Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, September 13, 1907, Page 1

VOLUME 5. NUMBER 123. BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1907. MINNESOTA OCIETY. FORTY CENTS PER MONTH FINNEGAN CLEARLY NOT ENTITLED TO ANY REWARD County Attorney Funkley Answers Inquiries of Attorney General’s Offce Relative to Claim for Arrest and Conviction of Dahl Murderers. County Attorney Henry Funkley has received the subjoined letter from Chas. S. Jelly, special counsel in the office of Attorney Gen. Young: “l[enry Funkley, Fsq.,, County ‘ Attorney, Bemidji, Minnesota. “Dear Sir—Gov. VanSant offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the persons who murdered the Dahls in your county, and [ think you are aware that William E. Finnegan, captain of police at Green Bay, has made application to the governor for such reward; he appearing with his attor- ney before the governor today, and | after the matter was heard the gov- ernor asked me for an opinion from this office as to whether he had a right under the law to pay the money to the applicant. “I tried to get you by ’phone to get a full statement of the facts,but the wire being out of order T was unable todo so, and I now wish to ask you to give me answers to a few questions: “1. As I understand the matter, Wesley, the man arrested by Finne- gan, was indicted by the grand jury of your city. Am I correct? “2. Finnegan arrested Wesley, did he not, and held him until our state officials went and brought him back to your county? “3. The indictment was nollied and Wesley was set free, and I am informed it was because the county attorney thought he could not secure a conviction. Is this correct? “4. How long was it after his release before he was arrested again? Please give me the exact dates. s, How long after he was arrested was it before his trial, con- viction and sentence? “6. After his first discharge under the first indictment, did he at any time leave your county or state, so far as you know? “7. TFrom the time of his dis- charge down to the time of his sec- ond arrest did the officials of your county know where he was? *“If you can answer these questions and give me all the facts in regard to the matter, you will confer a favor which will be greatly appreciated, and upon your statement of facts will depend, of course, the decision of this office.” In reply to the letter from the attorney general’s office the County Attorney has written as follows: “Bemidji, Sept. 12. “C. S, Jelley, Esq., Assistant Attor- ney General, St. Paul. “Dear Sir—Replying to your favor of the 10th inst., relative to Finnegan’s claim for reward, will say, in answer to your questions, that Wesley was indicted by our grand jury, April 30th, 1904, for murder in the first degree. Bench warrant was issued on this indict- ment March 29th, 19085, about six months after the indictment was found. “Wesley was arrested by Finnegan at Green Bay, Wisconsin, about the 28th of March, 1905, which was |about a year after the murder—the date of the murder being fixed at April 7th, 1904. “\\'esley entered a plea of not guilty Sept. 21, 1905. And the indictment against him was nollied and the case against him dismissed in open court on the 22nd day of March, 1906. “On Jan. 23rd, 1907, I swore out a warrant charging Wesley with the murder of the Dahls, and on that warrant he was arrested by Deputy Sheriff Arne Solberg, at Deer River, in Itasca county, Minn., on the 5th day of February, 1907. “He was indicted by our grand jury for murder in the first degree on the 21st day of March, 1907. He entered a plea of not guilty. “His trial commenced on March 28th, 1907, and resulted in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree on the 4th day of April,1907, whereupon he was sentenced to the state prison for life, the following morning. “You ask if the officers after his discharge from the first indictment, knew of Wesley’s whereabouts. They certainly did not. Nor, I suppose, did they care anything about his whereabouts, as he was as free to pursue his way as the officers were free to pursue theirs. “I have learned since that he was, in Dakota on several occasions, and that none of the time between his release and re-arrest did he sojourn in Beltrami county. “I think this answers your in- quiries. If not I will be glad to give you any other information that I may possess or have access to. I am sorry that you could not get me over the 'phone so as to save time. “It may be of interest to you to know that at the same time that Gov. VanSant offered the reward now in controversy, there was a similar reward of five hundred dol- lars offered by the county. And I take it upon myself to say that this reward will not be paid by the county at present without a resort to the courts; because I do not believe that the Finnegan arrest of Wesley in the slightest degree con- tributed to his conviction. In fact the offer of this reward was one constant obstacle standing in the way of the prosecution at the trial, on account of the defense making it appear that each and every wit- ness was in some way influenced in his testimony on account of this reward. We had to fight this reward proposition at the trial and I think we will fight it again, if Finnegan seeks to recover from the the county.” _— MARKET DAY TOMORROW; LARGE GROWD EXPEGTED Charles A. Hitchcock of Crookston Will Officiate as Auctioneer and M. E. Carson Will Be Clerk. Tomorrow will be “Market Day,” the second day since the plan of holding a “Market Day” for Bemidji was first proposed. Not much interest has been mani- fested in tomorrow’s markets, but it is certain that there will be another good-sized crowd in the city, pre- pared to buy and sell and exchange animals and articles. Those who have not already listed their articles are earnestly requested to do so the first thing in the morn- ing, so as to curtail the amount of labor that will fall on the clerk. vacant lots east of Pogue’s barn. C. A. Hitchcock, the talented Crookston auctioneer, has been engaged to act as salesman tomor- row. Mr. Hitchcock officiated at the last “Market Day,” and gave excellent satisfaction, securing much more money for articles and animals than was expected. M. E. Carson will officiate as clerk, and will be prepared to take lists of articles at an early hour in the morning, on the grounds east of the Pogue livery and sale stable. Seeking Land. Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Vatsvoy. J. Manes, and Wm. Brown, of Upham, N.D, C. W. Murry and W. H. Mooney of Superior, and C. H. Wil- son of Minneapolis, comprise a party of laud seekers that spent yes- terday in the city while making a tour of the M. & I., north. The sales will be held on the Local news on last page Important Train Notice On account of sink hole all trains on Red Lake Railroad will be abandoned on Sunday, September 15th, 1907. All Sunday trains, including regular excursion to Redby, will positively run on Sunday, September 22nd, 1907. Be Sure and Go W. G. MAR SON, Gen. Man. address. #fl)fi”-)i)’-)-')’2')-‘)-')5”i’i‘li‘)”&:’:’ia:‘)533'I?Q??533353953l3333939593333 333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 The Beltrami County Agricultura] association needs $1,000 to safely finance the fair and pay the remain- ing amounts necessary to holding the best fair in the history of north- ern Minnesota. It has been decided to take sub- scriptions of $10 each from 100 busi- ness and professional people and others in the county, which will easily handle the sum needed. The financial committee of the fair association has been circulat- ing a subscription list among the residents of the city for the purpose of raising funds to meet the demands that would be made for money to - Hon. Moses E. Clapp (JUNIOR U. 5. SENATOR OF MINNESOTA) Senator Clapp will deliver an address in Bemidji on the second day of the fair—Friday, September 27th. The senator is a fluent speaker, and as he is very popular in this north country, a large crowd will be on hand to hear the senator’s Name on the List? successfully carry on the fair. So far, no one has turned down the committee and it is hoped that none will do so. The money appropriated and donated for the fair will be handled in a very conservative and business- like manner, and a full account of every cent received and expended will be rendered by the officers of the Beltrami County Agricultural association, under the auspices of which the fair will be held. Get in line and hand or send in your “ten.” Up to the hour of going to press, this afternoon, donations have been received to this fund as follows: Married at Akeley Yesterday. H. J. Krueger, time-keeper for the Red River Lumber company at Akeley, and Miss Anna Kelley, also of Akeley, were married yesterday afternoon by the Rev. L. D. Arnold of the Congregational church of that place. They spent last night and today in this city on their ‘“honey-moon” trip, leaving here this afternoon for Floodwood, where they willl visit with relatives for a few days, after which they will visit at various points in Iowa. * ' Mr. and Mrs. Krueger were accompanied as far as this city by Charles Bell, Miss Etta Briggs. Wm. H. Kelly and Miss Lula Krueger, who returned to their home at Ake- ley today. Additional local matter will be found on fourth page. HEEEEF EEEEEEEC R E R EEECECE R E EEFFEEEEEEFFEFEFEFFEEFE CEFEECEECEEECCEFEEFEFEFEFEEEFEEEEECEEECECEEEEEE EFEEEEEEEE EEEEECECEECEEEECEEEEEEFECEELICEEEEEEEERE # SUBSCRIBE T0 THE FAIR FUND The Popular Subscription List for Raising the Needed $1,000 Is Being Liberally Signed.---Have You Placed Your Pioneer Pub. Co. -- 10.00 First National Bank.. Lumbermen’s National Bank. 10.00 Mrs. Bereman..........c... 10.00 O’Leary & Bowser..... .. 1000 G. E. Carson..... cascessve 10,00 E. A. Schneider«...eoevua.. 10.00 Wm. McCuaig. . «+. 10.00 F. S. Lycan.... .+ 10,00 E. A. Barker. .. . 10.00 Gill Bros....«.. + 10.00 Dr. Gilmore. evesses 10,00 Phibbs & Erickson. . .. 10.00 John D. Lunn.. « 10.00 W. A. Gould.. - 10.00 Donald Land & Lumber Co.: 10.00 E. H. Ives. «++ 10.00 C. M. Bacon. « 10.00 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Fall Millinery Display. We have a complete line of up-to- date patterns in tailored hats ready for your inspection. Our goods are of the newest and latest designs, and the ladies of Bemidji are cordially invited to call and inspect our goods. Mrs. E. F. Jones, of O’Leary & Bowser, Local news;on last page DIDN'T KNOW *TWAS LOADED KILLED BY HIS COMPANION Edward Fulton, 12-Year-01d Boy of Cass Lake, Confesses He Pointed Gun at George Gardner, Resulting in Death of Latter. Cass Lake, Sept, 13.—(Special to the Pioneer.)—Torn by remorse and unable longer to maintain silence as to his terrible secret, Edward Fulton, a 12.year-old boy of this village, yesterday afternoon confessed that his hand fired the fatal shot that ended the earthly career of his friend and companion, George Gardner, whose dead body was found in the yard at his parent’s home last Mon- day afternoon. Ever since the finding of the body by the dead boy’s mother, there has been a suspicion that his death was caused by other means than being selt-inflicted. When the accident occured on Monday, the Fulton boy came to his home and was greatly effected by the death of his young com- panion. He was closely questioned in connection with the affair and told different stories to his par- ents. Yesterday afternoon, however, he could no longer conceal the truth concerning the shooting and made a clean breast of the affair. Young Fulton now states that he and his companion, Roy Gardner, had just returned from school, Monday after- noon, and the boys went to the, Gardner boy’shome. Young Fulton went over to his home and brought his rifle with him, the boys intend- ing to go into the woods and do some shooting. The Gardner boy wanted to tell his mother where he was going, but as Mrs. Gardner was not at home at the time, they decided to wait on the porch until she returned. Young Fulton says he took the gun in his hands, and not thinking it was loaded, he playfully pointed the weapon at his companion and pulled the trigger. The weapon was discharged, and to the horror of Fulton, his com- panion fell to the ground, and by the time he reached the spot where young Gardner had fallén, the latter was dead. Young Fulton rushed homeward, grief-stricken and almost crazed at the thought of what he had done. When the boy was closely ques- tioned as to how the accident happened he told many different stories. However, his conscience smote him so heavily that he could no longer conceal the truth and yester- day afternoon he confessed every- thing. The fwo boys were about the same age, 12 years, and have been con- stant companions for a number of years, and as they were greatly attached to each other, everyone is fully convinced that the Fulton boy’s act in pointing the gun at his com- panion and pulling the trigger was entirely unintentional. . The body of the Gardner boy was buried in the local cemetery this afternoon at 2 o’clock. Just what action will be taken by the authorities relative to punishing the Fulton boy is not known. Thieves Were Boys. Last Monday evening some mis- creants forced an entry into the home of Miss Lela Solberg, near the Midway store, by breaking one of the windows. After once gaining an entrance to the room, the parties ransacked the building and took away with them a fine new mando- lin and about 1000 cigar bands which Miss Solberg had in the room. So far the police have not ascer- tained who committed the theft, but believe it to have been the work of some young boys, as older persons would have taken some other articles in the room. Citizens are requested to keep a sharp outlook for a mandolin, ‘and in that manner the thieves may be apprehended and the stolen goods found. Tyvewriter ribbons, nearly all makes of standard machines at the Pioneer office. Market Day Specials A Practical Watch Extra Heavy Swing Ring, Solid Back, Dust and Damp Proof, Open Face. Fitted with the fol- lowing move- extraordinary -LOW PRICES D -04% 15 Jeweled Hampden .......$ 8.00 17 Jeweled Illinois. S 10.00 17 Jeweled Great Northern........ 10.00 17 Jeweled Rockford Challenge = 12.00 17 Jeweled Bemidji Special 21 Jeweled Hampden 18.00 18.50 21 Jeweled Waltham ... ... 27.00 23 Jeweled Hampden................ 30.00 Geo. T. Baker @ Co. Located in City Drug Store den ISTORICAL ments at the