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___. THE WEATHER
Th/» Feb. 9: Max. 23, Min. 11 4 p. m. 20
I ll0 \Jltp>al | Light N. Wind—Clear.
ALASKAN | Feb. 13: Max. 20, Min. 15. 4 p. m. 18.
DAILY largest alaskan circulation
ai.vkktim mentsSing hesw ts mn-.s;.,-.. daov except sum,ay----- —-t
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SEWAKl), THE GATEWAY TO ALASKA, MONDAY, KERRI AlO H, iJlb.________—-—
DID SCHMIDT
MEET DEATH
DATK OF F.XKCFTION OF FV
FROCKKD PR I KM F1XKD
FOR 1T11S MOKMNC
Hans Schmidt, the unfrocked priest,
may have died in the electric chaii
this morning for the death ot Anna
Aumuiler for whose murder he was
convicted. He hu<i Ux*n sentence<i to
death one month ago today, January
14, but another mouth was given.
Owing to the loss of communication
with the outside it is impossible to
tell whether the man has suffered the
extreme penalty or not tor one of the
most sensational crimes for many
years.
(Special to Gateway by I'nited Press)
OSSINING. N. V.. Jan. 14.— Han*
Schmidt, the unfrocked priest convict
ed of murdering his sweetheart. Anna
Aumueller and throwing her body in
the Hudson after dismembering it. was
(to have been) electrocuted in the
death house at Sing Sing penitentiary
here today.
Schmidt is the man who told his
attorney he wanted to die in the
electric chair in the hope that his in
nocence would afterward be establish
ed and capital punishment thereby
would be stopped.
it was on Sept, a, 191U, that the up
per part of Anna Aumueller’s dis
membered body was found in the riv
er olT Wopdeiitf, N. J. Ten days
afterward. i>y persistent work on the
part of Police inspector i aurot the
mystery was solved to the satisfaction
of the police.
The body was identified as that of a
former servant in the rectory of St.
Boniface’s Church, ami Schmidt who
for three years had been performing
the functions of a priest in New
York, was arrested in the rectory of
St. Joseph’s Church.
On the day of his arrest the priest
made a full confession, in which he
admitted that he killed the girl and
cut her body into nine pieces. His
statements on that occasion were so
startling that his sanity was question
ed, and experts were called by the
State. A month later they pronounc
ed him sane and shamming insanity.
Four alienists were then called by the
defense. After several examinations
they went on the stand at his two
trials, the one in December, HH.'b and
the other in February, 1914, and
swore that he was incurably insane.
At the first trial two of the jurors
held that he was insane and a dis
agreement resulted. At both of them
the State based its ease largely on
his own story at*the time of his ar
rest, supjrorted by a mass of cor
roborative testimony. At the second
TIS ILL WIND THAT
BLOWS NOBODY GOOD
Seward Men ifaisie From Bottom of
Briny Ocean Seven Cases of
Anchorage Beer.
Sam Clemmons and a Mr. Hanson
succeeded two days ago in raising a
buried treasure from the bottom of
Resurrection Bay in the shape of sev
en cases of beer which went to the
bottom after the fire on the dock.
Tom McConaty is auth ority for the
assertion that the beer looks fine al
though he had not sampled it at the
time and as it is known that one per
son alone had a hundred cases on the
dock a thorough prospecting will be
given the bay. The most exciting
news of all is that there is also a bar
rel of whiskey resting peacefully in
the bosom of the samj deep.
Ol!T for holiday
A party consisting of Rev. and Mrs.
Molony, the Misses Molony, .Mr. ami
Mrs. Erich Lucas, Louis De Saussure
and Neil Sexton spent Lincoln’s
birthday at the bungalow. They
drove three teams and shot a few
rabbits.
In the safe which has been taken
from the bay was about a thousand
dollars in gold, silver and checks.
The gold and silver amounted to
about two hundred dollars.
NEW PLEA WINS MONTH'S
GRACE FOR S HMIDT.
HfinS SCHMIDT
Governor Whitman of New York an
nouneed that te had gn»tite<l to Han»
Sf’ joiilt ounvlcteU of the murder of
Ann i Au:mi!ler. n reprieve to the week
of i'el H I or;iu-«* Sehniidt now s iys he
d;d not murder the woman, hut that she
died ,* the result of an operation to
which he and others were parties and
tn'|| he then out her h*»*.ly In piei'es and
threw U into the Hudson river Schmidt’s
at femes- have certified to the governor
that the\ can prove this contention by
fhe o\ den re of phs slciana Schmidt was
to tn* executed at Sing Sing on Jan. 14
T' e govern *r win consider tin* evidence j
trial, although ho interposed the same
defense, Tie was convicted.
He was sentenced Feb. 12. Three
days afterwards hes ent tor Assistant
District Attorney Delehantv and con
fessed that he had been shamming in
sanity up to and during the time of
his trials, and that the ideas which
had been advanced to the alienists had
been gained not from his own experi
ences. but from reading a medical
book dealing with dementia praeeox.
He then proceeded to tell Mr. Dele
hanty an entirely different story than
the one on which he was convicted,
the second being to the general effect
that Anna AumuelJer had died as the
result of a criminal ope nit ion. The
papers in opposition to Schmidt’s mo
tion for a new trial reveal that be
sides the statement made to his own
attorney, which was subsequently told
in affidavit form, thaf^he made two
other contradictory statements, mak
ing four different stories in all.
Schmidt’s contradictions finally re
solved themselves into an affidavit
which he made on October 30, 1014,
and which was used as the basis for
a motion for a new trial.
This affidavit was to the effect that
a friend had performed an operation
on Anna Auraueller, as a result of
which she died, and that another wo
man had been present in the capacity
of nurse. A Dr. Leo, he swears, was
called in after her death and asked to
issue a death certificate, but refused.
Then he asserted that his friend cut
up the body. He swears that his pre
vious- statements were made in an ef
fort to shield these people.
GOVERNMENT SAFE
TAKEN FROM BOTTOM
George Madsen Performs Quite a
Feat in Getting Valuable
Object to Surface.
The safe which fell through the
dock warehouse flour into the bay at
the time of the fire was raised a
couple of days ago and is^onee more
in the possession of the Engineering
Commission. The feat of raising the
safe was performed by George Mad
sen, an oldtime beach expert of Nome.
He managed to slip a cable under the
safe very cleverly and to hoist the
heavy box to a boat. The safe was
lying in about 14 feet of water at
low tide.
■.- ■ -—
FINE PICTrRES WERE
SHOWN LAST EVENING
“My Official Wife,” shown last
evening at the Empress Theatre, was
ur. unusually good drama with re
markably fine scenes. The Empress j
is proving itself a real boon to Seward
by giving it some really good produc
tions and therefore, a most pleasant
recreation.
WILL EMPLOY GANG
J. D. Johnston has started to erect
a fine large log bur\k house on his
homestead near the railroad at Bear
creek, for the laborers he will soon
have employed cutting ties.
SEWARD WILL HAVE
A SPECIAL ELECTION
Petition Circulated And Special;
Meeting of Council Tonight
Will Select Date.
The necessary petition has been
circulated and signed calling for a
special election to secure the opinion
of the voters as to whether the city
should elect its council and salaried
officials in the manner made possible
by the act of the territorial legis
lature. City Attorney Coppernoll car
ried the petition around last Saturday ;
and secured the necessary fifty names
and a special meeting of the city
council was called for this evening to
pass an ordinance providing for the
election and fixing the date on which
it will be held.
The Gateway and the All-Alaska
Review have published this law, one
in full and one in part and everyone
knows what it means. • The legis
lature passed a bill giving incorporat
ed towns the power to hold special
elections to decide whether they de
sire to continue the present system of
municipal government or whether
they desire to elect the councilmen,
the mayor, the city attorney, the city
magistrate and the city treasurer sep
arately. If the new system is adopted
it means that, the councilmen elected
will draw lots and some will he hold
overs, throe councilmen only retiring
at the end of each year.
The mayor stated in this paper
some days ago that he is in favor of
this new system of government and
almost immediately afterwards the
petition was circulated. For some
reason or another the carrying around
of the petition was entrusted to the
citv attorney and it was made an
operation of some secrecy. This
rather dampens the enthusiasm with
UNION CONFERS
WITH MEARS
MEMBER OF COMMISSION MAKES
WRITTEN STATEMENT OF
HIS INTENTIONS.
_
ANCHORAGE, Feb. 14—(Monday)
—A committee representing the Fed
eral Labor Union held an extended
conference with Commissioner Mears
last Saturday afternoon. Mr. Mears
made a written statement which was
read at the meeting of the Union yes
terday and which says tl>at he will
put the wage scale adopted up to his
associates at Washington with his
own recommendation that an increase
be granted. His statement was very
well received by the men present but
owing to the fact that the .“able is
down no answer may be received from
Washington for a couple of weeks.
The Union has now over twelve hun
dred members and it will build a labor
temple, the preliminary work for
| which begins today.
__
WOMAN’S DOG RACE
OVER AT ANCHORAGE
ANCHORAGE, Feb. 14.—The wo
men’s dog race started today. The
weather conditions were perfect and
the streets were lined with spectators
as the teams lit out. The starters
are: Mrs. Dixon, driving Dixon’s
team; Mrs. Casey Jones, driving
Mathison’s bird dogs; Miss Pichette
driving Captain Neeley’s team.
LYNX AS THICK AS
RABBITS AROUND KENAI
The lynx are “as thick as rabbits
around Kenai this year” to use an ex
press used this morning by George
Miller who has arrived in the city
from that section. Everyone is get
ting lynx in abundance, he says, but
the Natives say that they \vjll be still
more abundant next year. Weasels
are very few and ptarmigan are
hardly seen at all.
which the news would otherwise be
received as, heaven forgive us, there
is always a suggestion of wire-pulling
and purposeful secrecy in the acts of
the present members of the municipal
government when they have some
thing to put over on the dear publie
for their own advantage.
But, the meeting tonight will fix
the date of the special election and
then we shall once more be twirling in
the political maelstrom. One can see
already that some of our ambitious
citizens, especially those who seek re
election, are beginning their cam
paign. Pretty soon, you poor beach
comber, men will grasp you by the
hand who had apparently lost sight
of your existence for the past ten
months. You will hear tender words
drop from their lips. You will see
them enter saloons and other public
places and mix w'ith you as if they
had never considered you unworthy of;
their association before. The cam
paign has already commenced in the
insinuating manner in which cam
paigns usually commence.
TODAY'S ODDEST STORY
Special to Gateway by United Press.
G A LION, 0., Fob. 2.—Hey,
Diogenes,, c’mere with that lantern!
Fire Chief H. C. Sponsauer has just
been granted his earnest petition that!
his pay be cut from $‘>00 to $300 per j
year. Sponsauer 8ftid his private ■
business took part of his time and ;
that his private services were worth
but $300 to the city. He has been a
member of the fire department for
fifty years.
WICK WOULD
LOSmiENDS
REP. NOON, FOR INSTANCE,
WOULD FIGHT HIM IF DELE
G AT E G ETS NOMIN ATIO N.
If Delegate Wickersham secures the
nomination of the regular Republi
cans of the territory he will be oppos
ed by some of the staunchest support
ers he has had during his career.
This is the statement made by Rep
resentative John Noon who has been
for Wickersham for some years and
who suffered annihilation as a mem
ber of the Seward Democratic Club
because he remained a supporter of
the Delegate contrary to the policy
and platform of the party.
Noon declared positively last Sat
urday when asked by the Gateway
that if Wickersham receives and ac
cepts the nomination at the Republi
can convention here in April, he will
fight against his re-election to con
gress. Mr. Noon warmly protested
against calling the followers of the
Delegate “Wicktails” and declared
that there are many who have sup
ported Wickersham who only did so
as long as they believed the Delegate
to be right, and who would fight htm
ju-st as strenuously if he abandoned
the principles which had earned their
support before.
Mr. Noon is a Democrat and was a
I member of the Democratic Club here
up lo the time of the last e’w*ion.
When Mr. Wickersham visited Seward
during his campaign Mr. Noon was j
conspicuous as one of his supporters, i
The president of the Democratic Club
actually presided at the Wickersham
meeting and got f red out of the club,
while Mr. Noon also lost membership
in Ihe organization by a resolution
! regularly proposed and carr.c b It
must be said thac a feeling always
1 existed that Noon acted through con
viction that he was in the right but
in the other cases it was suspected
| lhat a man who was presidin', of a
political club could not have acted as
chairman of an opposed political •
meeting unless for some lixed reason
such as securing votes for himself in
some other contest or for notoriety
of some kind, anyway. While on this
phase of the subject it may be said
that the Gateway has always said
that Wickersham is supported by
some of the best men in Alaska and
when it spoke of “Wicktails” it only
meant that portion of the Wickersham
forces who have supported Wicker
sham because and only because they
wanted to be with the majority.
The statement of Noon opci.s a
wide and interesting vista to the poli
tical observer. If this statement
would represent the opinions of hun
dreds of other Democratic voters it
would mean that Delegate Wicker
sham could hardly hope for re-election
as the candidate of the Republican
convention.
It is w'orth noting that during al!
the supposed negotiations which have
been proceeding between the Delegate
and, at least, the Shackleford-Bayle./
part of the Republican organization
Mr. Wickersham himself has uttered
not a won! in public, a fact which
again show's the carefulness of the
political Wickersham. In the mean
time this paper seems to be the only
one in the territory which announced
that a movement was afoot to bring
Wickersham into the regular Re
publican ranks, but now the fact is
beginning to be heard from other
quarters and there is no longer the
slightest doubt that such a movement
not only exists but has advanced quite
a considerable distance. As stated
before, some of the Republican Com
mitteemen who attended the meeting
here openly declare that they will
never consent to Mr. Wickersham as
the nominee of the party and on the
other hand his former supporters are
now' coming to be heard stating that
they also will not support him as the
regular candidate. April 19 cannot
come quickly enough. It will sure be
one interesting convention.
Roy Ashland and Robert Romig
spent the week end at the Bungalow’,
going out last Friday evening.
MURDER OF AMERICANS MAKES EL PASO
CENTER OF AGITATION AGAINST MEXICO
Photos by American Press Association.
INoWhen* In the United States ^ve the munler.s Americans In Mexico ophite
the * Me* I Jan city ir$E£y has m^' £$& *£™.
cetved with shout, of derision wh.n he apoeared n th. lobby of an 6.1 P»»o howl nit.ed wttn JuareI wh,r.
Intimidate me." he calmly told the miners, and. turning > • . . manner "You are a Villa conaul. You are
you belong." th. mlnlng m.n »ltout^ .. th.y «rround^hlmrln . th * ^ boys h. murdered You ought to
not an American. Go to Coahull. or wherev^r vma “b ' • " for the massacred Americans was promised by
be proud of your friend. to““' •'!“* ! ' ; tl(1 was instructed to demand of Mexican authorities the Immediate
General Gavin.. commandant at Juarez. Jam i Ho “"(|J*'uahua ^ plclur„ No. t .how. „ squad of Mexican
- cavalryman.0^Ilmtla? <ha th's «,3!eSl apprehend andpuntab th. murders of tb. Am.rlc.n. No * Is the rating
Station at El Paso. No. S Is a train wrecked by Mexican bandit*.}
MEN ARE SAFE
AS WAS STATED
STORY PUBLISHED SATURDAY
ABOUT ONWARD CREW AT
TYONEK CORRECT.
ANCHORAGE, Feb. 12.—F. L.
Nehf, Jack Wilkinson and Joe Woitka
who left Scldovia on the launch On
ward on January 12 for Anchorage
arrive^ her" last night. Brown,
formerly linotype man on the Juneau
Dispatch, is due tonight. The launch
reached Fire Island on the 10th, hut
the anchor broke and the boat drift
ed to Tyonck where a landing was
made on the beach on February X.
One man, Henry ShafTc r, was left
aboard and the others started out
overland via Susitna and Knik for
this place. A party will be sent out
to relieve Shaffer. The launch F alt
right and not the least bit injured.
MEARS TO ASK
WAGE INCREASE
ANCHORAGE BUSINESS MEN
WAIT ON COMMISSIONER
WITH GOOD RESULTS.
ANCHORAGE, Feb. 12.—Saturday
—Nine hundred and seventy men have
joined the f ederal Labor L mon here.
At a meeting last night a committee
composed ol' Charles Peters, lvt<
Gillovich and Peter Malmet was nam
ed to confer with Hears this after
noon. The conservative element is in
control and the chances for an adjust
ment of the difficulties look very good.
A committee from the executive com
nittee of the Chamber of Commerce
neld a conference with Hears today in
an effort to end the trouble and he
agreed to recommend an increase of
./ages. Several agitators have at
tempted to create trouble but they
were promptly suppressed by the
union. The business men all fa\or an
increase in wages.
A NOTH HR YOl'XG
POINDKXTKR HORN
On Friday last at 4:15 p. rn. a fine
baby boy was born to Mrs. G. Ben
jamin Poindexter. Dr. Romig, the
attending physician, says mother and
child are very well.
GOOD ATTENDANCE
AT TvHE A. B. DANCE
The Attendance at the dance of the
Arctic Brotherhood Saturday evening
was good and a pleasant time was en
joyed, although the number of men
exceeded the number of ladies rather
noticeably.
TO PI T IN LIME
KILN NEXT SPRING
George Laughlin, Tom Hambright
and Merril A. Martin have consolidat
ed their three lime claims. The prop
erty is located near Mile Six and the
consolidators expect to put in a lime
kiln the first thing in the spring
when they will supply the local mar
ket with lime. They think that there
is a large quantity of very good lime
stone in the claims which will he us
ed for building purposes.
COMPLETES CONTRACT
George Laughlin, the Mile Seven
homesteader, was in town today and
reports that he has completed his tie
and telephone contract for the Com
mission, which, however, will not be
turned over till the first of March.
The contract calls for 250 poles and
200 ties.
ALL SECOND CLASS
MAIL IS CLEARED
It may be said that all the second
class mail and parcel post for An
chorage has been cleared out of the
Seward post office and has been sent
speeding on its way,
i