EVENING EDITION
EVENING EDITION
WE.vril.EK REPORT
Fair tonight and
Thursday.
illing card. 4
stationery, com-
' 1 stationery an 1
-intlng to order
East Oregonlan.
crr O. VL PAP EE.
COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER.
t U
VOL. 23.
PENDLETON. OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE HJ. i:lo.
TO
J, P. Webb Says He Killed W.
A. Johnson in Portland Over
Woman.
rOUC'K RELIEVE ROBBERY
WAS MOTIVE FOR CRIME
Searching T(Hlay for Remainder of
$25,000 Willed Johnson Had In lll
PosscwHion Woman Is Wife of Kurt
Kersh f Seattle Webb Tells Po
lice How Ho Murdered Johnson
Says He Killed Him In Self Defense
lint Pollee Doubt Story.
Portland, June 22 . Carrier
Kersh and Jesse Webb were
arraigned before the municipal
court charged with the murder
of W. A. Johnson, today. They
waived preliminary examlna-
Mlon and were bound over to the
grand Jury. Their trial will be
speedy. Kersh, father of the
boy, asked the court for the
custody of the child, alleging
the woman stole him In Seattle
In November. I. H. Davis of
the Willamette rooming house,
also asked for the child. The
matter will bo decided later.
Portland, Ore.. June 22. Following
the confession of J. p. Webb lute
yesterday afternoon that he killed W.
A. Johnson In a fight over Mrs. Kersh
which proves to be the woman's real
name, the police today are attempt
ing to learn what became of the $25,
000 the woman said Johnson got from
the sale of the ranch near Renton,
Wash. 11900 was found on her, but
all the rest has been lost. The police
do not believe the self defense plea
put up by Webb. They believe rob
bery was the motive and that the man
and woman conspired and lured
Johnson from Spokane for this pur
pose. Hurt Kersh, a Seattle electri
cian, whom Mrs. Kersh deserted a
year ago for Webb, Is -en route to
Portland today to claim his seven-year-oM
son which the woman stole
In November. Webb Is a printer.
Webb's remarkable confession was
made with the greatest coolness De
tectives Price and Carpenter, who
have been working on the case, took
Webb from out of his cell in the city
jail and up to the detective bureau
about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
They did not have to use much per
suasion. Tells Story or Murder.
"Well." wild Webb, "you fellows
have been on the square with me.
You've been all right fellows and I'll
tell you the truth."
Then, without showing any concern,
he proceeded with the horrible story
of the grim tragedy.
"Some time before 2 o'clock I went
to Johnson's room. No. 119, and I
accused him of trying to win the
woman from me. We got into a bat
tle of words.
"Johnson told me to 'go away from
this hotel and stay nway from us.' I
told him I would stay there Just as
long as I damn pleased. Johnson
pulled a blackjack from his hip
pocket and swung It at me. I am
stronger than he Is and I didn't hnve
much difficulty In taking It away
from him. Then I hit him a terrible
blow on the side of the head. That's
the blow that killed him, all right. I
truck a few more blows Just to be
sure T laid him out.
"I went to dearie's room, and T told
her I'd killed Johnson. She thought
It wns horrible. We talked over plans
for the disposal of the body.
"We talked about It for some time.
She suggested we pack the body In
a trunk and ship It to some distant
eity. I thought It a good plan. She
did not see the body.
"I got the new trunk we had bought
and Mrs. Johnson, as she was called,
emptied her clothing out of an old
one. I carried the old trunk Into
Johnson's room and stufTed his body
In It. It was a nasty Job, but I was
a little frightened.
"Well, you know the rest. I called
an expressman and had the trunk ta
ken to the Union depot. where I
checked It for North Puyallup, Wash.
That's about all there la to It, al
though there are lots of details I
haven't covered."
Webb said Johnson had given the
woman $1800 some hours before he
killed the rancher. He said the wo
man had been In Johnson's room most
- of the morning, and that Johnson had
given her the money to take care of.
. Robbery the MoUtc?
Later statements made by Webb led
the detectives to believe the motive
for the murder was robbery, despite
the fact that he attempted to make It
appear as If It was self-defense.
His story In regard to. the obtain
ing of the money by the woman, con
flicts with other statements he made.
CONFESSES
BRUTAL MURDER
Webb also made the later statement
that he suggested shipping the body
away In a trunk.
"I read once of a murderer who
shipped his victim's body away In a
trunk," he said. "They did not get a
clue for a long while, and I thought
it a good plan. I suggested it and
dearie thought It a good plan, too.
"When I took the trunk to the
union depot I found It was necessary
for me to purchase a ticket before
I could check the trunk. So I bought
a ticket to North Puyallup, Wash.,
anr checked it to that place. I car
ried the ticket and baggage check
around In my pocket for about two
hours. Then I had an Idea that if I
were caught they would incriminate
me. so I destroyed the check and
ticket.
"I'd give anything If I were out of
this. I feel as-if it were all up with
me. I would give anything I have
to be out of It. 1 should have left the
body In the room, but I thought I
knew too much. I probably will
hang."
May Brown Is the name of the girl
who went with Webb, Mrs. Kersh and
"Jim" Randall, the chauffeur, to the
road houses Monday. She Is a man
icurist and lives In the Levins hotel.
Third and Ash streets. At the Seven
Mile house Webb danced with her
once or twice and during the dance
Informed her he had given J 1900 to
Mrs. Kersh that evening, Monday
night. May Brown identified Webb.
DEPEUl PHONE
CITIZEN'S LISTEN TO
PLANS FOR RELIEF
leprcsciitallvo of Indoeiideiit Com
puny Puts Proposition to Members
of Council and Commercial Asso
eiutlon Which Sounds Good.
At last definite steps have been
taken to secure the installation of an
Independent telephone company in
Pendleton In order to secure relief
from the demands of the Pacific com
pany and the poor service rendered j
at present. O. Morsman, northwest
sales engineer for the Kellog Supply
company of Chicago, and secretary
and general manager of the Michigan
General Electric company met last
evening with City Attorney Roy Raley.
Secretary Ben Hill of the Commercial
association. Mayor Murphy and vari
our members of the city council and
commercial association. The show
ing he made to these men seemed en
tirely satisfactory and he is to return
to Pendleton about the 10th or 15th
of July for n further conference.
Mr. Norman's proposition is to or
ganize n local cnnfpnny with n capi
tal stock of $110,000 and Install a
modern plant. He would place the
service charges for a four party line
at $1.25 per month and for business
houses at $3 per month. With these
( barges be would guarantee S per cent
return on the Investment and with the
equipment be would gi.ariuitee a
"three-second service." He said the
Pacific company is unable to give
quick service Jy reason of Its ante
qiiated equipment.
In the business section of the city
the wires would all he under ground
and In the- residence section the wires
would be contnlned In cahles so that
there would not be a bare wire with
in the city limits. It would there
fore not be necessary to disfigure I
shade trees to Install the telephone
system and every slight wind would
not he accompanied by wire trouble.
' Independent telephone companies
are now operating in Tn Grande,
Boise and Spokane. It is said that
one Is to he installed in Baker City
and with Pendleton and Walla Walla
censldering the proposition the ques
tion of n long distance telephone ser- j
vice between Spokane. Portland. Wal
la Walla. Boise, T,n Grande, Baker
and Intermediate towns would he
easily solved. It Is also declared that
all the farmer lines would connect
with the Independent exchange.
The $110.00 plant proposed by Mr.
Norsmnn would provide for a 900
phone system but with equipment suf
ficient for 1200 phones. He says It
would not be necessary to have an
Increase In rates until the system
passed beyond the 1500 phone size.
Passenger Airship Makes Trip.
Frlederlchsshafcn, Germany. June
22. Trio first aerial pnssenger cruise
as a part of a regular trip was com
pleted successfully today. The Zep
pelin dirigible "TVutschland" sailed
from here to Dusseldorf. a distance
of 289 miles, with ten passengers. It
prohnbly will make regular trips
hereafter. Tickets sell at $50.
ltlckarl Says "Never Again."
Reno, June 22. Tex Rlckard has
enough of tho fighting game. "I am
a miner and will give my attention to
mines after July 4th." said Rlckard.
"I will never mix in tho game again."
Rickard is disgusted on account of
the number of setbacks he has had
In his attempt to stage the big fight.
I jigbtt In Savannah.
Savannah, Ga.( June 22. Several
notable Eagles from other sections are
assisting Georgia members of the or
der to make today's state convention
an historic one.
DIAZ PUTS HIS
Madero, Liberal Presidential
Candidate, Thrust Behind
Bars.
ALL LIBERAL LEADERS ARE
BANISHED OR IN PRISON
Excitement Throughout Mexico Is In
tense and It Is Feared Sunday'
Election Will Be Bloodiest In Ills
ton Madero Charged With Imil-In-c
a Riot Rumles Guard Frontier
to Irevent Imxrtnlloii of Arms
Revolutionists Have Arms.
Monterey, Mex., June 22. Madero,
the liberal presidential candidate is
lodged in tho' penitentiary here to
day at the order of the Diaz adminis
tration. The charge of "insulting tho
government,' first placed against
him when arrested, was changed to
"inciting a riot.'" This new move, the
liberals declare, indicates Sunday's
election will be a farce, and has ar
oused revolutionists throughout the
country.. Mexico is boiling with ex
citement and it Is believed the election
will be the bloodiest In history. Meet
ings called to denounce the govern
ment for Madero's arrest were broken
up by police.
The rurales. the government troops,
are patrolling the frontier to prevent
the importation of arms, and Inflam
matory printed articles. Every liber
al lender which could be found has
b en banished or imprisoned and the
authorities are searching for others.
Revolutionists Armed.
Galveston, June 22. Ten thousand
rifles and plenty of ammunition have
been smuggled Into Mexico for the
revolutionists during the year accord
ing to special dispatches today from
Hcrtnosillii, Mex. Most of the guns
were shipped into Sonora, and Chl
puahua. in small consignments. They
are now possessed by the revolution
Ms and are new rifles.
Only I'siuil Disorders.
Washington. June 22. According
to the Mexican ambassador the up
risings In Mexico are not serious. He
says they are the usual disorders in
cident to presidential election and
nothing more.
Troops Are Hurrying.
Naco. Az.. June 22. General To
dres and Governor Sonora. with 200
troops are enroute to Cnnanea. The
general denies he has been advised
that trouble Is likely to occur there.
General Kosterlitsky, commanding
the Sonora rurales arrived here today
nnd Is guarding the custom house. The
treiqi! :iro being hurried to Manzan
illo to prevent uprisinirs there.
CIIERRV CROP AT FIGEXE
SAVED FOR SHIPMENT
Eugene. Ore. There Is some re
port of damage to the Royal Anne
cherry crop In this vicinity on account
f liilit rains during the past week,
but the loss will not be great. The
Eugene Fruitgrowers' association Is
taking care of nearly nil the cherries
crown here, putting them up In bar
i e Is for shipment east. The associ
ation Is employing 100 women and
Kirls and 50 men In caring for the
crop.
WALTER PEO, INDIAN
VICTIM
OF
Walter Too, son of Chief Peo of
the I'matilla Indian tribe, Is dead.
Whether he Is the victim of an acci
dent or whether he died Intentionally
by his own hand, Is a point in dispute
and one that will probably not be
settled. There was only one eye wit
ness, an Indian boy of 9 or 10 years
and It s impossible to make out from
his story whether It was suicide or
accident, but the Indians seem to be
of the opinion that it wns an accident.
It seems that the dead Indian, his
brother-in-law. Charles Van Pelt and
some other Indians were encamped
near the summit of the mountain,
just north of Cabbage hill, where
they were engaged In chopping wood.
The tragedy was enacted Just before
noon yesterday, Walter Poe and the
small nephew being the only ones at
cr.mp at the time. The" boy says Poe
went Into the tent and picked up
Charley Van Pelt's revolver, a gun of
3S caliber. Ho then came out and
mounted his horse, when the gun
was discharged. Peo then dismount
ed and telling the boy that If he died
he would leave all his possessions to
him, the wounded Indian proceeded
POSTAL DAI
BILL TO
lest Vote Indicates Tafi's Pet
Measure Will Get a Ma
jority, IXSIRGEXTS WILL AID
DEMOCRATS IN FIGHT
"Hie Stick" In Hands or President
Forces Enough Regulars Into Lino
to Insure Passage of Postal Sav
ing's Bunk Bill us Passed by House
Little Deluy Will be Encountered
Mel juldan's Seccli Is Disre
garded. Washington, June 22. Although
insurgents and democrats in the sen
ate protested against the acceptance
of the house postal savings bank bill,
the test vote today indicates Taft'B
"big stick" methods forced enough
regulars into line to insure the pas
sage of the measure. The insurgents
and democrats will make a hard fight
against the measure but expect it will
be passed with little delay.
Mcl.nctilan Causes Stir.
Washington. June 22. After pigeon
holing McLachlan's resolution de
manding the war department to show
its preparation for war, the house
committee on military affairs today
Aecided to make a favorable report
or the resolution. McLachlan in a
speech declared the Japanese could
capture and hold the Pacific states.
This is resulting In thousands of let
ters being sent to the military au
thorities demanding the war depart
ment to make a statement on the
matter.
Double Leigh Stock.
P'udelphia. June 22. Stockhold
ers of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
company will today pass on the prop
osition to increase the capital stock
from $40,354,000 to $80,000,000.
If the stockholders approve, the di
rectors propose to Ifsue $20,167,400
of new stock, giving stockholders the
right to subscribe at par for the new
issue Six millions of 7 per cent out
standing bonds and other obligations
will be paid out .of the stock and the
money remaining will be used for
betterments.
It Is believed that it is intended to
double track the Lehigh Valley with
the ultimate purpose of forming a
physical connection with the Rock
Island through the acquisition of the
Wabash or some other system.
Good Roads Convention.
' Fargo. N. 1).. June 22. To make
the highways of North Dakota second
to none in the country is the object
of a goo,) roa.ls convention opened
hero today. Various commercial and
municipal 'oodles, the American So
ciety of Equity and other agricultural
an. development societies are giving
their influence to the movement.
Renominate Barnluirt.
South Bend, Ind., June 22. Rep.
Henry A. Barnhart will probably be
renominated by the democratic con
gressional convention of the Thir
teenth district today.
Pioneers Dedicate Home.
Seattle, Wash.. June 22. As a fea
ture of their annual reunion, the Pio
neers' Association of Washington will
dedicate their new $20,000 home.
to cash his checks.
The bullet entered the abdomen
Just under the ribs on the right side
and death evidently ensued within a
few minutes. The body was brought
to the Peo home, three miles east of
Pendleton on the road to the agency,
where it Is now being held, pending
the arrangements for the funeral.
Chief Peo. father of the dead In
d'an. is now insane and Is being cared
for at the Rosebud Indian reservation
Insane asylum at Nanton, South Da
kota. Young Peo was arrested at
I.ewlston several months ago. charg
ed with forcing George La Fontaine's
name to a check for $275. which he
succeeded In cashing at the American
National bank In this city. He was
out on $500 bonds awaiting trial on,
this charge at the time of his death.
Ho was in town Saturday and when
last seen here he was very much un
der the influence of liquor. He was
seen at the St. Andrews' Catholic
mission Sunday, having been there
to attend the commencement exercises
of the school.
Jennie Van Pelt, half-sister of the
deceased, is considered the brightest
Indian woman on the reservation.
TOOTH,
RIS 01
R.
BY
NOT RECOGNIZED
RECEPTION' COMMITTEE!
New York, June 22. Following the
statement of General O. B. Loud,
commander of 47 G. A. R. posts, that
the grand army was denied recog
nition in the New York reception of
Theodore Roosevelt, the committee
was severely criticised today. Loud
asserts that representations were ask
ed for veterans, but they were denied
and that they were given no place in
the parade or reviewing stands.
SAYS PAL CTT ins
THROAT WHILE SLEEPING
Chehalis, June 22. There is no
trace of John Sullivan, whom Alvin
Black, his pal, accused of cutting his
throat yesterday. Black wrote that
Sullivan cut his throat while he
(Black) was sleeping near the window
and said an oncoming train scared
the alleged murderer away. Black
staggered to the track and hailed
railroad men. Both are workmen.
I. S. FLEET WILL ATTEND
CHILEAN' CENTENNIAL
Washington, June 22. Orders have
been Issued for the first division of
the Pacific fleet at San Francisco to
sail for Valparaiso August 14 to par
ticipate In the Chilean centennial
which begins In September. Rear
Admiral Harber commands the di
vision. m KOUITE IMS
TQ JUSTIFY RATES
TELEPHONE MAN MEETS j
WITH LOCAL COMMITTEE
District SuHrinteudent Offers Statis
tics to Show Inerea.se in Tariffs is
Justifiable Committee Will Re
port to Council Tonight.
District Superintendent Van Houtte
of the Pacific Telephone and Tele
graph company met with the commit
tee from the council and the commer
cial association In the parlors of the
latter organization last evening. He
was accompanied by Local Manager
Moore and the purpose of the meet
ing was to give Mr. Van Houtte an
opportunity to show that the recent
increase in telephone rates is justi
fiable. How well he succeeded in his
efforts will probably not be known
until the special committee makes
its report to the city council tonight.-
According to the figures produced
by the district manager the cost of!
the local plant and physical property;
is $75,280. This statement is ex-1
ctedingly interesting because of the'
fact that the company gave in the
value of the local plant for assess- I
men! purposes at $10,318 and when'
County Assessor strain placed the as
sessment at about $15,000. the com-'
pany's officials made affidavits,
which are now on file in the office of
County Clerk Sallng. to the effect that
the plant- was not worth that much.
Vow that it seems necessary to justi
an increase in rates, the officials
claim that the plant is worth several
:;nes $15,000.
Van Houtte gave the annual reve
nue of the local plant as $19,735.84
with the expenses as $18,832.25. In
cluded in this expense was $6,022.40 or
eight per cent of the total alleged
valuation of the plant, as annual de
preciation. At this rate of depre
ciation it would be necessary to renew
the entire plant every 12 1-2 years.
According to these figures the net
annual revenue of the local plant Is
but $903.59 and Mr. Van Houtte de
clared that It would be necessary to
Increase the revenue by $4,366.01 In
order to realize 7 per cent on the In
vestment. It was plainly evident that many
members of the Joint committee were
not very favorably Impressed with the
showing made but what action will be
taken is not known.
According Jo one member of the
committee some good will come from
the agitation for the reason that since
the district manager Is giving the
value of the local plant at more than
$75,000 it is evident that it will not
escape again with an assessed valu
ation of $15,000.
Millers of Nation.
Minneapolis. Minn.. June 22. As
the center of the flour milling indus
try of the world. Minneapolis today
welcomed the millers from other cit
ies of the 1'nited States and Canada
who are here to artlcipate in the first
session of the Miller's National Fed
eration held in the Flour City in n
score of years. The gathering is the
largest In attendance and the most
important In the history of the feder
ation. The subject of "bleached
flour" will doubtless receive the at
tention of the delegates. It is assert
ed that the public taste demands
bleached flour and that all attempts
to induce the use of tho more nu
tritious whole wheat flour "nave failed
miserably.
IVInocss Has Birthday.
Madrid, June 22. Little Princess
Beatrice, youngest child of King Al
fonso and Queen Victoria, reached
her first birthday today.
Good Japanese boy wants situa
tion to do cooking and house work.
P. O. Box 4S6. Pendleton.
G. A.
T
FLUID AT TIFT
Ohio Governor Tells Why He
Thinks Present Administra
tion is a Failure.
RECEIVES NOMINATION' AT
DEMOCRATIC- CONVENTIONS
ResfHinds to Cries of Speech With Ad-' -dress
in Which lie Denounces Pres
ent System of Federal Government
Declares Special' Interests Have
Control of Legislative Machinery
Blames Tariff for High Prices
Says He Will Try to Serve the
People.
Dayton, O., June 22. Governor"
Harmon was renominated today by
acclamation at the democratic state
convention. Responding to cries of'.,
"speech" he said that he would en
deavor to continue trying to make
the phrase "serving the people" a
true description and not a false pre
tense. He said: "Needed reforms la
federal government are greater than
can be met in the election of one con
gressman. The waste of public funds
to the extent of three hundred mil
lion dollars is openly confessed. Thi
is worth investigating, especially as
the people are struggling to meet the
high cost of living."
Continuing Harmon said: "Neither
eeonomy nor watchful regard for th!
public welfare is possible at Wash
ington while the reign of the favored
few continues. Voters have been Im
posed upon by the tariff and taxea
levied ostensibly to obtain public rer
enue, but really for private profit.
But never before have they been fool
ed by the promise of substantial' re
ductions which werebroken before
their faces when the votes were s
cured. Power so insolent in control
of the law making Is a power which
must be overthrown without delay.
There cannot be relief while the in
terests, profiting through the tariff
laws, are allowed to frame them.
After blaming the tariff for high
prices Harmon charged that special
interests control the republican party
and asserted the democratic party
only means dislodging the interests.
He declared insurgency Is a mere
protest which the regulars scoff at.
ROOSEVELT DENIES ETHEL
IS ENGAGED TO MARRY"
New York, Jpne 22. Colonel Roos--j
evelt angrily denied the rumor that
his daughter Ethel is engaged as pub-
lished. It was reported she is engag-
ed to James T. Williams, a newspa
per man. and a favorite with the
colonel. Roosevelt also denied the
report that he was opposed to Hughes
direct primary bill, saying: "It
looks like some one Is crowding the
membership of the Ananias club." He
begged newspapermen to stay away
j from Oyster Bay as he said there is
no news there.
RENO GIVES JEFFRIES
A ROCSING WELCOME
Reno. June 22. Jim Jeffries was
warmly welcomed when he arrived
here. He begins training this after
noon at Moana Springs. Things are
' going forward lively. Teams are al
' ready hauling lumber to the state
park for an arena which will be
; rushed. The arena will be about a
mile from the center of the town
! near the railroad tracks. All rooms
! are practically reserved, and cots are
at a premium. Many people are set
: ting up tents and before the night
! these will be gone.
REIMRTS OF DROUGHTS
j ARE EXAGGERATED
Mismarck. N. D., June 22. A Jour
1 ney over the Pakotas and Montana
! through the reported drought-strick-I
en districts, indicates the reports are
I greatly exaggerated. If the winds
cease and rain comes within three
j days, two thirds of the crop will be
saved. High temperatures continue.
Illinois Odd Fellows.
Champaign. 111., June 22. Odd Fel
lows. Rebekahs and Patriarchs Mili
tant are in full possession of Cham
paign today and will remain three
days, giving a grand street pageant
tomorrow.
,
i
'
:
;
!
!:
i:
I ORIMER CASE IS
X EARING THE
END.
Chicago. 111.. June 22. The
state's attorney. Wyman, today
concluded his arguments for
the prosecution of the Lee O'
Neill Browne for bribery in
connection with Senator Lorl
mer's election. Final arguments
began for the defense this af
ternoon and the case will prob
ably go to the Jury Friday.
HARMON