State Historical Society cp
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Two Sections
SIXTEEN PA6ES
VOLUME XX
The Alliance Herald
Adv.
Section One
PAGES 1 TO 8
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY. NEBRASKA I THURSDAY. APRIL 24, IHI3
NUMBER 20
DEATH OF GEO. GADDIS
Prominent, Wealthy Alliance Citizen,
in Temporary Fit of Insanity,
Takes Own Life.
BODY BROUGHT HOME
The body of Geo. D. Oaddis, a
wealthy Box Butte county pioneer
and resident of Alliance, was dis
covered hanging at the end of a
rope from the top of a hay stacker
tax the ranch known as the old Hub
ble ranch, at 6:15 o'clock Wednesday
morning. The ranch Is now owned
by Willis Beck. It is located thirty
one miles south-east of Alliance.
At the coroner's inquest, hekl at
one o'clock yesterday afternoon, a
verdict of suicide was rendered. As
will be shown by the report of the
inquest given below, Mr. Uaddis had
been worrying about his health and
despondency over his sickness was
undoubtedly the cause of his rash
act. He had not an enemy in the
world and was a man who was liked
toy everyone.
There are several buildings group
auto took down the body and after
untying the rope, placed the body
'n the automobile. After question
ing the men Coroner Single called
an inquest, the following men form
in& the jury which was empaneled:
Ernest Hlskett, Paulett; Henry Jones
Ben HolMster, Roy Smith and W. W.
Beck, Orlando; and Ohas. E. Murphy,
lakeside.
The following was the testimony
taken hy the Jury:
Witness Orville Halstead
Q Tell us what you saw this
morning. A. 1 saw Mr. Oaddiie hang
ing to the stacker when I came ovi.
froin Jones' to breakfast.
Q. At what time? A. 6:16.
Q. Did you come in:o the bunk
house and wash? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who were at the table when
..... i !. . ....:... 1.... 4 A
i i.x ii. ..ii ....... i, , "cm. mo CTLint uifllH : n.
which lies two miles from the well
Beck, Howard Beck, Roy
L HIIITTB UUllI III "Til Q ... r.fc,.. w ... , T. .
known Ev. Eldred ranch. Bart of T-' "'"'i"' "
nvn
tlb' buildings are frame and part of
(Ben sod. Mr. Gaddis has been em
ployed as a stock inspector for die
government, working under Dr.
Campbell of Alliance. He drove to
the ranch from Alliance on Monday,
arriving there at 3:10 that afternoon.
He remarked to the boys on the
ranch when he arrived that lie was
very tired. Stock dipping was in op
eration at the vats, which arc about
a half mile from tile main group of
buildings, which are protected on
Un nca'th by a high sand hill which
completely lii.les them from the east
and nor'li.
Mr. Gaddis was a quiet and tac
iturn port of man, talking very little.
The men at the ranch were not
very wel! ctttainted w'.:h him and
noticed nothing out of the way in
his anions. He slept Monday ulgftl
in one of the houses with Lester
Berk who was formerly an Alliance
High s?chool boy. He was rather
talkative that evening, although he
did a great deal of fi-guriiiis in a
no e book. Tuesday he worked all
day and although he seeim d rather
pre-occupied a: times nothing strange
was noticed. Thm stacker on whih
he hung himself stands abou' one
hundred feet away from the group
of buildings, closer to the hill. A
number of cattle had broken into
the enclosure which surrounds the
stacker Tuesday morning about nine
o'clock and one of the men helped
him drive rhem out. At that time
he seemed to be looking rather In
tently at the stacker but nothing
was thought of it. It is very prob
able t hat he thought of his act then.
Tuesday evening at five o'clock as
he passed the harness room wiit.h
his horse he took a heavy rope,
used as a halter rope, with him to
the barn in which his horse was
stabled, presumably to use in 'tying
his horse. This is the rope with
which he killed himself. It was
about eight feet in length. Tuesday
evening he sat iki the bunk house
sitting room with the men, and al
though he talked none he listened
lo them and gave no indication of
what was on his mind. tUa wen.: to
the house iki which he and Lester
Beck slept at about nine o'clock, and
after talking a little they reared.
He undressed as usual, placing his
clothes at the foot of the bed on a
box. Lester did n-jt miss him After
that mi !1 about four o'clock yester
day morning, when. he awoke and
found thut Mr. Gaddis was not in
bed. !s;.r supposed 'that he had
overslept as it was then getting
light.
The men fed their hcrses and did
their chores without no icing any
thing wrong and went to breakfast
at about six o'clock. While they
Q. What did you tell them? A. I
aaked them if they knew that Mr.
Gaddis was hanging to the stacker.
They thought 1 was joking. Then
they ran out and looked.
Q. Did anyone go to the body? A.
No one.
Q. What did they decide to do?
A. To phone from Eldred's to Alli
ance for the officers.
Q. Who went to Eldired's? A. Roy
Smith and Charlie .Murphy.
Witness Roy Smith
Q. Were you in the house when
Orville came in? A. Yes. We all
ran outside and looked. '
Q. Had you been talking about
$2 A- HP, sir.
Q. Were you Wjijj bjtn the evening
befi re? A. Y3, sir.
Q. Where did you sleep? A. At
the other house. (The inquest was
held in i lie main bunk house.)
Q. Had you no! iced anything out
of the crdinary with him? A. No,
sir.
Q. Was he here two nights? A.
Yes, air.
Q. Did he appear about the same
both nights? A. Yes, air.
Q. Where did Gaddis get the rope?
A. From the saddle room.
Q. What is it used for? A. To
tie up the horses.
Q. Did he need the rope to tie
the mare with? A. Not thai! I know
of.
Q. At what time did he get the
rope? A. Five o'clock
Q. Had he said anything to indi
cate his intention? A. No, sir.
Q. Was he worried last night? A.
Well, he was quiet. He is naturally
quiet.
Q. Did he eat supper? A. Yes,
but he Is not a hearty eater.
Q. Was he looking at the stacker
yesterday? A. There was a cow in
mere, tie seemed afraid of her. I
ran the cow out. He stood there
locking at the stacktr --north.
Q. Wht! time was that? A. Ten
o'clock in the morning.
Witness Lester Beck
Q. Were you in bed when Mr. (iad
dis came to the house last even
Ins? A. No, sir. I was waiting for
him. He came to the door. It is
always hard to open, and I sprang
forward to help him open it, but he
get it open first. He eaid, "How do
you do." I answered. He was snif
fing. I said, "You have a severe
cold, Mr. Gaddis." He said, "Yes, I
have caught cold."
Q. Was he gone when you woke
UP? A. Yea, ht was gone.
Q. What time was that? A. Day
light.
Q. W! time was daj slit? A.
Abcut four o'ciook.
(J. Was. the bed where he had
were i . i ' i . a tww hv Mi.- mime nf I
Orville Halsuad, who had stayed ov- ,euf w-nn? A. I did not notice. I
er night with a family by the nanu ; -nouKiw tie naa (rone to break fa et
any bearing whatever on his suicide
was a clipping whleh he had cut
from The Alliance Herald of last
week, and which be had placed in
a receipt book in one of his pockets:
What's the Us
"You enter this world without
your consent. You go thru life with
out getting what you want, and you
leave it whether you are ready or
not.
"When you are a helpless babe,
the women all kiss you; and when
you are grown, up they won't recip-
rocrate.
"If you save money, the trusts get
It. If you are poor, people blame
you; If you are rich they envy you.
If you are religious they call you a
hypocrite; If you are not, they say
you are damned. If you spend your
money they call you a fool; If you
save it they call you stingy. If you
are pleasant they call you a Jollier;
if you are not, they call you a
grouch.
"Just because I send you this post
card you say I ain too mean to buy
a two-cent stamp or too lazy to
write a letter, so
WHAT IS THE USE."
Mr. Gaddis leaves a host of sor
rowing friends to mourn his death
and to find some comfort In the fact
that his constant brooding over 111
health probably unbalanced his mind.
Death was undoubtedly Instantaneoiuy
tils neca being broken by the fall
so that he endured no suffering.
The following article, taken from
The Alliance Herald of April 8, 1904,
gives a part of his life's history and
an account of his settling in Box
Butte county. He had not been liv
ing on his 3,000 acre ranch Just
south of town for a couple of years.
having resided in Alliance since rent
ing it. The value of his estate is
estimated at from $60,000 to $76,000.
Mr. Gaddis united with the Meth
odist church last summer and had
been a constant, thorough Christian
man. He had followed the teachings
of the churcii and lived a clean.
straight life.
Following Is the article referred
to:
Geo. D. Gaddis
(From AlliaiK e II. raid. , il 8, 1904.
".Mr. Gaddis was born in McLean
county, 111.. May 2, 1859. Owing to
ill health he sought life invigorating
atmosphere of western Nebraska
with beneficial results In the year
1885. Not only did he recover hi
health, but he prospered in other
ways. Mr. Gaddis filed on a home
stead three and one-half miles south
west of Hemlngtford m the fall of
1885, settling thereon the following
spring- After a residence of several
years thereon, where he prospered,
a change was made ta the prese.it
location. His ranch contains 1,1 It
acres of valuable deeded lund, and
is stocked with 250 head of Durham
cattle and a fine bunch of horses.
While prospering in a financial way,
Mr. Gaddis was called upon to suf
fer a loss moat painful in being sep
arated from his helpmate, who died
March 30, 1901. He? was united in
marriage to this estimable lady, Miss
Mary E. Andrews. In 188il. To lb m
were bcrn three children, two of
whom prereded their mother to the
immortal world. One son died in
1887 at the aw of three and one
half ycni'., and another bey of the
same age departed this life in 1 s!4
While deprived of these jewels of
his household Mr. Gaddis realizes
'.ha such Is life and that all must
sooner or later respond to the call
of the invisible power which holds
the destiny in the palm of his om
nipotent hand. With a spirit pos
sensed by the true man, the subject
of this sketch pushed on in life's
duties, ever remembering that th;.--
world belongs to the living, and
with this noble inspiration. In lias
won a lnrgt circle of friends.
Apiil I, ItOt, Mr Gaddsl again
took unto himself a wife in the es
timable person of Miss He-He ('
Steele, and this happy couple haw
since resided on the ranch which Is
known today as a most hospitable
home, where friends find a pleasant
place to vlei't. This ranch, with Its
commod'ous home aud other improv
nienfs, is an honor to the stock rais
ing section of Nebraska."
neno. going east The horse has
been raced a number of times on
tne Alliance track and is well known
t i . - .
ii ua n wire cut from shoulder to
nip and 1b otherwise marked.
Micrirr rni t ox went east on 44
Tuesday noon, bound for Wi.i i
where he hoped to Intercept Herry,
wm u cniignt with the horse, will
be returned here charged with horse
stealing. It Is not known what the
onarge is on widen the Berry woman
It wanted In Oklahoma City. The
tetter received Sunday reads a ri
lows;
.Oklahoma City, Okls., Apr. 16. II
To the Chief of Police.
Alliance, Nebr.
Dear Sir: I am endeavoring to lo
cate tt certain Mrs. Edna Berry, and
I have Information leading me to be-
lwre that she is now in Alliance;
i tease sne was mere a week or
two ago, probably In the company
of a woman by the name of Anna
Neill.
I will be greatly obliged to you If
you win Inform me If Mrs. Herry Is
now. or has been, at any resort In
your city, or for any other Informa
tion in regard to her which you may
be able to give me. Of course. It
Is needles to say that I do not
wish the lady to know that any in
quiry haB been made In reference
to her, as she would probably take
alarm and flee to some other local
ity. A telegram was sent to Mrs.
Berry at Alliance about three or
four weeks ago, and the address can
be obtained without doubt from the
Western Union office. I shall be
under obligations to you If you will
write me at your earliest conveni
ence all that you can learn of tin
party mentioned. There may be
something doing later on. Verv truly,
H. F. Butler.
Thompson Here
Harry L. Thompson, representing
the wholesale department of the
Schnioller & .Mueller Piano Company
of Omaha, arrived in Alliance Friday
morning and started a piano sale
that has been going with a bang
ever since. Ab will be noted by the
immense four-page advertisement in
.his issue of The Herald this sale
is to last ten days. The Herald Job
department has had its bands full
since Mr. Thompson's arrival, getting
out full sheet poster, s pas - el.idgers,
tend circulars of different kinds.
what Mr. Thompson has the ability
and knows how to get the business
ii nlen: oust rated by the fact that he
closed elenls for thrt?e Instruments
on Saturday, the first day of the big
sale. He has had fifteen years' ex
perience with the big manufacturing
firm of Schnioller & Mueller and Is
an expe rt at closing sales. He says
that backed with the twenty-three
different lines of pianos which they
carry, he can get the business every
time. His advertising is of a strik
ing nature and attracts attention
lierever seen. He will be In Alli
ance during the bnlan a of the sale,
at the piano salesrooms of Mr?. Ida
Mi Robs, local agent for Schnioller
& Mueller. Mr Th mpson Is an old
acquaintance of Lloyd, having work
ed together when both were employ
ed by Schnioller & Mueller eight
years ago.
King Operated on
Wm King, who was taken serious
ly sick last week with ptomaine pois
oning, which later developed Into ap
pendicitis, was operated on at the
hospital this morning at ten o'clock.
At the time this is writen, two o'
ele .k, he is getiting along well and
it is believed that he will recover.
LEGISLATORS ADJOURN
Hon. Earl D. Mallery, Box Butte
County's Representative, Returns
from State Capital. 1
NEW LAWS ENACTED
Notice to Odd Fellows,
Ecampment, Rebeccas
HORSE THIEF SKIPS
Woman Takes Auto to Reno, Catch
es Train for East. Man
Rides Horse
On next Sunday evening he mem
bers of the above lodges and their
families will meet at the I. O. O. F.
hall in Alliance at seven o'clock, for
'.he purpose of attending a sermon
to be preached at the Christian
church by Hev. F. A. Woten, In
commemoration of the H7.h annivers
ary cf the founding of the Order in
America. Regaliu will be worn.
By request of the officers of the
lodges.
of Jones, living near, arrived for bin
bre Jkfas; end noticed the body swing
ing in the high wind, hanging from
he top of the stacker. As shown
In- his testimony, he wient Into the
Q What time was breakfast?
About six o'clock.
0. What time did he go to bed?
A A: nine o'clock.
Quct!onii)g of o-her rtWHM de
went to the eating house and s aid to
the men eating, who were Willis
Beck, Howard Book, Koy Smith, Ben
HoUlister and Charley Murphy, "Do
you know that Mr (iaddis is ban.:
Ing to tihe stacker?-' They thought
he was joking at first, as they sup
posed Mr. Gaddis to be t-iill In bed.
He persisted, however, and they all
ran out to where the i-.'a:-ker could
be seen and found that he was teil
ins the truth They Immediately
went to the gate near the stacker,
but no one came within probably M
!-. of the body, which hung tin -re
until the auto contatniuK Ciroiwr
Staple, Sheriff Cox. Lincoln Lowry
and Lloyd C. I'll. nn. arrived ftom
Alliance, get ing there ten minutes
af :- twelve o'clock. There was no
photic cn the ranch and two of the
bunk house, washed h!i hands, then " '"P'' 'be fact ;h; be tod talke d
i "t Mii anernooii -ibo-.it the oor
health which he Mffered, how he
had gone to California and it had
done him no ge,e d, and how he
irared that it would ( impel him to
give up Ma present 01 -upation. It
also developed- that he had walked
up and down outside the buildings
fc-r seme time in the evenings.
The following verdict whs trough;
in by the jury: "We, the Jury, find
:ba' Oio. U. Oaddls cutiu to his
dei-th by hit- own hand by hanging
h im-c T to he bay stacker at 11 k':.
ranch, on leetioa :u. townvhla It.
range 1",, Uarden i-oun'y, on the
ntorn'1 r. f A, r.l -'lid, i?ia."
No Messag: Left
A sad and s rang.- fa t was thue
no ferewell meoaKi iu left fi-i-nils
or loved oiie4 A!th )ugh ha hud
CAPTURE
EXPECTED
SOON
Notice to M. W. A.
All members of Box Burte Camp
No. li'i. Modern Woodmen of Amei
icu, are requested, to meet at the
M B. A. hall at 1 p.m., Saturday.
April 2-jth, to attend in a body the
funeral of Neighbor George OaddV.
W. R. HARPER. Counsel
1
&. lggggBgBHgglgirKgLH
HON. EARL D. MALLERY
Hon. Earl D. Mallery, better known ' Qmres scnooi noaro to r-r.nr eju
iu Alliance and Box Hutle county us 'n'1' for coining year to county clerk
plain "Earl", wMhout any prefixeB or at PHch an,",al '"Wing. Ktnergency.
nthr ,.m ,t,..,,c m,i H R- by Banks-Ratification of
, . , . '. , . i the federal constitution amendment
ii. in i,iic mo
where he spent the
winter In attendance at the state
legislature as represents! ve from the
73rd district, composed of Box Hutte
and Sheridan counties. He went to
Lincoln last winter with the dete-rm
lnatjon to make a good record, and
we guess he succeeded better than
a good many other me -mbers. Kiank
for th direct election of United
State's senators.
8. F. 24. by Hoagland of lauc-astsr
-Reci ulres double-shift firemen's serv
ice In city of Lincoln.
H. R. !2. b Norton 'Proposes a con
st it utlonal amendment to permit re
form of state tax system, reading as
follows The rules of taxation shall
ly, the work of the present Nebras-: ' any given e-iass ana
ka legislature was not altogether sat- tax," Bha11 '"' lavfed upon such prop
lsfactory to The Herald, and we b tTtt as the legislature shall prescribe.
Heve to the people of the stale gen T..rs may he Imposed on Incomes,
erally; but the shortcomings of tbelnriVlleKi occupations, which
legislature as a whole should no ht
Charged up to dndivWlual ineuibi rs
who did their duty.
tni's may be graduated and progres
sive, and reasonable exemptions may
b- provided, ii addition to those hcre-
The thirty-third session of tbe Ne- ! Inafter speelflcalll mentioned in See-,
braska legislature adjourned sine die t e n 2 of t!:iu att'c'.e"
shortly before midnight. April 21. A S. V II hv BartHnawA mdwMm
complete list of the new enactments
follows:
Bills Signed by Governor.
H. R. 152. by Jeary Miscellaneous
amendments to the Lincoln city char
ter
fan : all bill. Strikes the word "spott-
li g" out or anti-Sunday amendment
rtstule; tptioUlenlly permits baseball
In a vlllsge or city when a majority
of the nr. . iiKKsliig an opinion
On the question f.o votp,ir In a county.
Sunday afternoou the chief of po
lice received the following letter
from Oklahoma Ci'y. Okia.. winch is
self explanatory. After if was re
ceived he IcJatcd thj; woman VbO
l i s living with a man claiming te,
Mr. herry, in a house In the east
part of towa. The cjuple learned
that he v. as c oining to 'he house.
The nan jumped thru a window and
ran. The WCOUS fH from 'he noise i llox Butte and Sheridan counties aud
. nied livery autoiin bile and wen 1 the north part-of Morrill and (iarden
in it to Reno, where she aught the j counties are requested to call a: The
firi.t .i. ii. -i t . nd has no: be. n lo Herald office, or write us, before
taed Since. giving notice of their intention lo
ine tiiau. wno !s cits rlbcd as b
Notice to Kinkaiders
ti caaeeicaders in the south imir f
H. R. 83. hv Anderson eif Keari.eir ''' t!l" corporate limits, when the
Make-s the state treasurer, instead of C" ' ,v h "" 11 h vo,er Ktnergency.
a New York city bank, the fiscal agent V b ,24' by Bu,hM i'- rmitsstate
of the state, at whose office all state iM ,rt K,,hu1 distric t, to ,nnln.
and local bonds are payable; New., t"'" a "'"'"n (preeent
York hank retained as fiscal agent for ta hv' 1 : but not more than
outstanding bonds where payme nt is c u " ol a' h t,tstll t Wm re-
elready sp. e lfied iu New York; treus- vUe a,d 1,1 ' :' h at least
urer may charge city, village or t1fa Ueg (formerly
county expens.-s of bond and interest nu,u,l, I ' -rlble xpoWM $375
paynienu. (formerly 27,
II K 5, by Mc KlssIck and Schaupp 8 F l2 bv BusheeProvides that
Permlta expenditure of inheritance miy c!t'l'k of cmmty hereln Is a
ta. fund for anv road liinu-eux .1 , ' J1 1 n """ ''ct Sha II
men Roy SniKb and Charley Murphy, dreebed biUself fully, tying Ins , k
rode l,crbak to the Kldr.d ra- h t io and kno' -ng his b , mile, r, hie a
;,fceP.ng to Alliance. rruIMl ,li8 I1V(.k ,ft
Immediately after arii n :t, t he.,, i. ,( .
ranch the four men who came in h. ti , , i. ,.. " . . aly by this man. who is said to
1 " f ,u" ""' l nsvejhiive beer. E-en riding It Mondi-y a
in- tall and wearing a light hat,
eaugl-' train No 42 golnx east Sun
da iii'ih- but was located by Spec.nl
Night Deputy Charlee Hill, win, bed
'ie train stopped. The man jumpi I
off, ran (net the viaduct going south.
a::el althon- h Deputy Hill fired in
'he air a i ouple- of times to stop
him, h- ran on south and escaped.
Svnday nixbt a horse belonging to
Krink I'alm. r was ,:o!e u, prenum
Bo final prnof. An experienced
Uiau will make out your papers free
of charge and guarantee them to b.
eorree t Keacle is of this paper who
have neighbors that expect to make
final proof the coming summer are
requested to call their attention to
(his reeiuest, as It may otherwise es
cape their notice.
Jak Burns 's improving rapidly
Hit friends were greatly worried the
first of the wee-'- his ooadl n
va Serb-
(former law only for permanent im-
proventeat); repeals reimirement that
gueh improvement be-gin at corpotaie
limits of some 'ity; allows counties
of less than .). Onn population to use
fnnd for fanprovemfent of any cut, fill or
highway (fameHjf under 30,onni.
letting of contraot by competitive bids
not required in such cases. Emer
gency. H. R. t, by Brain Provide that
dvertisi-ineiit of ele ction for issuance
of sewer bov.de may be by posting tour
Placard in promlueut plae es, in case
village, has no newspaper. Kiner-
gelic.V.
H. R. 197, by llollen - Provides pro-
Cedure for condninatleu of laud for
use of state institutions or state fair,
governor to appoint six appraisers.
Emergency.
H. R v by Wood l' milts a maxl-1
mum school levy of ilili ty-t1 mills
Instead of tw. nty-fLe nillls. and re
certify aino- nt of taxable property
inereln to county clerk of county
sybarein ecboe l house- is located.
8. F. I&U, by Hoagland cf Lancaster
K-PttrrMM ft i an excise board In Lin
coln, under commission form of gor
on.inent. L'niergency.
ii W. II. b) ILishee Provides penal
ties fur diverting or otherwise inter
ferlpg with au Irrigation canal.
H. R. 2M. by Croiiln - Appropriates
N P r ce nt of one-nfth mill state and
bridge levy, HM3-1915.
S P. 2. by Smith Levies a 2 per
cent tax upon the gross earnings of
all express companies on interstate
business.
H. R. 8, by Potts Appropriates $20,
ki for Incidental expenses of slate
legislature Kinergency.
H R. . by Potts Appropriates
$12Unio for the salaries of the legis-ktv-.
tL--.c.-.:-.-'j-v.
(Continued on lage Kive.)