Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, November 29, 1911, Page 1

VOLUME 9. NUMBER 182. DECLARES GEARLDS PAID ARSON MONEY Brandt,” Secret Witness for State, | Swears He Saw “Boston Blackie” Get $50 for Blackduck Job. SAYS HE TELLS FOR REVENGE Admits Twice Having Been Sent to Prison and Asserts He Was Victim of “Dirty Trick.” WORKED FOR BETHEL SOCIETY Preliminary Hearing Still On, An- other Night Session Being Ar- ranged by Judge Simons. Testimony from a man who un- tolded a remarkable story of his own | career and who has not before been publicly been connected with the ar-| son cases here, has been offered by the state in the preliminary exami- nation of Edward Gearlds now on here before Municipal Judge Simons in an effort to bind Gearlds over to await the action of the next grand jury as a result of an attempt to! burn the building at Blackduck last March which at the time was owned by the Gearlds brothers of this city. This witness, sprung by the state, first gave his name as C. F. Fisher, but admitted on cross examination that his real name is A. H. Brandt, that his-mother lives in Minneapolis and that he also has gone under the name of Duvall. Says He Saw Money Paid. Brandt swore that he had been’} present last spring when a _notorious criminal-kmown-as-“Boston Blackie” O'Neill received $50 from Gearlds in the Gearlds saloon here in payment for the “Blackduck job.” He said O’Neill had told him that he set fire to the Blackduck structure. Brandt said he had told this story to At- torney General Simpson last Septem- ber because “Boston Blackie” had played him a “dirty trick” while Brandt was at Winona and O’Neill was across the river at Marshland, in Wisconsin. - Not Permitted to Answer. . On objection by Attorney E. E. Mc- Donald, who with .Attorney Thayer Bailey, both of this city, the court instructed the witness not to answer the question, but not until Brandt had mumbled: “It didn’t have anything to do with this case.” In cross examination, Brandt ad- mitted that he has twice served pris- on terms—one of 19 months in the ‘Wisconsin penitentiary at Waupun and the other in the-Stillwater pris- on, the crime in each instance hav- ing been forgery. The witness said that after his release from Stillwater he went to Duluth where he worked as bookkeeper and later as assistant manager of the Bethel Society, an or- ganization for fallen men. He ad- mitted that he was a continuous drinker and that he had used hypo- dermic injections of cocaine but that he quit the drug last summer when “it began to get the better of me.” Now Employed by State. The witness said that since the time he gave the attorney general his information regarding the Black- duck affair he has been in the em- ploy of the state, working under the direction of Attorney General Simp- son and Fire Marshal Keller. Hearing on Tonight. Efforts to complete the preliminary hearing by holding a night session of court at the City Hall last night failed, the cross examination’ of Brandt extending until late when at the request of Attorney Spear hear- ing was continued until this morning at which time Mr. Spear sought to recall Brandt to the witness stand but the witness had taken.a night train under the belief that his testi- mony had been completed. The state|q however, agreed to present him in court this evening and with that un- derstanding™the hearing was contin- ued until ‘tonight at 7:30. There was some discussion as to the pos- sibility of a continuance of the hear- ing until December 1,-but Attorney! McDonald explained that he would be busy with other legal business at that timé and that it was not likely that Assistant Attorney General Janes would be back and that if con- tinued at all that the case probably ghould have to go over until after|: ihe trial of Dr. Dumas which is set for Dece_:qber 6 in Brainerd. The |edy, and told how he had worked on ‘| aside ‘and will be decided by Judge| Simons tonight. In addition to Brandt there were two ‘other witnesses but Brandt was the most important and. last witness to be produced for the state. It-is possible that the defense will put on witnesses tonight.” - Bmdt Tglls His Story.’ Brandt testiled that he had reg- istered in Bemidji under the name of Fisher from Bruce, S. D., because told to’ do so in conmection with his work for the state. He said he had used :the’ name’ of Duvall because several years ago he was in a strike and had been blacklisted.. He, said at the time-he-was a fireman for the Great Northern. He gave his age as 37 and Kentucky: his birthplace, and said he ‘early had come with ‘his par-| ents {6 -Minnesota where for a° few vears he lived in the “vicinity of Sleepy Eye; that his father later re- moved to Minneapolis and engaged | died there. Ran Minneapolis Hotel. Beginning at a point back in the early 90’s, Brandt unfolded the story of his life, a life featured by trag- the Great Northern, Omaha, Santa Fe and other roads. How he came back.to Minneapolis and worked for his father -in his grocery store at: 1531 ~Washington avenue north— that was in 1897. How in 1898 he had established the Saratoga hotel| in Minneapolis at 422 Hennepin, had run it for three years under his rlght name of Brandt; had sold it and es-! avenue north and First street; how he had returned to railroading in 1902 for the Brooks-Scanlon road and had been injured and spent some time in the Scanlon hospital being treated by Dr. Harrington. Parts With Wife, From Scanion Brandt said he went to Duluth and during the winter of | 1903-4 lived with his wife at 240 ‘West Fifty-first avenue. He said he was married in 1898 and was di- vorced five years ago. “I lived in Superior until I got into trouble,” said the witness. ~ “When was that o asked Attorney Spear. “When the ¢ de[enda;l( !‘hggg was Ain jail,” replied Brandt. “Did some one tell you to say that?” demanded Mr. Spear. Met O’Neill in Wanpun, The witness said no and an objec- tion to the question as to what kind of trouble he got into was sustained by the court, but a few minutes later Brandt said he had been sent up for forgery. He said he was in Waupun two years and that it was there that he first met O'Neill. He told of hav- ing “knocked about” North Dakota, taking in the towns of Grand Forks, Fargo, Jamestown, Valley City ‘and other places and that he “didn’t do anything” but lived on $1,500 re- ceived from the railroad for his in- juries and that hie had some money of his own. Got Back to Duluth. In September of 1908 Brandt said he -again went to Duluth and that soon afterward was sent to Stillwa- ter for “forgery. Upon his release in 1910 he returned to Duluth and worked for the Bethel Society- until March 13 of the present year, and that since that time until employed by the state he had been idle. 5 “Still living in affluance on that $1,500 from the railroad?” queried Mr. Spear. Begins Work for State. Brandt said he began .working for the stafe in September but was not permitted to answer a question as to what he did. He said he first came to Bemidji in February of this year at the suggestion 6f Mike Davis and that, while " 'still working, for the Bethel society, he spent one day with Davis here and that he did not come back until March 23, when he mét 0O’Neil]l at Cass Lake and that it was on this date that he witnessed the Gearlds money tramsaction. wroe e The witness' said he came on that date in response to a letter written to him by O’Neill who owed him $15 and that'he ‘wanted ‘to collect the money." - He said ugon arriving’ herp with O'Netll that they “went. down the line,” which he explaimed meant, that they had visited several saloons in the. vicinity of the Rex hotel and that.they had several drinks. After this that they had gone to the'red a “lady” :Dorothy Arlington by name, whom he had known in St. Paul. He said they had.three or four more bot- tles' of beer ‘in this place and that they then came back to town- and went to the Gearlds place between 9:30 and 10. i Knew But: Two Here. “Now, the only people you knew in Bemidji at that- time' were this ‘queen of beauty’ and: O'Neill’" asked Mr. Spear. - “Yes,” repiled Brandt. “You were intoxicated?’” perslsted the cross examiner. tablished the Market hotel at First % light house west of town; had met |- Yes. I gueu 80.”" . - Describes Gmldl Ieetmg. Brandt told Gearlds saloon, how O’'Neiil had greeted with n. hello and he: himse] -|had-bought the fitst aring, ’ there were .!.hrée or four, after: hich they . went into’ Gearlds-office and O’Neill said: - “I want the money for the_Blackduck jobi"- Brandt said that Gearlds left the ind mn returned with the money in -cur- rency and gave it to O‘Nefil but pro- tested saying that 4 been-done to. whick €Nelll replied: I can’t help that, I done my work— them Blackduck rubes put it out.” Brandt said htat ‘concluded’ the con- and that he ot on the nlght trlin (and went.to St. Paul. Admtg Unng Cocaine. randt admitted that he had used in the grocery business and that hetqcdine in liquid form; that he took{ several doses a day at times but that he, didwt know -just how much of the drug he used and that last sum- mer he diminished the amount until] bre stopped.altogether.” 2 he saw O'Neill of the trouble lie hid with O'Neill” there; how he thought the matter over and had de- cided.to go to the attorney general; to Simpson from 10:30 a. m. until 12:30 and -that this-statement had ment., 4 L. Fails to Get Staument. { “We now call upon ‘the state to ney Spear. “No one better than counsel for the defense knows how improper:a | request that®is,” said Attorney Me- Donald -and the court ruled the re- quest -improper: No- Controversy Over '.htle At the beginning of the hmiqg. it was agreed between counsél for Gearlds, that there should be no con troversy as to the title of the Black- duck building, one-half interest of which was’ in the name of the de- | insurance policies of: $1,000 each i [thie” County: l;nauraneefuemm;n@ the Nauonal Insurance company were rnctive 4t the .time of me fire and. were asnlgned to Edwnrd an Edwin. Gearlds.: J. M. Reed, chief of the Blnck- duck fire department, testified . that the building -involved in the arson chargé was known as the “Hacon & Brown” building, and was north of .the.Golden West hotel, at Blackduck. Mr. Reeéd said that fire was discovered burning in the building early on the morning of March 19, 1911, he should say at about 2:30 o’clock, and when he arrived at the place, the: fire had gained . considerable head-way, in several places. Eight Places. for Fire: Mr. Reed said that later he had made an examination and found that; thére were at least eight different places-in the bailding where fire had been started by means of candle w[(,-king saturated with oil and placed at different points, where fire had scorched the walls, and a mattress been poured over it. There was no doubt that the fire was of incendiary origin. Mr. Reed placed the damage done to the building at about $200. ‘Witness said¢ the building was a two:story frame sheet iron outside, bar-room downstairs lined with steel, upstairs plastered; that the building had- not been occupied for at least a month before the. fire. Mr. Reed said that he later gave the candlewicking with the ..:. to D. D. Miller, agent for the insurance companies which hold the po)lcies on the building. A. J. Moon on Stand;: * A. J. Moon, chief of police. at Blackduck at the time of the fire, substantiated the evidence given by Mr Reed, as to the time of the fire and discovery of the camndlewicking: Mr. Moon. said that he had a talk -with'E. E. Gearlds, in Bemidji, some- time .prior to the Blackduck fire, in -which ‘Mr. Gearlds had asked 1f wit- ‘rent the building, as he ddsired to have the property taken care of in order to protect the insirance: Mr. Moon was uncertain as to dates. C. M. Bacon said ‘he had sold his mterest in the Blackduck bnm‘llng to Edwin or Nellie Gearlds. W. W. Brown said he had sold hls $250. Brandt ‘Lost ;Foot = tified that his true name was A. H. used ‘another nam that ‘he had for Y ye railroad man, had beemafl'reman for Duvl], testified versation and that hie and 0’Neill left He told of going to Winona wheré 4 had |- hows=he did go and how he had. talked been made into a typewrmen dncu‘,,' produce the statement,” said’ Attor- | fenddnt, Edward E. Gearlds; that[, had been' set fire, kerosene having| ess knew of anyone who'wanted to ] one-half mterest in_the building for | T} C. F. Risher, who atterwards tes-|J/ Brandt, and that besides Fisher he| o ot entering the| | Bem‘id)t}hm Kln'y Events in Hon- _or of the National Feast Dny, - Union Service. the state and Mr. Spear, for :Mr. [nfl nAH.Ymom TOMORROW During the nftemoqn nenrly alliof] ¢ the business:places will be closed ‘and ‘the Sunday hours will be observed:at the |postoffice. There will be ome, de- livfii‘y of mail. | . =403 The grocery stores “and: perhaps one or two of thé others will be op- banks and other places of:business, en ‘during the forenoon, ‘but the except the saloons, will ‘be closefl all day. The schools, will not be in'session ,,mkes Dplace at Toronto nimorrn and will. not Treconyene until. next Monday. There . will be no edition of the Daily Pioneer printed tomorrow. 0000000 R000900 @ © QUTSIDE NEWS CONDENSED, ¢ 0000000080000 609 The magnificent new Y. M. C. A. building at Gary, Ind., a gift to the municipality from E. H. Gary, head of the United States Steel Corpora- tion, will be formally dedlcne,d to- morrow. The Western States’ govprnors who are touring the country will eat their Thanksgiving dinner in Detroit and wfll be entertained by Mayor Thomp- son and the board of commerce: They £o from there to Toledo. The annual debate between McGill umveuuy and Torontd-=lnjvars! “l'ening.” Toronto will support the ut: firmative and MeGill the negative side of the question: - “Resolved, that war is necessary as a means to the advancement of civilization.” With a full' complement: of pas- sengers, the White Star liner Olym- pic sailed from Southampton for New [ York today on.the first transatlantic since she was voyage undertaken -temporarily placed out of service last September as a result of her callision with the British cruiser Hawke, off the coast of the Isle of Wight. *;i° A 32-pound bird that is declared to be.the best of the New England ‘turkey crop this year has arrived at at Scanlon,and lost a:foot while. fir-|the White House to grace Thanks- ing on the Mesaba road. . Brandt mid that he’ had of late beeri working ‘for the sute fire mar- shal’s office’and the dttorney’ gener- al’s office, looking up efldefice m ln— cendiary fires. . Witness said he .was born in Ken~ tucky and moved ‘to Minnesota, near Sleepyeye, when. 2 months old, his father engaging in - farming near Sleepyeye. © When ‘he was 12 years old he went to Minneapolis, where|: ‘| he lived many years. . 0’Neill Demands; Money. .On direct examination by = Mr. Bailey, Brandt said ‘he was in Be- midji about March 21°or 23, 1911, and:accompanied James O’Neill, nnis “Boston <. Blackie,”to’ . the aaloon giving table tomorrow. Following the usual custom the president will have ‘only the members of his family and one or two intimate friends for din- mer,’ - ol - The marriage of Miss Louise For- aker, daughter of former Senator and Mrs. Foraker, and Vietor N. Cush- man of New York was celebrated at noon today at thé home of the bride’s parents, in Washington. Mr." Cush- man is a Harvard graduate ‘and a grandson of the famous actress, Charlotte Cushman. Ad Wolgast, and Freddie Welsh, ‘wha are to box for the llzhtwelghr. championship .in the - Vernon arena at Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon, have ceased training and are ready owned by _ Edward : Gearlds,: where? for _the timekeeper’s signal to start O’Néill demanded money. for .the job which he did for l}earlds at. Blnck- duck: « Bréndt: ‘said lth-lt Mr. - Gsarlds gave O'Neill $50, saying that-the -|job of burning:the building at Black- duck attempted by O'Nefll;had ben 2 poor one and that (Gearlds) had not received any { benefit! from ' it; had gotten nothing out of it; that O'Neill had said that he tould not help it if the “Rubes” at: Blnckduck had put out the fire before ‘the’ build- ing was burned. =’ The witness sald et ited the ngs: to any one it is to the uthior or’ ‘the €x- g its 3 the the Great Northern and had been point flnally wag put temporarily welf it e “ Iwas able to take'care of my-|{ them on their 20-round contest. Each fighter expressed - himself today_ au certain of victory. opinion of fight followers is that the contest is likely to go the full limit. A FASCINATING SPORT Thl Hold Awatun Takes ‘on Those Who Have Ever Tried It. Flymg is a sport that truly exe: plifies one of the greatest: Darwinian theories. Only .the fittest -survive. I taxes one’s physical resources. I makes tremendous = demands “upon one's mervous -assets. It sharpens one's intellect. " It develops one's fac: ulty of judgment. It demands the very best a ‘man of the best type can .bring to it. The better the man, the better the aviation- sportsman. For this very reason ihe sport has attract: ‘ed men:of the finést type that have ever indulged in-spott. It is for this very- reason that the world has been -| amazed-at the high Intellectual typé ‘|'of human. that has embarked in thi activity. For this reason I call xr‘me kingliest of sports, No one who has ever flown arf nem plane can be induced to abandon ! .utterly: - The:eraving to fly will su vive with the man. who has thrilled: SCHOOL PROGRAM TODAY Exercises Held at High School at Closing Session Before Thanks- giving Holidays. NEW STEREOPTICON IS USED This afterncon at the last session of the schools before the Thanksgiv- ing holidays, the Freshman-Junior School gives its, first program. The eighth grade and the seventh list- ened to the program and contributed several numbers to the program. The program: follows: Out on.the Deep. ...Boys’ Glge Club Essay, The First Thanksgiving. . «......Edwin Simons Neddie’s Thanksgiving, Mable Booth' Thanksgiving Day...Anna Hedman et .. .Girls’ Glee Club Travers’ First Hunt..Merle Spencer "Phe [Rural Telephone. .. ... ««+.....Esther Flieshman When the DId Man Smokes. . P Roy Wells Torpedo and the Whale. oee eeeeesn...Girls’ Glee Club The ‘students of the High School lately purchased a $94 stereopticon, and it was used for the first time. The riachine is one of the latest mod- els, and Professor Robinson of the science department operates it. The machine is so arranged that it will show coléred pictures from post- cards, and on this account it will be doubly useful. “Hay Dance” Tonight. Tonight the Bemidji Dancing Aca- demy gives a novelty dance—it is a . The consensus of | were named not January, February, “hay dance.” There will hay on the floor and live turkeys will be given away. Music by Curtis orchestra of Cass Lake. A FRENCH CALENDAR. The One That Was Adopted Dur.ny . the Revolution. In the French revolution the na- tional convention adopted a new cal- endar containing twelve months of thirty days each. The five days in the year thus left were disposed of by making them “festivals.” The months ete,, but Vendemaire, Brumaire, 'Fri- maire, Nivose, Pluviose, Ventose, Ger- minal, -Floreal, Prairial, Messldm-, Thermidor and Fructidor. Bach of these names had a meanlng. Instead of naming a month meaning- lessly after a heathen god, as-we name January after Janus and March after Mars, the names represented the spe- cial ; characteristics of the month. Fructidor, for instance, which includes part of what we call September, means “the fruity month;” Germinal, the first of the spring months, running from the last of March to the middle of April, means “the month of buds,” and Flo- real, which follows it, the “flowery” or “floweral” month. Themldnr, which means the “hot month,”. is the month which under the republican :alendar included part-of July and part of August. The political significance of the word arises from i{the fact that the revolution which iterary society of the Bemidji High |~ TEN CENTS PER WEEK. HOLDS IT TREASON. T0 OPPOSE EXTRA ~ B@ymentativ_e Convem Declares it Criminal Not to Move for Re- apportionment, OPPONENTS HELD PERJURERS Says Law is Plain That Revision ““Shall” Be Made Fololwing Tak- ing of .Census. G_AN PASS BILL, SAYS O'NEILL Also Optimistic 'Regnrdmg Puuge of """ Resolution to Be Iutroduced at 8t. Cloud. The Daily Pioneer has received some pretty strong letters in behalf of an extra session of the legisla- ture but the following from Phillip S. Converse, register of deeds of Becker county, a member of the low- er house from the 60th district and ably is the most emphatic stand so far taken by any man in public lfe and. reflects the deadly earnestness manifest in Northern Minnesota over the proposition of an extra session a’reapoprtionment bill. Says it is High Treason. Representative Converse’s letter follows: © Editor Bemidji Ploneer:' I am in favor of an extra session of the legislature in accordance ‘with my oath of office. " Any member who opposes an extra session violatés his oath of ‘office and comes mighty nigh -committing the crime of “HIGH TREASON against the State of Minanesota. Any - member who ' voted against reapportionment com- mitted perjury. The constitution says as. .plain as the nose on - one’s face that at the first ses- sion after census the legislature SHALL reapportion. I think the legislature should be kept in session -until it does. Dan O’'Neill Optimistic. Representative D. P. O’Neill of Thief River Falls in Bemidji today, reiterates his earlier declaration in favor of the extra session and says he believes the sentiment will be so overwhelmingly in favor of a prompt reapportionment that there can. be no doubt as to the passage of a res- olution calling upon the governor to convene the lawmakers this winter. Bill Sure to Pass. “And what is more,” said Repre- sentative O'Neill, “there isn’t the slightest doubt if the legislature does meet but that a reapportionment bill will pass.” Mr. O’Neill says the new county of Pennington will send an enthusi- astic delegation to St. Cloud and inti- mates that his home town of Thief River Falls would be a splendid place in which to hold the association’s next convention. LUGGAGE IN ENGLAND. None of It Goes Astray Because the People Are All Very Honest. Certain strangers within our gates have been wondering at our dealing with passengers’ luggage—how much better the system of other countries, where you get a receipt and when the bag goes astray the offieial assures you it is impossible because there is the receipt. So you go to bed and get up and dress in your bit of paper. Our .method is insular and on the face of it chaotic. We throw our lug- gage to the mercy of some unknown | porter. “At the end of the journey we find-a “sort of' lucky tub of pertable property - piled on the platform, and we plunge about and pick out what we ‘want. You know the scene—a hundred people who have only to say “That’s mine” to a strange porter in order to get it. Thus. badly stated the system looks like chaos and the invitation to a general scramble for other men’s goods. In practice it works out well, for every one, from porter to. passen- ger, is on his bonor, and—this is the point—luggage in England is safer than in any other civilized country.— Wesungmter Gazette. everthrew - ‘Robespierre and ended tbe reign *2That man, is getung to be a regu-. - |-1ar customer fere.” oy "he must be a multimfilion- t’flram to.ask to see some- pEE it he feel.l 80 lnclind. POt Wiy s “He 1 SESSION CALL whose home town is Detroit, prob-" of the legislature this winter to pass . | |