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The Western news. [volume] (Stevensville, Mont.) 1890-1977, December 30, 1910, Image 1

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S2.G0J YEAR
Issued Twice a Week
WESTERN NEWS
YOL XXI.
HAMILTON, MONTANA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1910
12.00 II YEAR
Every Tuesday and Friday
NO 16
Mrs. Viola Kelley Passes Through a
Terrible Ordeal—Confesses Crime
and is Placed in Jail.
Desiring concealment more than
ter own life, Mrs. Viola Kelley gave
fcirth to a child between 1 and 2 |
o'clock Friday morning in the yard
of the Fletcher home in the north
part of town, strangled it with a
string torn from the blanket about
her head, and threw the little dead
body into the' vault of an outbuild- |
j n g The crazed mother was alone
and unattended. She had nothing to
lie upon but the frozen ground; noth-j
log above her but the naked limbs
Qf a u apple tree; no protection from j
the bitter winter night save a few (
garments hastily thrown over her j
nightdress. i
She was arrested Wednesday upon
confession of the crime and is con-,
fined in the women's department of (
the county jail. A direct information I
charging her with murder in the first j
degree will be filed in district court
today or tomorrow.
Crime Disclosed Christmas.
The body of the child was found
shortly before noon Christmas day j
by John Ritchie, who chanced to be.
sauntering about the yard of the Flet
cher home, which is on his farm. He
reported the discovery to Harry Lord,
who went to see Ritchie, and the two
consulted as to the disposition of the
body. They first thought of covering
it up where it lay, but finally dug a
grave in a buggy shed, wrapped up
the body, and buried it underground.
Mr. Rlfrhie. however, felt that his
duty did not end here. The next day
he reported the discovery to County
Attorney McCulloch. Coroner Kel
logg of Stevensville was apprised by
telephone, hut,, unable to appear, Jus
tice Whaley acted in his place. A
jury was summoned Tuesday and,
with the authorities, went to the Flet
cher home and made a thorough ex
amination of the premises. An au
topsy by Dr. R. L. Owens of the ex
humed body disclosed that the baby
was a fully developed male child, was
alive when horn, had breathed and had
been strangled. The jury thereupon re
turned a verdict to the. effect that the
child had met death by "strangulation
at the hands of an unknown person."
The jury was composed of R. H.
Smithey, Al Biddiscombe, P. J. Shan
non, Tom Milburn, Levi Swayze and
John S. Treece.
Mrs. Kelley Suspected.
The authorities investigated, but
were at a loss to place the guilt, until
Lord and Ritchie, brothers-in-law of
Mrs. Kelley, confided that they sus
pected her. They hesitated to tell of
their previous suspicions, they said,
because they disliked to accuse any
one unjustly, especially a member of
their own families. On Wednesday
the county attorney sent for Ritchie
and again consulted him. Ritchie ad
vised that Mrs. Kelley be subjected
to an examination by physicians. As
there was no authority to do this,
Ritchie went himself to see Mrs. Kelley
and confront her with the crime. She
confessed readily to the crime a i
was taken into custody by She..it
Ward.
A Terrible Experience.
The terrible experience through
which Mrs. Kelley passed showed re
markable powers of endurance, both
of physical suffering and mental an
guish. On the night the child was
born she retired to her bed in the
Fletcher home in her accustomed way.
About 1 o'clock the following morning,
upon feeling pains, she left the house
and went out into the yard to pass
through the awful ordeal. She dressed
hurriedly and scantily. Over her head
and shoulders she threw part of a blan
ket whiefa she was accustomed to use
as a headshawl, and it was from this
she tore the string to strangle the
babe.. She was in the cold night air
mope th'.n an hour.
That day, Friday, she remained in
bed, pleading illness of an ordinary
nature. Saturday and Sunday she
spent at the Lord home, helping pre
pare a Christmas dinner tor a family
reunion Sunday. During the time she
was distressed by the illness of her
three-year-old child. Monday she did
a large family washing.
A Destitute Widow.
Mm. Kelly ts a widow. Her bus
hand died two years ago. She bas
five living children. She came to
Hamilton from Missouri early in No
vember to visit relatives, bringing
along two of her children. She was in
destitute circumstances. She is a
daughter of C. M. Fletcher and a sister
of Mrs. H. S. Lord and Mrs. John G.
Ritchie. She is 29 years old.
Since her confinement in the county
jail,Mrs. Kelley has said, between sobs,
that when she came to Hamilton she
had no intention of killing her child
when it should be born. She had, she
said, a blind belief that she would be
able to dispose of the baby to an or
phans' home. She thought she might
be able t0 S° t0 Missoula or some
where else during confinement.in order
to keep knowledge of the child's birth
from her relatives, to whom she felt
deeply indepted for kindnesses which
she had never been shown elsewhere,
It was the desire not to cast reflection
on them which, she says, prompted
her to murder her own child. Crime,
she felt, offered the only means of
concealment. None of her relatives
suspected her condition, it is said, be
cause of her large size and peculiar
physique.
A Life of Sadness.
A near relative of the unfortunate
woman has given out the following ac
count of her life:
"Her mother died when She was 3
months old. She was taken and raised
by a family in Missouri. At the age of
14 she was persuaded t.o marry a man
much her senior in age. To them
were born six children, of whom five
are now living, the youngest being
two and one-half years old. Two years
ago her husband died of consumption
after a lingering illness, leaving the
mother without any means of support
or any relatives to help her. Foster
parents have taken the three older
children to raise and at her sugges
tion, purchased a ticket for her to
come to Montana to visit relatives
whom she had never seen since her
early childhood. She was started out
with only a dollar and fifty cents and
a small lunch. A very small handbag
constituted her entire baggage for
herself and children. Upon her ar
rival she told her relatives who she
was, and they have taken her and
cared for her since. Upon their ar
rival the children were clad in light
calico dresses with practically no un
derwear. They had had nthing to eat
for twenty-four hours.
"She withheld knowledge of her
condition from every one, probably
driven to distraction by the thought
that she was to humiliate the very
ones who were helping her.
"If she committed the crime for
which she was arrested, she hoped
and tried to protect her friends and
relatives."
DARBY NEWS.
Darby, Dec. 29.—Mrs. A Shelton
made a business trip to Hamilton
Tuesday.
* >m Sherrill came up from Cor
vallis Wednesday.
M. L. Babcock the genial photo
grapher, is confined to his room with
diphtheria.
Grippe and bad colds are quite pre
valent in Darby and vicinity.
W. E. Mobray has traded his Rock
creek ranch to Mr. Erickson for bus
iness property in that city.
Ed and James Lord of Medicine
springs stopped over night here on
their way to Hamilton, where Ed will
take charge of his brother's ten-acre
garden farm.
R. L. Harper Is in town from his
sowmill northwest of Camas.
A. L. and J. C. Johnston of Hamilton
passed through town today on the way
to their Rye creek ranch.
j
An old Scottish woman wished to
sell a hen to a neighbor.
"But tell me," the neighbor said,
"is she a'thegither a guid bird?"
"Awell, Margot," the old woman
admitted, "she has got one fault—she
will lay on the Lord's day." '
The milkmaid came in with the sad
news that there was no milk, as the
naif had gotten with the cow and
drank It all. "Then why," said Kath
erine, "dont you milk 4he calf?"
STRING OF LIGHTS FROM
HAMILTON UNIT TO BE CON
NECTED WITH BONNER POW
ER PLANT ON JANUARY 1.
Construction work is being pushed
rapidly by the Missoula Water &
Light company on the Hamilton unit
of the system. Superintendent Inch
and a big crew of linemen and elec
tricians arrived Tuesday and are
pushing the work with the determin
ation to connect the Hamilon unit
Meanwhile the construction of the
transformer house is progressing nice
ly.
with the main system by January 1. !
Manager Christianson stated yester- !
day that while electricity from Bonner
would doubtless be received herewith-;
in a few days the system would not be
in first class working order and de- J
livering a day and night current be
fore February. 1.
Florence, Stevensville, Victor and
Corvallis have already been connect
ed up and are receiving a direct ser
vice from Bonner. Many farm and
suburban homes all along the line aie
preparing to install the service and
very shortly a gleam of electric lights
will be strung from Bonner to Ham
ilton.
THE INCONSISTENCIES OF
RUSINESS MEN
SOME MERCHANTS AND OTHERS
GUILTY OF PRACTICE THEY
THEMSELYES CONDEMN.
Some business men are strangely
inconsistent.
A Corvallis merchant the other day
ca i m iy told a newspaper man that he
bought a n jjis business stationery and
p r i n ted supplies from eastern printing
establishments, where he could get
them cheapest.
"But," said the newspaper man,
"don't you know that exery customer
you have can buy supplies cheaper
from mail order houses than from
you?"
It's exactly the same principle, con
cretely applied.
And this same business man, who
ought to represent the best thought in
his community, said he took no county
paper, wouldn't know what to do with
one, and didn't care what the people
in the community were doing. With
this in mind, it is not surprising that
when the other merchants in Corvallis
wished to close their stores last Mon
day in observance of Christmas, a
custom prevalent everywhere when a
holiday falls on Sunday, this same
business man held out to keep open
and forced his competitors to do so.
But he is not the only business
man in the valley who buys printed
supplies in the east because they are
cheaper than in Hamilton. Some
Hamilton business men do this, hut
the public doesn't know about it.
Every year representatives of eastern
printing concerns visit Hamilton and
take away orders for hundreds of dol
lars' worth of printed matter that
could be produced in the valley.
And these same business men are
the first to rush to the newspapers and
ask them to condemn the practice of
buying of eastern mail order houses.
I
IN THE CHURCHES
Corvallis Baptist Chnreji.
C, C. Rickman, will preach both
morning and evening next Sunday,
January 1.
Christian Science.
Seivices every Sunday morning at
11 o'clock in I. O. O. F. hall, Spcond
street. Subject of lesson sermon for
Sunday, January 1, "God."
I. # E. Church Smith, J. W.Byrd, Pastor.
Sunday school at 10 a. m.; Epworth
league at 6:30 p. m.; preaching at 11
a. m. and 7:30 p. m.; morning sub
ject: "A New Year's Admonition;"
evening subject: "The Valley of De
cision."
AT THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
Commencing next Sunday morning
the Baptist church win hold a series
of special meeting. Rev. L. G. Clark
of Helena will be present and preach,
at the Sunday service and each even
ing during the week.
HAMILTON AMATEURS STAGE
"LITTLE TYCOON" COMEDY
The close of Hamilton's holiday gay
ety is to be marked by an exhibition of
local talent which will be long remem
bered. "The Little Tycoon," a real
musical comic opera of national repu
tation, is now being rounded into
shape by about forty of Hamilton's
young people, under the direction of
Mr. Ira Hamilton. The rehersals as
sure a treat in the line of musical
opera, such as a city the size of
Hamilton seldom affords. The dates
set are January 10-11 at the Lucas
opera house.
The opera covers the experiences
! °* a T oil y party of American college j
men and women who are making a I
tour of Europe. In the party are an i
English lord and Wall street broker, I
! both frying f° £ a ' n the hand of j
one I a( Iies in the party. I heir |
nlfy develops into a battle of wits
and between the lord and the
J y° un 8 lady s father on one side and
tbe broker and the remainder of the
party on the other side.
Mrs. G. A- Gordon, whose sweet
soprano voice needs no introduction
in Hamilton, plays the leading role,
and she is supported by Miss Mann,
Mrs. Gertz, Mr. McLellan, Mr. Freitag,
Mr. Anson and Mr. Pomeroy in the j
musical parts. The voices of all the 1
principals are well known, and with
the inspiration which the splendid
music of the opera gives every voice
I will be sure to be at its best.
The chorus in itself is excellent, and
under Mr. Hamilton's direction, it has
reached very nearly professional form.
It is composed of Misses Glick, An
nabelle Robertson, Gilray, Taylor,
Backus, Mann, Verna Robertson, Ir
win, Spiith, McLellan. Drayton, For
ney, Shellhamer, Whitcomb, Goodrich,
Wyant and Whitcomb; Mesdames An
son, Gertz and Huls and Messrs. An
son, Shellhamer, Welty, Griggs, Grif
fith, Bob Mitchell, Archie Mitchell.
Freitag, Gage, Pomeroy, Lemm and
Huls.
This production, perfectly staged,
is given under the auspices of the
Presbyterian church, and in short, the
people of Hamilton and the surround
ing country have two enjoyable even
ings before them in which they will
see the beautiful belles and gallant
beaux of Hamilton exhibiting their
abilities as musical comedians.
CORVALLIS ITEMS.
-
Corvallis, Dec. 29.—Mrs. Ben Kerlee ;
returned to Hamilton Wednesday af-1
ter a brief visit with relatives here,
Kenneth Romney of Hamilton was a
Corvallis visitor Tuesday. |
Rev. Fred B. Cox will begin a re
vival meeting at the Methodist church
next Sunday morning.
Miss Rose Hay of Missoula is the
guest of her uncle, Jack Hay.
Mrs. Chas. Hainlain is confined to
the house as the result of an injury
received from a fall last week.
Jas Pentilla left Monday for his old
home at Eveleth, Minn. Mr. Pentilla
exuects to return in the spring. j
Fate Summers and daughter Minnie
left Monday for a several week's visit
with relatives in Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Alex Chaffin are at
present making their home with B. S.
Chaffin and family. j
Frank Printz came down Christmas
from the east range where he has been
trapping this winter. He brought with
him one extra-fine lynx and eight mar
tin skins. Mr. Printz remained in
town but one day, his traps requiring
tas attention every day. !
Baptismal services were conducted i
at the Methodist church Sunday morn- j
Ing at which five Infants and four {
grown persons were baptised. Ser- j
vices were also held at the Christian
church and four new members were
received into the church, and the right
hand of felowship extended to those
who recently united. Next Sunday
Rev. C. C. Rickman will conduct bap
tismal services at the Presbyterian
churech.
The Walter Wing home on the west
side is under quarantine for small
l>ox, but none of the family are ser
iously ill. The disease is in a very
light form and r-o new cases are re
ported.
Dr. C. R. Thornton and wife
were Stevensville callers Wednesday.
Mr. and Mrs. D. Blnkerd attended
the Christmas dance at Darby Monday.
Several young people from here
witnessed "The Climax" j*r. ^iamlltou
Monday evening.
R. E. Smith of Missoula ..as in Cor
vallis Tuesday.
Hansen Bay transacted business in
the Apple City Monday.
Rumor has it that Chau tourne has
leased his saloon and dan«je hpll to]
Thos. C. Sherrill, who wL. assume the
management January 1.
/'
LAGERQU1ST SUITS ARE
SETTLED
MAUDE HUGHES GRANTED A
VORUE—SEVERAL NEW
SUITS FILED.
DI
In district court yesterday, in the
case of Stevensville Mercantile Co. vs.
llelleshein-Perz Ranch Co., the motion
of the plaintiff to compel (lie sheriff to
amen' 1 his returns on an attatchment
was denied.
Judge Myers also denied the motion
of the plaintiff in the case of Joe
Leroux et al., whereby an injunction
was sought to prevent the removal
0 f certain hay stacks, pending settle
ment of the suit.
Maude Hughes of Stevensville was
granted a divorce from Merrell J.
Hughes on the grounds of Cruelty,non
support and desertion,
The attachment suits Of F. H
Drinkenberg and First National bank
against J. O. Lagerquist and River
view Manufacturing Co. were dismiss
ed as settled.
A suit on contract has been filed in
district court by James O. Safford
against the B. R. V. I. Co.
The Wallace, (Ida.) National bank
has filed an attachment suit in dis
trict court against James Finley Tof
rence to enforce payment of a prom
isory note in the sum of $1,000.
The Stevensville Mercantile Co. has
filed an attachment suit against W. JL
Rager.
J. B. McGurk has filed suit against
H. A. Longley and J. T. lamgley.
THE FAIR STDRE MOVES
INTO THE M'GRAJH BLOCK
The Fair store is moving into the
McGrath block and wili occupy the
store room just vacated by "The Tog
gery."
Manager Horace A. Robers said to
day that he expects to be ready for
business in liis new quarters tomor
row (Saturday.)
NEW COUNTIES AND SENATORS.
According to the news coming in
from different sections of t.!ie state the
next legislature will lie inundated with
county division schemes, some of
which may have merit, while others
appear to be based upon a desire to
sell off lots in some young town am
bilious for county seat honors.
The Anaconda Standard a few days
ago called attention to the unjust
manner in which the senate of this
state is made up under the constitu
tion as it stands today, which provides
that each county shall have one rep
resentative in the upper house, no
matter what its population may be
If the county division schemes now
on tap should go through the state
senate would have its membership in
creased about half as large again and
few of the new counties would lie en
titled to more than one member of the
lower house upon an apportionment
of 5,000 or the major fraction thereof,
The truth is that a number of the
j proposed counties would not have half
that number, but each one of them
would have a senator.
A matter which it might be well for
the coming legislature to consider is
whether it will create any more new
counties until it can get the représen
! tation in the senate based upon the
i old populous counties of the state,
j Another thing which should be pro
{ vided for is the division of Montana
j into two congressional districts for it
will gain another representative under
the new apportionment.
Today a great many men are pre
cluded from running for congress on
account of the expense attached to
campaigning the whole state.
If Montana were divided into two
districts candidates would have a
large enough area to stump, but the
expense of running for this office
would be cut down just about baif
Better service would be obtained
from the representatives in congress
because each one would be more fam
iliar with the requirements of his dis
trict and he would be able to concen
trate his efforts to better effect
There is a good ideal of useful work
before the next session of the legis
lature, whiçb «an be more easily at
tended to now than later.—Miner.
Modern Woodmen of America.
Hamilton Camp No. 5604, Modern
Woodmen of America, meets in Smith
& Brown hall every Tuesday night.
Visiting brethern always welecuae. '
W. B. OBLINGER, V. C.
16-ly C. C. COULTER, Clerk.
STRIKING BITTER ROOT STORY
IN ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
A splendid Bitter Root story ap
peared in last Sunday's edition of the
St. Paul Pioneer Press. The article
covers nearly a full page, copiously
illustrated and was written by I. C.
Perry. It treats of the entire valley
in an appreciative manner. The Bitter
Root valley is particularly well
known in the Twin Cities, as is, in
fact, all Montana. To mention the Bit
ter Root in St. Paul or Minneapolis
is to immediately excite interest. Re
cently, in writing to the Hamilton
chamber of commerce, F. D. Monty,
of the Hillside Fruit and Poultry
farm, said: "Montana is the most
talked of state in the union around
this part of the country, and it is
nearly an even break between the
grain and fruit sections."
BLUE LOUGE AND CHAPTERS
TÛ INSTALL OFFICERS JAN. 4
The Masonic bodies of Hamilton,
consisting of Hamilton Lodge No. 38,
A. F. & A. M. Royal Arch Chapter
and Leona Chapter, O. E. S. will hold
a joint installation of officers in Odd
Fellows hall on Wednesday evening,
January 4, 1911.
CORVALLIS ITEMS.
Corvallis, Dec. 27.— B. S. Chaffin and
family spent Christmas with relatives
at Stevensville.
Robt. Sellins of Deer Txidge is the
guest of Guy Cochran this week.
Mr. and Mrs. Robt. Johnson of Mis
soula spent Christmas with relatives
here.
Mr. Keys Sr. last week purchased
ten acres of timber land from Root.
Myers.
Miss Bethel Erwin completed her
one month term of school as substi
tute for Miss Nora Smithy and return
ed to her home at Hamilton Friday.
Miss Mamie Rollins came up from
Missoula to spnd the Christmas holi
days with her parents.
Miss Martha Porter went to Mis
soula Saturday and will spend the
vacation with her undo, Frank Dar
bee.
Sain Brown is in town from Roar
ing Lion, also Ralph Laws. The boys
expect to return to the mill after a
short vacation.
Mr. and Mrs. Emmet Tolman of Sun
River are the guests of Mrs. Tolnmn's
parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Wil
cocks.
The lower grades of the Corvallis
school observed Christmas with a tree
and program on Friday afternoon.
Tue teachers treated the children and
guests to candy.
The annual family reunion of the
children of Mrs. Fannie Myers was
held Christmas day at the home of
Mrs. W. D. Lear. Twenty-four were
present to enjoy an elaborate turkey
dinner and the usual Christmas Hilar
ity prevailed. Those present were:
W. I). Lear and family, R. B. Myers
and family, M. L. Chaffin and family,
Mr. and Mrs. Dean Cobb and son, Mr.
and Mrs. James Lear, Lee Simmons
and Melford Cobb.
The Union Christmas tree was well
attended the church being crowded by
7:30. After a short program Santa
Claus appeared with his pack and the
distribution of presents begun. More
presents were distributed here this
year than there has been for years.
More than three hundred sacks of
candy, nuts and oranges were given
out.
Mr. and Mrs. Alex Chaffin of Stev
ensville and Mr. and Mrs. Ben Kerlee
of Hamilton ate Christmas dinner with
Mrs. Nancy Simmons and family.
DON'T FAIL TO HEAR REV. COX,
THE GREAT EVANGELIST.
Revival meetings begin at the
Methodist church in CorvalRs, Sun
day, January 1, 1911.. We invite all
denominations to be present and take
part in these meetings. Great interest
is being manifested In the coming re
vival, and we are expecting all the
people to be present at every service.
There Is just one Fred Cox, and to
miss hearing him is to miss the op
portunity of your life. He will enter
tain and instruct you. He will make
you laugh and cry. There will be
special music every night by the best
talent ■4Jiat can be secured. Come and
bring all the family. Yours for a good
meeting.
BASCOM WATERS. Pastor.

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