Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, March 24, 1909, Page 1

THE BEMIDJI D MINNESOTA HISTORICAL | SOCIETY, VOLUME 6. NUMBER 288. BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARqfi 24, 1909, FORTY CENTS PER MONTH ‘NOT GUILTY’ Jury in Case of Barnard Andrew Nelson, Charged Wlth the Crime of Murder in the First Degree, Acquit the Defendant. THE VERDICT: State of Minnesota, } County of Beltrami, L The State of Minnesota Against Barnard Andrew Nelson, Defendant. We, the jury, impaneled and sworn to try the guilt or innocence of District Court, Fifteenth Judical District. murder in the first % Accused of the crime of degree. the above named defendent find the said defendant not guilty as charged in the indictment. 0. E. Jackson, Foreman. Dated at Bemidji, Minn., this 23d day of March, A. D. 1909. THE NELSON JURY. Fred Petry, Bemidji, laborer. William Blocker, Bemidji, hotelkeeper. K. K. Roe, Bemidji, merchant. Charles Nangle, Bemidji, merchant. 0. E. Jackson, Bemidji, merchant. Fred Malzahn, Bemidji, real estate dealer. Iver Johnson, Bemidji, merchant. Louis Eckstrom, Bemidji, plumber. L. W. Aldrich, Eckles, farmer. J. E. Pitman, Jones, farmer. Fred George, Bemidi, cruiser. Edward Jackson, Bemidji, confractor. After being out practically twenty- nine hours, the jury in the case of Barnard Andrew Nelson, accused of the crime of murder in the first degree (of having killed Morris Fuller at Fowlds on the morning of January 3rd), at 8:15 last evening returned a verdict of not guilty, as charged in the indictment. The jury had retired from the court room at the conclusion of the trying of the case Monday afternoon at 3:25 o’clock. They spent all of Monday night considering the case and the arguments, pro and con, as to Nelson’s guilt or innocence, waxed e{ceedinglv strenuous at times; in fact voices were heard in the hall- way, lifted to a rather high pitch of feeling. The twelve men came into court yesterdny morning and asked for fect. instructions as to whether they could return - a verdict - of man- slaughter in the case; and as to what extent they could ask for clemency for the defendant; also if they could find that the Barnard Nelson indictment was not a true indictment in the first or second degree. They were given negative answers to the questions as to return- ing a verdict of manslaughter and also as to finding the indictment not true, and were given to under- stand that the question of the extent that clemency could be exer- cised toward Nelson rested entirely within the jurisdiction of the court. The jury retired and put in sev- eral hours in earnest discussion of the case. Finally, at 3:45 yesterday afternoon, the twelve came into court and reported that they were hopelessly apart and could nof reach a verdict. They were directed to return for further deliberation; and they wrestled with the evidence and all phases of the crime, finally reach- ing a verdict at 8:15 last evening. Word was quickly sent. to Judge Stanton, County Attorney McKusick and Attorney Henry Funkley, (Nel- son’s counsel) Clerk of Court Rhoda and others and soon a small-sized crowd of anxious spectators was seated about the court room, await- ing the reading of the verdict which had finally been agreed upon by the jury. Nelson was brought into the court room, between Deputy Sheriffs An- drew Johnson and Chris Olson and took his seat in the prisoner’s chair. The jury had preceded Johnson, and when they filed into the jury boy, there was several weary-looking faces among them, some of which indi- cated that there had been quite a heated discussion. Nelson’s face was drawn and somewhat pale and pinched, and he kept his eyes alternately on the jury, watching intently for a sign of what was coming. O. E. Jackson, as foreman of the jury, handed a copy of the verdict to Judge Stanton, whose face gave no sign of the finding, and it was not until Clerk Rhoda read the words “not euilty” that Nelson’s pinched look relaxed. Judge Stanton thanked the jury for the earnestness with which they had considered the case and dis- missed them, and ordered the clerk to discharge the prisoner from cus- tody. Nelson-was greatly pleased with the result of the trial. He thanked every member of the jury and was given hearty congratulations by many in the hallway. The spectators slowly dispersed and the judge and the attorneys departed for their homes, leaving Barnard Andrew Nelson to slowly step toward the business section of the city and contemplate that twelve men had argued for twenty-nine hours before they finally determined that he had not killed Morris Fuller on the railway track at Fowlds, early on the morning of January 3rd, 1909. New Settlers for North Country. Gerhard Konig and Otto Remberg of Moos Creek were visitors city Morday evening while on their way from the Cass Lake land office, where they had been to file on valuable tracts of land in section 29-155-31. Messrs. Konig and Rem- berg were formerly residents of Minneapolis. John Kolar, who filed on a quar- ter section of land in that vicinity some time ago and who recommend- ed north central Minnesota to these gentlemen, accompanied them to in the Kelliher on the evening train, DISTRICT GOURT WILL REGONVENE APRIL 20 — -1 Judge Stanton Adjourned the Term. Leo Sentenced to Retormatory.— Indictments Returned. In district court this morning, William Lee, convicted of grand larceny in the second degree, was sentenced toserve an - indeterminaté term in the reformatory at St. Cloud. Frank Jackson, attorney for Lee, asked the court for clemency for his client -and Lee, in answering if he had anything to say, cried and said that the court was sentencing an innocent man. Judge Stanton replied that he had” no doubt of the guilt of Lee and he was surprised at tl\e defénse Lee had made. Lee is 27 years old and his par- ents live in Washington county, Wisconsin. He was married bu his wife died. He has a child 5 years old who is living with his; parents. He has been ai common laborer and has worked as a lumber< jack in the "logging camps near Deer River and .during. the past winter has worked near Fowlds. Wes Wright, George Gunderson and Joseph Wagner were arraigned in court this morning to plead 1o indictments returned by the grand jury against- each of them, wherein they were charged with “wilfully, omitting to pay over to the County of Beltrami money received by them as public officers.” The indictment charges, more specifically, that on August 15, 1907, they failed to pay over the proceeds! of the sale of a horse sold to W. A. Cassler by them. Each of them pleaded not guilty to the charge, contained in the indictmest and - was ordered by the court that defen- dants might change their plea and, if they desired, demur to the indict- ment. Archie Brown, who has been held in the county jail as a witness for state in the Nelson case, was ordered discharged from custody. There are several court cases which have been tried and there is something of a lull following the strenuous work of the past ten days in court. Clothing House OU are invited to attend the opening of our good clothes show. ‘We've brought together the finest lot of exhibits you ever saw under one roof, and we want you to see them for your own sake as well as for ours. Our star exhibit is a great display of Hart Schaffner & Marx Clothes; fine suits and overcoats for Spring. We make a spec1alty of these celebrated goods because we want to render the best possible service to our customers, and there’s no better way to do it than to provide such clothes as these which Hart Schaffner & Marx make for us. The new models are very stylish, the late new fabrics are showing many smart patterns and colorings; the fit and tailoring in these garments are e per: You must be sure to see them. Suits $18 to $50 Overcoats $15 to $50 This store is the home of Hart Schaffner & Mza'rx‘ Clothes ] cood Clothes; Nothing Else 2 { will be placed on sale at This forenoon Judge Stanton adjourned: gourt until April 20th, at 10a. m. *‘Skidoo” Party Was Fine, the-direction of L. F. Cole of Min- neapolis, ‘'was a highly successful “| entertainment. .Yesterday was the 23rd day of the month. Adults were charged twenty-three cents last evening for admission and children under thir- teen years paid thirteen cents. An: excellent program of twenty- three numbers was rendered, every number - of which ‘was encored. Every selection on the program was fine. At the close of the entertain- ment a Chautauqua salute was given 'Mr. Cole for the aid he has given the church in its attempts to raise money. “pdvertising ‘Sale.” The , Presbyterian - Ladies Aid | society are planning an “Advertis- || The “skidoo” party, held at the|" Methodist church last evening under ing Sale” to be given in the rink April 2. The ;sale is one of considerable :maznltude, the ladies having written to a great' many wholesale houses and secured a good many useful articles which they will place on sale at that time. Among the ar- ticles secured is a fine lot of garden seeds, a quantity of Occident flour of .which the Northern Grocery company is the distributing agency. They also have mattresses, carpet sweepers, preserves, fruits,- canned goods, breakfast foods, confection- ery and a variety of articles which that time. LOCAL MANAGER BUYS PROPRIETOR'S STORE “PFloyd Brown, Popular-Young Business Man, Purchases Luken’s Store in this City. Floyd Brown, who is well known in this part of the country. through his playing center on the famous “Big Bemidg” basketball team, has brought the Luken store in this city, of which he has been the manager for over two years. Fred Luken of Brainerd establish- ed the store here ih November 1906, and Mr. Brown, also of Brainerd at FLOYD BROWN. that time, came to Bemidji to act as manager for Mr. Luken. A full line of china, notions and holiday goods are carried in this store. Mr. Brown is a progressive young man and intends to conduct the business along the lines followed in the past with the exception that he will now put in a large stock of motor supplies of all kinds and | motor boats in order to accommodate the increased demand for these arti- Cles during the summer months. : Here ‘trom Langor. ,I’acob Detling, father of Mrs. John Graham, came down this .. morning from his home at Langorand spent today in the city. looking -after some business 'matters. He was accom- panied by ‘A. H. Wagner, who owns a farm in the Langor country. Mr. :Wagner spends I;us winters in Lan- gor and in the summer. lives in the Canadian ‘Northwest, where he has been for the past five “years. He owns a half section of land near a place called Valparaiso, and . will soon leave for that place. For Trade. I have $1400 equity in 560 acres of land 2% -miles northwest of Wilton, which'T will trade for city property, —Attorney A. A Andre Loeul Nens on Last P COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HANDLED MUCH BUSINESS Adopted “Economy” Resolutions. — New State Rc.nd‘ to Spooner Created.—Supervisor of Assessments. Will Assess Timber Along Railways. -~ Economy in transacting the affairs of the county is the slogan adopted by the board of county commissioners of Beltrami county as contained in resolutions passed by the board at the meeting which was commenced yesterday, the resolutions being in- troduced by Commissioner Helic Clementson and being as follows: “Whereas, The best interests of the taxpayers of Beltrami county de- mand the exercise of economy in the matter of incurring expense of addition to the city of Bemidji was approved. - This addition includes land on the southeast side of Lake Bemidji and adjoins the property of the Bemidii Lumber company. As to whéther Dr. Blakeslee, as county physician and chairman of the county board of health, was ep. titled to salary as such officer dur-, *|ing the month of January, 1909, was discusséd and referred to County Attorney McKusick for an opinion. Under the laws as adopted at the last general election, the system of carrying on the affairs of the county; | county health and poor was changed now, therefore, be it “Resolved, that during . the remainder of the year. 1909 no con- tract shall be let and no expense in- curred except that which is absolutely necessary, and in no event to exceed the amount provided for the respec- tive funds for this year. “And all persons dealing with the county officials are expected to take notice of this resolution.” The adoption of this resolution was the result of discussion as to the financial condition of the county and the imperative necessity, as recogn- ized by the majority of the members of the board, of curtailing all expen- ses to the minimum, All members of the board were present when the meeting was called to order yesterday forenoon, and - as there was much businéss that had accumulated, the board “got down to business’at once. g Applications for abatément of taxes were granted, as follows: To Edward Dale of Turtle River; Salva- tion Army, Bemidji; John A, Cyr, Blackduck; J. A. Ervine- Co., Still- water; E. M. Moore, Bemidji. Ap- plications for abatement were re- rejected as follows: Oscar Lind- strom, three applications; J. A. Ervine & Co., S. R. Syverson, G. Suter, C. O. Depew, J. E. Kullberg, Amos E. Hogdon. A petition to change the boun- daries of school districts 48 and 17, by taking sections 1-12-13 from district 17 and included the same in district 48, was received and May 25th set as date for heannz on application. An application from the residents of the Town of Frohn for the organi- zation of a new school district was refused. The plat of Henderson’s second from the county to the town system, and the contract with Dr. Blakeslee {did not terminate until the end of January. The following reports of officers who received fees, which- reports were received after the annual meeting in January, were received and filed: Judge of Probate, M. A. Clark, $1082.75; court commissioner, M. A. Clark, $66.00; county treasurer, G. H. French, $2029.98; register of deeds, $3121.95. Board adjourned until Wednes- day morning. When the board convened this marning, a communication was read from Ray Phelps, a farmer living on the banks of Bass Lake, in which he stated that while cutting timber for J. J. Opsahl he had unintentionally trespassed on county lands t6 the ex- tent of some three or four thousand feet of timber and desired to pay for the trespass. A motion pre- vailed to instruct Frank Chapman, county supervisor of assessments, scale the timber and make report to the board. Some complaint was made by Chairman ‘Danaher to the effect that the county attorney had failed to approve severalbonds, causing delay in transacting business, among other matters including the ‘ingurance on the court house, furniture and fix- tures, although he - claimed that the county attorney had been instricted so to do at the meeting:last-January. The county-auditor read a: letter from the county auditor of ‘Ramsey county, N. D., in which a request was made for the blue prints from which the Beltrami county jail was (Continued on last Dage.) You'll able ite. appreciate the two leading features of Kabo Corsets---no metal eyelets, and non-break- stays. Either of these is enough to make the Kabo a great favor- If you have a medium bust and average figure here is an excellent cor- set for you at a very low price. It is the Kabo Corset, style No. /680 made in fine Baptiste. Price $1.00 ‘A Kabo dollar’s worth of corset is the best value you can find. Other Kabo Corsets up to $5.00. | Oeary & Bowser | m1d|| an. | 1 NN/