The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, February 10, 1922, Page 1

n The Weather ) COLDER TONIGHT FORTIETH YEAR _, THE BIS BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, FRIDA C TRIBUNE Last Edition JURY INDISTRICT i 00, A, NATIONAL GUARD, VERDICT | $6, 000 AND INTEREST I INITS SUIT: Verdict in Case Involving Al- leged Conversion of Personal| Property During War Decided IN COURT ON THREE DAYS Verdict Gives Company Virtu-| i ally Full Amount Asked For In Its Suit Verdict for $6,000 with interest at 6 per cent from October 1, 1917, was given Company A in its suit against | Edmund A, Hughes for conversion of ; personal property in the Armory dur- ing the war by a jury which reported | in district \court. at. 11:20 o'clock last y night to Judg> A.J. Coffey, the total verdict being over $7,000. ’ FEBRUARY | 10, "22 PRICE FIVE CENTS TAYLOR WITNESS COURT GIVES ENGINEERS IN BUSY SESSION IN CITY TODAY forth Dakota Chapter of Amer-| ican Association of Engineers \ Hold Convention ! 1 ( i f DISCUSS MANY . SUBJECTS Neatly 75’ engineers of North Da-! kota today attended the convention of} the North Dakota chapter of the! American Association, of Enginecrs,! which is holding its business pessions! in the American Legion hall. Engi-! The juty in its verdict allowed. vir- tually the total claim of Company A. | The original. suit was for $4900 but | attorneys, saying they learned in their | investigation’ that considerable pro: | perty had -been taken which had not | been included in the original suit, amended the complaint and sued for $6,500. The case opened Tuesday afternoon in district qourt. The jury received the case about 4 p. m. yesterday and reported in open court at 11:30 p. m. It is exp2cted it will be appealed. The suit was styled Company. A, North Dakota National Guard, Train- ing School, a corporation, vs Edmund A. Hughes. It was originally started by W. A. Anderson, assistant attorney- ‘ general, but prosecuted to its conclu- sion in'district court after a vote of directors of Company A, Company A Allegations * Company A alleged that.at the time the members left for foreign service there was valuable personal property left in the armory. When they re- turned it was gone. The directors of neers from every part of the state are! , Mabel Normand, actress, will be an present for the meet.ng which open- impottant witn: in the investiga- | ed yesterdz tterroon and continues ‘tion into the murder 6f Wm. D. Tay jall day today, concluding with a ban-| !0T director. She visited him at his quet and dance tonight. | Hollywood home on the evening of his death, to confer about a new pic- 0; a ges of fhe papers and discussions! type, He escorted her to her auto y engineers on eng.neering pro. | about 9 P. M, and was shot some jects. G. N. Keniston, secretary of! time after returning to his house. the Bismarck Commercial club, speak-! aries ~ ing at the morning session today, de-| ~ MAY BE BUTLER 53 counties; and declared that proper engineering supervision ofhighway PS bridge work would save huge sums ge ! money. The convention opened -late yester’ day with W. C. Black, of Mandan, president, unable to be present. be- cause of a severe attack of tonsilitis. Wm. Barnick, first vice president, pre-| sided. Mayor A, P. Lenhart welcom-|Man Taken in Kansas Said To ed the eng.neers, and C. F, Convert,; . of Mandan, treasurer of the society, | Resemble Man Wanted in Connection with Murder replied. A paper written by Prof.! Bass, of the University of Minnesota,! was read. Dr. M. R. Gilmore spoke.! Company A who authorized the bring- ing of the suit were Major A. i Welch, L.°H. Langley, Ferris Cord ner and Ward Preston. Among the most. active in prosecuting the case was Herman Brocopp, who was dec- orated in France for bravery. At the evening session R. T. Jacob-/ ADMITS KNOWING TAYLOR son, fourth vice president, presided. | 1 C. C. Converse, state tax commission- er, talked on land classificat.on, and E, J. Thomas, of Minot, spoke. E. J. Thomas, second vice presi- dent, presided at the morning ses- Says He Attended Parties At; Taylor's House and Saw |. Actresses There at Them "| Plans have been perf2cted to give OF W. D. TAYLOR Open to the general public. No formal ; jinvitations have been issued. Women jto attend and the committee in char; a} rection. of .Henrv’ Halvorson and the FOR HOMECOMING OF JUDGE MILLER 'Citizens of City Will Meet New, Federal Judge When He. | Arrives in City RECEPTION AND BANQUET ‘Committee Invites General Pub- lic to Participate in Welcome ly ; | To Bismarck Citizen al i { | | | i { Judge Andrew Miller of Bismarck a ‘rousing welcome home when he ar-| irives at the Northern Pacific depot at | 11:39 a. m. tomorrow, Committees in| {charge urge the-citizens gonerally to; jturn out and welcome the new judge | who ig to establish resident federal | court chambers in this city. | The Flks band will be at tne depot | jand will head the procession of! friends to Judge Miller's home on! Thayer street. ‘Mrs. Miller and J./ Oberg will accompany Judge Miller | to this city as well as other fr ‘ends | who plan to com? from eastern points to attend the reception and dinner at the McKenzie hotel in the evening. } When the Millor home is reached, it-is expenrtad that Judge Miller will; imake a brief address from the steps fof his home. ‘The ‘Town Crigys have made arrangements for conveyances lto the home for those who desire to pay the'r resp2cts there. At 7:45 p,m. in Patterson's hall, a | public ption will be given previous ito the informal dinner at 8:30 p. m. {Entrance to the hall will be through the lobby of the McKenzie hotel. } ‘Music for the reception and dinner | will be furnished by the McKenzie orchestra. Open to Public Both the reception and dinner is; as well as men are cordially invited ‘Be of the reception and dinner urge that | reservations he mad at once so that the hotel manazement can make ade- quate arrangements. Accentances roceived indicate the bar of the. state will be well repro: sented. Major James M. Hanlev’ of; Mandan will be toastmaster. Thre} will he enoun singing whder the @i- PLANS COMPLETE GRAND OPERA BY WIRELESS SOON TO BE OFFERED LOCAL PEOPLE Grand opera by wireless tele- phone. Perhaps speeches, reports of baseball games, etc. Within a week a wireless aerial will be seen on top ofthe Grand Pacific hotel. in tie electric shop of B. K. Ckeels, 408 Broadway, will be a wireless telephone re- ceiving station, Over it will come grand opera, crchestra concerts from Pittsburg, and phonograph music from Denver. On it may be heard messages from any part of the United States, Mr. Skeels said today that he had ordered the w.reless telephone receiving set and expected that it would reach Bismarck within a week. 7 The set will be equipped with an amplifier, so that all persons sitting in a room at Mr. Skeel’s shop may plainly hear tre strains of orchestral music from. far dis- tant opera houses. A broadcasting station has been erected in Pittsburgh by the West- inghouse Electric company through SIMON GOES TO NEW ENGLAND Charles Simon. assistant attorney- general, was assigned to the hearin? in New England in which the railroad | ; commission considered the petition of | ithe Chicago, ‘Milwaukee & St. | railroad for authority | tri-weekly passenger Paul to establish service on the Cannonball branch, BONUS TAX IS WORKED OUT Tax on Bank Chee Checks Rejected | As Means of Raising Cash NEW TAX PROPOSED Washington, Feb. 10—(By the Associated Press)—A ‘ax of 2 1-2 per cent on the undivided profits of corporations ‘as part of the soldiers’ bom)s revenue program was agreed, upon today by a house ways and means sub- committee. A slight Increase in ‘parcel posts to yleld a total of which the music of a fine orches- train that city is transmitted to various cities .n the United States, A concert is played every might and the strains are heard in many cities, On Sunday there are two sermons by noted preachers. Each mht at 9 o’clock phonograph re- production is sent from Denver, Colorado, Mr, Skeels’ receiving set will be one of three in North Dakota, one having been installed in Grand Forks and one being in- stalled in Valley City. Use of the wireless telephone for transm‘s- sion is growing rapidly. Recent- ly 3,000 people in the auditorium at Son Frane so heard President Harding deliver an address in Washington, D. C. Many individuals have set up wireless telephone stations in their own homes and Mr. Skeels expects to install them for clubs and individuals. E. A. Hughes is considering the installation of a set in this cily at his home, 80 MEN OPEN i FIRE ON POLICE CAR AT KLADY: Censtable McFadden, One Of Ulster’s Special Constables, i Was Killed SEIZE RAILWAY STATION Cork, Ireland, Feb. 10—(By the Associated Press)— Dissatisiled with the terms of the settlement of the Irish railway strike, a group of railway workmen marched into the, Cork station to- day and seized the station and all tho trains, Up to mid-afternoon no opposition had heen offered. | A notice was posted on the dvor of the rail men’s union building calling for ‘its s to mob. j at 1 o’clo fternoon, order preceded difierent rail- ways faking possession of the Vines this evening to werk them tomorrow. ' \ Belfast, Feb. 10—(By the Associated. | EXPERTS BOLSTER GUMMER DEFENSE HANDWRITING BIG ISSUE IN MURDER TRIAL | Prof. G. N. Langum of Bismarck and Fargo Handwriting Ex- pert Are on the Stand SHORT DEFENSE PLANNED Attorneys Say They Can Finish Defense in Day After Ex- perts Are Through Valley City, Feb, 10.—Prof. G. N. Langum, of Bismarck, one of the handwr.ting, experts called by the de- tense, continued on the witness stand | today in the trial of William Gummer for the murder of Marie Wick in Far- go. Mr. Langum testified late yester- day that in his opinion the name “James Farrell” was not signed on the reg.ster of the Prescott hotel the night of the murder, June 7, by Andy Brown, Gummer’s room-mate. The state has contended that this name was written by Brown to intro- | duce an element of mystery and that there wouldbt one mysterious male guest of the hotel unaccounted for when the murder would be discovered the next morning. The state is prepared to cross-ex- amine Mr. Langum and F. L. Watkins, of Fargo, the dofense’s other hand- writing expert who testified yesterday that in his opinion Brown did not write the signature, ‘2Coury om Siguature, Ally yesleraay aiteruvon #. Leland Wauaus anu wr, Langum went over the SigMature of “vames Marre, Wal- mar, wann.,” as it appears on the +Yeseott hovel register 1ur the mgut or sune 6, compar.ng as did the ex- bert witness each and every letter in the above four words with the same letters exhibited in a mass of the un- disputed writing of Andy Brown, he came to the conclusion that Andy iprown did not, and could not have ; put the name “James Farrell” on the | register. Photographic reproductions jot the signature. printed from plates, ; Were in the hands of each juror, as were also printed repréductions of Brown’s writing. The personal property which Com | sion. Geo. McMahon, T. H. Robinson : ia ea . Mandan “Nut” Quartet, which has| $20,000,600 a year also was wn- -'Press)—A party of Ulster’s spec- With all the appearance and all pany A alleged that Mr. ‘Hughes cor verted to his own use Included 65 steel lockers, part of which it was al- leged were taken to the coal mine at Beulah; a steam boiler, 320 chairs, an electric player piano, 350 pair of roller skates, much furniture and rugs. It was alleged by individuals. that be- longings of individual soldiers in th lockers. were taken, including gifts from local people which could not be taken in foreign service under army egulations, but these were not in- cluded in the suit of the company. Compeny A alleged when the soldiers returned they found the defendant had | entered into possession of a lease on authority of a letter of the late Capt. John Murphy. The authenticity of Murphy's signature and his authority; was questioned by the plaintiff. De-; fense attorneys also claimed no pro- neers’ society is a blue-print program| 5 ayiep perty. was converted but that the lock-! ers which were taken were paid for. | Witnesses for the plaintiff in the! 5, A. Wallace, W. H.' Robinson and +, N. Keniston spoke or read papers. New officers were to be elected this afternoon. Present officers included W. C. Black, Mandan, president; W. F MoGraw, Bismarck, secretary; C. F. Convert, of Mandan, treasurer, and six vice presidents. A theater party was enjoyed last night, the engineers visiting the Cap- tol theater. An inspection trip of he Missouri river- bridge and auto. trip to Mandan and Bismarck was on the program for the day. following oddresses by S. R. Sharts, U. S. senior | engineer, and F. W. Mees. of Mandan. Attractive Window Display. One cf the attractive souvenirs of the third annual meeting of the engi- of the meeting, prepared by local en- gineers. Window displays at Harris and Woodmansee, Bonham Brothers Topeka, Kan., Feb. 10-—A man held in Shawnee county jail here who was taken off a Sante Fe train Wednesday night, answers the description of Ed- -| ward F. Sands, secretary-valet to Wil- liam D. Taylor, murdered motion pic- ture director, under-sheriff O. W. Carlson declared tode Though the man gave the name of Walter S. Un- jderwood, the name signed to a rail- way ticket in his possession was Wal- ter S. Maddox. While admitting that he knew Tay- jlor and that he had been at his house. several times, Underwood denied that he knew anything about the murder. Underwood corresponds to every 1 made such a hit at so many functions, This auartet.is composed of A. !H. Pet- erson. Waltrr Tostevin, Eddie Stein; and D. C. Moore. | Rev. Posthlewaite will give the in- voration and among those who will re- snond to toasts are Mrs. William Tanger, District Judges Nuessle, Cof- foy, and Berry: Supreme Court Jus- Hees Bronson, Birdzell and Robinso Francis Murphy, Minot, and Capt. I. P.: Baker, Bismar BISHOP BURNS T0 ti in] derstood to have been agreed upon, ( Washington, Feb. 10—Reaching a final agreement on the soldiers’ bonus tax program the house ways means sub-committee today decided against a tax on ‘bank checks. The program one not made public but it was stated authoritatively that with the excep- | ion of the bank checl: tax it was sub- | | stantially the same as that given out. ast. evening. These sources were stated as fol- lows: “A gasoline consumption tax of possibly one cent a gallon; a li- cense tax on automobiles of about 25 , [ial constables was ambushed last eve- ning by 30 men who opened fire on a police car at Klady, on the Donegal- Tyrone border. Constable McFadden, of Londonderry, was shot and killed. An official report issued here de- clared McFadden was shot by mem- bers of the Irish Republican army from Donegal. James Robinson was ifound shot dead near Durgan, county Armagh, last evening. ihouas Gadley, ‘50, was shot to idcath at his home near Cavan toda by five armed raiders who took his shot-gun and service rifle of the Ulster volunteers of which he was formerly a member. the atmosphere of ‘the school room the jurors were given a lesson’ in studying the peculiarities of the let- ters in each exhib.t for the purpose of comparison, in the defense’s effort to. prove that Brown did not write “James farrell” on the register, It was the final testimony of Pro- fessor Wetkins that he could find ‘no characteristics of Brown’s writing in eniture. Test.fying also that no matter how a man attempts to dis- guise his handwriting some charac- will show, but in “James ” as it appears on the hotel ‘register. not one of the character- mark of identification given in the description of Sands, even to slight scars on his cheek and another on his left shoulder, according to the under- SPEAK IN CITY Methodist Church Coutetenes| To Be Held in Bismarck pee! AS | Says Woman Did It | Underwood was taken off a train} here on receipt of a message from La case included Major A. B. Welch, A. -H. Sch2rnowski, Robert Webb, as a djginterested furniture expert, L. H. Langley, Herman Brocopp, Harry ‘ Clough, Mr. Biggs, A. Van ‘Horn, ena | Major Sorenson, of the AdjutantGen- ! eral’s department. Witnesses called and Hughes Electric company also} emphasize the work cf engineers. The) } Harris and Woodmansee window dis-; plays field and office equipment, sup-/ | plies, ete. Irrigation methods are, shown in the Bonham window display | Junta, Col., that he was wanted in Los} Angeles on an embezzlement charge made by the United Pacific Railway company. He admitted the charge; of embezzlement, police said. He had} $609 when searched and had left $300! | more in hb A district conference of the Bi marck district. will be held in the Me: Cahe Methodist Episcopal church of} this city February 13-15. The confer- ence will be presided over by Bishop, Chas. W. Burns of Helena, Speakers: cents per horse power; a stamp tax | on bank checks at about one cent for each check; a tax on real | transfers at the rate of about 5 cents on each $10 involved and increased ‘taxes on admissions where the sum exceeds 25 cents; cigarettes, tobacco ; and documentary stamps. Representative Longworth of Ohio, acting chairman of the subcommit- tee in the absence of Representative Fordney, said there was little senti- ment for any increase either in the | first class or second class postage rates, but added that there had been estate | i . | igti wn’s handwri re, | INSISTS. D>) istics of Brown’ handwriting appears. London, SON PROTECTION. Mr. Watkins was excused at 3:30 ‘ed Press.)—Announcement was made P- M. and. at His time ie wad not ‘in the House of Commons today that, CT8S-examined by the state. Prime Minister Lloyd George had no- Mr. Langum on, Stand, tified’ M.chael Collins, head of the After recess at 3:40 the defense Irish provision government, that the Pu! on the stand A. M. Langum, head kidnapping in Ireland showed the necessity of the presence of British troops in Ulster. It was also announced that the Northern Irish parliament had been assured that the number of Br.tish of a business college at Bismarck. Mr. Langum testified that he had studied scientific penmanship for 29 years. That he had many times been called upon to g.ve expert testimony in court on the question of disputed handwriting, that he had carefully by the defense attorneys included Henry T. Murphy, Ward Preston, Fer- | ris Cordner, E. A. Hughes, the defend- ant. | Another Suit | There is one other armory suit! pending. This suit is for possession | of the lot and armory building and is before Judg3 Nuessle now on a mo- tion. . When it was up first attorneys | for the defense questioned the author- | ity for bringing the suit. Attorn>ys | for Company A say that since a for- | mal vote of the board of directors has | been taken. Attorneys for Company A were F. O. Hellstrom and Theo. Koffell. To Reorganize Guard, | It was announced by Herman Bro-; copp one of those instrumental in the suit that one result of the verdict if the judgment is obtained, would be; to give impetus to the movement to reorganize Company A. “We expect to reorganize Company! A again,” he said. “Last April we! organized the company and had 65; men signed up, all of whom were ex-| amined by Dr. Fisher, and Dr. Fisher | praised the character of the men high-| ly. We could not receive federal recoge . nition becouse we hod no armory. A National Guard company must have an armory where the government will be willing to trust its property. The money obtained in the suit will go| into. the Company A fund of course, after expenses are met, and will pro- vide a nucleus for the reorganization of Company A. There are three cities now which are trying to take Com- | pany A, which was allotted to Bis- marck by the adjutant general, but we hope to be abie to keep the com-j pany here in the Capital City of the state.” | MAY SAVE LIFE. Beach, N. D., Feb. 10.—E. D. Clyde, 60, farmer near here nearly bled to death when, suffering a stroke of Rpoplexy he fell forward and badly while the Hughes office display electrical. An ingpection trip to the | Hughes Hlectric compa a part of the program. Among those ane the conven- tion are Mr. and Mrs. G. F. Ludvig- ser, of Williston; H. c Frahm, ot Minot; J. A. Wallace, of Devils Lake; ; R. T. Jacobson, H. H. Behlmer, of Fargo; R. McKeown, of Devils Lake, | and BE. J. Thomas, of Minot N. D. BANKER IS ARRESTED Mankato, Minn. Feb. 10—W. H. | Richter, real estate man of Mapleton, Minn., was arrested at his home yes- terday afternoon by Sheriff Fears, of Dickey county, North Dakota, on the charge of embezzlement from the State Bank at Forbes, D., and ‘was taken to Ellendale, N. D., for ‘trial yesterday evening. FREE TRANSPORT OF BODIES OF met. has passed a regulation provid- ing-for the free transport of the bod- ies of Italy’s sons who fell during the them buried in the cemeteries of their {native communes. The transport of the bodies will be carried out gradually zone by zone as the exigencies of the railway traffic permit. = CHILD RUN OVER, HURT. New England, Feb. 10.—The 3-year- old daughter of H. E. Gordon, farmer, berth which was found: of national repute will be present,: "s plant se ITALY’S SONS Rome, Feb. 10.—The Italian govern-! war, if there relatives desire to have) i when the train arrived at Kansas} City. He woud neither affirm nor deny among whom will be Dr. Perry 0.! | Hans6n, who has for 20 years resided | at Shantung, China, and who will his identity as Sands. | | “It was a woman who did it,” Un-' iderwood said when questioned about | {the murder. Ait but ft was jealousy that caused it.”| ies I knew Taylor. I have ‘been! lat his home several times attending | | parties.” \ Attended Parties ! Then he described these parties} ; Which he declared were “wild ones” |at which liquors and drugs were | served te the gues He said he had} (Continued Page 2) “T know nothing about | MecklenberE,. ‘and Rev. C. | trated lectures will also speak on “The New China and the Shantung Suerte ” Other peeneers will be Dr. . Cor 2 al strong. On Tuesday evening Bishop | Burns will give a lecture on “Forces | in Kingdom Building.” Several illus- | be given} | showing the need and the progress of} Christian m: | All the ministers of the Bismarck ; | district and several laymen from each! | Church are expected to be in attend-) | ance at the conference, The conte | | ence begins on Monday at 1:30 p som- discussion of an advance in the parcel Peres rates. MANDAN GIVEN NEXT MEETING E. R. Griffin Is 5 ia lected Head of Engineers Organization Jamestown, Feb, 10—Mandan was selected as the 1923 meeting place of he North Dakota Society of Engin- Lb carer ————* and continues until Wednesday De joe at thé close of the 14th annual il Today’: s Weather |{ ming. Sessions will be held all day.’ convention Thursday afternoon. — H. \o ©} The public is cordially invited. R. Griffin, of Mandan, was elected | | For twenty-four hours ending at president; W. B. Stevenson, of Fargo, noon February 10. Temperature at 7 a. m, Temperature at 11 a. m. Highest yesterday . ‘Lowest yesterday Lowest last night | Precipitation y Weather Forecast, For Bismarck and Vicinity: ‘tonight with a‘cold wave, lowest tem- | (perature —10;. Saturday probably . snow; strong nprthwest winds di- minishing. 36-MILE GALE BLOWS TODAY A 36-mile gale was blowing in west- erm Nort Dakota toray, making travel difficult in the country. The high winds are expected to continue with temperature 10 below in the morning. O. W. Roberts, weather observer, does not expect more than snow flurries. GREAT BRITAIN : icut his face on a tin can. Physicians say the flow of blood probably was resnonsihle for his recovery from the PREDICTS 10 BELOW. Fargo, Feb. 10.—R. E. Spencer. is in the hospital with a broken leg and severe internal injuries, received | when she was run over by a loaded, Moorhead’ weather observer, predicts apoplectic stroke. He is in the hospi- tal in a critical condition, wagon while playing about her fath-| 19 degrees er’s barn. | Northwest winds tonight. below zero and strong | FIRMONGONFAB London, Feb. . 10—(By the Associ-| ‘ated Press)—Great Britain will agree ‘to no postponement of the Genoa eco-| nomic conference unless the request | ‘for such postponement emanate: |from Rome, it was authoritatively de-! jclared today. The French ambassa- idor, it is understood, was so informed | |last evening by Lord Curzon, the! foreign secretary during their discus- sion of the French memorandum urg- ing postponement of the conference. START WORK ON REMOVAL CASE Preparations of formal complaint against J. I. Cahill and Geo. B. Totten members of state board of administra- tion tor their removal from offica was begun today by state officials, follow- ing return of Governor Nestos m Minot. Five-day period in which Tot- ten and Cahill were given to resign | before custer proceedings were started ended last night. Cahill formally re- fused to resign but no answer was re- | ceived from Totten, first vice-president; H. H. Hurning, of Jamestown, second vice-president; HE. {F. Chandler, of Grand Forks, secre- itary; P. M. Barnes, of Valley City, treasurer and recording secretary. The resolutions endorsed the Great | Lakes-St. Lawrence waterways con- ference, recommendations of the un- employment conference recently held in Washington, endorsed the North Dakota Good Roads Association and warned of the danger of” lowering tandards of engineers. troops would be increased to any ex- tent necessary for the protection cf the inhabitants. GRAVE ASPECT London, Feb. 10—The situation cre- ated by the kidnapings in Ulster con- tinues to bear a grave aspect. The Northern Irish government had not up to this afternoon received any in- timation of the release of the prison- ers taken in the recent raids and have whereabouts. HARRIS AND CO. CHANGE IN NAME IS ANNOUNCED Announcement {is made of the’ ‘change in firm name of Harris & Co.; to Harris & Woodmansee. The firm is now completely settled in its alter- ed store-room on Fourth street, hav- ing one of the finest stationery, office | supply and book stores in the north- west, The width of the business room was increased eight feet by the recent | remodelling. Wm. F. Harris and H. J.| Weodmansee, proprietors, have been: in partnership in this store since 1914,! when they established it in the same location, The business has grown rapidly from the small beginning. HARDING SAYS WE ARE “PAST WORST | PHASES OF AGRICULTURAL CRISIS” Crookston, Minn, Feb. 10—The general industrial and business situation now is such as to justiiy confidence that “we are well pass- ed the worst Phases of the agri- cultural crisis,” declared Presi- dent Harding in a letter read to- day to ifarmers attending the Hed River Valley farm crop and livestock shows here. “The improvement is well he- gun and will continue _ steadily from this time forward,” said the letter. After expressing regret that he was unable to deliver his message, President, Harding’s let- ter referred to the recent Nation- al Agricultural conference in Washington and continued: “I am glad to say that my ut- most anticipations of useful re- sults from that gathering were more than realized, I believe it has set a new mark in the aspira- tions not only of the agricultural community but indeed of the en- time community in behali of a better understanding of our azri- cultural, problems and of more ei- fective measures for dealing with no authentic information as to their a studied and examined the signature of “James Farrell” on the register and compared it with the mass of writing that was furnished h.m as the undisputed work of Andy Brown, In answer to a direct question from the attorney for the defense Professor Langum stated that in his opinion Andy Brown did not write the name “James Farrell” on the hotel regis- He'then, at great length, taking the entire balance of the afternoon, told the jury in his own way how he ar- rived at this opinion. He followed the same method as did Professor Wat- king and studied each letter, one at a time, explaining wherein the “A” in the line cn the register had none of the characteristics of Brown’s and thus on through every letter in the line. In none of the letters in the signature on the register could he (Continued om Page #9 ASK REDUCTION ON PRICES OF SANISH LOTS Members of the board of university and school lands have signed a poti- |tion directed to Secretary of Interior | Fall requesting that the price of town lots in Sanish b2 reduced to twice the | assessed valuation at the time they were purchased. When the townsite was established a few years ago the lots, on the Fort Berthold Indian reservation, were purchased from the government. The price on lively bidding ran as high as six times the assessed valuation. Ad- verse conditions have caused owners to cease making payments on them. The lots are not taxable until the pay- ments completed. As a result of the non-payment there is no taxation derived for the school system, and there are 300 fam- ilies without adeouate schools. It is the belief of the board that if the price is reduced tio the appraised value jat the time of the sale, plus 100 per cent of the value, that the payments will be made and taxes obtained for jthe schools,