The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, February 16, 1924, Page 1

WEATHER FORECAST Partly cloudy tonight and Sun. Cold Wave’with zero temperature ESTABLISHED, 1873 THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE [moan] BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1924 PRICE FIVE CENTS ~GUMMER’S CONVICTION IS AFFIRMED LIQUOR > SALES NI NEXT CAPITOL I INVESTIGATION U.§. SENATOR I$ SHOT DOWN BY DRY AGENTS. Whole Situation Stirred as Senator Green of Ver- mont Is Wounded CHARGES ARE FLYING Imbioglio « Charged with Enforcing Law Complicates Situation Washington, Feb. P.)—The prohibition situation Wasningt6n, for months a center of criticism and controversy, has cul- minated in the shooting down of a United States Senator almost within the shadow of the capitol. Among’ Forces 16.—(By the A. in As a result the whole muddle of conflicting opinions, charges, explan- ations, denials and counter-charges that have characterized efforts to en- «force the prohibition laws here seems likely to have a thorough airing in Congress. , Senator Frank L. Green of Ver- mont was shot in the head last night as a car containing prohibition agents whirled out of an alley into Pennsylvania avenue in pursuit o f another autrmobile suspected of ecr- w tying bootleggers. Expected To Recover After an X-Ray examination phy- jans announced that the mained in his head. ing expected him to recover. The incident was not the first in which lives here have been endanger ed by pistol battles with bootlegge Mad chases of that kind through the center of the city have been numer pous and there h of accidents to bystanders. Agents Disagree "The whole question has beer com- row joined in by agents of the prohibi-| intellig- | ion of the treasury depart- Recently police and prohibition officials en- plicated by a three-cornered tion unit, officers of the ence divi ment and the city police. gaged in a legal battle in which ser- ious charges were made against mem- pers of both forces and several on both sides were suspended. Three deputy United States Mar- shals now are held under bond on charges of conspiracy to violate the } prohibition Iaws. While all of this tas been in progress charges of li- iuor buying by high officials and or- dinary citi like have been on the ingrease. Not long «go it was i nnounced that a list of hundreds of names of prominent. bootleg. custom- crs had been seized in a police raid but the superiurs of those who made | he raid shifted responsibility for he list backward and forward until he mames themselves finally discp-| peared fronr public attention. There have been repeated demands in Congress for an investigation but every move for a public inquiry into conditions has for one reason or an- other fallen short of the mark, Today it was apparent, that the shooting of Senator Green fad deeply stirred those’ in official positions. Many of his colleagues | said they were ready to demand that something be done. PHONE MERGER | ~ TS APPROVED Railroad Commission Gives O. K. to Absorption 4 A The North Dakota Independent Telephone Company will pass out of- existence, the properties operated by it to be dbsorbed by the Northwest- ern Bell Telephone Company. The state railroad commission has an- nounced appreval of the merger. Both , Properties have been known as a part’ of the Bell system, the Northwestern \z'Bell controlling the majority of stock -in the North Dakota Independent. The two. companies operate, the prin- cipal 'télephone exchanges in Nerth Dakota, Representatives of the Northwestern Bell represented to the commission that savings could be.ef- fected in managerial operations by the merger. NEW MILLING _ MANIN CHARGE Dickinson, N. D., Feb. ‘16-3. C. Danuser, for 28 years connected with the Russell-Miller Milling com- «pany at Jamestown, arrivéd in the ity Sunday to succeed W. A, Blume; manager of the company. mill here. ir. Blume, who waggrecently tran: ferred to the | management of the Billings; Mont., mill left for that city Tuesday. Both changes were made » following the closing. down, of, the Russell-Miller mills. at Jamestown and Valley City. ve been a number however, | F bullet which hit Senator Green had not re- The discovery regarded as extremely encourag- nd those in attendance said they TO THE L. TO THE RIGHT BY CARL TAYLOR \ NEA Service Staff Correspondent Atlanta, G The spirit of the chev flourishes in the jold heart of Candler. Those near to him tell you that is why tragedy broods over the closing years of his lif : Seventy-three y have passed Candler by He accumulated millions upon milliens in the man ufacture of © Cola, No man gains millions congact with the stern realities of life. Few such men escape the world’s cynicism, its hard-boiledness. Yet romance. glows in the twilight for old Asa. Having lived his three- score and ten he still beli d the Grand Passion po sible for him. But the glow ig the twilight to have been only a will-o'-th Just a scant week after the Co ‘Cola king sat in federal court and heard his love letters to Mrs. One-| ima DeBouchel who was suing him for $500,000 damages for, alleged Vbreachiot promise, read to an eager public,-his bride of less than a year was arrested by the police of At- lanta and charged with being gn “‘oc- cupant of a dive.” She was feund. in company with W. J: (“Bill”) Stoddard, prominent Atlanta man, and president of the National Dry Cleaners Association, and another man, in an apartment on | the fashionable north side residential | ‘district of Atlanta. A whisky bottle, | nearly empty, was found onthe table beside them, police. declare. “We were only haying a_ little ares what's wrong in that? And, i besides, there are other people be- |sides the Candlers in Atlanta,” Mrs. Caner fe dusted asisaying after the ASA CAND? without ee ie the wags of Atlanta are whispering that the olg man once | more is going to be left alone with his millions injhis mansion in the most exclusive residential sub- ion—that he shortly will begin divorce proceedings against the pretty stendgrapher he married last June. Whether he intends to bring a divorce suit against his wife, he will not say. Next month his eldest.son, Walter Candler, will defend a $100,000 suit for damages brought against him by Mrs. Clyde Byfield, peautiful young Atlanta woman, who alleges he as: saulted her while she was.a passenger on the S, S, Berengaria bound for Europe. Asa Candler is a bent\and broken old man. His hair is snow-white and his shoulders stooped, and his face is wrinkled and gray. But some who know him gay he believes Romance is waiting just around the corner for Rim. VALKER WINS SWEEPSTAKES. Minot, N. D., Feb. 16.—John 0. Valker, of Foxholm, N. D., won the sweepstakes prize in the corn division of the first annual Northwest Corn {and Poultry show held here. The Grand championship was of the white | dent variety. Mr. Valker will receive | a‘corn shelling machine donated by the International Harvester company {branch of Minot.’ - 7 If, Australia fouled be transplarted into the Atlantic Ocean, it would fill up all. the apace between. the United, States and Great Britain, MRS. CANDLER CANDLER’S DOMESTIC DEBACLE LAID TO PURSUIT OF TWILIGHT ROMANCE AGED G ). J. SFORDARD, William -Gwmmer He was told that the paper man just before the state penitentiary, in a big-armed chair. As Gummer heard the news he his interviewer His lips qui LAHAD AND (BELOW) MRS. ONE? WITH WHOM. SHE received the news that the affirmed ‘his conviction with almost court had clos prisoner's call Brought into the warden's office he was seated WAS ARRESTED. GUMMER RECEIVES NEWS OF HIGHEST COURT DECISION IN STOICAL SILENCE Refuses to Comment on Supreme Court’s ing His Conviction in the District Court‘for Murder of Marie Wick—Has Been in Prison Almost Two Years Action in Uphold- — supreme court toical silence. d his door of hope by a news- for hinch sounded in the had bit a tooth-pick, stared straight at aid not a word. the slightest \bit,.a trace of nervousneds appeared, and then it vanished as a steely look crept into his eyes. he tion, “I have nothing to say comment on’ the courl’s “Are youl si you?” the inter wer persisted. The slightest touch of anger flared into his eyes.. “I told you I have nothing to say,” he said emphatical- ly. Rurther questions were met with ‘oical silence. His only answer to a question as to the length ime he had been in prison. Two years next March,” he re- plied briefly. It was, however, a different an mer before he heard the news and afterward. Smiling as_he came in, he was silent and apparently just a dit dejected as he walked back with- in the heavy barred gates of the prison. i It was, too, a different Gummer from that which entered the prison nearly two years ago. Then he was smiling and debonair, declaring his innocence. Today his countenance bore the prison pallor, he appeared thinner. But there still wam no droop of his shoulders. He stood straight and slender. t Wears Glasses. He’s wearing glasses, and is clad in blue?gray shirt and trousers of the prison. Gummer during his term in prison has been employed in the printing shop, in a building without a yard (Continued on page 3) HOLD CONVICTS: FOR MURDER Pittsburg, Pa., 1, Feb, 16.—Five. con- victs were held for murder today by a corner’s jury. which heard evidence in-the inquest into the death of two prison guards during the riot at thé western penitentiary last Monday. DAKOTANS HURT IN SPILL, * Gyafton, N. D., Feb. 16.—C. C, Fin- negan: received: injuries to his head, F, A. Moore sustained injuries to his back, and DeWitt Erie and W. G. Pollack were slightly bruised when replied indemnity fund, fied your attorneys and friends ald all they could for HAIL LAW NOT TO BE URGED 80 Per @ent Paym Payment of 1923 Losses Will Stand An initiated law transferring funds from the stafe hail insurance de- partment surplus to the state hail “to make possible payment of 1938 losses on, a 100 per- cent basis, will not be asked, Com- missioner of Insurance S. A. Olsness said today. The mattey will go over to the next legislature for such ac- tion as may be taken, so far as the insurance department is concerned, he said. 2 It had been proposed by the Com- missioner and the hail insurance de- partment to submit an initiated mea- sure which provided for the transfer of about $900,000 to thé indemnity fund to add to the 80 -percent loss payment made farmers for 1923 losses, to zone the state with varying hail. inSurange rates in the various zones and eh inating the 50. cents an acre maxifnum indemnity tax on $7_an acre insurance, Mr. Olsness said that the ‘response from the league state convention was hardly sattsfactory and that+ because of lack of time an opportunity to present the matter fully to those at the convention, as representative farmers, was not possible. He said that also while, the department would like to'see the farmers get their full losses, it can also be argued that | same basis as those insuring in any’ other year and that the burden of 1928 should not be transferred to a subsequent year. plaid eke the auto im which they, were riding skidded, into the ditch and overturn- ed. ,All'the injured men are of Graf- ton’ Berlin is suffering from,a “plague” of bgggars. They are jamming the railroad depofs and~ blocking the ‘shop doors, h IMA DE BOUCHEL.| in answer to” a request for | those insuring i 1923 were on thee eae No. 1 in California, now oper- H i OIL PROBERS TOOQUIT PROBE FOR TEN DAYS Approve Counsel Selected By President Coolidge Before Taking Recess pea Se ary RUMORS DISCREDITED Before tee Hears Refutation of Marion Star a anors Washington, Feb. P.)—The senate oi] committee after developing sensitions in startling rapidity for a month past has taken 16--(By the A. adjourning night it re- ceived testimony di editing rumors about the sale of President Hard- ing’s Marion Star which had been given circulation by Frank A. Van- derlip, Also it received word from Otto Kahn and B. F, Yoakum that they had no knowledge of any one million oil slush fund sent to Washington for distribution by public officials and others, The committee approved the nom- ination of special government coun- sel in the'oile lease cases—Atlee Pomerene of Canton, Ohio, and Owen J. Roberts of Philadelphia, Mr. Ro- berts was appointed in place of Silas H. Strawn of Chicago, whose nomin- ation was withdrawn Thursday by President Coolidge. The nominations will be called up soon in the senate where Senator Dill, Democrat, Washington, will con- ;tinue the fight on Mr. Pomerene which he started in the committee. Counsel Proceed | with a study of the facts so as to peed the institution of injunction proceedings to stop extraction of oil from the naval reserves—the first steps in the contemplated litigation for annulment of the Fall leases. came after the legislative session which gave a favorable vote was given to the special. counsel and i wasastated that the rece necessary among other re the enforeed absence from Washing-! ton of Senator Wilsh, Democrat, Montana. Accountants at Work During the interim committee in- vestigators will go forward with their work and the accountants 6f the Federal Trade Commission will be able to conclude their examination | of the: books of some of the brokers which have been subpoenaed by the committee with the view to deter- mining whether there were other ations in oil stocks by public of- ficials at or after the time the leases were made. Although the committee made rapid progress this week in clearing up its witness list many persons remain to be heard and among them is Edward B. MeLean, publisher of the Wash- ington Post, who has been called |from Palm Beach for question with respect to the slush fund report and also the checks for $100,000 which he has testified were returned to him uncashed by. Albert B. Fall. Harry F, Sinclair, the first witnesses after the rec of $25,000 which his personal attor- | ney, J, W. Zevely has testified he made to Fall within three months after he had reitred from the cab- inet. To Ask About Visit Moreover it desites to interrogate him further about circumstances sur- rounding the lease of Teapot Dome | and conferences which he had with Mexico ranch. ; Other which the committee want to take up| which he agreed to pay $1,000,000 to the Pioneer and Belgo Oil Compan- ies for their claims in the Teapot ; Reserve and the contract for the, payment of another $1,000,000 to J. Leo Stack, a Denver oil operator, anq Frederick G. Bonfils, publisher of the Denver Post. Other witnesses for whom sub- poenas have been issued include John T. King, former Republican national committeeman from Connecticut and others connected with the associdion for the protection of American rights in Mexico. The confmittee wishes to examine the books of this organi- Adjourning Commit-: OR eee MAY IDENTIFY TWO MEN SLAIN BY JOE BERGER Missouri People: Believe Men Murdered Near Jamestown Are Their Relatives IRVICE ONE EX- MAN ‘Was Wounded in France-Plan to Exhume Bodies to Es- tablish Identification Meanwhile the counsel will preceed | Announcement of the adjournment | Jamestown, N. D., Feb. 16-10 thought possible that the two har- vest hands slain at a straw pile near here on the night of August 25, by Joe Rerger, who recently conf ed and was sentenced to life isnpri- sonment, were Winfred Stokkey and ames Peown of Gilman City, Miss- ouri, These two young men have been missing from that place and were last heard from when Stokkey was an ex- ce man accustomed to write to relatives once a month of his activi- ties. He is said to have carried a large life-insurance poli When the murder story reached Gilman City and Bethany, Mo. rela- tives said they were positive that Stokkey and Beown were the victim Their general description answers that of the slain men and they had worked their way up through the vest fields of Oklahoma, Kaasa Nebraska, South Dakota to North D. kota such as the two men Frank Fletcher, the farmer thresher, for whom the victims and Berger work- ed at the time of the murder, told him they had done. Wounded by high explosives while with the United States forces in France, Stokkey bore scars which ‘would identify his body, but because of the condition of the body when found afte lying two weeks in hot weather, authorities might have over- looked hem. It will be necessary to exhume the James- town August 9. ser’ | bodies | and secure dental records to; ‘aid in’the attempt at identification. OBJECTS 10 La Follette Raises Objection To George Christian Washington, Fe! confirmation of George B. Jr., former secretary of President Harding, as member of the Federal Trade Commission, was raised today LaFoHette, Republican, Wisconsin, on the ground that while at the White House Mr. Christian had interested himself in an impor- tant case then and now pending be- fore the commission. The case is that of the Famous Players-Las| Corporation against which the commission ued a com- who is now re-/ ter Comm turning from Europe, may be one of [hud testified at The committee desired to question ¢ him particularly regarding the loan/ y with him ‘are the conditions under: le plaint in May, 1921. Senator LaFol- lette’s opposition was ®nnounced af- sioner Hyston Thompson a hearing before the senate jnterstate commerce commit- ee that he was called to the White House by Mr. Christian and criticized for having acted without giving the company a hearing. yd. WEATHER FOR NEXT WEEK Washington, Feb. 15.—Weather Fall. at the former ‘secretary's New| 0Uutlook for the week beginning Mon- subjects, day: Region of Upper Mississippi Vdl- y—Fair pt beginning, probably oc- casional snows over north and rains or snows over south portion middle and latter part. Temperature most- ly below normal. | dee! CONFIRMATION DEPUTY SHERIFF L. C. ROSS DIES nN. D., Feb. 16—L ldeer, deputy she Dunn county, and widely known cver the west. Slope, died suddenly at his home in that city Thursday might. Particulars were not available at the time of going to press, Mr, Ross w an old nt of the north cpuntry Two weeks azo he announced his candidacy as sheriff of Dunn county. A widow and several children sur- vive. The funera} will be Killdcer Sunday DEBATE OIL COUNSEL IN OPEN SESSION Republican Democratic Insurgents Force Action in Congress and Washintgon, The senate voted today to consider in open exec- utive session the nominations of Owen J. be special government counsel in the oil cases, The action was taken at the in- stance of Democratic and Republican insurgent Senators and over the de- termined and repeateq efforts of Senator Lodge, the Republican” lead- er, to have the discussion take place behind closed doors. The vote was 69 to 2. ONE KILLED IN EXPLOSION Great Northern Employe of Wahpeton, N. D., Is Killed Breckenridge, Minn., Feb. 16. Harry Packard of Wahpeton, killed and another man was injured when the oil cistern on the tender of a Great Northern locomotive explod- ed in the railroad yards here last night. The engine, one of several oil burners installed recently by the Great Northern, was getting up steam when the explosion occurred. Railroad officials here the explosion to a faulty boiler but d that an investigation would be started immediately to determine the cause, The injured man is Arthur Gault, a fireman. His leg was broken in three places when he was struck by a flying picce of steel. Packard's skull was crushed and he was burn- eq about the head and shoulder | BLECTION CALL IS HELD LEGAL Judge Berry Upholds Gover- nor’s Call on Election Laws Judge H. L. Berry of Mandan, in district court late today, he'd the Governor's callefor a speci \® election on March 18 on the so- called “nonparty” election laws was legal. He said he would vacate the temporary injunction _ issued against the election. Judge Berry upheld Attorney- General Shafer’s contention, that the constitution provided the Governor could call a special election on referendum measur’s. The plaintiffs will appeal to the supreme court. COMPENSATION BILL FAVORED. Grand Forks, N. D., Feb. 16.—Bes lutions favoring passage by congress of a bill for adjusted compensation for veterans of the World War were adopted at a meeting of Grand Forks iveterans Wednesday. HANNA PLEASED WITH ACTION OF “REAL REPUBLICANS” HERE L. R. Nostdal of Rugby, president | delegates to the Republican national of North Dakota Bar asscciation, has been importuned by a number of friends to become a candidate for zation with respect, to expenditures! the Republican nomination for Con- which the committee has information were madelin Washington,’ WOULD RECOVER LAND. Washington, Feb. 16.—Without de- bate the House adopted today the | Walsh resolution directing the begin- ning of proceedings’ to recover sec- | {tions 16 to 36 within Naval Oil Re- jated.by ¢he Standard Oil company of ; Californi: Can't Get Rid of It. -“Go-good heavens, Alfred, this «gc- yong-hand car is awful!” gress in the second Congressional District to succeed George M. Young. Mr. Nostdal has not decided whether or not he will be a candidate. He was a delegate to the “Real Repub- lican” state convention ‘here. : L. B, Hanna, manager of the Cool- satisfied with the action of tne “seal Republican” state ‘convention in Bis- marek on Thursday. Mr, Hanna re- mained in Bismarck Friday on mat- ters connected with the campaign. “I am pleased with the selection of Harrison Garnett as candidate for’ -yes, and the worst of it is the! national committeeman, and the se- { dealer ‘said it would last for years. '—Ladies Home Journal: lection of the candidates for dele- getes and electors and the alternate ccnvention,” Mr. Hanna said. He expressed belief that Coolidge sentiment is growing in the state. po at Burleigh county politics will begin warminggup pretty soon. Among the certain vacancies in the court house is the office of county treasurer, as County Treasurer J. A. Flow is bar- red from running again, having held two terms. Gilbert Haugen, deputy treasufer, probably will be a candi- date for the position. Among-the suggestions for candi- datese@dvanced in the millings around the Real Republican state conven- tion here was D. E. Shipley, former representativé. from Stark county, for secretary of state. Maurice Ww. Duffy, present deputy secretary, has formally \ for the position. held at) Roberts of Philadelphia and | Atlee Pomerene of Canton, Ohio, to! “, tianson, L. E, Birdzell, W. worl attributed + HIGHEST COURT SAYS EVIDENCE I$ SUFFICIENT Must Continue to Serve Life Term in Penitentiary For Murder of Marie Wick COURT IS DIVIDED Justice Nuessle Unable to Concur with Majority — | Trial Court Is Upheld William Gummer, youthful Fargo hotel clerk, must continue to serve a life sentence in the state peniten- tiary ler of Marie Wick 1B-yea gla, Minnesota g | for which crime he was found guilty Valley City. supreme court today, in a composite opinion delivered by the court, with Justice W. L. Nuessle, un- able to concur with the majority in full, affirmed the conviction. The supreme court found that the trial court, Judge C. M. Cooley, did not commit errors in admitting evidence at Gummer's trial which /would jas- tify a reversal of the conviction and a new trial. t The opinion of the court, filed at 10 a. m. today, contains a lengthy re- jview of the case. The members of. the supreme court have closely sty- died the Gummer case over a period of several months, it standing out as one of the most important criminal cases before the court. Justices par- ticipating in the decision were Chief Justice H, A, Bronson, A. M. Chris- L. Nues- |sle ang District Judge A. G. Burr, |Justice Sveinbjorn Johnson having been disqualified because he was at- torney-general at the time Gummer was tried. What Court Found The court, in brief found, that: | The evidence in the case, which ‘as circumstantial, was sufficient to “support the verdict of guilty and to exclude every reasonable hypo- thesis of innocence, The trial court did not err in re- ceiving certain evidence offered by the state tending to establish the close and intimate friendship and association between the defendant Gummer and his roommate, Andy Brown. The court did not err in restrict- ing the cross-examination by defense attorneys, attempting to show that Brown qid not write a fictitious name upon the hotel register in Fargo the night of the murder, to the subject matter of the direct examination. The court did not err in limiting the cross-examination of the state's attorney who had testified concern- ing certain admissions made by the defendant, The state made proof of all'the cir- cumstances attending the commission of the crime in question ang if it is necessary to show an immoral course of conduct pursued by the defend- ant, the facts are admissable. Where the authorship of a certain writing was at issue—the handwrit- ing on the hotel register the night of the murder of what the state termed a “fictitious guest’’—the party attempting to prove it to be the handwriting of an individual could introduce specimens of the hand- writing of such persons for the pur- poses of comparison. Murdered in 1921 Marie Wick was murdered in a hotel in Fargo in June, 1921, her body being found tied to the bed the morn- ing of June 7. She had been attack- ed and brutally beaten. Gummer, night clerk of the hotel, was accused of the crime. At that time he was 22 years of age, his home being in Mayville. He was tried at Valley City, convicted and sentenced to life Regatta When he entered nm he protested his innocence. the decision of the majority of the court was voluminous, and exhaus- tively reviewed the «history of the case, the evidence and the law. Judge Nuessle Dissents Vustice Nuessle, said: “I am un- able to concur in the opinion of the majority of the court in this case. My dissent is based upon and limited to’ those portions of the opinion covered by paragraphs 4, 7 and 8 of the syllabus. I wholly agree with the principles-of law invoked in dis- posing of the matters therein dealt with, but I disagree in the applica- tion of those principles to the facts in the case. I think that the evi- dence objecteq to was improperly ad- mitted; that its admission cannot be justified by any logical application of those rules of evidence which the majority opinion recognizes and seeks to apply. The evidence complained of was prejudicial in the extreme, and the judgment should be reversed and a new trial ordered.” Brutal Crime The killing of Marie Wick was one of the most brutal crimes in the his- tory of the Northwest. From the time of the discovery of the body until the conviction of Gummer in- tense interest was manifested in the case. It was several ionths after \|Gummer’s conviction, but still -with- in the time limit fixed hy law, that fhe appealed the case to the ‘supreme court, Mhe defense asked the court to overturn the verdict on tho ground that prejudicial errors had dee mitted during ‘the trial, The objec- mounted his wean jacy tions of the lefense were summed up seeeaer on page 3)