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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1910)
io THE MORNING OKEGONIAN, MONDAY, MARCH 7, T9IO. STRYCHNINE IS CAUSE OF DEATH Mrs. Pepoon Met Awful End. According to Physi cians' Tests. INQUIRY TO BE CONTINUED Examination of Stomach of Woman, Believed Slain by Husband, May Develop Drng Enough Admin istered to Kill Several. CHKON'OLOGT OF PEPOON CASE. 1900 George L. Pepoon. theologi cal student, and Miss Edith Wol cott married at Fergus Falls, Minn. I8O6 Pepoons moved to homestead near Northport. "Wash. August 2I, J000 Mrs. Pepoon dies under conditions Indicating poisoning. Soon after Morton Crossman, friend of the family, and Mrs. W. D. TV'ol cott, mother of Mrs. Pepoon. start an Investigation. Women of Woodcraft refuse to pay $1000 life Insurance policy made In favor of Pepoon. November 23, 1009 Pepoon mar ries Maud Keller, who had been em ployed In household of neighbor be fore Mrs. Pepoon's death. February 22, 110 Body of Mrs. Pepoon exhumed and stomach and other organs sent for analysis to' Dr. Ralph C. Matson and Dr. George Cathey In Portland. March 1, 1010 Pepoon arrested on murder charge and lodged In Jail Colville, Wash. Man supposed to be Ray Wilcox, ex-convict. . employed by Pepoon. arrested at Spokane for complicity in case. March 6, 1910 Drs. Matson and Cathey determine that stomach of Mrs. Pepoon contained strychnine. Enough poison to cause death is found in small portion of contents of stomach. A clinical exam'ination of a small portion of the contents of the stomach from the body of Mrs. Edith Pepoon, completed yesterday by Dr. Ralph C. Matson and .Dr. George Cathey, of Portland, resulted in the recovery of more than one grain of strychnine, a dose which is considered fatal. When the balance of the matter shall have been tested, it is believed that the physicians will discover that the woman was given enough of the drug to have killed several persons. Mrs. Edith Pepoon met her death in a cabin on a homestead situated six miles from Northport, in Stevens County, Wash., and it is charged that the drug was administered in a mix ture prepared by her husband, George L. Pepoon and Ray Wilcox, and while she was entertaining a number of call ers with organ music. Within one hour after swallowing the dose, Mrs. Pepoon is alleged to have passed into convulsions, and 15 minutes later was a corpse on the rear porch of the cabin where her husband is said to have illicitly loved the woman whom he married within three months after his wife had been buried at the little Northport cemetery. Six months afterward the body was raised at the earnest request of Mrs. W. D. Wolcott, mother of the dead woman, an Investigation was begun which is slowly revealing the details of the plot which secured a victim In the woman who was attempting to assist in carving a home from the wilderness. Pepoons Located North of Spokane. In 1906 the Pepoons went to Stevens County and located on a homestead, 130 miles north of Spokane. They had two children, Margaret, aged 5, End Janet, aged 4. While engaged in constructing a house on the new land, the family was Invited to share the rabln owned by Morton Crossman, on an adjoining claim. Crossman was nn old man 69 years of age and became very fond of .ittle Margaret, her sister and the mother. When the Pepoon home was ready for occupancy Cross man asked .o be taken along as one of the family, promising to make Mar garet his heir. Soon afterward the Pepoons took a girl named May Jones Into the family, and Crossman charges that Pepoon became very attentive to the young' woman, causing some Jeal ousy on the part of his wife. Close by lived another homesteader named Bleeker, whose housekeeper was Maud Kcllar. Pepoon is said to have become attracted by her, and to have utilized every opportunity to meet the woman at tile local enter tainments ofthe neighborhood. About August 1 of last year Mrs. Edith Pe poon was induced by her husband to make application to join a lodge of the Women of Woodcraft, her application being referred to Dr. Eugene Travis, of Northport. i The medical certificate pronounced the woman to be in perfect health and on that recommendation-she re ceived a certificate of insurance In favor of her husband for $1000. A few days later Ray Wilcox, an ex-convict at the Washington state penitentiary, found his way to the Pe poon home. He had been a druggist, and had a thorough knowledge of poisons. Within a week, after his ad Vent, Mrs. Pepoon wrote her mother that she was suffering from severe stomach pains, and it has been ascer tained that Mrs. D. M. Downs called at the Pepoon home to see her ill Neighbor. First Attack Passes. Mrs. Pepoon apparently recovered from that attack, and on August 29 again received a call from Mrs. Downs. There were present at the time beside the Pepoons, wife and husband. Cross man, May Jones, Ray Wilcox and Mrs. Downs. A dinner was prepared and Mrs. Pepoon ate heartily of the food, afterward going over to the organ, where she sat playing and singing for the amusement of her friends. Pepoon and Wilcox went to an ad--Jolning room and soon returned bear ing a glass containing a dark mixture, into which Pepoon is said to have emp tied a white powder. The glass was handed to Mrs. Pepoon. After drinking it Wilcox gave her a raw egg to swal low. She turned to the organ and con tinued her music for some time. Within an hour she began to com plain of stomach pains, and went into convulsions. She was taken to the back porch of the cabin and placed in a chair. Within a few moments Mrs. Pepoon died, her lips covered with a white foam. ,.- .The body was taken to Northport for burial. Within an hour After the fu neral Pepoon made application for the insurance money due from the Women of Woodcraft, but the physician who gave the death certificate balked on making out the insurance proofs. Crossman, the old man, who loved the little child, became suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs. Pepoon, and communi cated with the mother of the woman and told of a bottle of strychnine which he and Pepoon had purchased to poison animals and rodents. It had been hidden by them so that the chil dren might not tret it P.nin a- tn th f secret receptacle, Crossman and Mrs. Wolcott found the place empty. Only Crossman and Pepoon knew 6f the place. Wilcox left the Northport district immediately following the funeral of Mrs. Pepoon. and was only recently ar rested in Spokane, where he is held for identification. Pepoon Announces Engagement. Pepoon remained in the Northport country, and six weeks after the death of his wife announced his engagement to Maud Kellar. It was necessary for the Kellar woman to procure a divorce, but in three months that difficulty was overcome and the wedding celebrated. Pepoon is said to have been a former divinity student, and it was while fill ing itinerant pulpit engagements in Minnesota that he met Edith Wolcott. Their two children are now in posses sion of the grandmother, at 111 East Forty-seventh street. FORESTS NEED CAPITAL LOGIC OF . EVENTS EXCLUDES SMALL OPERATIONS. Size of Required Investment Neces sitates Correspondingly Large Timber Holdings. The following article was written' by a surveyor of distinction, who also is a tim berman whose entire lifetime has been spent In the North Pacific States, and whoso knowledge of the subject treated Is not ex- eenea oy any. BAKER CITY, Or., March 4. To the Editor.) In respect to the term, "Con servation of Natural Resources," a study of the history of the development of the Pacific Coast states of Washington, Ore gon and the northern part of California is well worth the time expended. These states have supplied nearly all the lum ber, spare and piles used in the countries and islands in and around the Pacific Ocean. As early as 1850 there was an imperative demand for lumber in Cali fornia that had to be met Immediately, as well as a less urgent demand for fin ished lumber products in Oregon and Washington. As a result small mills were established at Humboldt, Coos Bay, Portland and Puget Sound to supply the necessities of the occasion. Day of Small Operator First. It must be remembered that at this time the government surveys hod not been extended over any part of these territories. Of course, the timber was taken from government land a most heinous offense, a modern conservationist would say but our Congress and the Department were presided over by plain, common sense -men who knew the condi tions that confronted the people and they were not pestered by a lot of special agents until after surveys were made and legal title could be obtained, -when the Government took Just measures for Its protection. After the surveys were made and the lands were offered for sale any one could buy "offered" lands in any amount he wished and where he wished, except school sections and Gov ernment reserves, at the price of $1.25 per acre. This was the day of the small operator. With a cash outlay of J1000 he could get title to a section of land containing from 20.000,000 feet to 40.000,000 feet of merchantable timber. With an other thousand dollars he could secure the necessary equipment for logging op erations. More Capital Now Needed. These conditions lasted until the avail able timber along the banks of the bays and rivers became exhausted and it was necessary to move further back to get timber, with long and expensive roads; after this another move back and here is where he was compelled to part with his horses and teams of oxen and buy donkey engines and railroad locomotives. The small operator is now eliminated entirely, not because any one wished him harm, but by the inexorable logic of events. The lumberman now must be possessed of capital to build a road cost ing from $10,000 to $50,000 or more, and then It is necessary to secure a body of limber large enough to Justify this great preliminary outlay. If he does not own or control timber enough he will not build the road; if he shauld build the road he is at the mercyVof scores of forest rangers or small holders with their vagaries and differences of opinions and combinations to get the better of him. This brings the subject squarely up against the faddist objection to allow ing any one man or association of men to acquire large holdings of natural re sources, and timber is one of them. The world needs the timber in all the multi farious uses to which it is put, but in a very short time it will need the land it stands on much more than it will need the timber. Logged Off Land Valuable. - This fact Is already becoming evident from the fact that logged off lands are now being sold for actual -use, not to speak of speculative prices near towns or cities There are thousands of people now living In permanent homes on logged off lands on this coast, where a few years ago a few men were engaged for a short time in harvesting a crop that matures only .once in 200 years. In the forest reserves of the, Western states there are thousands of acres of timber on fine soil that should be given over to actual' settlers instead of being sequestered from the best of practical uses to all eternity by the Government that a tew faddists may have glory and emolument therefrom. It is not desirable that all the forest reserves be restored to settlement, provided that the state and county in which it is situated gets its Just share of the revenues derived from it, but every acre that is suscepti ble of cultivation should be restored and only that portion which by reason of its rough, broken character or altitude, renders it unfit for agricultural pur poses should be retained in the reserve. The East has had the free use of its natural resources in the development of that part of the country and it is not Just to the West that it should be ham pered and hindered in its development by the wholesale withdrawal of its lands by Eastern Indoor theorists. Rainfall Not Affected. The state of Texas owns her own lands and should take no detrimental interest in the disposal of the lands of the West. The writer has had actual personal knowledge and experience of the conditions and development of the Pacific Coast for over 60 years and has naturally drawn conclusions on the sub ject. One conclusion is that the timber is the result of climatic conditions, and not the cause of it as some assert. The rainfall would be the same whether the timber is removed or not. The moisture laden at mosphere from the Pacific Ocean, or else where, on reaching the hills and moun tain ranges is cooled and precipitation occurs whether there is timber or not. Provide the seed and forests result. The other natural resources, coal, iron and water power, each would demand attention beyond the scope of this arti cle. But attention will be paid to them in due time. , 3. 13. W. SHELTON. The Everyone knows that Waltham Watches are good watches. When you buy a Waltham Watch bay only from a jeweler and buy one adjusted to temperature and position. Xo not buy a watch of a mail order house. Jeweler are specialists who know how to TegxxLate watches to your habit and occupation, how to oil them property, how to detect any little disarrangement that may have occurred m transportation. A responsible jeweler who values his reputation will guarantee a Waltham Watch, and behind the jeweler's guarantee is that of the Waltham Watch Company. When you buy a watch remember not only that Waltham Watches are the best, but that they were the first American Watches. Every watch-making device and invention of importance in use has originated in the Waltham Watch factory. WALTHAM WATCH COMPANY, WALTHAM, MASS. Send for the " Perfected American Watch," oar book about watches. FLIES AGAIN Swoops Down in Front of Auto Going Full Speed. FLIES ACROSS COUNTRY Reaches Altitude of 500 Feet, but Today Will Make Ten Flights and Will Try to oG Higher Don nelly Will Try Again. (Concluded From First Page.) Third to Front were able to board the cars at all. Commencing at Front street the av-iation-mad throng com menced climbing: on the cars as they crossed the river. Those further up the street realizing: that unless they, too, drew nearer to the river they would be unable to get on the cars, pressed down until a great mass of probably 4000 persons had crowded into the 'street. The rush for the cars was terrific. Portland has never seen anything, like it before. Women sprang onto the steps of moving cars and clung there until a way could be forced Inside. Boys, hardly out of dresses, crawled between the legs of men on the rear steps until a place could be found to straighten up. Others, unable to get Inside, clam bered on top. One conductor, who had the nerve to tackle his upper-deck pas sengers, collected fares from 31 per sons. Dozens of small boys, seeing the opportunity to beat their way to the A LETTER AND IT'S SEQUEL Bethlehem, N. Y., July SO, 1909. John J. Fulton Company Gentle men; I have a case of Brlght's Disease here that it will be worth your while to follow up. If cured it will be the greatest ad you could have. She started on the Renal Compound about a week ago. An examination shows very bad married, about thirty years old, one child, the wife of Arthur Bowles. Respectfully, SMITH'S PHAKMA.CT. We wrote as requested. We now have the following: Littleton, N. H., Sept. 6, 1909. John J. Fulton Co. Gentlemen: Mrs. Bowles has taken five bottles of the Renal Compound and am thankful to say that there is a derided change. We had about given up hope. Your agent desired to have her take it about a year ago, but we had tried so many doctors and medicines that we did not have any more faith. It is a great mysterv to us that the physicians do not all use a thing that has such curative power in Brlght's Disease. Please send circulars to Mr. George Brown, who also has kidnev disease. Yours truly, ARTHUR K. BOWLES. Is it possible that letters like these do not carry a message to the poor un fortunate who is down with kidney dis ease and has been told he cannot re cover?, Physicians are more and more com ing to this treatment and lives are be ing saved all over the country. For Bright's Disease and kidney trouble get Fulton's Renald Compound. If patients do not begin to note im provement by the third bottle we desire to have them write us for advice and instruction. Literature mailed free. Address the John J. Fulton Company, 645 Battery St., San Francisco.. Cai. MAN Authentic American, Watch grounds, being penniless, climbed to the tops of the cars. Streetcar Company Censured. The streetcar system was incapable of meeting the situation, because the crowd was far greater than anybody had anticipated. Thousands unable to reach the grounds, went elsewhere. Complaints about inadequate car ser vice were many, although officials of the company declared they were using all equipment. At the close of the exhibition thousands of persons walked as far as a mile and even further down the Kast Ankeny street line to ward the city, boarding outbound cars. Although filled to capacity the cars were Tun to the end of the line, making an unnecessary distance of as far as three miles. Though the day's exhibition closed at 4:30 o'clock and thousands had previ ously taken the cars, it was 7 o'clock before all had been taken to the city. The O. R. & N. came in 'for its share of complaints. After a ten-minute serv ice had been advertised it was charged that the company operated only one of its four specials every hour, starting at noon. This is probably accounted for by the fact that a misunderstanding existed as to what was meant toy a "ten-minute service." What the company meant, they said, in connection with the "ten-minute service" was the time consumed by the cars between the Union Depot and the grounds and not that a train would leave every ten minutes. Attendance Estimated 50,000. It was impossible last night to secure definite figures on the attendance yester day. From reports made by the street railway company, the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. and the meet manage ment, it was estimated at between 60,000 and 65.000. The former figures, however, were agreed upon as conservative. The estimate, classified, is as follows: Kast Ankeny-street carline, 7000. O. R. & N. four special trains, 2500. Mount Tabor carline. 6000. Montavilla carline. 3000. J ' "J Have HAM can buy i HES 7 . n P. . Automobiles, livery and private, 500. -Those walking from surrounding dis tricts, 7000. Many Hundreds Kept Away. These estimates are thought to be con servative. They total 35,000. That named in the last classification is thought to be even ultra-conservative as it was well nigh Impossible after 1 o'clock to get a car east of Grand avenue. Had the car service been better, a rough estimate has been made that 5000 more would have attended. Hundreds gave up the task of getting a car in disgust after waiting for two or three hours. On the cars the crowd was not well behaved. It certainly was not the kind intent on seeing a ball game. A fever ish desire to get there and witness the wonderful performance of this new conqueror of the air seemed to pre dominate. The splendor of the day's weather conditions, the clear sky, the brilliantly shining sun, with Just enough tingle In the atmosphere to make one appre ciate the joy of living, all had a part in drawing out the great attendance. Ii this respect, at least, the gods smiled on the meet. In some others they frowned. Price of Admission Cut. After reaching the vicinity of the grounds about one in every ten per sons planked down his dollar and went inside. The others remained out and from every available point where a view might be obtained there was pre sented to those from the field below a black mass of excited humanity. As a result of this situation, the committee responsible for this latest opportunity in the amusement line in Portland, will be personally losers about $4000. This estimate includes an optimistic view of today's attendance. The price of admission was changed yesterday from $2 for entrance and grandstand to a general $1 admission. For today this will be cut in half, the general admission and grandstand tickets being 50 cents. This is done apparently in the realization that too much has been charged. As an extra inducement it is prom ised that today will be the feature day of the meet. Each of the two Huooa mf M T to Start th e Tomorrow for Breakfast von are 1- Z 1 BRAND 3ACO wiiolesomeness. or BACON JDonH risk s anp.r.tnil. nifiofg "Wvn the safest and the best for just At Best Dealers, Hotels and UNION MEAT COMPANY, PORTLAND, Ploaeer Packers of tbe Pacific mane store in New Electric Building Corner Seventh and Alder Streets All Lamps, Cooking and Heating Devices, Flat Irons And Other Electric Material Portland Railway, Light & Power Co. other days Hamilton has made six ascents. Today he will make 10 flights, and the weather permitting, will at tempt several spectacular feats not yet performed here. Hamilton Files Cross Country. For the first time since his flight at San Diego, Cal.. soon after the Los Angeles, meet, Hamilton yesterday made a short, though extremely interesting cross-country flight. After flying around the course for two minutes he struck out for Stony Butte, less than two miles distant. The butte is more of a ridge than a mountain, though about 300 feet high. He passed over the top and start ed back, having reached an altitude of slightly over 600 feet. For some time it was almost impossible for the naked eye to tell whether he was returning or still continuing eastward. Soon, how ever, the thin planes of the machine be came more clearly visible and what had been a tiny cross against the blue sky, almost directly in line with the summit of Mount Hood, broadened out until the lines were more distinct. While yet a con siderable distance away Hamilton shut off his motor and accomplished what has come to be known as the "Hamilton glide" in the most beautiful and daring manner yet seen here. It appeared that ho would surely light in the 'midst of the great throng of gaping spectators on the field, but instead, though only about 100 feet from'the earth, he swerved his machine gracefully to the left and alighted with indescribable ease and grace at the spot from 'which he had started. Auto Easily Distanced. He had no sooner stopped the machine from its scoot along the ground than the crowd surged around him and above the roar of applause that went up a voice could be heard crying: "Good boy. Hamilton." Two automobile races were features wav oavv Morning-: every Ivlorninj? - X $ -rvrnffwif rl Tvr- TT-nii1 'Si'-. States Government TnanorfinTi & .. , A wuiou guarantees look neaitniulness and if U.S. fQr V and Passed I B' " the the same price Cafes " OREGON Kind of yesterday. The Buick car, which v outclassed by the aeroplane Saturd owing, in part, probably, to the ' mud condition of the course in many plaq was given two opportunities for reven but without success. A better showij however, was made against the air ri chine than on the previous day. luiiiil alter E. DdYmelly will attenj a more extended trial flight with Curtiss machine owned by E. Heri em me. Before he does, however, will 'be tested by Hamilton. The unprecedented success o DR. WYTHE'S DENTISTS is causing- numerous other dentist in Portland to use ENORMOUS DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENTS Their inability to compete with us is very plain. No other dentists in this city have the . plant adapted to .this work, while we have spent enor mous sums of money rebuildm; our quarters, for the express pur pose or carrying on the PR AC TICE OF DENTISTRY accord ing to the WYTHE SYSTEM, and the WYTHE SYSTEM will not be used in any other office in this city. Hundreds of people are taking advantage of this great opportu nity to have their teeth put in order by DR. WYTHE'S DENT ISTS, with his SCIENTIFIC, PAINLESS METHODS. We are giving away THOU SANDS of DOLLARS' worth of dental work now, and all that is necessary for you to do is to come and have your teeth exam' ined by Dr. W3'the's Dentists in order to receive the benefit of our FREE offer, as each patient will receive a certain amount of dental work without charge to introduoe our system and en courage the public to visit and inspect our beautiful and elab orately equipped office. DR. WYTHE'S DENTISTS, Inc., 148 Fifth St.. Opposite Meier & Frank's Fifth Street Entrance. Hours, 8:30 to 6; Sundays, 8:30 to 2. Lady assistant always in attendance. A New Departure The cost of Interments have been greatly reduced by the Holman Undertaking Company. Heretofore 4t has been the custom of funeral directors to make charges for all incidentals connected with a fu neral. The Edward Holman Undertak ing Company, tbe leading funeral di rectors of Portland, have departed from that custom. When casket is furnished by lis we make no extra charges for embiKmlng, hearse to cemetery, outside box or any services that may be re quired of us, except clothing, cemetery and carriages, thus effecting a saving of S25 to 7 on each funeral. THE EDWARD HOLMAN UNDERTAKING CO. 2SO THIRD ST, COR. SALMOK,