. . ' . ... ' . v
THE OREGON SUNT) AY, JOURNAL', PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 20, 1903.
-. t :
- - .
FISHER ASKED COURT
: WITH FINCH IN
IHORATE
(Continued from Page. One.)
for years -what his loasha bwn. And
even the wife and mother realizes only
for a few moment at a time the tor.
' rlble nature of her calamity, and then
'the awful shock brings . kindly uncon
sciousness and aha forgets for a while,
only to waken again to. .the-horror of
what haa happened. ;
4 ao Sow Of floe.
"lilneh mnrrieraut . Ralnh R. Visiter In
the latter'a office,' 3ii Mohawk build
ing, at 1:30 o'clock yeaterday after
noon. The aaaaasin gave hia victim
no chance for his life but ahot him to
death from behind aa Mr. Fisher aat
at hia desk. Mr. Fisher never even aaw
the man who killed him. Finch en
tered the office whore Fisher and his
stenographer, Misa Verna II. Burkhart.
were and said "hello, Ralph." At the
same instant he reached in- hia hip
pocket and pulled out- the revolver
which he had purchased specially forj
hia murderous - work -and fired, '
The first bullet struck the lawyer ati
the base of the skull. Aa the mortally:
wounded man half rose from his chair
at the Impact of the bullet. Finch fired
again, but missed, the bullet breaking
tna plate' glaaa of the window. A third.
time the assassin pulled the trigger, and
Mr. Fisher fell to the floor stone dead,
a bullet through bis brain. v Ha fell
half on 'his right shoulder, hia lege
"under the desk and partly bent.' He
, must have been dead before hia head
reached the floor, and he never - moved
. . again. .. 'x !
- The murderer hesitated , only long
enough to make sure that he had com,
pleted hia work, then with the amoklng
rewiTw sua in me nana, leri tne orrice
and ran down the corr.uor to the ele
vator, which he entered at the same
time a a did Miss Burkhart, the sten
ographer who had witnessed the crime
and who. frightened almost Into hya
terlea, had fled from the room -with the
, Bound of the aliota echoing in her eara
Baa After Killing. i g
' It doea not appear that Finch" had
-. any definite plan of escape other than
merely to run away from the scene of
lila crime. But ha got no farther than
the head of th stalra, for Dr. Hi F.
Leonard, whoae office 1 near that of
the murdered man and who had heard
the shots and the screams of Miss Burk
hart, ran out into the corridor and see
ing Finch running down the hall, real
ized that the man had committed aonte
crime, and ran after him.
Aa he laid hia hand on Finch to hold
him. the murderer reached for his
, pocket to draw the revolver again, but
at this Instant Chester V. Dolph ran
out of hia law office and seized Finch'
arm... Dr. Leonard and Mr. Dolph suc
ceeded In wresting the gun from Tlneh'a
grasp and led him back dawn the corri
dor toward the door of tha man. whom
: he had slain. -. ...... ....-..
The police were immediately' notified
by Dr. John Davis that a man had been
shot, though when he telephoned. Dr.
Davis did not know who It waa. Officer
Oaaey, ; Patrolman Thorpe. Harms and
. Leisy and Detective Tlchenor arrived
v within a few minutes and took charge
i of the murderer, who was being held by
Dr., R. Kelly, Dr. W. A.- Roberts and
: Mr. Dolph," Finch waa taken Into the
room where his victim lay dead upon
:, the floor, hia head in a thickening pool
of blood, and allowed to view his work.
But he expressed no regret at what he
had done, took no Interest In tha body
of the man whose, vigorous and useful
Ufa he had a . few minutes before
snuffed but - Hia only thought was for
himself. ..- -,
"Bend for the "sheriff, send for the
sheriff," he implored, evidently fearing
- that tha wratb of the crowd might de
. mand his nummary punishment for tho
cowardly murder.
Dentist Arrive rirst.
T)r. V. Ar Roberta, a dentist whose
. olTlces arc next to those which the mur
dered man occupied, was. working with
a patient when he heard the shots and
tha acreams of the frightened stenoay
rapher. He Immediately rushed Into Mr.
'ishr's room, empty at that moment
of all but the dead body of the attor
ney, and tried to revive Mr. Fisher, but
at one realized that It was too lata
The man was dead.
Finch was at once, upon the arrival
of the officers, removed to the city Jail.,
but he was taken shortly afterward to
the county jail, where he now la. He
refused to make any statement when
captured, afterward attempting to play
the insanity dodge, and denying all
knowledge of the affair, though it is
: evident that ha had carefully planned it
. and had purchased the revolver espe
cially, to murder Mr. Fisher.
Mrs. Fisher missed by only about
five minutes being a witness of the
killing of her husband, for as Finch
did not hesitate to shoot In the pres
- encj of Misa Burkhart, it is not prob
aine that tha presence of Mrs. Fisher
would have deterred him from commit
ting the cowardly deed. Mrs. Fisher
had come down town with her mother-
: In-law, Mrs. T. B. Kay, intending to go
to Mr. Fiaher's office to see him. They
were delayed a few minutea or they
would have been there before Finch ar
rived. As it was. they reached the
Mohawk building when the crowd was
packed about the entrance, attracted by
the rumor that a murder had been com
mitted. Knew Br In tuition.
Mrs. Fiaher. knew by jntultion, and
through the fear she had for some time
entertained that an attempt was to he
N mude upon her husband's life, who it
waa that lay dead on that third floor.
Nearly fainting with terror, ahe went
across tha street to the store of R. M.
Gray and aaked Joe Evans to find out
for her what had happened. Mr. Evans
already knew, but could not bear to
break the news to the wife of the mur-
.' dered man. . He drew Mrs. Kay aside
and whispered tha truth to her, advis-
ing her not to tell Mra. Flaher at that
Together they grot Mrs. Flaher into an
automobile and took her home.
But. the wife could not be deceived.
llr hurt .told her that the husband
who had kissed . her goodbye that
morning and had waved a. cheery fare
wall to the baby in her arms would
never again come - bounding . op the
steps of the house, eager to see them
at th close of hia day's work. She
waa carried Into the house and laid
upon the bed. from which every few
minutea ahe spring Up crying aloud
for Ralph, Ralph to Come back to ber;
then realising ono more the terrible
truth, she rails oaca moaning, -vn,
how could any man do such a thing?
I inmr ranH he do itF
lp at the county jail Finch, part of
the time, suikb in a cvrnw 01 m wu,
at other times springs to hia feet to
-ur those whom he holds responsible
for his dishonor, for his temg suspend
ed from the practice of his profession
in the courts 01 uregon. :. v --
Martyr to Bis Onty.
Tor that was the catiae of the tra
e lUlph B. Fisher died aa the result
f t,l fearless performance of his duty.
i pmpectitnr at the grievance commit
If . f the Orepon ritate liar association,
i ,-.!!. : :'-rred cfn rgea before the supreme
-.,- t ixt t-lm-h, rliars-ing him with
i. . s n court anii with, having
' t !'c i. an: cf Ma partrKT, C. 1L
NI,.itMWitrNWItiiiW
Jamei A. Finrb, from sketch taken at the city prison yesterday after-
; noon by Seed.
Plggott, and uaed Piggott'a notary pub
lic aeal on th pension paper of au old
Soldier.
Finch pleaded guilty to the chargea,
but promised to reform, stating that he
waa about to ba married and would be
gin life over again. On this statement
Fisher did not press the chargea an
vigorously aa he otherwise would have
dona. Finch thought that he would get
off with auepanalon for a short time,
but th supreme court disbarred him
for the period of one year, the sentence
being announced only last week,
' Finch took this very much to heart,
evidently feeling that more dishonor
attached to the suspension than to the
offences which - were the occasion of
th disbarment. It Is probable that he
meditated for mora than a week the
death of tha man whom he held to be
personally responsible for his punish
inent. ,
For several weeks Ralph Flaher had
been receiving anonymous letters and
telephone message, threatening him
with death on account hia actions
aa prosecutor for the (Bar association.
At first he paid no attention to them,
but about a week ago tha message and
telephone calls came so frequently that
he oecame annoyed ana turned tne tet
ters over to the -police to see If they
could find the author and put a atop
to th outrage. '
. Thraatansd Over Phone.
Tha telephone "messages always came
from the same man, Mr.- Fisher judged
from the voice, but the man always re
fused to give hia name, The messages
were In the nature of warnings, -the
one Bending them'- telling Mr. Fisher
that he would . be killed unless he
stopped the disbarment proceedings that
ha waa conducting. It Is supposed now
that Finch wrote the anonymous let
tera and was tha one who. called up
over the phone and' warned Fisher to
discontinue the proceedings. An ef
fort will be made to connect Finch with
the two lettera, which are In the hands
of the police no.w
Tha last letter which Mr. Fisher re
celved read aa follows:
"Mr. R Fiacher Birc From rumors
I have heard you are to be shot or dis
posed ef. and I think It is my duty to
tell you to be careful. Of course, this
may b only talk, but the shooting of
Mr. Heney makes the matter worae.
If It were known I had warned you. It
might be bad for me.' PHYSICIAN."
Thle letter wa typewritten on note
paper cut down to fit a small envelope.
Mr. Fiaher's name was misspelled,
plainlv to try to make It apepar that
the writer was not well acquainted
with him. -, , ' ...
Mr. Fifher told hia wife something
of the threats that had been made
againat him; and for more than week
she had been worrying for fear some
thing would happen to him. Every
night that he waa not at home early
she would ait in dread that something
had happened to him.
Wlf reared worst.
Bha repeatedly warned htm to take
care of himself and not to allow any
thing to happen that would deprive, her
of the huaband she loved. Only a few ;
day ago Mra. Fiaher persuaded her
husband to go to the photograph studio
of C Elmore Grove and have hia pic
ture taken. She aaid at the time that
she did not have a picture of him, and
she waa afraid that something might
happen to hira before she could get
one. Mr.- Fisher never cared to have
his photograph taken, but for the sake
Of having it with hia little 11 months
old boy, Ralph B. Flaher Jr., la hia
arma, h consented, and a few day
ago the picture which appears In this
lsaue of The Journal waa taken.
"I'm only a disbarred attorney, just
a disbarred attorney," raved James A.
Finch in his cell at the county jail an
hour after he had shot and killed Mr.
Fisher. "That'a all I know."
"Why did you shoot Mr. Fiaher?"
Finch waa asked. 1
"Go and ask C. H. Plggott," was the
reply. Then apparently realizing that
this answer tended to show that he
knew well enough what he waa accused
of, he burst into a torrent of curses
and vi!e profanity. Hia mouth became
a sewer of filth and he cursed the re
porters and the newapapers, the men
who were responsible for hie disbar
barme.nt and everybody in sight Then
James A. Tincb, From a Photograph
Taken in 1905.
TO BE LENIENT
DISBARMENT SENTENCE
" 'WW, -, , 9
'y; :.:i-;:.;.-r . .
he burst into teara and with te drops
falling over his haggard and unshaven
face, again reiterated, "I'm only a dis
barred attorney. I don't know who this
man Fisher is. I don't know where
the Mohawk building is" and nobody
had mentioned the Mohawk building.
Stenographer Tslla Story.
Miss Verna H. Burkhart, Mr. Fisher'
stenographer, a pretty girl of 20, . liv
ing at 428 East Thirty-fourth street,
is too nervous and worked up over the
terrible crime of which she was the onlv
eye wltneas'to be able to tell a very
lengthy Btory. She Bays that Mr.
Fisher was seated at his desk working
when Finch came through the outar
room to tha door of the room where
ahe and Mr. Fisher were. She waa
standing In the door of the private of
fice at the moment. "Hello, Ralph,"
said Finch. At the same instant he
reached Into his pocket and drew th
revolver, a 38 caliber Ivef-JohnaOM, and
aa Fisher started to turn his head to
sea who had SDoken. the assassin fired
"I was very close to him when he
fired," says Misa Burkhart. I turned
and ran to the door, screaming, I sus
pect." That Is ' all Miss Burkhart knows
about the matter. She did no reenter
tne ornc after Fiaher waa ahot, but
was lanon ai once to ner noma.
Dr. Norden, city coroner, when ques
tioned about the matter, stated that
Mlaa Burkhart's testimony aa that of
an eye witness should be enough to
tasien me muraer upon incn.
When Flaher was shot. C. H. Plg
gott, Finch's law partner, was out get
ting signatures to a petition to the
supreme court asking tnat body to sus
pend Its sentence against Finch on con
dition that he reform and indulaa In
no practices not countenanced 'by the
legal profession. He did not know for
some time alter the tragedy that tha
man In whoae behalf he was working
waa a murderer, guilty of a crime a
thousand times more heinous than that
for which he was disbarred. He gdt the
signatures of a number of prominent
men to the petition even after Finch
was already In jalL
.v Send for His Fartnr. :
-Soon after being taken to the county
Jail Finch sent for Plggott, who has
tened up and had a snort conference
With him. He waa asked on emerging
from the jail whether or not he was
going to defend hi partner, but stated
that he could not say anything definite
In that regard yet He also aaid that
he had no atatement to mak to any
body at present.
Plggott said that he Is only Finch's
partner in a way, that is, that they
have offices together. They were part
ners some time ago. but Finch's action
of forging Piggott'a name to tha penaion
papeM angered Plggott and the part
nership waa temporarily broken up.
Lately, however, tha two came together
again and resumed their former rela
tions.
COKONER WILL HOLD
INQUEST OVER-BODY
OP FISHER MONDAY
An Inauest will be held over the bodv
of Ralph B. Flaher In the Dunning
chapel at 1 o'clock Monday afternoon.
Misa Verna H. Burkhart. Mr. Fiaher's
stenographer, who was standing but a
tew teei irom incn wnea na urea me
fatal shot and waa the only eyewit
ness, will ba th most Important witness
summoned.
Finch was a prominent figure at an
Inquest - held In the aame room this
month. Monday, although he probably
will not be present, the Inquisition will
be held over tha - body of the man he
killed. At the inquest held November 4
over the body of Miss Pearl Lamb,
Finch repreaented Dr. C H. and C.
H. T. Atwood in whose maternity hos
pital at Tremont Mias Lamb died. Finch
surprised all who knew him at that time
bv his unusually neat dresa. clean
shaven face and utter lack of any signs
of recent drinking. ' He conducted nis
case well and with a rather unexpected
deference - to the coroner and deputy
district attorney. Those who knew him
were led to believe hia representations
to Mr. Fisher, made about that time,
that henceforth he would be a different-man,
were actuated by sincere in
tentions. Miss .May Petty, the former matron of
the Atwood hospital to whom Finch
was1 married soon after, was a Witnes
at th Lamb inquest
CHIEF JUSTICEiEAN t
PAYS HIGH TRIBUTE
. TO RALPH B. FISHER
. (Special Diptca to The Joarail.t
Salem. Or Nov. 2S. Tha following
tribute waa paid Ralph ii. Flaher thla
evening by Chief Justice Bean of the
aupreme court:
' "Mr. Flaher waa among th moat
.promising of the younger attorneys of
tha Oregon bar and I had taken a per
sonal Interest in his career. He was al
ways .courteous and considerate and
waa alert for all that waa for the pub
lic weaL
"The incident la a moat deplorable
one from its relation to the Oregon
bar and . extremely regrettable from
many atandpointa. ' ' .
Justice Bean also said that It was du
largely to Attorney Fisher' effort that
Finch waa not wholly expelled from the
Oregon baa and entirely deprived or the
right to practice longer this state.
mmm ii
.'wr.'Hi
FRIENDS TELL
WHY
James A. Finch' friends have al
ready begun to explain hia reasons for
shooting Ralph Flaher. - The assaasin'a
law partner, C. H. Plggott, who will
represent Finch in court, declared yes
terday afternoon that th direct cause
of th shooting was the breaking of
faith by the dead prosecutor in an
agreement between him and Finch con
cerning th prosecution of , the disbar
ment proceedings against the latter.
Mr. Plggott furthermore expresaed the
opinion that Finch was not in hia right
mind and had been in a dased condition
for several days prior to the tragedy.
u tney attempt to prove, however.
that Finch haa been acting strangely for
th past few daya. they will find a dis
agreement on that-score no farther away
tnan in lnoh own offioe. jriggott
Bay that Finch ha been dazed and hys
terical since his suspension by the au
preme court E. C. RIddell, another
member of the office, aaya that ba has
been cheerful and in the beat of spir
its; that he noticed nothing out of the
way with htm, and that he attended to
lengthy brief yesterday morning.
Heretofore r'incn haa been classed, at
the worst, aa a harmless crank, and his
own worst enemy. Ho waa born either
in New Tork state or in Polk county,
Oregon his own statements as to thla
are at variance and from the timer that
h was, 16 year old haa been working
mora or less steadily. He was a prin
ter by trade and during the Populist
movement edited a ropuiiat newspaper
near Albany. When thla died ha
worked on papers and In printing shop
in Airmny ana later went to work tor
Erneat Hofer of the Salem Caultal
Journal, studying law at intervals, but
never regularly. He tooa the examina
tions and waa admitted to the bar lfli
or 12 years ago.
Bis Carear In Salem.
Ip Salem hi reputation was not of
the beat He drank considerably and
waa accused of having sold hia mother's
furniture over her head and deserting
her there. He bad political influence
enough, however, to secure the appoint
ment or mailing ctera to tne House in
the state legislature of 1903 and of
calendar clerk to the House in the
legislature of 1806. Upon retiring from
this poaition he came to Portland and
tried to establish a practice here. His
drinking was kept up almost incessantly
until last, summer when ha waa threat
ened with disbarment. It is claimed
by his assoclatea that on July he
stopped drinking and has not touched
Intoxicants from then until yesterday
noon.
Finch had been up before the Rriev
anc committee of the bar association
for diabarment because of drunkenness
and unprofessional conduct ' He had
been recommended to the supreme court
for suspension and aaw disgrace staring
him in the face. Then, according to the
story that he told his. associates prior
to tne Killing yesterday, ne saw inner,
tha special, prosecutor for tne associ
ation and made an agreement with him
that he would be either let off with a
reprimand or suspended for one month
provided he would plead guilty to the
chargea of Intoxication in court and not
force th association to prosecute the
case.
Whether Fisher actually made this
agreement or not, and just what the
terms were u ne ma mane it, win pron
ablv never be known with certainty.
But at any rate Finch stopped drfnking
and applied himself with more diligence
than . liaual to his work, preparing
among other things, a convenient rerer
ence edition of the Oregon statutes on
divorce which ba just left the printer's
bands. . -
Bomaao of Marriage.
Last week, confident that he would
be able to practice hia profession, say
his frlends.ihe married iliss May Petty,
..1.11.11.4 4-Aml nrV n fnos until -.
centiy matron at the Atwood maternity
hospital. His friends Bay he waa ex
tremely happy after the marriage, and
waa rmaiiv niannins ior tne xuiure.
Early laat week he went to Albany, re
turning to Portland Wedneaday evening,
the niaht before Thanksgiving. Tues
day the supreme court had passed upon
the oiaoarment cases oeiuru ii, ana in
stead of the reprimand or month' sus
pension which he claimed to have ex
pected, ha was suspended for one ' year.
This, uv his friends, broke down his
nerve and made him feel hopeless of
ever getting a start again.
It is scarcely proDaoie, lawyers wno
Know mm any, iui f m iu:
any agreement with Finch, failed to
carry out hi part of it He may have
reeommenaea u me uprnnffxuMfi uuu
Finch be given a light punishment, and
the court acted as it saw fit At any
rate Finch blamed Fisher for the se
verity of his punishment, and waa heard
by aeveral men to make threatening re
marks concerning hia enemies in the bar
association, particularly Fiaher. -
Attorney John c smiiock. wno anew
both Fisher and Finch well, stated last
nlaht that ha himself, within the past
eight or ten days, had heard Finch
state tnat n wouia get even witn
Fisher and the rest of them.
B. C. RIddell. who Shares the law of
fices of Finch and C. H. Plggott. in
rooms 4, t and ft, of the Mulkey budd
ing, said yesterday afternoon that ha
had noticed nothing unuaual about
Finch's actlona since hia return from
Albany Wedneaday night
He reacnea tne or rice at ocioox,
the uaual hour, thla morning." said
RIddell, "and started in at hia work aa
usual. Among otner intnga n aic
tated a long brief and a man couldn't
do that If he were excited. He went
out at 11:30 a. m.t returned and went
out again at 12:30, or thereabouts.; I
never knew him to carry a aun. and he
is the last man I would think of doing
murder.
Partner Will JTot Talk.
C. H. Plggott who had been down at
the jail talking to Finch; returned at
thia moment. He said he might want
to. make a formal Btatement on Monday.
He waa willing to say, however, that
Finch had not been himself for seVeral
days not since . tha disbarment de
cision, In fact
"He has gone around here in a dased
condition and would break out crying,"
said Mr. Plggott "He has been good
for nothing . in the office and did pot
attend to hia work, he haa been so
Wrought up over the . proceedings
against him. He felt that he had been
tricked Into pleading guilty to the
charges against him and bad been
strung."
, - Finch Is ti years old and has a
brother living in Seattle. Ha has oc
casionally claimed H. K. Finch, a
printer at- Front "'and Washington
streets, aa a -relative, although there'
Is no relstionship between the two.
Finch waa a familiar figure at the
courthouse, and has recently had buai
nesa there every few days. He has
been representing Drs. C. H. Atwood
and C H. T. Atwood in the cases
brought - againat them charging that
they were guilty Of acta outraging pub
lic morality In maintaining the mater
nity hospital at Tremont station. ' Last
Monday Presiding Judge Gantenbein
overruled a . demurrer that Finch had
presented In this case. - . '-' . -
Finch also represented Misa Petty,
who later became hia wife, in the juve
nile court where she waa charged with
failure to give her adopted children
proper, care. He acted a attorney for
Sdered
LAWYER
. Ralph B. Fisher was born In Smith
field, Polk county, on a farm about four
mile from Dallas, in 18$2. He waa th
son of C. Q. Fisher, a pioneer of Oregon.
who came across the plain in th early
day and established a horn in Polk
county. The father was a prominent
resident of Polk county during hi life
and was elected tothe legislature, serv
ing aa a representative In th session
Of 1S89. , "...
Ralph Fisher received - hi education
at Monmouth, entering the normal
school there In 1880 and graduated from
the institution at the head of his class.
He then taught school at woodburn and
Hubbard for several terms, reading law
during his . leisure, hours. a
Mr. Fisher went to Idaho "in 180S,
where he entered th law orTIc of
Thomaa Jolley. at Moacow. where . he
completed hia law studies and was ad
mitted to the bar of that state. After
practicing ther for aom time he cam
to Portland in mos, entering into a
partnerahiD with O. Everett Baker. This
partnership waa dissolved aom e time
ago, Mr. Flaher opening; law office in
tne xaonawg ouuuing.. . , : ....
Mr. Fisher was mad ' soeolal crose-
cutor for - th grievance committee of
in war association a short time after
the annual meeting a year ago. which
office he held, until the last meeting a
week ago, when he refused to conalder
the office for another term. -
Although Mr. Flaher did not hesitate
to fulfill his duty aa prosecutor for the
grievance committee, he displayed - no
personal vindlctlvenes toward Flnoh
or other men whom he convicted. When
the news of the action of the state su
preme court in suspending Finch in' the
practice of law was received,,'. Fiaher
told a Journal reported that he had
joined in saving Finch from permanent
disbarment .
"Finch is a young man," he said, "and
he may turn out all right in. the end.
I do not believe in turning a prosecu
tion Into a persecution, and I was will
ing enough to aid in keeping him from
being permanently disbarred."
Both the father and mother of Mr
Fisher are dead. He is survived by his
wife, Mrs. Bertha Kay Fisher, an Infant
son less than a year old, and by three
brothers and five sisters.. His brothers
are A. L. Fiaher of Yoncalla; Charles
F. Fisher,- 680 Tillamook etreet, Port
land, and George Curtis Flaher of Ba
kerafield, Cal. The alsters are Mra
Minnie Berkley of Oakland, Or. ; Mra
Henrietta Haley of Monmouth, Mra.
Ella t. Applegate of Drain. Mrs. Lena
O. Jolley of Moscow, Idaho, and Miss
Alice Fisher og Eureka, Cal; . - -
FISHER MADE
PLEA TO COURT
FOR LENIENCY
(Special Dlpatch to The lonroal.)
Salem, Or., Nov. 28. The generous
attitude assumed by Ralph Fisher
toward James Finch is splendidly poi
troyed by the following letter written
to the supreme court regarding Finch's
case:
To the Honorable Justices of Supreme
Court, Salem. Or. Directing your atten
tion to disbarment proceodlngs brought
by the grievance committee of the Ore
gon oar association against J. A. Finch,
attorney of thla court, permit me to
advise that the defendant has of his
own accord entered a confession of all
charges alleged in three separate com
plaints filed, and hia withdrawn hia
answers thereto and decline to further
move or plead. . ,
Sees Error of Ways.
The defendant by virture of these pro
ceedings, haa been brought to see the
error of his ways, and haa mended them,
to the extent as 1 am advised, of
having for the time being departed from
them. How thorough is nia reformation
time can only tell. It la certain that
he is making an effort, and so far is
deserving of commendation.
It la not the purpose of plaintiff
and relator In thia case to pursue this
or any other prosecution for disbar-
B. S. Kelaay, who applied for a fran
chise for water and ga works In the
Mount Scott district, and appeared sev
eral times before the county court In
advocacy of thia franchise, which the
court was prevented from granting by
an injunction. A few daya ago Finoh
went to Corvallia and argued a case in
court there.
Married by .-Spiritualist.
Finch married Misa Petty on the night
of November 17. The ceremony was
performed byNRev. Green C. Love, a
Spiritualist. Finch and Miss Petty had
known each other since childhood daya,
he told hia friends. He distributed ci
gars freely in celebration of tha event
and aaid he was going to "settle down
ana nave a nome. Mrs. rtnen has
two adopted children, two. and one Jialf
and three years of age, whom she
reared while acting aa matron at tho
Dr. Atwood maternity hospital at Tre
mont station. The week before ahi
was married aha was tried bv a lurv
In the juvenile court on th charge of
neglecting the children. . Th jury
brought In a verdict allowing her to
retain custody of the children on con
dition that ahe should not return to tha
Atwooa nosDitai. incn defended her
In the trial, and ahe stated on the wit- 1
ness stand that sh was aoon to he
married. The trial ended on Monday
afternoon and the next night ah and
Finch were wed.
FINCH'S RECORD
AS PUBLISHER
4 (Special Dlspatc t The' JooraaL)
Albany, Or.,' fTov. - 28. Jim
4 Finch, who shot and killed At-
torney Fisher In Portland, was a
realdent of this city for nearly
4 10 years, - He came here about.)
the year18t4, from North Da- )
4 . koU. : - '. .
, He etarted a Populist publics- "
tlon called the ' Oregon Silver
Imprint and published the same
4 for a period of two year. Dur- )
Ing th editorship .of this paper
"he nominated and elected C
Gains, a Populist judge of Linn
4 county, At that time the Popu-
4 : liat party was very weak in this
county, but through Finch's
management he led th Populist .
party to auecess. After selling
the Oregon Silver Imprint to )
4 "Populist Smith" he started a
w publication called th Albany :
4 Bell. This waa an independent '
paper published for th earn .
reason to "roast" Smith who had 4
Just bought hit other publication. '
4 Th venture waa not a success,
and he went to work on th
) . Albany Evening Herald. While
working on thia paner Finch' tn
4 the meantime was htudyng law
, In . Judge Duncan's office, and"
, waa admitted to th bar in 1898.
) .He remained with . the ' Herald '
: until the year 1905, 1 whan ha )
left this city for Salem, working 4
4 ther on several 'local )papr. . '
' : .)-
ment to extent that It- amount to per
eocutlon. Our duty and our aim ia to
purify, elevate and maintain the high
standard of legal profession. In caa
of this demandant, it is certain that he
had descended to a very low depth, and
so far a a h could, had dragged the
profession with him. It is remarked
here that be - baa made such an at
tempt to raise himself from those
depths, and to ' redeem th reputation
b lost-
- ; Willing to Assist. . .
I am conscious of a decree to assist
this defendant and others even outsids
of our profession, td mak a new start in
life, and to that end am going to offer
my recommendation to thla court that
In considering th -i punishment to be
meeted out to this defendant; that sua-
fienaion Under probation for such a per
od as ypu, my deem proper ba considered.-
--.,- f ''
The crimes of which defendant atand
rullty of his ewtt confession, are ser
ious ones, and it is undoubtedly .Imper
ative that a good lesaion , be here
taught; however If, after examining th
complaint filed, thla court can determine
that a suspension with conditions of
probation may meet ends f this prose
cution., then the writer shall have per
formed what he considers his duty lit
writing this latter, and defendant given
the chance he aeema to merit - , : -
Word Of AAvlo. - '
" X must add, however, that I would
regard It a mistake to suspend this
defendant without any ' conditions of
probation because of tne fact that hia
will power haa been weakened t such
an extent that I fear he would not
maintain hia good intentions unless
there were conditions constantly to be
fulfilled.
Neither do T desire to stand In a light
of one dictating to this court what Its
Judgment should be, but rather that of
a proseautor who having done hia full
duty toward the state, turns to on he
regards a owing to defendant and pre
aents the conditions to tha court en
tirely outside the record and this for
its consideration In meting out punish
ment - . - --.
1 have the honor to remain,
: Your obedient servant, - - - "
R. B. FISHER. Proaeeutor.
EIGHT OF FINCH'S
CELL MATES FACE
i MURDER CHARGES
. i t i i ii 0 ' J
When James A. Finch was placed be
hind the bara In tha county jail yes
terday afternoon he became an Inmate
of corridor No. 1, and there he can rub
elbowa -with eight other men charged
with taking the Uvea of their fellow
men. In all there are now 12 men in
jail who are either charged with mur
der In th flrat degree or hav been
eonvioted in some degree, and all but
three of these are in corridor No. 1.
The occupants of thla place,. In tha
order in which they were incarcerated,
are Lem Woon, Yee Geong, Edward
Hugh Martin, Tony Ptaraao, Carl Logs
den, Mat Johnson, Casper Blickenator
fer, Harry Daily and James A. Finch.
In No. are Jack La Rose and William
Berkley, and In stilt another corridor Is
John Johnson. Logsden and Berkley
are federal prisoners, ; ;
Lem Woon has been convicted of first
degree murder and sentenced to hang.
Jack La Ros ha been convicted in
second degre and aentenoed to life Im
prisonment, and Martin haa been con
victed of maneiaughter and sentenced to
IS years. All three- of these oaaea are
nn nnut tn tho utata suDreme court
Ptaraso, the Johnson brother and Blick
enatorfer ar to be tried at the Decem
ber- term of the circuit court
BRIDE VISITS
FISHER'S SLAYER
- IN COUNTY JAIL
Mra. Finch vialted the county Jail last
Alght at 9 o'clook and spent 10 minutes
with her husband, who had by that
tim almost regained his normal com
posure. The murderer and hi bride of
less- than a fortnight conversed earn
estly in whispers until th jailer gave
the signal for the woman to take Her
departure. Mrs. Finoh was accompa
nied to the Jail by her two brothera.
Immediately after hearing of her hus
hand'a crime, yesterday afternoon, Mrs,
Finch came to his office. She was al
most prostrated by the news and became
hysterical when questioned regarding
the tragedy. She declined to talk con
cerning the matter. -
PRESIDING .JUDGE TO :
CALL MEETING OF
BAR ASSOCIATION
Presiding Judge Gantenbein of the
circuit court last night stated that he
had not yet deolded on a call for a
meeting of members of the bar to take
suitable action regarding the death of
Ralph B. Fisher, but that he will make
some announcement concerning - the
matter at the opening of court tomor
row morning. The uaual action In auch
cases is to authorise the appointment
of a committee by the presiding, Judge
to draft resolutions of respect When
the committee la ready to report a
meeting Is called for the delivery of
brief eulpgiea and the passage of reso
lutions. . .
FINCH DRANK ' f
BRANDY AND BITTERS
- ..), .-
While in the saloon of S. A. A rata on
Third street near Stark, shortly after
noon yeaterday. Finch waa accosted by
a man soliciting order for dressed
poultry. Finch "ordered thre spring
chicken sent to hia home at 228 Co-
fsrepl
Wc are headquarters for Fireplace Goods of all desenptioris.' ,
r . . . . i - .t t -a. a. l r,-.. 1 I a! tt. l
uur biock is ine largest iu uc iuuiiu in tne nui uiwc&t, aiiu
consists of Andirons, Fire Sets, ScfeensCpal Hods, Bellows,
Brushes, etc., in both Black and Solid Brass, Wa have just
received a shipment of these goods, containing a number of
very low priced Andirons and lure
Sets, .and if you are - in need of
anything of this description you will
find it to your interest to inspect our
stock early this week.
PRICES $1.20 TO $75.00
ya
m 1 '- .. .
It , :
l ' 1 1 .,..., ,-, ., ,. I
I ' - ' ' -" - ' ' ,
ADDED IIOJIORS '
FOllpill
. (Salem Boreas ef Tt Journal.
Salem. Nov. 28. Many, honor hv
com to Governor Chamberlain since) It
ha been learned that h will be presnt
at th next meeting of the conservat ion
convention at Washington. ; In addit ion
to the invitation of the admlnlstrai ion
to represent all the 46 governor at the
meeting at the opening of .the coni er
ence Tuesday, December 8, and to id-;
dres the Irrigation congress that v. lit1
meet at Pittaburg the- same Week, he
governor haa been asked to be one ol a.
committee to present to the praalde tit
vice president and speaker of the hofise,
the reaoluUons adopted by , the-lwt
lakes to th gulf waterways convention,
A. letter waa received by the govjer-'
nor today from Secretary Baunder fly"
lnr that the nrealdent of the watf-r-waya
organisation, W. K. Kavanaufch; :
had requeated. that Governor Chamber
lain be made one of the number to Pf'i
Sent th need of better harbors alnd
better waterways to president Ttootsej
velt, Vice President Fairbanks alnd
Speaker Cannon. . , - ' , 1 l'l "
The governor will leave for the est
over the O. R. & N. Monday morniwg. '
During his absence, about 20 daya, Bfvr.
retary of State Benson will act as gov
ernor. Upon his return "the goverir
will have a number of tasks to dispone
of because of the near approach of trie'
1909 aeasion of the legislature. '
lomhla atreet noil WndnesdSV.'
paid caah for the chickens at the- tiine.
of brandy at least, flavoring each drnk
with a aaan or outers. . .,, - ,
. About 12:80 he made an appolntrnfeht
with John Cordano, whom he met in
front of the aaloon. for Monday, saylhg
that he had a matter of bueinesa to
discuss with the ex-deteetlve. . Cordai to
saw at that . time that he had be n '
drinking, be aaid laat evening. ; (
FEIGNS IGNORANCE ,
(Continued from Page One.)
all th time, and I've never done a thlag.
either. But If they're going to .PlNlt
on me tney can go an in
. "I'd like to be out of here today! I
can tell you. I'd go right to Ralph
mher T run tall von. No. I havein t
seen Flaher today: no, not pnee. Vff I
hold him freeponelble?,. Well. V?!,
he wasn't the only one," and again FWieh
became Incoherent . . A ' .
In reply to questions Finch said tjat
he never carried a gun, although wBien
a member ef Company L Oregon Na
tional uuarq, v Aiuiiny, ., )
crack hot of the company. ( I
'Boos Out ox mere." i
At no time during the conversation
man whose name he continually men
tioned. JUKI Deiore ne 1 1' w?"Xi . j '
he seised the hand of Deputy Sherf Iff
.... i n kU tMn em fin ten frifma
shook with a severe fit of trembllnji
"I don't Htw wnaura L"lT V'i.T
less It s because I'm a -disbarred I ltfr'
ney; but I'll ting ouv, n repi..-. ;r..
petition is being signed up now. aftd jrn
soon be., out of here. Theyre Just riib-
hlnt it into me, mat s an, ,nu .wiimiK
with unsteady feet Finch, who througsi-
. ii.. ..H,,.H,nilA. h.,1 hnil ftrfftreelw
. irn of Intoxication.' or even jrecejht
drinking. Went 'j.JmZmmmmmm
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