Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, October 10, 1911, Page 1

FIRST THE BEMIDJI DAILY PI SECTION VOLUME 9. NUMBER 1 Historial Society § s PACES | T ONEER o 12 HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 39. BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 10, 1911. TEN CENTS PER WEEK. DUMAS GUILTY; CASE GOES AT ONGE TO HIGH COURT; DOCTOR FACES NEW CHARGE (Closing remarks of Assistant At- torney Gemeral Janes, omitted from yesterday’s Pioneer, will be found on Page 1 of Section 2 of this issue). ‘Guilty!” Telbert F. Dumas, mayor of thriv- ing Cass Lake, a graduate of the Uni- versity of Minnesota, and for three vears a practicing physician of the city over which he presides as chief executive, stands branded by a Bel- trami county jury as the associate of crooks and of having plotted to burn the postoffice building at Puposky. It was 9:30 last evening before Judge W. S. McClenahan completed his charge and passed over to the jury the case which began here Sep- tember 20. At that time the judge said: “1 will receive a verdict up to as late ag midnight; after that time you must wait until tomorrow morning to make known your decision.” One hour and 20 minutes later Deputy Sheriff John Morrison, acting as one of the bailiffs guarding the jury, was hastening down town after Judge McClenahan with the news: “They've agreed!” Although it was then 10:40 a crowd of 100 persons gathered. As- sistant Attorney General Janes; flanked by E. E. McDonald were in their accustomed seats on the state’s <ide of the table. A. A, Andrews sat alone on the opposite side of the table. pr. Dumas came hustling in just the judge was mounting the ‘h. The doctor's face for once s rid of the smiles that have so tantly lighted his features. The Verdict is Read. The jury filed in. Foreman Gould handed over the verdict and Deputy Clerk of the Court Beehler read: “We, the jury impaneled and sworn to try the guilt or innocence of the above named defendant, find the said “g b cot defendant guilty as charged in the indictment."” “Is this your true verdict?” de- manded the clerk and every member of the jury said “Yes.” Dr. Dumas heard the words with no manifestation of nervousness, the only change in his usual appearance being the solemnity of his expression. Fretman P. Lane. who during the afternoon had pleaded for three hours with the jury for an acquittal, came in, the verdict and had scarcely sunk into his seat when Ju Marshall A. Spooner appeared. “We presume,” said Mr. Lane, ad- dressing the court. “that the case may vemain in statu quo until morning?” ~Oh, certainly,” said the court. The court then dismissed the jury, thanking it for the long faithful ser- vices rendered, and extending his congratulations. Dr. Dumas arose from his seat; hastened from the court room break the news to his wife. At O o'clock this morning, Dr. mas again appeared before Judge Clenahan. learned and to Du- Me- No Sentence; Pending Appeal. Pending a decision of the supreme court of Minnesota on matters of law, Dr. Dumas will not be sentenced to serve a term in the state penitentiary at Stillwater, and he will enjoy his liberty until such decision is render- ed., by virtue of $10,000 bond fur- nished this morning. In court this morning, Judge Spooner for the defendant asked that the imposition of sentence be staid and the court certify to the supreme court the record of the case up to the time that the judge, when the state rested its case, after a lengthy ar- gument, moved the dismissal of the R R ORI ORI R > Market Day Thursday. On Thursday of this week there will be a great market day in Bemidji. There will be a public wedding and many priz- es have been offered to the farm- ers for different things. For more particulars see page 12. @ @ @ @ ® @ @ @ 4 POOOPOVOOOPOOO OO A4 @® @ ® @ ment was faulty and that the evi- dence did not show that the crime of attempted arson had been com- mitted. Judge Grants the Request. Judge McClenahan granted the re- quest, under the provisions of Section 5409, revised laws of 1905, which provides that if the court believes there is a question of doubt as to the law, the case should be certified to the supreme court, the judge also re- marking that if he passed sentence on the doctor a vacancy would be created in the office of mayor of Cass Lake. The doctor furnished bond in the sum of $10,000, with his father, Frederick Dumas of Minneapolis, and C. M. Johnson of Cass Lake as sure- ties. Dr. Dumas Faces New Charge. Dr. Dumas was Immediately ar- raigned and pleaded not guilty to a charge contained in an indictment re- turned by the Beltrami county grand jury alleging that he had engaged, counseled and procured Mike Davis and Martin Behan to enter the store at Puposky in the night of June 16 with the intent to steal personal prop- erty of greater value than $25 on circumstances not amounting to burglary, being a gross misdemeanor, | with the privilege of withdrawing plea and filing demurrer or plea of[ former conviction. The doctor was allowed to furnish a bond of.$1,000 of his own recognizance in this case. In Line With Court’s Attitude. The arson cas: as certified to the supreme court and the action of the ~ourt this morning is in exact line with the expression of the court made at the time Judge Spooner submit- ted his motion to dismiss the action. Doctor Dumas stii* faces the charg> of conspiracy which has been lodged against him by the federal govern- ment, and which will be considered by the federal grand jury at the term to be held in Fergus Falls in Novem- ber. The doctor has given a $10,000 bond for his appearance when want- ed in this case, with his father and J. W. Johnson of Cass Lake as sure- ties, thus making a total of $21,000 bonds under which he has his lib- erty. The Judge Charges the Jury. In delivering his charge to the jury, Judge McClenahan said: “Whatever difficulty there may be/| in the questions of law is more in| the application than otherwise. The evidence is a matter which belongs entirely to you. “Everything that has been admit- ted as evidencc may be considered by you. In that connection I want to caution against drawing conclusions on isolated evidence. ~So when you come to consider this case consider it in general. “The charge is arson in the third degree. 1 will content myself in say- ing that if the building had been burned that would have been arson in the third degree. The building was not burned but it is for you to say if there was an attempt to burn the building. An attempt is defined as an effort falling short of the ac- tual commission. “I charge you that if you believe the witness in the Larson saloon, the intent is established. “But that intent alone is not suffi- cient to justify a verdict of guilt in this case. “Assuming that you find there was ian intent you will take up the other elements necessary to establish that there was a crime Behan and Da- vis entered this particular building, and the evidence discloses that they had certain articles and their actions there will comman.1 your serious con- sideration befire arriving at a ver- dict of guilt. “Of course, the case abounds in de- tails which seem to have little bear- ing on the main question, but they are important. As to other offenses, I charge you that the defendant is being tried on the charge in the in- dictment, and it is this charge which case, on the grounds that the indict-|must be estabiished. but by that I do not mean that you shall not con- sider all the evidence for you shall. “In this connaction it may be prop- er to say that evidence tending to show that the safe was to be blown must not in itself be considered alone, but it has 1ts place in the evidence. “Nitroglycerine and other materials which were taken in, if taken only for the purpose of opening the safe, would not be applicable, but the use of an explosive is so closely connect- ed with the intent that it must not be overlooked. “I want to call your attention to one item of testimony which I said I would scratch out at the proper time. I shall not strike it out. I re- fer to the telegram sent to Oshkosh. There is no évidence that it ever did reach Oshkosh, and you can only be guided by the effort to show it was sent from Cass Lake. “There is an accomplice, Behan, and the law is that a man can not be convicted without corroborative evidence, on the testimony of an ac- complice. “I charge you as a matter of law that R. E. Smyth was not an accom- plice, and his testirony is not to be considered in that light. “If you believe after considering all this evidence that this defendant at- tempted to commit a crime of arson, you are to return a verdict of guilty, otherwise' not guilty Lane’s Address-to the Jury. In his address to the jury yester- day afternoon, Freeman P. Lane said: “Now, then, gentlemen, I want to speak to you candidly and frankly. 1 can not indulge in the eloquent lan- guage that my friend has used; I can not draw this word painting that he has done. I never was inside a col- lege, except once, in the office of one to collect a bill. I never had the ad- vantage my friend had. I came from the simple, every day clod hoppers. “You can readily understand me, though I do not attempt to resort to the use of language that sounds! splendid as that which came out of the mouth of my distinguished friend here like a long string of wiener- wurst, uniform in shape and such. Can Call a Spade a Spade. “But T'll1 tell you what I can do to perfection. I can call a spade a spade and a liar a liar in three or four different languages that needs touching up in this lawsuit, the most remarkable ever submitted in a court | of justice. “Start out in the beginning with the great state of Minnesota turning around furnishing a dead beat to in- duce a man to commit a crime that a lot of men might glue themselves to the public treasury. “Never in the history of law, any- where on the face of this earth, has there ever been such a dastardly deal. I am not going to mince matters be- cause I am friendly to A, B, C, or D. 1 have a duty to perform and 1 am going to perform it. fearlessly rec- ognizing the fact that I am going to step on the toes of some of the friends. 1 am going to say to you why I am not gcing to follow the line| of my distinguished young friend on the other side of the case, because he spent an hour and 35 minutes in try- ing to furnish Bertie with a reputa- tion, Bertie Smyth. I shall have to call him Bertie although I realize I should call him Birdie as he belongs to a family of birds that belong to the vulture family. He’s a kid be- cause Janes said hc is. He happens to be three years and something younger than the doctor—a great big overgrown kid I guess. When I re- fer to Bert Smyth, I shall use the word ‘Bertie’ because when I refer to the elder gentleman I shall say ‘Mr. Smyth.’ “Bertie” as Gin Shop Owner. “Now, let’s start at the beginning at Nebish in the northern part of your county. He wanted to give you the impression that he was quite a man. He said he finally got $200 and some credit. T know something dif- he was the owner of a rum shop, a common gin shop. Here is this in- nocent Bertie engaged in loading up lumber jacks and have their money taken away and then walk behind the institution and divide it half and half. This testimony shows what he is. Bertie goes from there over to Puposky and becomes the manager of the Puposky Mercantile Co., which was run by one A. E. Smith. “Now, let’s see if I am wrong, gen- tlemen. I want to state to you right in the beginning that I am not un- mindful now tkat Bertie was only in the business at Puposky as the gen- eral manager. Bertle next blossoms out in the office of Dr. Dumas, the ddfendant in this case. Bertie says thit he went to the office of Dr. Dumas to be treated for one of the most loathsome diseases that any man on earth could ever be afflicted with. This honest little Berties goes cause, according to his own state- ment, he could not be cured by the doctors in Bemidji, be was in such a horrible condition, and he went to Dr. Dumas to treat him—innocent, sweet little Bertie. Wouldn’t he look fine in a framc! He went into the doctor’s office and I can see, gentle- men, Dr. Dumas putting on a pair of rubber gloves that he would not have a pair of tongs and making an ex- amination of this honest little Ber- tiew; M “-Bertie Though He Had Croup.” “Bertie tells us that he did not know what was the matter with him. Why, he thought, I guess, that he had the croup or was troubled with corns. Just imagire! And I want to call your attention right now to the one thing the court is going to say to you in this case and I don’t want you gentlemen to forget it when you get bLack in the jury room. Among other things here is what the court will say, ‘The court fur- ther instructs you that if any wit- ness has wilfully testified falsely to| any material fact or circumstance the entire testimony of such witness may be dishonored “y you except as cor- roborated by other credible evidence.’ “I am going to show you where, time and time again, this innocent little Bertie, cold blooded and ma-| liciously committed perjury when sitting on that witness stand. Ber- tie goes down to the doctor time af- ter time until finally, Bertie says— I am taking h's testimony, we will see whether T am telling the truth! or not—one day after the middle of April he sat there in the doctor’s of- fice and there came into that office two men. Bertie says that Dr. Du- mas said to him, ‘Sit down a mo- ment’, and Bertie says he sat down, and pretty soon the two men went in and then the doctor, so Bertie says, called Bertie into the office and this conversation took place, ‘Did you no- tice those two men who just went out? Those are two of the slickest, smoothest operators in the country. They come in and rest up here.” Says it Was $20,000 Vision. He says the doctor went over and opened tne safe aud there stood Ber- tie, so he says, and Bertie put his hands in his pocke"s and he looked at the two big guus and the nitroglycer- ine in the safe ard there flitted across the mind of Bertie, what? Sherm Bailey. Great Scott! Gentlemen, was there ever a more unfortunate incident than the fiitting across the brain—if Bertie Lad any brain—of the vision of Sherm Bailey that has| cost this county over $20,000? “When your census was taken in this county last you had 19,337 and the vision tha: B'rtie saw has cost every man, woman and child a dollar . each, down to the little children that are nursing at their mother’s bresst | That vision was the most unfor.:nate vision that any one ever possessed. He'd a mighty sight better have had the measles. He coald have broken out and gotten out sumewhere then. ferent and I want to tell you that down to the office of Dr. Dumas, be- his hands contaminated, and taking| . DR. DELBERY F. DUMAS Mayor of Cass Lake who was found gullty of hav- ingplotted with Mike D - vis and Martin Behan In an attempt to burn the mostoffice bullding at Puposky onJune 16 Iast. Dumas Case Events. Jury in 1 hour, 20 minutes : finds Dr. Dumas guilty. H 3 Judge McClenahan grants stay : : of sentence and sends case to su- : : preme court. 2 & Mayor Dumas is given his lib- : : erty on new bond of $10,000, : : signed by his father and C. M. : Johnson:of Cass Lake. : Dr. Dumas is at once re-ar- : raigned on a new indictment : : from the grand jury charging at- : tempt at theft. Released on $1,- 000 bond. suit. I want yoa .o keep in mind that vision. “Now T have the highest admira- tion for a man who can tell a lie with frills and ruifles on it, just as my friend from St. Paul (Mr. Janes) did in describ.ig Sherm Bailey to you gentieman Why, I even thought I heard the rustling of wings —or the smell of brimstone, I don’t know which. Says Bailey Couldn’t Detect Elephant. ! “And now this fellow had this vision in Cass Lake, according to Bertie’s own story. Who do you think wanted 1t forced on the tax- payers of Beltrami county? If some- one went down to Cass Lake and started to have tkhe small pox and you have a small pox hospital in this county, wouldn’t it be a beauti- ful thing to have that man come up here and put :he expense of taking care of him on Beltrami county? “But Bertie didn’t care for the ex- | | pense—ae had the vision of Sherm Bailey before him. He had been working for him, learning to be a detective, working for Sherm Bailey trying to be a detective. But do detect an elephant coming down the the street. Bertie said he had been a detective under him for two years. “By the way, did you ever hear of Sherm Bailey arresting any silk stocking gent'emen who came up here to violate the game laws. No, its the homestcader. And that is the kind of a tellow that Bertie was looking for. Bertie wanted to be- come a detective—to swell up like a toad in the Tog. He probably had been reading Conan Doyle’s book and I can imag ne little Bertie want- ing to be a Sherlock Holmes. That would be like sending a2 Scandinavian to teach the irish accent. Bailey couldn’t if he cried his eyes out, teach him to Le a detective. “Evil Was With Bertie.” “Now this evil was in Bertie when he first went down to the doctor’s. Just why he made up his mind that he would tell Sherm Bailey no man on earth knows. My distinguished friend (Mr. Janes) made a guess but that was as wild as anything he said during his whole talk—there was no testimony along that line. Now gentlemen I want to get all this froth out of your minds. I want you to consider testimony, not what my friend Janes says, but what oc- curred. You just commune with yourselves and think of one solitary thing that Bertie told sherm Bailey. “That vision prought on this law He says he made a report to Sherm Bailey, but God alone knows what that report wus. I never heard it and don’t care to. “In order to lift himself off the floor Janes said, ‘what would you have expected this man to do? Don’t you know what you would have done? I do. You would have gone to the law officers of Beltrami county, instead of a man who is sup- posed to have been a game and fish warden and do nothing but draw his pay with surprising regularity. He wanted to become glued to the treas- ury. And say, you have got the finest bunch of gluers I ever saw. Bertie saw that others were glued. He noticed that Sam Fullerton was glued until they shook him off the Christmas tree He knew that it was hard to keep him away. Hands This to Fullerton. X “It reminds me of when I was a lad in Maine, the farmers used to take brads and fasten them on the noses of calves they wished to wean and when they would tackle their mother they wo)uld ke kicked off. John Lind muzzled Sam Fullerton for |a while—he kept him away for two years but at the end of two years he shook off the muzzle and was right back to the mother again. We will have to shake him off for good next time. “Bertie wanted the work so he goes to Sherm Bailey who was supposed to be near Sam Fullerton,. who was supposed to be near Mr. Kéller, who was supposed tc be near the attorney general, and onr to the governor. “Now, we will diverge for a while. Old man Smyth—and right here I want to say that I always try to treat with the greatest respect persons old- er than myself, and I ought not have gone after old man Smyth but for the fact that he didu’t want to tell the truth.” Here Mr. Lane then called the jury’s attention to certain physical appearances as they tend to reveal human characier. Continuing Mr. Lane said: Declares Sam Fullerton Blushed. “Old man Sm;th sat on the witness stand. Mark you, Fullerton had come on a little ahead. Now, I know Sam, don’t make any mistake—I know him. Sam camc on the witness stand, and knowing him so well I said, ‘Mr. Fullerton, do you mean to honestly say to this jury that the first day you met old Mr. Smyth you gave him $100?° Sam never batted an eye, but repiied, ‘Of course I did.” I put it to him again and didn't he say, ‘ves.” Now, old man Smyth came on the stond and when I cross examined him [ said, ‘How many times was it that Sam Fullerton vis- ited you, before he gave you that $100?" and didn’t old man Smyth say 8 or 10 times aund that ‘I had become well acquainted with him,” and then I saw the most remarkable thing I ever saw in my life—1 saw Sam Ful- lerton actually blush. Why, do you know that would have started the tears from an Egyptian mummy or have caused a wocden Indian to let out a war whoop. Sam dropped his face in his hands, and why? I am not going to discuss that but some- body lied I have my cwn opinion. Says “Bertie” Trapped Himself. “To get back to Bertie. Bertie came up here and reported some- thing, we don’t know what, to Sherm Bailey. Now, then, evidently, Ber- tie was reporting to Sherm right along. Bertie says about the 24th of April, Dr. Dumas said that the defendant in this case asked where he lived and asked Bertie what was hisbusiness. Now, is there any doubt in the minds ot you gentlemen that he was a liar? Didn’t he admit that on the 18th day of January he went down and obtained from Dr. Dumas medicine with whictk to doctor this horrible disease, the name of which I can not name in polite society. Now, didn’t that same individual say that on the 10th of January, 1911, that Dr. Dumas sent to him by express a bottle of dope for this horrible, filthy (Continued on Page 6) MINNESOTA -