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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1920)
THE ALLIANCE IIKRALD, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1920. Comment-and Discomment A day or so ago, In a aerlous mo Dent, we discussed J4thls column tbe Cole and GrammVp eii, and the effort of certain misguided people and aome others to eave the worth less Uvea of two men whom the courts' had decided should die for the murder In cold blood of Grandma Volght, whose only crime was that be had money. Incidentally, we paid our respects to the Society for tbe Suppression of Capital Punishment In Nebraska, which Issued a lot of publicity stuff, unsigned and bearing other erldence that it came from those Interested In tbe case. We said a number of other things, And our remarks seem to have been felt In certain quarters. We bare receired a letter from Louis A. Greg ory of Lincoln, Neb., whom we re member as a regular contributor to newspapers by way of the letter route. We'll be perfectly fair with Mr. Gregory, and print his letter in full: "LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. 30, 1920. Editor, Alliance Herald: The clip- plnah show that your recent article about Cole and Grammer deals as carelessly with the facts of the case as It does with the lives of two boys who have never had a fair hearing. "Both Cole and Grammer had been thoroughly debauched by whiskey, drugs, and clgaretta, which were sold to them In defiance of the law, and at the time of the crime, Cole at least was maudlin from liquor. "The wife of Grammer, referred to here, is the daughter of the woman who was killed. Dors not that make your appeal for sympathy for the family of the victim rather ridicu lous. Mrs. Grammer has spent every thing she has and done all she can to help her husband, and has not given up in spite of even vicious op position. "Facts and reason agree that tak ing human life, even by a supposed ly legal process, tends to Increase murder. Mexico Is an excellent ex ample of the fact that people do not hold life sacred, if the state does not. I lived there for a time and know there la no place where murder Is more frequent, yet there is no place on this continent where capital pun ishment is more frequently invoked "I have barely seen these men and have no Interest in this, except the good of the state. "Sincerely, "LOUIS A. GREGORY. 0 VERTEBRAL ADJUSTMENT is no universally helpful in both acute and chronic conditions of III health that It Is Impossible in a small space like this to tell you the many cases to which It Ib adaptable. Call and ask us about the bene ficial results of CHIROPRACTIC and let us explain to you what ad justments will do in youT case. Annie G. Jeffrey CHIROPRACTOR Gradunte Talnier School Wilson Block Alliance, Nebr. Don't Put Off Getting lined up on that Caloric Furnace Prices are uncertain. To see us now may save you money. Proper installation, to se cure circulation, with a good heavy furnace fully guaranteed by us and the manufacturer, land a cool basement ifor vegetables, makes the Caloric Pipe less certain. UN HARDWARE CO. PROMPT AND COURTEOUS SERVIC3 Mr. Gregory's first point la thru two boys have never had a fair hearing. It Is true that down in Howard county, where thev knpw Grandma Volgt, the citizens were pretty well worked up, and that they talked lynching. Incidentally. It i. cases like this, where the law is no' rigidly enforced, that breeds lynch ing parties. If the people of Howard county had had any Idea that years would elapse before these men we object to that sob-sister term, "boys" paid the penalty for their crime, there might have been more than talk of a lynching. But the counsel for the defense had the right, when the Jury was se lected, to challenge every man in the box, and tbef exercised that right. The law provides plenty of oppor tunity for the defense to secure an Impartial Jury and the lawyers of the defendants were no fools their subsequent conduct shows that. Why not drop this ridiculous talk of an unfair trial? The lawyers defend ing these murderers have appealed to every court that could entertain an appeal, and the higher courts have passed on the fairness of the trial. Their ' decision satisfies us, whether it does Mr. Gregory or not. Mr. Gregory says that these mur derers had been "thoroughly de bauched by whisky, drugs and cig arettes," and pleads this in extenua tion. Our statement was that there were no extenuating circumstances no sudden blow In anger; no head muddled with wine simply a mur der of a defenseless woman in cold biood. We do not believe that when a man plans a murder when he is sober, even to the smallest detail, the fact that he takes a drink or two of whisky to nerve him to do the work Is an extenuating circumstance, and if it were Mr. Gregory's mother, we fancy he would not welcome a plea by tire murderer that he would n't have done it if sober. What could be more ridiculous than a plea that cigarettes, for instance, were re sponsible for the crime? Another point or two, and we have done. We do not appeal for sym pathy for the family of the victim. We cannot sympathize with Mrs. Grammer, the daughter of the mur dered woman, because, according to the definition of the term, only those who have gone through with a sim ilar experience can sympathize. Mr. Gregory is inaccurate we pleaded for pity for the family of the victim and they need it, whether they want It or not. Mrs. Grammer may be'eonvinced that her husband is in nocent and if her eyes were not blinded, and she could truly weigh the evidence presented to the Jury, it, is possible that she might still stand by him. In cases of this kind, there are al ways some members of the. family who stand by the criminal. We do not condemn them that Is their privilege. There never was a mur derer bo brutal that he did not find someone to fight for him. Mrs. Grammer standing by her husband makes a pathetic picture but It did not touch the Jury, who were sober minded men with families. To them the more pathetic picture was that of Grandma Volght, murdered for money. We now come to the question of Mexico, and the effect of capital pun ishment there. Mr. Gregory's por tion is amusing, as it is the fir Ume we have heard anyone refer to the scrappy little country across the Rio Grande to prove anything. His reference to Mexico as an argument against capital punishment reminds us of the way old Uncle Billy Lakln got out of a tight hole. Uncle Billy was the self-appointed weather prophet of our town as long as he lived. He had some system for telling when it was going to rain as we remember it, if the carpet on his parlor floor raised up about so high, it was a sure sign, and he had other infallible means of beating the weather man to It. Two or three times, In dry years, he guessed right, and it went to his head. Every time there was a dry spell he'd consult hjs oracles and bring the result t the newspapers to be published. There came a lone dry spellsev eral weeks of it and the farmers were beginning to worry. Uncle Billy came to the rescue, finally, and forecasted a rain for a certain Mon day. Unfortunately, it failed to ar rive. Tuesday passed, and no rain. So did Wednesday and Thursday. Uncle Billy came to town on Friday, and the first man he met hopped on to him. "Where's your rain?" he was asked. And right there Uncle Billy showed that he was a diplomat. "I didn't say where it was going to rain," he said, with painful dig nity. "I said it would rain Monday and it did. Down In Indlanny they had three inches; In Texas they had five Inches, and on the east coast of Jay-pan, they bad a reg'lar cloudburst." Mr. Gregory should get a little nearer home. There Is no civilized government in Mexico, worthy of the name, and therefore the executions Mr. Gregory speaks of are murders. Instead of proving his contention, he Spring Improvements j Already many building operations have commenced i mspite of the earliness of the season With the opening tip of Spring we expect all kinds of permanent improvements to be made on every hand. The forward movement of the City cf Alliance and Box Butte County is practically unquestioned. New Homes and Business Houses will be counted by the scores, possibly by the hundred. While this unusual development is going on is the ideal time for you to fall In line. No doubt you have been contemplating some im provements about your place a new porch, a new barn, a new garage or shed something, at least. Why not take the matter into your own hands and build you a new home of your own? You probably need th place now, and it will be many months before building material can come down. Let Vs Help You We are able to offer you assistance in many ways and we are only too glad to do so. If you are contemplating making any improve ment, no matter how large or how small, kindly give us the pleasure of offering you our best advice. Dierk's Lumber Co. P. W. HARGARTEN, Mgr. PHONE 22 ALLIANCE, NEBRASKA PbMic Sale or FARM LANDS The Sale Takes Place at the Court House in Rushville, Nebraska Tuesday, Feb. 10, 1920 at 2 o'clock P. M. The land to be included consists of the SEV4 of the NW, the NE of the SW, the SWVi of the SWV4, the SEV4 of the SW, of section 29; lots 1 and 2 and the Ey2 of the NWV4, and lots 3 and 4 and the EV of the SW, SE of section 30, all in township 32 north, Range 46 W, 6th P M., Sheridan County, Nebraska, which lies about four and one half miles northwest of Hay Springs and is known as the Redmond Hand farm. The above described land will be sold as a whole or in parcels. Practically all of this land is tillable. Good house and outbuildings. All fenced. TERMS: This land will sold on the 10th day of February, 1920, at 2 p. m. at the court house in Rushville, Neb., upon the following terms : One-half cash, deferred pay ments in five years from date of sale, secured by first mortgage, 6 per cent per annum, tax free clause, 5 years. For particulars write or inquire of DR. O. J. HAND, Alliance Neb. JOE HAND, Crawford, Neb. R. M. BRUCE, Rushville, Neb. 3 (Continued on Page 7.)