he Centre Lemoc CHAS. R KURTZ, vA joprieter. A DETECTIVES CLEVER WORK How a Murderer Was Trailed and Convicted in Alaska. HIDDEN CRIME REVEALED The Patient Careful Work of a Detective —The Most Remarkable on Rec- ord—How the Facts Were Brought to Light. {The followingis from last Sunday's | Philad. Press, by one of their staff corre. spondents who is now in Alaska. Geo. Nox McCain has frequently visited our | ia 4 . | appeared. town and is kuown to many of our read. | Ee { man intimately, ers. The incident he relates is marve- lous. ever heard or read in that line, and for that reason give it much space in this issue— Ep ) BY GEORGE NOX M'CAIN Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Aug., 19o1.-—One of the costliest murder trials | the world has ever known, one of the | . . i semiest oi a f det . tk ever { ed Police of Canadian Government ar- eates ieces of detective work ever | . k P | rested a number of men along the trail | | direct charge and when it was denied by reaffirmed the statement, | accomplished, will have become history | . 3 Nh : : : : 4 on suspicion, but were compelled to let | in a few days with the hanging of George | ; ; : | them go as no evidence could be obtain. | | ed against them. Among the prisoners | arrested was one man who was held at | | Tagish House by the police. When he | Of it. { was arrested the police did not know | " . "| who he was. He has twice tried to | : | arrived at that point he recognized the | | man as George O'Brien, the ex convict. O'Brien. He 1s the most brutal murderer the Aritish Northwest has ever seen. He is to be hanged here in the little hewn log inclosure of the Northwest Mounted Po lice on August 23 commit guicide and cheat the gallows To weave the chain of evidence around this triple murderer required a year's | work by the detectives ; involved a trip by one of them of 5000 miles by dog sled; the summoning of witnesses from all over the world nearly, while the trial cost over $150,000. The detective work was such a remarkable performance that the Judge publicly complimented the officers from the bench-—a rare thing iv an English court, This detective is a Pennsylvanian by birth. He is a rival of Sherlock Holmes in real life. STORY OF THE MURDZKS The story of the murders, which are of secondary importance in this connection, briefly is as follows : — On Christmas Day, 189g, three well known men, Ralph Claysou, a merchant, of Dawson ; Ole Olsen, a telegraph line. man in the employ of the Canadian Gov. ernment, and Lynn Wallace Rolfe, a former cashier of the Monte Carlo The ater, at Dawson, suddenly disappeared on the trail between Minto and Hutchiko while they were on their way from Daw- son to Whitehorse, known young business man, with a broth. er cqually well known in Skagway. With Rolfe he had come to Dawson from Se attle, their native place, Olsen was a Swede, Search was instituted within three davs, It was not known whether they had met with foul play or had been lost in the river by falling through the ice. Early io the winter the mounted po lice authorities in Dawson had been in formed by a clergyman that George O’Brien and two other men had perfects ed a scheme to hold up and rob men on the trail leading from Dawson to Bennett where the railroad to Skagway ended. A conscience-stricken man had told him that he had been approached by O'Brien and another man and asked to join the scheme, Clayson was a well. in 18g8, N ENGLISH DESPERADG, O'Brics was well known to the North west Mounted Police. He Birmingham, Fogland, where he had served seven years over there for at. tempting to kill a policeman. Atthe end of his sentence he had come to New York, thence emigrated to Juneau, Alas. ka, where be worked for a time in the great Treadwell gold mines. From there he had drifted across the trail into the | came from Klondike country, and had been arrested | for robbery and confined in the Barracks | jail here in Dawson under sentence for | | Fort Selkirk and Hutchiko. two years. He broke jail and was sub- sequently captured down the Yakon and brought back and given six months of an extra sentence, which he served. Immediately on his release from jail he disappeared, the statement from the minister being the first evidence that he had gone back to his old criminal ways, The disappearance of the three men named.at this time caused the liveliest apprehensions in the minds of the North. west Mounted Police that O'Brien knew of these men and their fate, and orders were telegraphed to arrest him wher- ever found. The winter trail from Dawson to Ben. nett Lake is merely a bridle path 500 tiiles long. It runs along the Pelly and Lewis rivers when they are frozen over, part of the way, and it is as regularly traveled as any country road in Penn. sylvania. About two weeks after the disappearance of the three men named an American detective with a team of seven dogs was on his way over the trail to Dawson. He was going to the Klon. dike on some insurance fraud case. His name was Philip Ralph McGuire, In personal appearance McGuire Is of It surpasses anything we have | When, therefore the story of the disap | pearance was recited to him, peal from the brother to search for the | | missing man, McGuire proceeded to look | . i | Stone informed of the position of various i { members of the court and the progress medium height and build, ob ervant, affable, keen, fearless, and persistent. He was born in Meadville, *a., drifted out west, became first a Se. cret Service man in the employ of the United States Government, later on was inspector of police in Minreapolis, and then came into Alaska as the detective and personal representative of a big surety and guarantee company of New York. He took out three or four de- fauiters and forgers who had sought the seclusion of the Alaskan wilds and in that way cams to know the country long He is sinewy, | before the Klondike became famous. Early in January Detective McGuire learned from the brother of Ralph Clay- | son in Skagway that the former had dis- | missing | McGuire new the They had gone over the trail and the Chilkoot Pass together. with au ap into the matter on his way to Dawson In the meantime the Northwest Mount. When Dstective McGuire It was at this time that Inspector W. H. Scarth, of the Canadian Mounted Po- lice, was placed in charge of the which by this time had attracted atten tion all over the Yukon terriiory and Alaska wherever mails or telegraph lines reached. The position of inspector cor- responds in the military establishment to that of captain. Inspector Scarth is a young man of thirty odd vears, a gentle. man and a thorougbgoing disciplinarian. Case, In the meantime Detective McGuire | had bad an interview with O'Brien in the temporary prison at Tagish. He told contradictory stories and was exceeding ly bitter against the police. He told McGuire where be had halted last on the trail and what he dose. Leaving Tagish, which is farther along the 150 odd miles from the scene of the murder. McGuire with his dog team went the trail and found that the statements of trail by down i the prisoner were true, He had halted at an Indian camp, but be did not tell the that he had tried to sell to the natives or had yr $60, for which he had paid $200 but tout days previous. This McGuire's suspicions and on further investigation be found by sled tracks that O'Brien had tried to get around the police station at Tagish, but had broken through the on the river and had been compelled return to the Indian camp. At this time O'Brien was trying vainly to get out of the and over Bennett Lake, where he could train and disappear forever from the scene of his crimes, detective gold dust tried to dispose of two horses fc awakened ice { 0 country, to fake a BORINGS A CLEW. While going along the trail McGuire found some wooden borings from an inch auger. They were of oak wood, He suspected O'Brien of the mur- ders, though he nothing of the statement of “hold up" the the auger borings uggsned at once th Brien had his sled, bored holes in it, and hidden any valuables he may have found in theorifices. He went back to Tagish, inspected the sled and found that the heavy ocak standards had been bored clear through. There was space enough here to hide £10,000 in gold dust, bat O'Brien had pulled out the plugs and there was nothing in the holes. There was nothing left to work on, | therefore, but the fact that the three men had disappeared somewhere between Detective knew conspiracy from Dawson clergyman. The sight of at “pl Ug ge: rection this was eighteen miles, in an. other across country it was 1500 miles. | The American detective began his search for evidence, therefore, in the eighteen miles between the posts named, In his dog team, which he used for traveling over the the snow, Detective McGuire bad two specially well bred dogs; one was a ‘‘husky,”’ three parts wolf; the other was part bloodhound and part fox hound, These were of the greatest material assistance to him in his work. The conditions under which this re. markable piece of detective work—un. equaled perhaps in the annals of any secret service-—was performed, can best be understood by the statement that at this time the ground over the entire distance was covered by three feet of snow and the thermometer frequently registered from 40 to 60 below zero, These facts delayed investigation, but meanwhile George O'Brien was held asa suspicious character pending develop. ments, Five weeks later the influence of the Continued on page 4, | before the Supreme | in which Gov | of the measures. | correspondent at Harrisburg made the | Gov. | other party, at that time. deny all efforts for an interview | attending facts are convincing and | doing everything I can. BELLEFONTE, PA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1901. 'SUPREME COURT IN DISGRACE Justice Potter. the Quay Nominee, Accused of Lobbying OTHER MEMBERS IM PLICATED | Potter Kept Governor Stone Informed of Court Secrets—Conversations Over the Telephone—Such Men Are Unfit. Last summer the sensational charge | was made that while the famous "Ripper | Bill” appeal and the celebrated Patton | { township school appropriation appeal from the decision of Judge Love, were Court of this state, Stone and the Quay gaog at Harrisburg were intensely interested, that Justice Potter, whom Gov. Stone ap- had telephone kept Gov. pointed, by The Philadelphia Press Stone, Owing to no further evidence on the sub. ject at that time little account was taken This week the Press created a great surprise over the state by publishing complete the conversations of these two officials, as overheard and noted by an- The accused officials refuse to make a statement and The there is little doubt as to its authenticity. Sinner: Justice Potter has come before the people for a judgment upon his quali- fications for the high office to which his partner has elevated him, the Press is entirely right in giving to the public the evidence of his unfitness. These reported conversations being on April 15th, when Stone in. quires about the delay in announcing the decision of the Supreme Court upon Justice Potter repli Governor V the veto power, es “Mitchell was too sharp and it will be held a few days ; but it is all right.” A week later the was an. nounced and the judge asked the gov. decision the legisiature would A conversation fol. and "the the law ernor how long remain in session. lowed on the “Ripper” fo take,’ “we want Ou April that bill position as sustained if possible." dge informs the g 220d the 1a "we are OYCrnoe ready for business tomorrow,’ and 1 think we are pretty sure of four The foll sal wing are parts of the judge's conve ion which were overheard “This man here (Brown) all 1 "We stand a good show of Fe “The old man just home (Dean) dead agaiost it.” “For God's sake, is is let on. Iam I think it ought to be five. We can’t say anVihing.’ “I gast found out this afternoon that Judge Mitehell seems burt that more was not said about his opinion.” “Get him a writeup. He felt hurt, He has no suspicion that I am saying don't anything to you. ia few days. | Won't they ‘holler ?' wild, i The next day a write-up’ of Judge Mitchell appeared in the Inquirer. A week later, on May 1st, this conversa. tion is alleged ; judge Potter: “It’s good.” Governor Stone : “My God! to bear that it is all right down at 10 o'clock tomorrow.” Judge Potter : “It's safe now. 1 want 10 say anything about it, but all fur you. I bad a dickens of a time.” Governor Stone: *‘It’s the best thing you ever did in your life, young man.” Judge Potter: **I had to scratch to do it all right.” Governor Stone: “well, I have been awfully nervous, but it will be public in It’s in the best of hands, | It will set them Good by.” am glad T ] I will G0 It's a great thing ! Justice Potter here appears as a lobby ist for the machine, “‘scratching," | expresses it, to get a favorable decision | upon questionable bills, reporting to his | In one di- | partoer from time to time and consulting | with him on the means to be taken to in- fluence wavering members of the court. All that passed between the two con- spirators was confirmed by subsequent events, The betrayal not only of the secrets but of the weaknesses of the Su. preme Court, or of some of its members, is of a character that seems to calf for some action by the court itself. Only a corrupt Bench will silently permit such an action to go unchallenged. It is among the most shameful scandals that even this misgoverned Commonwealth has known, There may be denials or evasions : but the duty of the people of Pennsylvania is clear. A governor and a legislature con- trolled by the machine are sufficiently dangerous; if the Supreme Court also falls under the same control, ail consti- tutional safeguards are destroyed and no greater calamity can befal our free institutions. No matter what may be Justice Potter's personal character or professional attainments, his political connections disqualify him, asd his low conception of judicial responsibility is such as cannot be tolerated in the highest as he | | tribunal of the state, An tvestigation | { should follow, unless he voluntarily re- | sigus ; and yet he is a candidate for re. { election, | nominated, a candidate. If he does, he ought to be | {| overwhelmingly defeated, by the vote of | all honorable and patriotic people, irre- spective of party creed, These are some of the fruits of Gov. Stone's administration, and which John Hamilton, Judge John G. Love and others in this county approve, Is it not a shame? Isitnota disgrace ? - TRAIN WRECKER R ARRESTED Joseph made important arrest on Monday that relief to the the Certral Railroad of Pa Oae night last County Detective Rightrour an will give managers of and its em. ployees August as the {evening train was drawing into Belle. fonte, having on hoard a number of per- | song who had been attending the Reform. picnic at Hecla Park, a twitch derailed the englue and baggage plunging embankment into Spring ed misplaced jcar which came near over an eight-foot Creek. beem tampered with on the same road. The company could get little trace of Finally Rightnour's hands, Il is sad that other switches had the offender. they matter in Mr. investigation his suspicions placed the After | some were that Harry Miller, an 18.year old Miller, was the of. He kept after him and some of color. ‘ed lad, son of Frank fender. continually bringing the his companions, matter to their attention not uneasiness over it. Finally young Mill . Cot miit. Mr. Right. 0 the railroad of. admission to another and from one ted himself confessed, nour at once took him fice where he made a clean breast of the ve whole affair pon a hearing of $2000 bail, be was sent to al next court. In a horse from one, the past sum. Origen AlL- Then he robbed Irvin's His g that he was bul 12 years While pRssen. of The lad is a bad mer he stole wood’s stable stal mother swea ionery store and was convicted. ving Tin of age, court suspended sentence trial he derailed this This Mr. Rightoour awaiting ger train work for which was a clever piece deserves much credit. - Fire at Potters Mills. Monday, general shortly after noon, McCoy's was de- wk of store, at Potters stroved, the building and st goods The store was bein been wel under way, o when effort was made to large coal tank, on that fisor, by placing lers While the tank was being moved in this manner, one of the rollers 5} ipped 1 the vessel tilted throw. from under it an ing the oil out over the floor Some of the oil ran through cracks in he floor in- to the cellar, where some one was using a coil the dripping oll from above coming in contact with the lamp, ately flashed up and at once spread io the main fioor which was saturated with the spilled oil, causing such a rapid spread of the blaze that it was impossible to save anything. The building was a 2 ds ncw, oil lamp to get some articles, and a blaze immedi. story frame, good There is f4500 insurance on the prop- erty Companies, which Grant Hoover had written $1500, Chatles Smith $1000, and t ane. other agency. The total loss is upwards of $6000, in various of ke balance by The jusurance on the stock is £4000, balance on the building. Mr, Frank McCoy had a narrow escape from being burned to death. All escape by the lower floor was cut off by the rag- ing flames. tairway near him by means of which he | reached the second floor and from a wine | dow jumped to the ground below, face, bands and eyebrows were severely | | scorched by the flames. | The Sportsmen's League of Potters | Mills who had a lodge room above the store lost all their farnitare, FIRST COUNT. Last evening the first count of coupons was made for the Estey organ. As | many do not know who will want the in- It resuited as follows : JUDGES REPORT. The following is the resuit of the first count of conpous, made on Wednesday evening, October 16th, 1901: Liberty Baptist Church, Blanchard. ... Lutheran 8. 8., Rebersburg. : 3 Kreamerville M. BE. Church, I | U. B. Church, Pleasant valley. ........18 Unmarked Ballots. . saassiiminsrnins ise 1 count, 29 Er ri A.M. SLoTMAN, Tros. |. SgxroN, Judges. We are informed that the Lutheran Sanday School, at Rebersburg, do not wish to enter the contest. Several other parties will be announced in next issue, On last page, 10, will be found the coupon and information regarding the method of awarding this organ. He ought never to have been | He ought not vow to remain | SHORT AND TO THE Fortunately there was a | f His | | Mrs. | children : Calvin Meyer, wife and mother- | in-law, of Pueblo, Colo; Daniel Meyer | | strument naturally are waiting for this | VARIETY OF | COUNTY NEWS Items of Interest Gathered From | All Sections. POINT | What Transpired Worthy of Brief Men- tion, the Past Weck Over the County—For Hasty Read- ers—A New Department. The field pumpkins are gafe against rot this year--there are none to rot, E Car been granted a pension of $8 has a month. Samuel , of Lemont, np! ye of Jacksonville Mr, Ye Jacob Yearick, was stricken with paralysis. arick is 81 years old. have a large Samuel Send One of the fortunates to crop of non-rolting potatoes is Mills, Samuel Milesburg, Slack, near Potters some of 'em this way, W. H. Ruse, of been driving for the Adams Express Co. at Windber, Co., g the past seven weeks, has been promoted to a position office at Al- who has Somerset durin in the express toona. Miss Gertrude | late Wm Irwin, of the Irwin, of Jacksonville, and E'mer C { Lemont, married Wed Only Ross, o were nesday afternoon at 1 the clock. the relatives of the im- ol late famili ila Mc, owned by Irvin Gray, rg Thursday three straight were present, Lue of Stormstown, t Bloomsbu took first money by taking heats in a race in which there were ten The time was 18%, 2.2 At il first money in The 1 store of starter on she took a hard seven heat race and at yarber entered by burglars Friday night shop confectionery Howard, was They eic. taking out Confer, stole barber tools, confectionery, They gained an entrance by of the of the store, on a show windows in the There is no clue large front the perpetrators, The he oldest within the recollect Was nol so great potato rot, ion of t bilan YH as this year 1 SOme alities it is al. the pot aloes and io others The price is not high most total half entire ¢ f Crop. in market for dealers are not anxious #HICHAsE (aTEe guaniities of the tubers, for wor the fear the ow " 3 and a loss be sustaine the guns in and The birds wonid fly hig ew whe ouid fly hs kuew when the season shootists opened, but as it is, § are exposed io the that game of all . a rains of lead next dozen Ts weeks, It is believes kinds will be plenty Tharsday evening the farm house of Mrs. Michael Fis partially destroyed by fire. The family bad been making apple butter dur the afternoon near a wood house in the rear of the residence and burn, near town, was in some man The were destre ner the building caught fire wood house and wash house ut by hard wor yed, they succeeded in sav. destruc. ® f ! ing the building from complete tion. Thursday morning about 11.30 o'clock ckel was f at Charles Bickel!’ he was struck on while John Bi ceeding a thresher § farm in Bald Eagle, the ri hand large Kaife, which was being used George Berry in cutting sheaves open, It cut off all the leaders and veins in the ght by a by i 3 % 4 | wrist, and the wound bled profusely. He who ten mmediately called on Dr. P the It inter, dressed stitches, injury. required The Meyer reunion, family of Reuben Meyer, deceased, was heid Taesday Sih, i at Jerome Meyer's, three miles east of | | Rebersburg, Among those present were : Polly Meyer, and wife, of Osceola; Amazon Meyer | and wife, of Blooneville ; Jerome Meyer | and wife; Dr. J. W. Bright and family; J. B. Kreamer and wife, of Rebersburg. | They had a most enjoyable time. IN ADJOINING COUNTIES. Rev. I. F. Dunlap, of Tyrone, has ac- cepted the call from the Lutheran charges of Sugar Valley. Hon. Charles A. Maver has returned | from his European trip, having arrived in Lock Haven Saturday afternoon. The Twenty-second Pennsylvania regi. ment (cavalry) will bold its annual reunion at Marklesburg, Huntingdon county, Friday, October 18th. Miss Bertha White, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey White, died at Mill Hail Thursday evening from a compli. cation of diseases, She was 19 years old. Alfred Graham, of Clearfield, has pur. chased a tract of timber land from Dr. Delome Stewart, of Moshannon, this (Continued on page 6 column 8.) News From | oldest daughter ! and the following | VOL. 25 X90. fe FACT, FUN AND FANCY. Bright Sparkling Paragraphs— Selected and Original. It’s the dull fellow who is generally | the greatest bore. When some people have their pick, all they seem to look for is flaws, At some hotels and most grist mills | you can get meals at all hours, It's the little things that tell—especial- ly the little brothers and sisters, The inchworm has to walk twelve times its length to go anywhere a-foot, The fell ten finds himself When a man puts money in the he Property owners and ragged beggars their rents, ow who frequents saloons of- in a tight place, bank is working for his own interest, may be said to live on A parrot is the but d peacock also can a tail attempt to do sny- talkative bird, i ut nicl d. most Some peo ie never of 5 thing for fear they might do it wrong. A soldier who is foxy enough to keep 1 kground, The fellow who always has his kam. the first to nail a the 1 the bac sharp shooter mer out is not always lie, If it were not 50 much trouble to get money, fewer people would borrow tron. bie. A child, directed properly and licked in modera- like all envelopes, should be tion. The man tics, who refuses to Suicuss poli- religion or golf is a friend wort mint is about the only business un that vertising. % Lo ans n A makes money without ad. that when a woman a It seems wanis lo pit COLES she never uses clothespin ry weather in d During the recent " U igs bad 10 be soaked over night West of Salina, ie only and dust Down at ad to run the every Kansas to make them hold swill waler was wel on one si off the Mrs was blowing Wich well rivers ta poor lease h through iothes wringer ong water to wash nk of the ferryman eieven months in a year to keep his boat running. - INCENDIARISM IN FERGUSON TWP. A number of the 1 township utire Domocrat re- wit Bowersox eters, would be burned. Jowersox paid attention to the threatening episties sent him, thinking intended as a playful 1 mot con. io be an only and the Srebug came in the night and The anonymous hands of Mr. ne aid to a clue of they were oaly scare, and that his township dic tain an inhabitant mean e nough liarv. Bat the threat & proved too well founded, thief ke a did the dastardly deed upon him li letters are still in the Bow. ersox, and may be sot a the firchug On Tharsday barn night, two weeks of Hears township, and 1s contents ago the was set on fire warned to the That this was of ary origm is froved ¢ of a large shoe leading across a plowed field to the northwest corner of the barn where was first dis- covered, and the tracks led away again in the direction they came. The earth in the plowed field beng damp the im- pression of the fire fiend’s shoes were plainly stamped ou the soil. It is also farther said that other owners of barns have received intimations that | their property would be burned, and {this Las naturally caused fear and | alarm among the good people up there, { and will require unceasing watchfuiness | for some time at Jeast. A detective | should be placed in that territory to hunt | down the fiend or fiends that are engaged { in this nefarious work. : the large Snyder, in above named by some scoundrel, wr. H hy 1 ground with ail fire incendi rin §£ by track fe ure the Harrisburg may get College. The project for removal of the Central Pennsyivania College at New Berlin, | has assumed something definite in the action recently taken by the committee to select and decide upon a point. The committee met in Harrisburg at the Evangelical publishing Bouse, and it was decided to be to the best interests of the church and schools to unite the colleges at New Berlin and Meverstown, Harris- burg has been moving to secare the col- lege, and many of the members of the conference look upon that location fave orably. Different towns in the state are anxious to secure the college. Definite action will be taken at the next meeting of the United Hvangelical conference when the site will likely be determined 3 upos.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers