Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, December 15, 1909, Page 1

— Nu Grand Rapids 4 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIET VoL. XVII.—No. 26. KREMER TRIAL NEARING FINISH It Is Expected That the Case Will|' Go to the Jury Friday Evening THE STATE RESTS CASE SATURDAY Witnesses Now Being Examined For Defence—Evidence Tends to Show Defence Will Be Mental Incapibility. The work of securing jurors in the Kremer case was finished Wednesday and it is composed of the following: James McMahon, Cohasset; A. Rich- ardson, Trout Lake; Harry Johnson, Deer River; Rueben Larson, Bigfork; 1 J.S. Cooper, Coleraine; E. H. Dorothy Grand Rapids; Jos. McVeigh, Grand Rapids; Edward Arsenault, Nashwaul Ben Bonneville, R. E. Kimball, W. E. Meisner J. M. Francisco, Deer River. The examining of the witnesses be- gan Thursday morning and 7 * Me- Gowan, register of deeds, was called to the stand to testify concerning the filing of the bond of Kremer as county treasurer. M. A. Spang, county audi+ itor, was then called to the stand and testified concerning the manner of conducting business in his office. Glen Strader, County treasurer, identi- fied a number of exhibits and told about the cash recor’s, stating that the erasure in connection with the tax receipts of the Grea* Western Mining company was on the records when he took charge of the office and hat the emtry on the next page of tax receipts from *he company had been inserted since he took possession of the office. Miss Blanche Dewey, clerk in the treasurer’s office, and who also held a similar position under Kremer, testified that Kremer told her not to bother about corporation taxes and entries, as he would attend to them himself, as he wished to be sure the accounts in connection with them were made allright. She tes- tified she made ‘the entry for the second installment of taxes for the mining company as a matter of routine work. M. S. Kain, deputy public examiner was then placed on the stand to tes- tify concerning his knowledge of the erasures in connection with the tax receipts of the Great Western Min- ing company. Mr. Kain stated he discovered the erasure on October 14 in the column showing tax re- ceipts for the year 1908. Court was then adjourned until the following morning. On Friday morning Mr. Kain was! again put on the stand and the con- tents of the box, taken from the county treasurer’s vault, was exam- imed, Among the articles found was two hypodermic needles and some smal] phials, the usual outfit of one addicted to the use of morphine. After the identification of the needles and other articles Mr. Kain testified he had securities amounting approximate ly to $24,000, and stated he took pos- session of the treasurer's office on the morning of October 11. The wit- ness said that during the forenoon on examining the books he found a shortage of $2,000 and directed Krem- er’s attention to it, the latter reply- ing it must be some error in book keeping, but after some talk confess- ed his shortage was $8,000, which he would make up- ff given time to do 1s0. Mr. Strader then testified as to the manner of registering tax receipts, after which, Warren Pressentin, gen- eral tax agent of the Oliver Mining ‘company, of which the Great West- ern is a branch, stated the company } paid its taxes in May and also dur- ing the latter part of the year. Mr. Pressentin presented the tax receipt im question, issued for taxes paid for the last half of 1907 on lands owned and controlled by the Great Western Mining company in Nashwauk town- ship, the amount of which was $3,- 583.10. On examination of the dupli- cate tax receipt it was found it show- ed the sum of $19.20, a difference of $3,563.90. Mr. Pressentin’s testi- mony, was corroborated by M. A. Spang, county auditor, and F. E. Holmes, expert accountant. T. T. Riley, county sheriff testifi- ed he turned over to Kremer delin- jlist he had prepared for the mining jamd that he had jbbrne a good repu- |done so. Granp RapipDs, Irasca County, MINN., WepnESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 909. quent taxes collected by him amount- ing to $636.19, for which he receiv- a a pan Soy County Treasurer Strad- that no record of this ane ss been made in the tax receipt books. An adjournment was then taken to Saturday morning. Mr. Pressentin was again placed on the stand Saturday morning and ‘testified that after the taxes of the Great Western Mining company for the first half of 1908 had been paid, he noticed that the taxes for Buck- eye township and another small tract jhad not ‘been paid and that he had called Kremer up on the ’phone from Duluth and asked him concerning the matter. Kremer stated the two tracts had been ommitted from the company. A receipt for the taxes was sent to Duluth and a voucher check was sent to Kremer as treasur- er, the taxes on the two descriptions amounting to $1,058.40. Mr. Strader /was again called to the stand and showed that the tax receipt, of which Mr. Pressentin held a duplicate, call- ed for only $6.68 and was im the name of John Baker, of Mizpah. Miss Dewey testified she had received the check in question while Kremer was |im ithe east and had deposited it to his personal account in the First Na- tional bank of Grand Rapids, as she had been been instructed to do, it being understood Kremer had advanc- ed the money for the taxes. Deputy Sheriff Hachey testified that on the evening he arrested Kremer, the latter had admitted that his shortage was four times the amount he was charged with taking TRAIN SERVICE “STARTED. MONDAY Much Heralded Train Service On Nashwauk Extension Now In , Actual Operation. SERVICE WILL HELP GRAND RAPIDS Train Consists of Baggage Car and Two Coaches—Runs to Virginia and Returns as Evening Passenger. The much heralded service on the Nashwauk extension is at last in operation. The first regular passeng- er train was run over the new line Monday morning and consisted of a combination baggage and express car and two passenger coaches. This train will leave Grand Rapids at 6:50 o'clock, a. m., arriving at Virginia at 9:46. Om the return trip it will leave Virginia at 5:15 o’clock p.m., arriving at Grand Rapids at 8:15 A wayfreight | carrying a passeng- er coach, will leave Grand Rapids at 7:40, a. m., and will run to Kelly Lake. On the return trip; this train or $10,000. The Namhain Lumber company of Bigfork, Grand Falls, Reedy, Ray, Wildwood, Waterous and unorganized territory of the county paid taxes and the duplicate receipt showed the amount of $1,280, while the receipts in the treasurer’s of- fice called for only $28.05. This closed the testimony of the state and court was then adjourned until Monday when Senator McCarthy began examining witnesses for the C. H. Dickinson, of the Itasca Mer- fentile company, was called to the stand amd testified concerning his sales of morphine. On cross-exami- nation he stated he thought Kremer to be a user of morphine. Mrs. J. W. Moore, of LaPrairie, testified that she had formerly worked at Kremer’s as ® servant and that Kremer was accustomed to having severe head- ache and fainting spells. Rev. E. S. Murphy and Mrs. H. D. Powers cor- roborated this testimony. H. D. Powers, T. R. Pravitz, )M. L. Toole and F. A. MeVicar testifi- ed that they had known Kremer well tation up to the present time. Geo. F, Myers stated that he had known Kremer for the past 16 years and up to Dectober had heard nothing but good about him. He said he, in com- pany with Kremer, had taken a trip through the west last spring and that both were thinking of investing in western lands, but that neither had On cross-examination he stated that Kremer had exhibited no signs of insanity on this trip. R. R. Bell was called to the stand and testified that his records showed that Kremer had purchased 2,100 4 grain tablets of morphine during the past two years. Dr. Scorch was called to the stand and stated that he had been called to the Kremer home by Mrs. Kremer the morning after the arrest, she say- ing that her husband was not right. She said that she did not know that Krdmer used’ drugs. At noon she called the doctor again and informed hjm that her husband had told her ‘that he was addicted o the use of morphine. The witness testified that he examined Kremer’s limbs and found numerous marks indicating the frequent use of a hypodermic syringe. He also stated thet Kremer had con- fessed/ to using six or eight grains of morphine daily for three or four years. \, Mrs. Kremer was again called to the stand and| testified that her hus- band had been addicted to headaches and fainting spells almost since their marriage and that her husband had told her that he first used morphine 15 years ago under a doctor’s pre- scription. The witness said she did not believe her husband to be insane, but that at times he was not right in/jhis' mind. Will Nisbett, Chas. Kearney, M. O’- Brien and Frank McCormick testified as to the honesty and general good character of Kremer up to the pres- ent trouble. Dr. Ground of Superior said that a will arrive at Grand Rapids at~5:20. The following is the schedule for the passenger }train: Read down Read up. 6:50 a.m. Grand Rapids 8:15 p.m: 7:06 Gunn Jct. 7:53 § 20 Coleraine 7:37 Bovey 7:35 Holman 7:29 \Marble 7:21 Calumet 7:19 Nashwauk 7:04 Moore 6:55 Keewatin 6:44 Kelly Lake 6:35 Hibbing 6:25 Virginia 5:15 At the present time the trains do not carry mail but it is understood mail service will be installed about February 1. There was some misun- derstanding concerning the departure of the morning passenger train from Grand Rapids, many thinking it was to leave at 7:30, and for this reason there were not many passengers on the first train out. On Tuesday morn ing, however, there was a large quan- tity of express to load, which caus- ed the train to be 20 minutes late, but those wishing to visit the nange Xpwns should bear in mind the fact that th’s train is due > leave Grand Rapids at 6:50 o'clock, a. m. This extension is filling a long felt want for Grand Rapids and it will be the means of knitting the towns and villages on the range more closely together. With the present service one can go to Virginia and return the same day and it is thought another pessenger train will be put on in a short time. €.,H. Diehl, who as been ticket agent, at the local office for some time, departed for Marble Sunday where he has been appointed agent. phine could not stand erect with his eyes shut, except immediately after taking a dose of morphine, also that after taking it regularily for some time, ‘its impairs the volition and SK! TOURNAMENT AT COLERAINE National Event In February Which Will Draw Thousands to Itasca County. ITS UP TO EVERYBODY 10 BOOST John C. Greenway Has Guaranteed _ Payment for a New Steel Slide—Other Leading Men Should Help. | Itasca county will receive the great st advertisement in its history in the holding df the national ski tour- | nament in Coleraine in February next| People will come to Coleraine from hundred of miles around and nearly every newspaper in the United states} destroys the moral faculties, making one a liar; that one might appear th, be normal, ‘but could not be de- pendeg upon. Geo. F. Kremer and E. A. Kremer gave te: mony concerning the past life of the defendant and stated that he had suffered a sunstroke when at an‘early age. E. A. Kremer stated that om October 9 he had a conver- sation with his brother concerning rumors of shortage in the treasurer’s office and the latter stated there was no shortage and that he was hand- ling the money, which he was loaning for a Duluth party. This Wednesday morning Attorney McCarthy propounded a_ technical question to Dr. Grouund, which if ansWwered favorably by the iatter, would tend to substantiate the claim made! ‘by Mr. McCarthy in his open- ing address that his client was a confirmed morphine fiend. The op- posing attorneys are now engaged in a discussion concernin~ the merits of the question, the county attorney person addicted to the use of mor-| objecting to certain parts of it. fi will print more or less about the ski tournament and Coleraine. { ‘For weeks the Itasca Iron News, of Bovey, has been engaged in rais- ing a fund of $1,000 for the erection of a new steel ski slide im Coleraine, | in a fine location on the plateau over | looking Trout lake. To this fund the| iver Iron Mining company has con- tiibuted $200 and John C. Greenway, general superintendent for the com- pany in the Canistoe district, $50. Mr. Greenway was also largely instru- Mental im inducing the workmen of | the American Bridge company who! are. constructing the great new con- | centrating mill at Coleraine to con-} to erect the slide without cost, thus saving $400 that would other- | we have-had to be expended. ye time was getting short in which | order the steel and to make cer- | tain of its delivery on time, and al- though the fund was still several handred dollars} short the slide was; ordered some time ago, Mr. Greenwa) personally guaranteeing payment to iIndian Agent Johnson |have just returned from St. | citizens of that village strongly [ers in the country mw ill.come to ri and it is up ‘o Itasca pias 0 @ in them in becoming fash- ion..© There will be two days of the sport at a week end. This paper will chronicle the facts about the com- o It will be under the auspices of t Itasca Ski club, founded by Mr. Gent way, who was himself famous as an athlete during his college days at Yale. team’ and during one — season catcher of ithe Yale baseball club. contribute his mite to the ski tour-' nament, even if he only buys a two dollar ticket which will admit him {to} the congest and to the other en- tertainments which will be held in- cidental to, the tournament. WILL CLOSE DEER RIVER SALOONS Said to Have Decided to Have Ten Shut Down. | A number of Deer River citizens Paul where they were in consultation with W. E. Johnson, special Indian agent of the federal government in north- ern Minnesota, and they were inform- ed that Deer River was considered within the territory affected by the old treaty and _ that only three saloons would be permitted to con- tinue business in Deer River after! December 27, one in each hotel andj one other. : There are some 13 saloons in Deer River and it is asserted that the re- sent any action which has for its ob- ject the closing of ten places of busi- ness, alleging discrimination and determining to fight against the pro posed action of the government. |COMPLAINANTS._ FAIL TO APPEAR In Case Where Men Are Arrested at Nashwauk for Running the company which will supply the slide. This splend’d exhibition of public spirit is worthy of emulation by every public spirited man in Itasca county who can afford to help Subscriptions should be sent to The Itasca Iron News. Coleraine has done about all that can reasonably be asked of her for the ski tournament. Bovey business men have been backward so far. Bovey because of its hotels and saloons, will derive more immediate benefit from the ski tournament than Coleraine and should be the biggest subscrib- er to the cost of the tournament, which the writer is informed will cost close to $3,000. But Grand Rapids and every other town in the county should do its share. Senator D. M. Gunn has contributed $25 to the fund and other leading men of Grand Rap- ids should follow his example. Ski jumping is a noble sport of the Norsemen and highly exciting as well as dangerous. All the famous jump- Traveling Store. Sheriff Riley arrested four men at Nashwauk Tuesday afternoon for run- ning a traveling store, they moving; from: place to place, it was alleg- ed in the complaint, selling goods without a license. The following was the names of the men as given in the warrant: George Bloom, James Lasarge, John Doe and Richard Roe. The men were brought to Grand Rapids and their hearing was set for Wednesday morning, but the com- plaining witnesses Abe Markus and Louis Sherman, failed to make their appearance and a subpoena was is- sued for their appearance in court, but they refused to come. The case ‘was continued and it is probable a bench warrant will be issued them. The defense had a number of wit-| nesses on the ground and were an- xious to proceed with the trial, they stating the arrest was a piece of ing tournament from time to ane Mr. Greenway played for three | years on the Yale ‘varsity football’ was | Every man im Itasca county should) | executed and | used. for | petty spite work. . Two Dollars a Year. WORKED SMOOTH FORGERY OME And as Result Cass Lake and Deer « River Merchants Are Out Over $250. ‘FOLEY, WELCH & STEWART CHECKS Were Payable at First State Bank of Grand Rapids—Officials Cannot Find Men Who Worked Deal. Cass Lake, Bena and Deer River business men are out over$250 as a result of a smooth forgery worked on them last week by wo young men who are supposed to have come from Grand Forks, N. D. They forged checks onFoley, Welsh & Stewart, the contractors who are building the road bed for the Soo ex- tension. The checks, eleven in numbe as far as has yet been discovered, were payable at the First State bank of Grand Rapids and the forgery was not discovered until the checks were | Ydedived here. One of the men in question, who went under the name of H. E. Lewis, presented himself at the office of the Herald printing company at Grand Forks, about two weeks ago, representing that he was agent for Foley, Welch & Stewart, railroad con- Afactors, who, he said, had a crew of men at work near Bemidji. He had he check form of the First State bank of this place, and said the con- tractors had decided to have a number of payroll checks printed to save ex- change and inconvenience. The checks were printed but before they ‘were ready Lewis left for Bemidji, directing that the checks be mailed to him there, which was done. The method of operating was very simple. The forgerics were very well various names were The forgers represented them- selves as former employees on the Soo extension and would go into a store, purchase some small article and give a check in payment. Num- erous inquiries have been made, but up to date the whereabouts of the men have not been discovered. Arrested for Robbery. Dan Cordou, Oliver Joeland, Lord and Jos. Bucher were arrested on a charge of having robbed Carlo Buschinin, better known as Charlie Porkchops, of $41 Saturday even- ing, near Root’s barn. They were ar- raigned before Court Commissioner Pratt and the hearing was continu- ed until Thursday. Bucher procured bonds, the othy#rs unable to do so are being held at the county jail. Henry ) —aenemeneeneme on nL ‘ : * %