Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1920)
13, -i : CASE OF CONVICTED offered to a jury. There was no tet SAFETY HEAD NAMED NEW AND IMPROVED timony that he went to the Wehrman cabin; he had no revolver; he was; and is a sound, sane, quiet and gentle man. In all respects the opposite of the fiend that killed the woman a'nd then assaulted and mutilated her body. All that could be aaid.agalnet him wag aaid by the Judge who wrote the opinion confirming the verdict of the lower court as follows: "He may have taken the Bates Doubt of John Arthur Pen der's Guilt Adduced. - package and kept It until he obtained George N. Aitken to Direct the lows paper the next day" (re ferring to the contents of the mall box near his tent), and he may have taken the package and the paper to the 'Wehrman cabin on Monday nirht as an excuse for making a call on Mrs. Wehrman. and the murder may National Council Work. MURDER MOST ATROCIOUS ACCIDENT CURB SOUGHT PACIFIC COLLEGE TEACHER JOINS Y. M. C. A. Evidence In Fiendish Assault fn AVoman Believed to Fasten Crime on Another Man. Ex-afety Engineer of Pacific Lumber Company Is Chosen Field Engineer. FOR MEN AND WO M THE SUNDAY OEEGOXI.IX, PORTLAND. SEPTEMBER 5, 1920 Ml INVESTIGATED 0 OREGON V . i XM,,s.B..sr S L-A V IrrlA LJ f ' A summary of the John Arthur Pender case, prepared by one who has interested himself In an unofficial ln vestigat'on, has been submitted to The Ore son lan for publication. Pender is now serving a life sen tence for the murder of Mrs. Daisy "Wehrman and her son Harold of Co lumbia county. In September, 1111. The summary of the case follows: On September 6. 1911, the discovery of the dead and mutilated bodies of a woman and her 4-year-old child clasped In lta mother's arms, in a little hamlet five or six miles from Scappoose, Columbia county. Or., re vealed a crime of a most atrocious character. The bodies were those of Airs. Daisy Wehrman and her eon Harold, both of whom had been shot three times, each shot sufficient to kill; all the wounds were burned with powder from the revolver which had been held close to the bodies. The physicians testified that the woman and child had been dead two or three days, thus fixing the date of the murders as September 3 or 4 Sunday and Labor day respec tively. Murderer Uses Hatchet. The woman's head had been smashed in with a hatchet, and these details, as well as others which are unprintable. Indicated that the crime had been committed by a man sub ject to a peculiar kind of mental aberration known as sadism defined by the Century dictionary as "a form of sexual perversion marked by ex treme cruelty." t The ordinary murderer is generally satisfied with the death of his vic tim; in many cases he has a horror of the body and the scene and has tens to put as wide a distance as he can between them and himself In order to escape such poignant re minders of his act. It is as a rule only the sadist (or sadlo) who gloats over the body and continues to shoot and mutilate It after the purpose of his crime has been accomplished. Family In Deadly Pear. In the near vicinity of the tragedy lived a young man who possessed all the characteristics of. this peculiar form of dementia, one John G. H. Sierks. He was at that time nearly 21 years old. feeble-minded and vicious in his habits and showed such marked homicidal tendencies that all his family lived in daily fear of him. He had on more than one occasion attempted a criminal assault upon his mother. About two years later, on his father's complaint, he was committed to the asylum for the insane at Sa lem, where he now is. For some few months before the murder he was working on a farm in Washington county, about SO miles distant from his home, to which, however, he re turned for occasional visits. One of these visits took place, according to the testimony of his sister Lena, on Sunday or Monday, September 3 or 4, but ho had disappeared before the bodies were discovered and had re turned to the residence of his em ployer In Washington county, Hair Pulled Ont He arrived there with his face scratched and the crystal of his watch broken, also with evidence of some of his hair, which was of light color, having been pulled out. jL. Nltch- man, a farmer living about six miles from Louie Schmidt, who was Sierks employer in Washington county, made affidavit on December 3, mat ho had known Sierks for about six years, and that he was in the habit of stopping at Nitchman's place on his journeys between Scappoose and Schmidt's farm; that he arrived there just about the time of the murder of Mrs. wehrman and stated he had been In Scappoose. He was in a state of great excitement, holding his head in his hands and crying. Nitchman says: "He cried and cried until my wife was freightened and called me in, saying that John Is in trouble. lie said among other things, 1 am so sorry. Visit la About Tim of Murder. "I cannot remember exactly the data of John's visits, but am positive that be visited us while at work for Schmidt and about the time of the murder he cam and I thought he was drunk because he was crying constantly, which was a thing he had never done before. He said he came from Holbrook and had been in fight. It is my recollection that John told us about the murder .before -we caw it in the paper. The fact that he was there, his sudden disappearance, the efforts of his family to conceal his whereabouts, his mental agitation and the marks on his face when he returned to Washington county, coupled with hi past history, his homicidal tendencie and his attempts at worse than homi cldal acts, make a prima, facie case against him as the perpetrator of th peculiarly atrocioua and Sadistio mur der of Mrs. Wehrman, This is 11 circumstantial evidence it is true, and unacceptable without corroboration, which is found In Sierks' formal confession that on La bor day, September 4, 1911, he com tnitted the two murders. Another Person Convicted. In this signed document he gives details which correspond exactly with the conditions existing in th Wehrman house when the bodies were found. And furthermore it weave into its story every shred of the thl fabric of Inferences miscalled clr. cumstantial evidence on which other person was convicted. In a let ter to his father dated Salem, January S. 1915, he wrote: "I am the murderer of Mrs. Daisy Wehrman and her littl eon. I am the man that done the dirty trick and lied on Pender." This was separate and apart from hi sisned confession above referred to. At the same time there lived in the nlghborhood one John Arthur Pender, a. man of exemplary character, so far as known, and against whom charare of any crime or of the posses' aion of homicidal tendencies was ever made. His connection with the Wehr man murder case begins (accordln to his statement) with a. demand made of him by e detective that (Pender) gie evidence against an other man, to -which Pender replie that he knew nothing about it an could not testify. To this the detec tlve responded: "Now look here, Pen der, we are golne to get somebody for this job, end that somebody Is likely to be you, If you don t help us. And eo It came to pass, I .' t I ' - , ' I .; ! i " s i i ' ,.! yf - 'x 1 I V - .5' A Si t , 1 - 5 - I " V '- :- y 1 ave been , committed Immediately thereafter." Quite true, all this may have been true, but tnere wasn't a particle of evidence adduced at the trial of Pen er'a having done any one of these things. Character Testimonials High. The testimony to Pender's good character is plentiful and convincing; 11 his friends and his lawyers believe im Incapable of such a. crime; his mother and sisters testify to his hav- ng been a good son and brother. He served in the Spanish-American war nd H. E. Coolidge, cashier of the Ld. Grand National bank, says of him: knew Pender as a soldier in the Philippines in 1898-9. He was a mem ber of the same battery and one of he gun detachment of which I had harge as chief of section. He was splendid soldier and held the confi dence and respect of his comrades at all times. His devotion to duty and manly conduct marked him as the est type of American soldier. In all ti r IntimatA a cgam a T I tn with thU man I never knew of a single act of is that would reflect in any way upon his record as a moral ana up right American citizen." The captain of his company speaks f hlra in the highest terms as a man nd a soldier. A prosecutor in Utah, later in th United States attorney- general's office, refers to Mr. Pender as a normal man of good instincts whom he had known personally for ...... Ait V. v a n . iM ...O...J. jr- - "V" ... , ,,,. ,,,-,1, , , Xrir,l Charles E. Lewis. . Charles E. Lewis has been chosen Instructor in mathemat ics at the college preparatory school of the Oregon institute of technology, fourth floor of the T. M. C. A. building. He is an ex-service man and taught last year at Pacific college in New berg. George N. Aitken, ex-afety en gineer of the Pacific Lumber company of Scotia. Cal., has been appointed field engineer of the national safety council. His duties will be for the district of Oregon and the Columbia, river basin. Under the direction of Mr. Aitken the Pacific Lumber company attained an enviable record in safety and th general prevention .of accidents. The Industrial accident commission of Oregon has complied figures show- I,fH V , , Q L l ing accidents in various Industries within the state during the last year. and that $2,119,725 was paid out in I I compensations. The national safety council is endeavoring to reduce these figures. Hugh H. Herd man, vice-president and general manager, when asked "What is the national safety council. I and what are its objects and methods or work?" replied: Association Is Volnntary. Those questions are asked me so often that I am glad of this oppor tunity to answer them publicly. In the first place, understand that it is a voluntary co-operative asso ciation of employers and others non political, non-commercial, not for profit. It is now the one national body that is carrying on the move ment for accident prevention in this country. Starting in 1913 with 40 members, it now has a membership of over 4000 factories, railways, public service companies, logging and lum ber companies, mines. Insurance com panies, technical schools, colleges, etc. The National Safety Council and accident prevention are almost synon ymous terms. It might well be called the accident prevention council. Here in the northwest its activities have been directed principally to the pre vention of public accidents and It has accomplished much in this direction. It co-operates wth all public bodies that strive toward this -end. For ex ample, it was instrumental in secur ing the passage, at the recent session of the legislature, of the motor drivers' license law. It has a. large ind well-org-anixed list of commit tees, composed of public-spirited tsi sens, who give their services freely for the public good. "Now, be it understood, it is not federal, stats or city body; it is not under the control of any of them: It is not vested with any of their police powers. It co-operates with all of them In preventing law violations that endanger the safety of the peo ple; but it does not affiliate with and should not be confused with any of ficial body. Public Safety Only Part of Work. "But this public safety Is only part, by no means thev greater part. of its work. Industrial accident pre vention lies at the basis of ourvactivi- asrea never contained a more trustworthy or dependable inmate or one of more blameless character than John Ar thur Pender. Safety Council has undertaken to overcome a serious obstacle to our in dustrial progress. Accident preven tion is really an outgrowth of indus try. We have workmen's compensa tion laws to compensate workmen and their families from loss resulting from accident; we have rehabilitation acts to re-educate disabled workmen; and now we are forced by the logic of events to take what should have been the first step. That is. the state has arranged to take care of the workman and his family after he has been In jured or killed, but we have done comparatively little to prevent his &e- Lawrence E. Griffin of Pittsbura I lng injured or killed. The next step Is accident prevention, ana employers REED HDDS TO FACULTY REGEXTS FILL- BIOLOGY AXD IiAXCUAGE CHAIRS. and Edmund' .C. Bcchtold of Kansas Are Elected. With the announcement of twd new faculty elections at Reed, the pro fessorial personnel is practically complete, and the regents are satis- are taking It. "HowT Well, so per cent or the accidents that occur are preventable. Of these, not mors than 25 per cent can be forestalled by proper appli ances and safety devices; the other 75 per cent must be overcome, if at all, by education. "The National Safety council resorts fied that the present staff is as strong I to both methods, of course. But wa as it has ever been. - Professor Law-1 put th main emphasis on education rence E. Griffinpf the University of I getting the men interested, securing Pittsburg, has accepted the chair of biology to succeed Professor Harry B. Torrey who goes to the University of Oregon, and Professor Edmund C. Bechtold, a prominent college man of Kansas, has been electedsnead of the Heed Qerman department. Reed biology students, including a number of pre-medics. have been wor ried over prospects until the election of Dr. Griffin, but according to the recommendations of colleges at Pitts burg, and Gardner C. Bassett, until this year a Stanford psychology man, Mr. Griffin is a teacher of unusual ability, and a. man of scholastic en thusiasm. According to James B. Kerr, Keea regent, Mr. Griffin is just the man for the Reed position. and Dr. Griffin has expressed him self as strongly in sympathy with Reed s ideals in regard to sound scholarship. thsir co-operation, making them see the value of the work. A safety ap pliance on a machine is almost use less 'unless the man operating the machine believes in safety. Our plan involves personal service by safety ati in art mAti rlin lenaw tbA indus tries, who know men, who understand safety methods, who can get co-opera. tlon, who can convince the men on the job that accident prevention means something to them. "First, then, what it means to th workers. . For the year ending Jun 80, 1916, our accidents numbered 4570; for the year ending June 30, 1920, they numbered 21,378. To those injured in the former year, there was paid $417. 998 in compensation; last year the sum was $2,119,725. The misery, suf- ferintr and sorrow attending these accidents are not to be measured. But on the monetary side alone accident Mr. Bechtold comes to Reed recom-1 prevention means much to them, for mended by W. H. Carruth, poet and F.ngllsh man at the University of Kansas, as a brilliant student and energetic teacher, and the German de partment promises to be on a par with other Reed departments. Thls-.com-I pletes the appointments in the lan guage departments, and leaves but two faculty appointments still pending. the chair of nistory and sociology. PAVING SAVING 'INDICATED the compensation is only a small part of .what the injuredi persons' wages would have been. The total injuries last year, if divided among all th workers of the state, would have meant that each one would have lost 22.9 days. Few of us realise that In our industries we Kill two persons every three days. Yes, it does moan much to the workers. Employers Also Discussed. "Likewise with employers. Not until very recently did they have figures available for estimating their losses M nn lclr.nl "plant Rorina I from accidents. But now that statls- ii i . , . . . , .... ij....i.i lies as Eftiiiereu u j iuo .nuuni, Tenlno Avenue $1275.63. The municipal paving plant has caused a saving of 81275.63 for prop erty owners on lerjino avenue, be tween East Thirteenth and Kaat Fif teenth streets, according to City Com missioner Barbur, in charge of the department of public works. Accord ing to Mr. Barbur, the bid of the contractor on this job, recently com- OUR GUARANTEE We guarantee six. pain of our Pilgrim Positive Wear Hosiery to wear six months. If they do not, we will replace them without any expense to you. Sears, Roebuck and Co. andStposfage for Guaranteed Nicely Boxed for "WOMEN MEDIUM WEIGHT Fully Seamless. Desirable Weight -for Wear in All Seasons j No. 432 Black " 4 !"" No. 434 Dark Brown No. 436 White Sizes: 8H, 9, 9$, 10 W 10H- " " LIGHT WEIGHT " SEAMED BACK FineJKnic Have the Ap pearance of a Fashioned Stocking No. 443 Black No. 445 Dark Drown" No. 447 White Sizes: 8M. 9, 9i, 10 and EXTRA SIZE. LIGHT WEIGHT. SEAMED BACK For Women Who Cannot Be Properly Fitted in the Regular Sizes No. 453 Black No. 455 Dark Brown No. 45 7 White Sizes: 8M, 9, 9J 10 and 103 PILGRIM Positive Wear Hosiery insures real economy and satisfaction. We guarantee " six pairs of Pilgrim Positive Wear Hosiery to wear six months. If holes appear in any of them in less than six months, return : them to us and we will replace them with new hosiery without a cent of expense to you,- and we will refund any postage you : pay on the returned hosiery. A biasessr Pilgrim Positive Wear Hosiery is made for men and women. Knit from very fine selected combed cotton . yarns, with special reinforcing at the soles, heels and toes the three points of greatest strain. Women's stockings have garter tops. VVlll' '" The light weight stockings for women are made with. ' a seam in back of leg and seamless feet. The med- j ium weight hosiery for both men and women is fully seamless. Pilgrim Positive Wear Hosiery is -well made and finely finished in every detail. It -looks well, feels well and wears welL Packed six -pairs in attractive box. USE THIS ORDER BLANK Fill in the spaces on the order blank below, indicating the stock number, color, size and number of boxes you desire. Sold only in boxes of six pairs. Mail this order with check, postomce or express money order to cover the price of the hosiery, plus postag at the rate of 8 cents for each six pairs. This is our complete line of Guaranteed Hosiery as shown in our General Catalog. There is no other literature describ ing this hosiery; nor are there any agents or stores selling it Send your order direct to Sears, Roebuck and Co. V for MEN ' MEDIUM WEIGHT Fully Seamless. Neat and Durable. - Suitable WeigjL All Wear No. 401 Black No. 403 Dark Brown No. 405 Navy Blue No. 407 light Gray Sizes 9M.1040M.il, HHand 12. n Sears. Roebuck and Co. I sm sending herewith leeua total amount or monay Von mar send me Pilgrim Positive Wear Gnasa an teed Hosiery at described below, under the term, of your guarantee printed in this advertisement. . No. Bona i ... No. Color Six (Ml orJj in bans. I Pries &1K palr to box.) H I I 45 40 I Postoffos No, . Box -No -State and No. 9 CHICAGO DALLAS SEATTLE Cend Your Order to the Nearest One of Our Stores Pender, and on as flimsy a. pretense of circumstantial evidence as, was ever! accident commission aro at hand, em. ploysrs ars beginning to realize the heavy load they have Keen carrying-. They have coma to see that tneir in sura-nce costs are based on the acci dent records, and that there Is mi terlal saving to bs made by reducing; th number or accidents. They now fia-ure also their lost time, their labor turnover, their decreased production j n .a tn.t ttffl snd disArff&niud Dieted by the city plant, was 3405.28. I . thn- while ttte municipal paving plant wasthey cannot help becoming accident- 11 ' - " w - obt ujuaiiiB I nF.v.nt An fnn. "For example, figuring deaths and permanent disabilities arbitrarily, for the year ending June SO. 1918, In the manufacturing industries alone, accidents caused a loss of 739,681 working daye, or 2465 years, or the time of a gang of 1000 men' for Shi years. And In all Industries for the same year, accident caused the loss of 1.281,369 working days, or 4271 years, or the loss of the time of a gang of 1000 men for 4H years. Now this lost time cost the employers of the state a great deal of money, more perhaps than it did the Injured work men. Because oi toe costs of the re S2S7S.2S. The actual cost of the work was 12129.65. .figures prepared by Sun.r intendent Dulia of the plant show a saving ot s cents a square yard on this JOD. output, and all the other consequences that followed these thousands of ac cidents. "As I said, the National Safety Council is a non-profit making or ganization. It is supported by dues so low as to be merely nominal, paid by the employers and graduated ac cording to the size of the organiza tion. We have divided the work into two departments, the public safety , section and the industrial safety sec tion. H. P. Coffin, whose work along public safety lines is well known, is in charge of the public safety work. Mr. Aitken will look after the Indus trial accident prevention. He will or ganize the safety work In each plant and keep it going. ' Progressive Campslgrn Planned. "Thus, you see, we are planning a progressive campaign of education and co-operation In accident preven tion. We do not expect to accomplish wonders at first, but we are , going gunning for that preventable per centage of accidents, both industrial and public. We are covering the state, outside of Portland and vicin ity, by industries, and Just now are centering our attention on the lum ber industry, the most extensive, -the most hazardous, and consequently the most, costly in men and money. We have the unanimous Indorsement Of the loggers' aim ium uci men o ui- ganlzatlons. and are rapidly enrolling the operators and promoting the ac cident prevention work in the camps and mills. In addition to the loggers' and lumbermen's indorsements, we have that of the Industrial Associa tion of Oregon, the Associated Indus tries of Oregon, the Portland Cham ber of Commerce, the Portland Ad club and the United Metal Trades as sociation. "In and near Portland we ere taking eafre of sll Vlnflw of plants. Children to Have Feast. A watermelon feast will be riven the children of South Portland late this afternoon In Dunlway park. Re- ! freshmenta of various kinds have I been donated for the party, which fa They "got" I scheduled lor s o clock. Bead The Oregonlan classified ads. I eultlng labor turnover, the decreased Multnomah Guard Band of ' 120 pieces today at COLUMBIA BEACH "In short, the National Safety Council has for Its pole object the promotion of the public and Indus trial safety of the people of the state. It seeks to save the life, health and limbs of the workers: and while doing so. It "contributes very materially to the financial development of the In dividual industries, and hence to the state as a whole. Its work bas both a humane and an economic founda tion. It has something of " great value for the employer, the employe and the public." Portland. Seeks Encampment. J. W. Jones, commander of Over the Top Post, No. 81. Veterans of Foreign Wars, and James Walsh, past commander, will leave Portland Tues day for Washington. T. G, to attend the national encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. An ef fort will be made by the Portland representatives to bring the next na tional encampment to Portland. Mr. Jones and Mr. Walsh will be in the east about three weeks. Central Library Open Tomorrow. The central library will be open for reading only on Labor day. It has been announced, from 2 to 9:30 P. M. The branch libraries wilt all be closed the entire day. 1 S" vw' v w '7 JUlaw HOUSE FOR SALE Southeast Corner East 23d and Salmon. To Be Removed Sealed bids will be received for the purchase of this 7-room house up to noon September 15 by O. Olsson. 317 East 36th st. Building to be re moved not later than October 15, or same will revert to present owner. Certified check for 10 per cent of amount must accompany bids. Right reserved to reject rny and all bids. Phone Z22 - 62 for appointment to Inspect. . IIIIIlllIIIIIIIIIIfIllf IIIIIIIIlIMIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIttlllllllllllllf lllf IIIII1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUI1S i f ' VU j til (ffiilllti Will 1 1ll lll nil ll.-isaaajasfe :iMkS Skill Science Service Assisted by the X-Ray DB. 11. 13. HKK.HT 5 Assure you the best dental service if you entrust me with 5 your work. Middle-aged and elderly people vho must have plates will find my work along these lines unexcelled. H Decayed teeth and useless stumps are a menace to health, H 5 while well-fitted, scientifically constructed plates are a substitute zz 5 that you will enjoy and appreciate. - 5 In all branches of dental work the results will be equally 'I j satisfactory. :-- MY PRICES ARE VERY REASONABLE I DR. B. E. WRIGHT 1 Korthwest Corner Sixth and Washington Streetn. Ent. Z7Vi Wash. Phone Main 2119. Raleigh Hldg. Painless Extraction of Teeth Twenty Years in Active Service Office Honrs 8 A. M. to P. M. Sunday ! to 13 A. M. Open Evenlnars by Appolntnaent. Conanltntlon Free. .nlllIlllllIIIIIIIIIIIIllIlIUI11111111ll1HllIllIlI111IlIlIIlllllllIIIIIIUII11IIlIllinilllllllIIil!: 107.5v