People come as a group to watch their grandchildren like they earlier watched their own children. It's an event that the community embraces."

Those who participate in the tournament are at the youth hockey level, which ranges from age 7 to 14.

On average, the tournament gathers 42 teams to participate. Primarily local teams play but others travel from states including Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.

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