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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1938)
PAGE TWELVE rEDFORT) MAIL THTBUNE, ArEDFORD. OREOON". TTTTTRSDAT. T)ECEM"BEft B. 1938. CONFESSIONS IN BASSETT SLAYING HELD ADMISSIBLE Prison Companion of Ac cused Woman Gives Grim Recital of Dismember ment As Told Last Spring SKATTU5. Dec. 8. ( AP) Judge Chester Batchelor ruled today con fessions to the alnylng end dismem bering the body of James Eugene Bassett here 10 years ago, made by Mrs. Mary Eleanor Smith and De casto Earl Mayer at the state prison last spring, were admissible as evi dence In their first degree murder trial. The court barred, however, from the Jury testimony by Btate Patrol Bergt. Joseph McCauley, whose "cler gyman ruse" In talking with the 73-year-old Mrs. Smith at the prison, had been criticised and bitterly con tested by the defense. The first ruling permits the Jurors to hear testimony by Mrs. Milllcent Pawcett. penitentiary inmate, and Warden J. M. McCauley of the prison, who were on the stand yes terday In the absence of the Jury and told of the confessions of the two. Privilege Cited In barring Sergeant McCauley's testimony (he is no relation of the warden's) the court said the privi lege law, which bars statements by accused persona to their physician, attorney or minister, wss s "salu tary one, without which no one would be safe in confiding in one's own doctor, minister or lawyer." Sergeant McCauley, In the Jury's absence, had said he purchased a clergy mnn'fl collar and shirt before going to the penitentiary and Mrs. Smith had called him "father" dur ing their Interview. He Bald his sole purpose In the interview was to learn where Bnssctt's body was buried. Mrs. Smith and Decastro Ear! j Mayer. 44, are being tried on first degree murder charges In connec tion with the disappearance of Bas se tt. formerly of Annapolis, Md. Bas wtt'a bddy never has been found. Mrs, Fnwcett Regal While the Jury was absent yester day, Mrs. Pawcett, well-bred dnugh ter of a Kansas City, Mo., life In surance executive, recounted how Mrs. Smith, In an adjoining room at the state prison, had told her of the Bassett slaying. Appearing more like a dowager : than a woman convict, Mrs. Pawcett, , who gave her age as 4B, used her tortoise-shell spectacle In the manner of a lorgnette as she parried ques tions by the defense. She switched ot ten fioin direct quotation of what she said Mrs. Smith told her, Into A third person recital, and engaged in several verbal glve-and-tnkes with defense counsel. She said that after .Mrs. Smith told her she and Mayer had killed Busett, she detailed how the crime was committed. On the day of the! slaying, Mrs. Pawcett quoted Mrs. Smith, Mayer told her to "get some water boiling on the stove and he'd bring Bnssett out to the house." They tnlked about Mayer's contem plated purchase of Bassett's robin's egg bhie sports roadster. Mother Left Room "Mr. Mayer had a hammer on the mantel," Mrs. Pawcett said Mrs Smith told her. "He . motioned to his mother to get out of the room and she did. But she heard him any: "I'm going to have your car and I'm not going to pay you a ao-audio cent. X want you to write this telegram. "As he look the telegram from Bassett he picked up the hammer and hit him on the back of the head. Mrs. Smith said she came Into the room and said: 'Earl, he's gurg ling. He's not dead yet. You'd better j give him another whack.' So he gave him another whack and he was dead. "They put him in the bathtub and took off his clothing and got a gnl mnlxed pall and wash tub. Mrs. Smith aw tasted she brought In the pall and wash tub while her son dismembered the body. They put the head and hands In the pall and the rest of the body In the tub . . .' She then said the pair took pieces of UnsAAtt'a body In gunny sacks and hid rhem in the woods north of Seattle. Mrs. Pawcett story coin cided with that of C. O. Schmidt roma;! I Brand whtii you l?!ltS&? Win Sutm when she said Mrs. Smith told her the car was forced from the road and somebody in another car spoke to them. Scalp Removed "Mayor had also removed Bassett's scalp and they burned It In the stove with the clothes." Mrs. Pawcett continued. "They removed the teeth and Mrs. Smith Mid they scattered them along the road where they never could be found." She said Mrs. Smith sat In the oar while Mayer took parts of the body Into the woods. She had the lights off but turned them on oc casionally to let him know where she was. She said Mayer was wearing Bassett's overcoat, "The head and hands still were In the pail In the ctllftr. The next morn ing they burnot Bassett's B.V.D.'s in the fireplace." This recalled testimony of Prank Du Cette, retired detective who said he found burned Lnderwear buttons In r'iie fireplaco of the "little brown house" whec the itate declares the slaying waa committed. Mrs. Pawcett said she reported the confession to Mrs. Hope Nlxdorff, former prison matron. Other Murders Told "Prom then on I listened to every thing Mrs. Smith told me about all their other murders. She told me about the murder of Ole Larson end Dorothy LaCasse and Dave Ran dall ..." Larson and Mrs. LaCasse were slain in Montana, Randall In an abandoned Idaho quarry, Mrs. Smith's written confessions dis closed. Mrs. Pawcett was called yesterday by defense counsel Warren Hardy, and prosecutor B, Qray Warner won an argument to have the records show Mrs. Pawcett must be regarded as a defense, rather than state wit ness, although the state subpoenaed her. Hardy said he regarded her as an adverse witness, however. Questioning by Hardy brought out that Mrs. Pawcett has a brother she said was a Catholic father In Rome, Italy. She denied telling Mrs. Smith she could' aid her through her ac quaintance with different clerics. She also denied state patrolman Joe McCauley appeared In cleric's garb at the prjson In eliciting Information from Mrs. Smith. . 4 ' fl'-ind Fnt n I My PORTLAND. Dec. 8 E d Holmes, 62, became Portland's 62nd traffic fatality of the year today when he died of Injuries received Sunday. His automobile rammed an embankment near the approach of the St. Johnjs bridge. Columbia Fogbound ASTORIA, Ore., Deo. 8 fp) Vo$ on the Columbia river hampered ship ping and forced six boats to anchor in the stream today. The freighter Edda, unable to proceed upstream farther than Wcstport, has been tied up since early Wednesday, A Larger, Beautifully Lithographed mam NEW LOW PRICES ON THE LARGE SIZE GIFT BOX $2oo In Tho MEDFORD AREA I From 83 In 50 I.iim-kmk COMU'K n:KS nrl Riling front nne-lmlf to thrre-ituirtrr (mhiikI en eh, Ap proximate Hflslit of bnt MO lit., fi.lfl rnrrcd to points In mid tirnr I'tirllnnil mid ftnti lrrtinlco $?..rt eirc.vi to points in mid nrnr sonttlr mid t.os AngHr. $;. rHT-rd to pitlnM In Idntio, Mull and Montimn. firoK tn Mlil-nint points t'hUnpo mid nMt. S'MA rprrrd tn nutcm point. HO NOT rniifinr Hit lnrRtr ho nltli Minillrr Rift tunc contain- tng frurr pfur. 10,000 SOLDIERS NORTHERN SPAIN (Continued irom Page One ) later Joachim Von Ribbentrop left for Berlin after signing a no-war dec laration with Prance, the political writer Pertlnax wrote: "Germany conspires against the French empire at the very moment when she promises to respect her con tinental frontier." Thousands of French students fought police in anti-Italian demon strations In Paris and President Al bert Lebrun unexepectedly called Premier Daladler for consultation. Daladler's associates said he had staked the life of his government on the national defense Issue In draw ing a line for today's new session of parllment. Labor protests against his decree laws for financial rehabil itation faded as an Issue as ft nation wide strike wave ebbed. Tunisia In Turmoil y Demonstrations against Italy's campaign for French territory con tinued in Tunisia, Prance's northern African protectorate which has lwen tho focal center of the strife. Offic ials, however, reported "everything quiet" on the border between Tun isia and Italian Libya. Rome newspapers coupled reports of an Italian protest against Tunis demonstrations with warnings Ital ians there "would take measure of legitimate defense." At Lima, Peru, where the eighth Pan-American conference opens -tomorrow, a proposal to ban European political propaganda was Indicated. A series of Informal conferences between United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull, chief of the Amer ican delegation, and heads of Latin American groups, indicated the "good neighbor policy" was being given prime consideration. Japan's agitations for extended fishing rights in Siberian waters un dtif control of Soviet Russia and the U..VR.'e demand for payments in connection with the sale of the Chin ese Eajrtern Railway to Manchoukuo In 1930 brought old troubles between Moscow and Tokyo again to the fore. 4 . WiiMl't That Cnld : BUTTE, Mont, (VP) It was cold but not that cold, said Jack Duggan, as statnnt chief of police, m he saw two men wearing five overcoats down the street. After he had detained them at city Jail, calls came In from people j who had lost their overcoats. A Real MEDFORD GIFT A Large Beautiful Gift Box of Delicious PEARS SHIPPED ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES Famous WING Brand COMICE WHAT finer gift can you choose than a box of gorgeous COMICE PEARS grown on the famous WING ORCHARDS in YOUR own valley , . . unique, different and most appropriate for any one of YOUR listl How welcome your gift will be 35 to 60 delicious pears weighing from one-half to three-quarters of a pound each 1 Delicious pears in the prime of condition pears that cost as much as 50c each in European markets I An order solves YOUR gift problem easily , , , and when ordering dont forget yourself 1 simply leave your list at Adrienno's Shoo Department, Mann's Department Store, M. M. Department Store, Heath's Drug Store, Trowbridge & Flynn's Eloctrio Store, Swem's Gift Shop, or call our Orchard Office phone 523-R-5. RESERVE YOUR GIFT BOXES NOW Arrange At Once For Eastern Shipments ,- " ' li 'A POOR JOKE wa, made by Mr. LaGuardia' (above), declared the Angrlff, Nazi Propaganda Minister Goeb bcls' newspaper, referring to Mayor LaGuardia's order creat ing a Jewish poiice squad to guard the German consulate in New York. Seven Miners Die In Slide of Rock T RETFORD MINES, Que., Dec. 8. (Canadian Press) Seven miners were killed by a rock slide In the Bell asbestos mine here two hours after a dynamite blast last night. Three of the bodies have been recov ered. The men were 30 feet below the head of the shaft, clearing away debris of the blast, when the sudden slide occurred. Two men were unln Jurcd. One body was recovered last night, another about midnight and the third early today after workers from the Bell mine and two other plants worked for hours. Wins Clemency PORTLAND, Dec. 8 (A) A prison er's heroism in protecting police and spectators was rewarded today by a reduced sentence for burglary. Be cause Wilfred E. Pcnkcth. 30. sub dued a crazed man at the municipal court more than two months ago. Circuit Judge Louis P. Hewitt ordered him to serve a year in the county Jail Instead of sending him to the penitentiary. ICKES DELIVERED (continued from page one) mlttee what he said were pamphlets Illustrating policies of the union. He said they opposed the American Le gion's suggestions for universal fin gerprinting, the labor department's "raid on aliens," prohibitions agatntt Communist party use of the public schools and the pos toff tee depart ment's "sweeping censorship" of fraudulent or seditious literature." A police official's assertion Harry Bridges, west coast C. I. O. director, was attempting to overthrow the United States government was ac companied today by fresh demands for his deportation. Silly" Rayg Bridges . Informed of the allegation. Bridges said In San Francisco it was "the silliest thing I ever heard." The charge was made by Chief of Detec tives John J. Keegan of Portland, Ore., in testimony yesterday before the house committee on un-American activities. "If this fellow Keegan or anyone else had even the slightest evidence of the things he accuses, they wouldn't waste five minutes In ar resting me," Bridges declared Representative Thomas (R., N. J.) of the house committee and Stephen P. Chadwlck. national commander of the American Legion, expressed dis satisfaction over the failure of the labor department to deport Bridges. Deportation proceedings were in stituted against the C. I. O. leader, a native of Australia, some time ago, but have been held in abeyance pending supreme court action on another case which Secretary Perkins has contended was parallel. To Ask impeachment Thomas assorted unless Miss Per kins a? ted quickly in the Bridges case after the supreme court's decision, he would Institute Impeachment pro ceedings against her. Chairman Dies (D.. Texas) of the committee also sucsted recently Miss Perkins mi.?lU be Impeached because of her han dling of the Bridges case. The Veterans of Foreign Wars sug gested an 11-point legislative pro gram to eliminate "the dnngor from foreign 'Isms " in the United States. Eugeno I. Van Antwerp, com mander-in-chief of the organization, outlined the program today. He also said the organization is anxious for President Roosevelt and congress to adopt policies which WI'iH THE ADDED PRO- TECTION of a WOODEN BOX! See this attractive gift box on display at Adrienno's Shoe Department, Mann's Department Store, M.M. Depart ment Store, Heath's Drug Store and Trowbridge & Flynn's Electric Store, Swem's Gift Shop, where orders may be ieft, or phone our orchard office 523-R-5. Indi vidually wrapped Blue Ribbon Cornice Pears nested in shredded cellophane, packed in an attractive lithographed gift boxl With the added protection of a Wooden box. In structions for keeping the pears on arrival, Christmas label naming YOU as the doner everything COMPLETE 1 What a HIT this gift will make 1 would keep America out of war. "An effective, mechanized, motor ized national defense with adequate trained reserves and equipment and material of all kinds, Is, we believe, of the first Importance In America's preparation against unwanted war, as well as for any such war as might come upon us," Van Antwerp said. Dozen Lives Lost On Jap Airliner TOKYO, Dec. 8. (AP) Ten of the 12 perasna aboard a Japanese air liner were given up for lost today after the plane had been forced down on shark-Infested waters near Okinawa island, midway . between Formosa and Kyushu, southernmost Island of Japan proper. The steamer Miyake Maru radtoed she had located the wreckage of the plane, rescued two survivors and found two bodies. Authorities an nounced later search for the other eight had been abandoned. Airplanes and ships had participated in the hunt. . 4 Grocer I'neowed PORTLAND, Dec. 8. (AP) Two years ago Otto Hennlg. a grocer, shot and wounded a burglar. He didn't have ft gun last night so he routed ft robber with a meat cleaver. The stick-up man, who obtained $10, was apparently wounded on the leg. 4 Pendleton Warm PENDLETON, Ore.. Dec. 8. (AP) Pendleton enjoyed the mildest De cember temperature since December 13, 1024, yesterday when the mercury climbed to 67 above. Last night's minimum was 32. even freezing. Warmest December day here In the last two decades was 75 above, reg istered December 12, 1921. 4 Open Tower lllils PORTLAND, Ore.. Dec. 8. t'AP) A low bid of $35,649 was submitted Beware Coughs from common colds That Hang On No matter how many medicines you have tried for your common cough, chest cold, or bronchial irri tation, you may get relief now with Creomulsion. Serious trouble may be brewing and you cannot afford to take a chance with any remedy less potent than Creomulsion, which -goes right to the seat of the trouble and aids nature to soothe and heal the Inflamed mucous membranes and to loosen and expel germ laden phlegm. Even If other remedies have failed, don't be discouraged, try Creomul sion. Your druggist is authorized to refund your money if you are not thoroughly satisfied with the bene fits obtained. Creomulsion is one word, ask for it plainly, see that the name on the bottle is Creomulsion, and you'll get the genuine product and the relief you 'Want. (Adv.) Gift Box for by the Lehigh Structural Steel com pany today for four steel towers to carry Bonneville dam cables across the Columbia, river. Six bids were entered. Luxurious Club AMARILLO, Tex. () The new Pot ter county poor farm will have a golf course, a running stream filled with catfish and a haven for wild ducks. The county commission has author ized the purchase of the HUIcrest country club and all Its Improve ments for use as a poor' farm. None of the residents of the present farm LAMPORT'S Sporting Goods 0r Christmas Clearance Prices On JOHNSON MOTORS Finest Christ inus Girt You Can lluy $100 Deluxe Single, now .... . . . $80 $83 Light Single $72.50 $68 Midget Deluxe Single reduced to $60 Many of Our Sporting Goods Items Are 'Marked Down for Clearance. BUY NOW1 Bows & Arrows Knives Fishing Supplies Outdoor Clothing Children's Play Suits Complete Stock of Athletic and Sporting Goods Save On Christmas Gifts at LAMPORT'S HARDWARE CLOSE OUT SALE Close-out Prices On Steel Runner SLEDS Skippy Racer Airline Junior Yankee Clipper Airline Pursuit Skippy Sno-Plane Ice Scooters Close Out Prices On PLAYGROUND Swings Teeter Boards Trapese Poles and Rings Minature Golf Sets for yard use Play Houses ALL TOYS Priced To Close Out Quick ALL TRUNKS and HAND LUGGAGE PRICED TO CLOSE OUT ELECTRIC Korn Poppers $2.00 Value CI AQ Now onlv 4 I 4t5J Christmas decorations priced to close out fltt Yoiim While Tlir? I,at LIGHT BULBS 1t while they last $60 Wood Circulator Now Only $39.50 H'ays golf so the course will not be maintained. Nail Fluor Bull GRATIOT, Wis. p) The metal diet preferred by John Hammer's Guern sey bull finally "got" the animal. It died. At the rending plant it was discovered that a nail in the animal's stomach had pierced Its heart. Other nails, staples and pieces of wire also were found. Closing time for Too Late to Clas sify Ads is 1:30 p. m. 4 Use Mall Tribune Want Ads. SKIS S1.50 up Also Ski Supplies Shoes Harness Goggles Socks Clothes Carriers Caps Poles Wax makaati. Buy Your Bov a Gun for Christmas jfj m See Our Large Stock of Rifles Shotguns Air Guns Gun cases Close-out Prices K On Large Stock of WAGONS Flexy Racer Kne-Koster Sky Rocket Skippy Racer Alto a full line of othpr Wagon, Tricycle and nirvrl1 SILEX Coffee Makers While 4 QQ They Last 3 I .30 4 I LAMPORT'S WING ORCHARDS, Inc. Telephone 523-R-5 226-230 E. MAIN ST. MEDFORD
