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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1905)
V 1 rj . x VtliME 'V LA GRANDE. UNION COUNTY. OREGON MONDAY. JANUARY 2. 1905 NUMBER 63 . . ... , 5 - .If ? I 5 i :. e W,t W AiTGHELL AND BINGER ARE NOW INDICTED Federal Grand Jury Indicts Senator and Con gressman for Complicity in Land Fraud Conspiracy. Sorenspn also Indicted. , Oregonian -. ' ,Tbe Federal grand jury fulfilled the expectations of tbe publio yesterday afternoon at 3:30 when It returned indictments against Senator Mitohell. Bioger Hermann ant! George Soren on. Mitchell and Hermann war iodioted Jointly and w charged with I baring conspired with all oi tba d fendanU heretofore indicted to de- fraud tba Government oat of , land east, : ; '. CV.-H J'.-' 8orenaon la Indicted for. bating of ferd a bribe of 15000 to District At torney Hall on March 28 last, when the' Indiotment against the eonipir tore who were convicted In the teeent trial waa pending in the Federal Oonrt ; THE ALLEGED CONSPIRACY " $JP !tor ' tD8 onnection of Sena to Uitobell and Representative rHer - mann with the conspiracy dates bck to the time of the Pater-May letter iand shows that 11 of tbe conspirators ' were and are mixed and entangled in the web of guilt, if the allegations of If indictments and tbe testimony upon which they seem to have been returned la to' be taken as true. " ' Tbe story shows that Puter, and Mitchell and Herm t no were well so qnainted'tbat Puter. was an ardent upporter of Mitobell in tbe Senator ial campaign of 1901, and that all of them were personally acquainted and bate been for years , ' -i , . y . , .; , In 1802, so the story . runs, Puter went to Washington on business oon neoted with the lauds of 11-7, in which ,. - l . v. ANNUAL CLEARANCE Commences Wednesday, I II r Watch ror further announcement - This will be opportunity ever recorded in the hiitory of La . .' . "'-S,, :r.r I HERRMAN be waa at that time interested. The ( lands were held op in the General Land Offloe and Puter thought that it would te of benefit to himself and bis fellows to go to Washiogton and see what could be dene to expedite i them to patent, , f .., ; PUTES GOE8 TO WASHINGTON Before he left Poi tland.lt is said, he went to F P Mays, and secured from him a letter to Senator Mitobell, toougn in lacs ne was welt known to the Senator. Arrivibg at Washing ton the land speculator went to tbe offloe of Senator Mitobell and oon lerred with bin in regard .to having hie olaims taken from the suspended list and put through o patent as soon as possible. He told the Sena tor, it is said, that he had alieady sunk a large amennt of money in the claims, and that Emma L Watson, a bard w rkiug and bones girl, bad ; al so invested in tbem at hia suggestion. It was necessary fur him to owe sine iofluence wit t tbe Commissioner to secure iavorable recognition 1 of his olaims and be therefore would tike - to have tbe help of Senator Mitchell. . He promised to make it right with tbe Senator In event tb at he would give to Puter hia will and assistance.'; Mr Puter tben went to see Bioger Hermann and talted tbe matter over with him. .Hermann did not see that anything could be done to the lands unless some notion should be taken which would make tbe transaction of rcotrd io the office. Puter then got into a back, ao it is GREATEST of all SALES "" 1 ' '''7 ""' " ,' """"" sid and went to tbe hotel of Senator Uitobell, thd D wey House, and told him of tbe oenver at loo with Com tnisstoner Hermann; The famou Puter Wataoo affidavits were then made ia the hotel of tbe 8eoator, and it U said that 8enator Mitchell d etat ed the papers to hia own stenographer and bad tbem delivered to Mr Puter aa soon as finished. The affidavit which told of the settlement of tbe land and of its cultivation and of tbe character of tbe persons " making tbe fillings were than sent to Mr Hermann who took them under oonsideratioo. HEP MANN EXPEDITES CLAIMS On March 6, 1902, the story oon tin -Ufa, Mr Hermann wrote a letter to Senator Mitchell stating that be bad expedited tbe claims as per bis request This is the letter wb cb waa introduced in the first t ial here and over tbe identification of which both S.oalor Mitchell and Mr Hermann bad ao much troubled It is tbe same letter to identify which Commissioner W A Eiohjrds made his trip to Portland from Waahingtoa. ' In this letter Mr Hermann stated that he had expedited tbe claims and that the clerk of the proper division would take tbem under his considers tion and make an examination of tbem. This was done aad on the fol lowing day the clerk recommended that tbey be retained to ' the local Land Office at Oregon City, for furth er proof and investigation. The elerk reoommeaded that entries seemed to be fraudulent and not according to law Tbsee were the Davis lands, la which W H Davis, of Albany was Interested with a number of other men in and aroubd Albany, Loomis had In the meantime report ed against the olaims or part o: them, but after this report D W . Tarpley went to Davis and , got him to raise f J00 each from 14 men in order ' to secure a, favorable report from Loomis who bad been told to make a farther report. v LOOMIS PAID FOB REPORT . . Davis rained 11390 of the amount whioh waa divldud between Tarpley and Loom.a. When Lnomid received this money be wrote a ! personal letter to Hermann asking that something be done to expedite the olaima or at least to their fovorable consideration. George tt Ogden who waa the clerk handling the basinets taking all .' Into consideration, prepared a report and aent it to Hermann especially calling -the greatest; money Grande. ' Jan attention Jto the Loomis and Davis letters asking that tbe lnda be oon aldared but admitting that the laws had not been observed This report waa dted on March 7, but on March 6 Mr Hermann had ordered the claims expedited, so it ia said. When he saw the report made by .Ogden, how ever, he hesitated and when Pater came to see him told Puter that he thought tbe matter looked pretty bad and that be waa afraid the claims would have to go back to the Oregon offloe for farther Investigation Mr, Pater by thle time was in about tuOOO on the deal and when he was told this went back to Renator Mitobell It Is reported that be told the Senator it was up to him to help influence Hermann to put the lands through without sending them back to Oregon He told the Senator that if the el alms went back to Oregon tbey would be lost to him aad all the money he had pat Into them would be gone, PUTER SATS HE PAID MITCHELL vAt this time, It is said, Mr. Pater laid down two $1000 bills on the table In front cf the Senator and told him to take them and aee what be could do to help the lands through to patent, Tbe Senator, the story has it, did not wish to take all of the money and pushed one of the bills back, bat Pater insisted that $2000 was not too much to pay for the aervice and the money was taken by the Senator. ... When Pu ter left, so It ia said, Senator Mttobell followed him to tbe door and told him that he would do tbe beat he could for him. . ' The next day, Puter went to Her mann and aaked him bow things looked , and Mr. ' Hermann told him that he thought upon reconsideration it would b' possible to put the land through. He asked Mr. . Puter to come back in the afternoon and said that he had earned the matter over to W A Richards, his assistant, ,. Puter ent to Mitchell, it la aald, and got him to take him to Riobards and Introduce him. Tb? Senator In troduced Mm as one of . the beet men of Oregon, perfectly reliable and , up- right v . LANDS PASS TO PATENT Mr. Puter and Mr. Richards bad an extended Conference. The latter korw nothing cf the Davis aud Loomle let ters aad could only judge from what he aaw In the affidavits and proofs of final settlement which he had before him. Influenced, therefore, , by these and by tbe recommendatlan of Senator Mitohell and Mr Hermann he allowed the lands to go ti patent. He also read the Loomis and Ormaby reports which made a fair case for , the home steaders and all considered saw no reason why the lands ccald ot be passed, especially as he was Influenced by sympathy for the hardships under gone by Emma L Watson and Maud Witt in their effort to gain a claim upon whloh to make a home, aa abown by the talk of Puter and the re porta of Loomis and Ormsby. This completes In part and roughly the story of the alleged oonnectlon ol Senator Mitohell and Mr. Hermann with the conspiracy, . , j Spokane, Deo. 81.MIf anyone says Pater ever paid me any money In con. nectlon with lead matters or anything else, be is ad d liar." This statement was made by Senator John fl Mitchell, who passed through Spokane on bis way to Washington to night.. A brief telegram which be ra-ceiv-d before he arrived here informed him of his indiotment, bat he was on aoqaalnted with the detalle ' until in formed by the Associated Press cor respondent here. ; ; 't "I never saw Puter in my life," eatd Mitohell, "until he called on me In Washington with a letter of lotro dustlon from F P ' Mays, a friend of mine In Portland. In helping him be fore the land office, I did what X have done for a thousand other cltiaena of Oregon. He told me be had been em ployed by Mrs. Watson, as I recall it now, to look into mattera - for her. Never in the slightest degree j waa; the matter of compensation mentioned be tween Puter and myself." & I think I am exempt from arrest on this indiotment while cougreaa is in Senator Mitchell Denial session, notwithstanding that, I am willing to return to Portland any time the nroaaoution officers assure me an Immediate trial.' ; Senator Mitohell denounoed the In dlctment as a conspiracy aad said the prinoipal conspirators were 8ecretay of tbe Interior Hitchcock and Special Proseoutor Heney. GRANGE HALL UTERARY SOCIETY The Grange Hall Literary - 8ociety met Friday evening and a good joliv lime waa bad. The following literary program was rendered t Vocal Solo.. Mrs Lena Jasper Recitation.,... Bernard 8now Inst Muaio .Spencer Bros Recitation. Ella Snow Vocal Solo. ... . . . . . . . . . ..J H Fleir Recitation.'..... .'....".Earl Hngbes The question debated waa resolved That women should have tbe right of suffrage. Affirmative W R Jasper. Bernard 8now, Mrs B Snow, Jsmee Anson, Negative Chss Huffman, Wm Bberwsod, E U Jasper, This de bate from beginning to end v was cbuck fall of good wholesome fnn. Delioate Jokes and subtle comment- sion enlivened soe wnote contention ' Mrs Bernard Snow made tbe star speech of the evening. She brought out in an earnest and eloquent man ner tbe rights and duties of woman. The question " for discussion , next Friday is Resolved That the general government should carry through tbe mail, parcels pt exoeedlog. iwmty five pound, in weight for one cen t per I. I ,1 pound, : Affirmative. J W McAlister, Joaepb Baker, E D Ja-per. Negative WB Jasper, Bernard Snow, Cbv. Hnffmarl.M Aa far as completed tbe following is tbe program for next Friday's lost. Musio , . .. . . , Bessie Gekeler Recitation , . .Joe" Golden Repitation.:?i:Ci.Rutb' Houghes R-oittionk... .Aline 8iv w B citation.... .Fred Huffman TO 5 THE PUBLIC: ? , The rasli ol Holiday trade ii over and business ; in general has got back to its normal condition, I ' wish to inform all my patrons, and those not my f patrons buf who are liable to be that I am- now in position to take care of all wa'cn, dock and jewelry 1 repairing with dispatch. ,3 have secured all the neces- r '.j sary helpJn aU the latest tools tmi '.tAAtoHals'owii'': to the trade," as well as the best workmen that money " y -canprocureO;,,; : lAMJJHV "vV All repair work is under my personal supervis ion and I 'guarantee each and every piece of work done y to be finished in first class workmanlike manner, an j togive(with proper attention) perfect satisfaction. v All wark lent by mail or express will receive the same 'Jt careful attention as if delivered n person, and to bp promptly returned n first class condition. f ' Thanking my patrons for theit past : liberal patronage and assuring them of my utmost ability , to V' give them perfect satisfaction In the future. I remain - as ever. -: HPEARE,; . ;'iZhJ?:l' J rSJit to NewlVn'rDrug: Store. " La Grande's" Lesdlnt Jeweler , ., -v. ;;vn;. m vi,.'-. l : -v ..''i " . . 1 'i a-r? a 4, " ,g : v; t V ';' .' ' - : : S 's, I , : . - ' -- ', ;-v!.., o.eVt :,. Coughs are warnings of something amiss in throat or 4 lungs. Don't mind the cough, mind the cause, Use a remedy that will go to the source of trouble v and cure that. Such a remedy is our" '- ' - ir j : , White Pine Cough Balsam , , , N- , ' It cures promptlv and thoroughly because it cures ia the right manner. Believes irritation, heals inflamed sur- faces, loosens the tough, and soothes,, and strengthens - f while it cures. A splendid remedy for children because it is so good to cure and so good to take. Price 25 and . 50 cents. ' i THE NEWLIN .DRUG CO ATTY. HALL OUSTED Oregoniaa News Bureau, Washing ton Dec 81 President Roosevelt to day directed the absolute removal of John H Hall Doited 8tatee District Attorney for tbe ' District of Oregon. The action waa taken at the request of Franois J Heney, who has been con ducting , as tbe nominal assistant - of Mr Hall the land fraud caaes in Ore. , The announcement of this . action , was made by Attorney-General Moody v as be was leaving the White House after a conference with tbe President Mr Mocdy declined to state "what the charges against Mr Hall were if an but did say that it was for the service to dispense with bim, particularly In regard to tbe conduct of the land fraud cases now being Investigated in Oregon Vocal 8ola, ............... J H Fleir Recitation ....... r...E D Jasper Recitation . ,. . ,i U.. Roy Gekeler Recitation...... ........El a Snow Recitation.,..., . ... .Zel Eaton Vocal 8olo. Mrs Lena Jasper Recitation Kate 1 Gekeler i Recitation.......... Ruth Harrison 1 .. .! Recitation....'. . Arthur Golden Vocal Solo..... . ........ Almira Peel Recitation...... ........ F M Jasper Vocal Solo. . ......... .Nellie Gekeler Reoitation....... .....E-rl Houghes Fverybcdy come Mr J W MoMUlan, of SUrkey is In the Htv. today, with his eon, whoso band was hurt some time ago, in order to have the wonnd dressed. Dra Bacon and Bell have charge of the vase. ; 1 '"' ' "" a - 1 ' i 1 . " i I 5 1 l; -1 :i 1 , ' 6 if - it: I! ( -i VI ii 11 f I r, M: r - - s . '; it A;. . ' W.I t. it Ifc :aVje- 4 fflgifliifs4ifsiiiiasi(xtifl t". . r.if 3': -'' J '" '' ' v.. Hi . . . , .... XX -1 . .
