The Ardmore Statesman and Weekly Ardmoreite from Ardmore, Oklahoma • 4

THE ARDMORE STATESMAN and WEEKLY AJtDMOREITtt Thursday, January 7th, 1926 rouR TOM MATHEWS, SURVEYOR OSAGE KILLINGS THE ARDMORE STATESMAN AND WEEKLY ARDMOREITE REVIEW OF THE TRAGEDIES, AND INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THEM GRAPHICALLY TOLD GREGORY AND POLK, Owners and Publishers. 'U 1 1 E. L. GREGORY Editor KELSEY II. POLK Business Manager Watered as second-class matte January 18, at the postoflic at Ardmore, Oklahoma, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1879.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES. Oeu Year $.150 Six months 75c Charles W. Clay, who has been county surveyor of Carter county for so long that no one except himself remembers exactly when he first took the office, has resigned and the county commissioners have selected Tom Mathev-s, who was recently appointed county engineer, to fill the position. Mr. Clay has surveyed the location of thousands of oil wells in this and adjacent counties, which has been a large part of his work since 1913, when the Healdton field was opened- Recently the Brock field has been extended to cover a large amount of land he owned adjacent to it, and he now has over 29 producing wells thereon, hence can not longer be bothered with the trifling details of the county surveyors office, it is presumed.

Mathews is a splendid engineer, and a man of standing and integrity, and his selection will meet with Keneral approval. his wife and the servant girl. When all of the details of the I reign of terror are made public, it will reveal the fact that the information which led to the confession of the secret witness was a member of the Oklahoma legislature. First Theory Is Scouted When officers were given this information they did not place much credence in it and it was some time before an attempt was made to talk to this man. lie first told about another man helping in the murder of the Indians.

But he mentioned several times that some accused him of being implicated in the murders but I was in jail at the time he would say- Finally officers became suspicious. One officer took him away by himself and after talking to him, he confessed to taking part in the murders and told the whole story. Th is man (Bert Lawson) can neither read nor write. He was brought to Oklahoma City and held in the city jail here for a few days and then taken to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan. nounced.

Last March the attorney generals office announced that a court of inquiry would be held at Pawhuska and chaigeg filed against the guilty arsons. This was suddenly c.il td off iiccause of pcirature publicity, it was announced. In the latter of .923 Charles Whitehorn, a relatives of Anna Brown, was found in a pool of blood on a hill on the outskirts of Pawhuska. Two months later George Big-heart, son of the last hereditary chief of the Osage, was taken ill. He was brought to Oklahoma City to a hospital- He was accompenied by W.

K. Hale, wealthy ranchman, and Ernest Burkheart, his nephew, who married a sister of Anna Brown. Indian Attorney I Dead While in the hospital here his attorney Charlie Vaughn, consulted with him. The Indian died the next day, and on the next morning the body of Vaughn, clad only in underclothing. was found along the M.

K. and T. right-of-way near Peish ing. A coroners jury reached the verdict that he met death either from a fall from the train or by being assaulted and thrown off. The incident that followed this threw the Osage country into a panic and brought on an earnest investigation.

It was the night of May 21 that the secret witness (Bert Lawson) walked from a jail in the Osage country and went to the W. E. Smith home in Farifax and dynamited that home, killing Smith and WANT MORE LIKE HIM REXROAT GOES EAST Rav Howard, chemist in the Ford Motor Co. at Dearborn, ifnd son of Mr. and Mrs.

R. A. Howard, of this city, has returned to Dearborn from his vacation with his parents here in Ardmore. While here he learned that the Ford Motor Co. had written to the president of the Texas A and M.

College, of which Howard is an alumnus, that it would like to have him send them two more men, if le could, of the Ray Howard type. Hon. U. T. Rexroat has gone to Philadelphia on business connected with the Cesqui-centennial, of whien coming exposition he is the vice president of the Oklahoma YOU TOO CAN RECEIVE CASH DIVIDENDS BUSINESS OUTLOOK From all sources, and from every direction, the reports agree, that the outlook for business in this country is most encourageing.

With the exception of parts of Texas and Oklahoma which suffered severely from last summer's drouth, crops have been good, and have brought good prices. The live stock industry has done better than for several years, especially in the corn belt of the country where hogs are so largely raised; beef stock has sold at advanced prices, as has also grain. In spite of the big crop produced, cotton has held up well in price. All sorts of hay crops have brought, and are bringing good returns, altho the crop is short in the drouth sections. So tha1; in the agricultural belt of the country, the outlook is more than ordinarily good.

The industrial and mineral-producing sections also report prosperous business, and the merchondise trade has been good. These, in outline, are the reports coming from all directions, and on these accomplishments the prediction of a prosperous year is based by all writers on the subject, led by Herbert Hoover, secretary of commerce, in the presidents cabinet. Locally we felt the effect of the severe drouth of last summer, yet our hanks have closed the year with an excellent showing of improved condition, loans being materially reduced, and cash balances much higher than a year ago. All of this is stimulating, and should start the country off with renewed courage on the undertakings of the new year. Of course there are exceptions to the general rule such always exist no matter prosperous the community generally may he.

WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH IT? The quarterly statments published in this issue of the Statesman show that each of our hanks have a stimulating surplus of funds on hand; it is one of the best statements they have been able to make for some time. Loans are lower, cash on hand and available more abundant. Now the editor of this paper knows a lot more about the banking business from in front of the counter, than he does from behind it. But it appears to us that the banks of Ardmore are given a fine opportunity to lend a strong hand to the development of the city, its business and its enterprises, and to the agricultural interests of the county including expansion of the live stock industry, as well as the raising of crops. It is our judgment that there is a fine field for expansion in the business of dairy farming.

It has made other communities and states prosperous, and all authorities we have consulted, or read, agree that our soil, climate and available market are most favorable for the expansion of this branch of agricultural industry. But it will require a certain amount of financial backing to develop it, and we believe the hanks of the city can safely get behind such an undertaking. We have heard complaints from crop-raising farmers of difficulty they are meeting in securing necessary financial aid. Again admitting our lack of knowledge of the banking business, we beg to call attention to the fact that banking in Ardmore previous to the discovery of oil deposits in our country, was based chiefh on the business of the farmers; and during all these years there was never a hank failure, and stock in hanks" was then regarded as the best and safest form of investment. Our hanks then practically always paid good dividends, the county prospered, and the city grew.

We sincerely hope the hanking institutions of today will find it possible to extend all needed, and deserved credit to our agricultural classes, for they are as they always have been, and always will be the bone and sinew of our countrys industries. Farmers have had some extremely hard times, since the late war. but things appear to have become nearly normal again, and that occupation is practically certain to resume its place that of the safest and soundest business of the country. Hence if it needs help, it should have help, from those whose business it is to render aid for a reasonable consideration. And we believe they will readily do so.

Then there is another field in which our hanks can help to a considerable degree; and that is, in extending conservatively liberal aid to the numerous small manufacturing industries that have sprung up in our com-muity. But we will have more to say about them a little later on; they are an important feature in our citys It is probable that the developments in the murder cases in the Osage Nation during 1922 and 1923, will take up a large place in the news of the day in Oklahoma for some time. As the Statesman has neter carried a compilation of the events connected with these tragedies, it reproduces below a clipping from a veiy comprehensive history of these crimes, which appeared in the Sunday Oklahoman of January 3rd, last. Therein is recited the various murders, suspicious incidents and some account of the efforts made both by the state and the national governments to unearth the perpetrators of the crimes, which, taken in conjunction with the story in another column of the present proceedings in both state and federal courts, will enable the Statesmans reauers to keep up with the details of the trials that are sure to come, as they develop from week to week. The clipping from the Oklahomans story reads as follows: The reign of terror in the Osage Nation was not given the prominence at the time it was under way that it now has assumed, due to the fact that no one at the time realized what was taking place.

Among those who are to be charged with the murder of the Indians are several former county officials. It was ealy in 1922 that Anna Brown, wealthy Osage Indian of Grayhorse, was found dead in a secluded canyon on Three-Mile creek east of Fairfax- Her body was in a badly decomposed condition, and there was a bullet hole in the top of her head, ranging downward. Second Murder Stirs County The conclusion was that she had been murdered. An extensive investigation was made of this killing but no one was able to trace the killing to any particular person. It was about six weeks later that the Osage country was stirred by another killing.

This time it was Henry Roan, a cousin of Anna Brcrwn. This explanation should be made; The original estate of the Brown family was in Lizzie Q. Brown. She was an old woman and died suddenly, but little significance was attached to this, because of her, age. She had two daughters.

"Henry Roan was killed in i pasture belonging to Sol Smith Roan had been seen three days previously in Fairfax and left for home in the face of a snowstorm. He had been shot in the head and the body was frozen when it was found. Another Mysterous Death It was only a few days until William Simpson, an Indian, who wa5 a close associate of Henry Roan, died under mysterious circumstances. It was presumed that he had died from alcoholic poisoning- Ho ii id been at the home of a wealthy ranchman a short time before his death. This was followed by the death of Anna Sanford, known as Big Anna.

She took suddenly ill and died a short time later. Her doalh was followed by that of Mrs- W. E. Smith and several others followed in quick succession. it is not probable that a'l of these were the result of the operation to annihilate the Brown de-cendants but it never has been determined just what relation all of of these murders had.

It was at this time that a series of investigations were held by federal, state and county (officers. They were unable to weave a web of evidence that would warrant the returning of indictments by a grand jury. They always ran into the alibi of the accused man who was in prison at the time the murders took place. Citizen Are Aroused Osage county citizens became aroused and this resulted in an appeal to Governor Walton for assistance in cleaning up the mystery and stopping the reign of terror. Herman Fox Davis was sent to Pawhuska to work on the cases -Davis now' is serving a life term in the state penitentiary for the killing of Paul McCarthy, former city at torney.

Davis had not been there long until he was discovered to be taking bribes and he was convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years in the state penitentiary. He later was pardoned and it was after being pardoned that he was convicted in the McCarthy case. Another joint investigation was lannrhed by federal and state operatives but no results were an For Your January Funds -An Investment You May Depend On THE preferred stock dividends of this Company have always been baid regularly, without interruption, ever since the organization of the Company. Here is a record sufficient in itself to inspire investment confidence. It means much to everyone interested in placing their funds where they will be safe and at the same time yield a good rate of return.

You know this company and the quality of its management you are in a position to obtain complete information about it and to form your own judgment. You have seen the number of home shareholders increase steadily year after year. WE WOULD LIKE EVERY CUSTOMER TO BE A SHAREHOLDER You are welcome at our office whether you come to invest $5 or larger sums; whether you come to inquire for information regarding investments, or to make a suggestion. Some of your friends are pretty sure to be among our shareholders. Ask them what they thing about the investment.

ASK FOR ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET OKLAHOMA GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY Care of CONSUMERS LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY J. F. OWENS, Vice-President and Gen. Mgr. Our countys law department has been very busy in the repair shop during the past week, due to break-downs in its reent grand jury venture.

We sincerely hope it will have time to look over, and consider, soon, the constructive features suggested in that bodys final report. Politics start next week Friday, with the precinct meetings of the dominent party; well, it will be somewhat of a relief to see the scene change from the court house to the election booths! Come on. Otjen and Wentz; the first of January has passed, let us hear from you! Jack has resumed his old position again, out at Ileald-ton; i. e. back of the lines.

THIS COMPANY HAS MORE THAN 6,000 SHAREHOLDERS.