St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-05
Two Young Men of Montana
the SlayerS OF the Wad-
ding Birds.
Gut When Put Under Oath
They Forgot They Had
Done 1t.
rhey Are Sent to State Prison
for Eight Years for
Perjury.

manner Ill WHICH lie sung praises vi lilG
combination dish, says the Helena,
Mont, correspondent of the Chicago
Times, but had he kept up his song for
years he could not have done more to
add renoWn to the goose as bird OF
FOOD than two Montana men have done.
Four geese, alleged to have been highly
domesticated and polite, have cost Gas
cadc county over $500. More than this,
Frank Gray and James w. Gibbs are
serving eight-year terms in the Montana
penitentiary for the slaughter of these
four geese.
The story is by no means common
one, and has given a prominence to the
goose question which the subject would
never have attained had not the b0iS-
ferrous fun of two men led to the de-
strdction of a we ED and highly eS-
teemed fock Of in IL trious geese and
noisy gan ers. 1 April, 1899, Frank
Gray and James Gibbs, two railroad
men, went for Il boat ride oh Br0adw
ter bay, that portion OF the MISSOURI
river which bends gracefully to the
town lots of Great Falls and heads off
boom additions to the town i'll that di-
rection. This bay, by The way, is the
only place in Montana which offers full
SWAY to expert oarSmen, and Is as pop
ular as it is pretty. Gray and Gibbs
sought congenial companions for their
canoe excursion in the persons of Lot
lie Moore and her frent
Plenty of St.muiants.
The boat was loaded with bottled
goods and a luncheon. and the pro-
gramme was for a dinner in the woods,
away from the nOiSume own and gap
my crowd. The boat we'd serenely
put of the bay and Oh lnr bosom OF the
Missouri, drifting with the stream,
whileitS occupants paid studiouS atten-
ton to the inviting beverages which
are alleged to stimulate the appetite
and assist weak st1machS in doing full
justice to a picnic dinner.
The picnic ground selected was upon
wooded island three miles below
Great Falls, a pretty place sheltered by
trees, while the ground was covered
with natures richest carpeiings. To
this attractive island the boat drifted,
and was hauled upon the shore, after
which its cargo of bottled enjoyment
and sandwiches was unloaded and the
prospective feast spread upon the grassy
sward. 1t was sworn in court that the
party had INDUCED in the llQuid portion
Of the luncheon to suciI an extent that
hilarity of the rareSt sort held sway,
and bon mOts of great spice were
oandied freely. But 10 the geese.
Opposite the island live Mr.. and Mrs.
n. =. Eoberg. The former tills the soil
with thrifty industry, while Mrs. Lo-
oerg, with becoming energy, had in
creased the poultry tlOcks until dozens
Of the useful and ornamental birds of
he BARNARD had been gathered under
the shelter of a spacious hen house, and
the poultry ilocks were source of
uatrpnly PRIDE to the queen Of the To-
berg domain.
Proud Of Their Geese.
But in the army of teathered animals
none were held in higher esteem than
flock of eleven snoW-white geese. The
banks of the Missouri river offered rare
Inducements to the goose raiser. and
Mrs. LobeTg had by proper encourage
ment Of very fine pair added nine to
her goose herd and was proud of the
achievement. This flock of geese often
enjoyed ramble on the island and
SWAIN across the day Gray, Gibbs. ct al.
were pirnicking. Mrs. Loberg had seen
her flock go to the island, and had also
heard Gray and Gibbs when they made
bOiSterOuS landing there. Her
poultry" instinct told her. she said in
court, that something was liable to hap
pen to her pet geese. SO she FASTENED TO
the river bank, arriving in time to see
Gray shoot into the flock. There was
flutter vi white wings and an alarm
such as only flock of large and healthy
geese can raise. hen her flock FASTENED
into the water and SWAIN 10 the IIOberg
side of the river in a rapid ana excited
manner. As they emerged from the
wafer, tired and scared. Mrs. Loberg
counted them on her stubby fingers
there were but seven.
1t was now time Tor another alarm,
and the excited lady called her husband
and large and we'll built hired man,
and the three went 10 the island. There
the irate trio found MessrS. Gray and
Gibbs picking geese. while their female
companions were building fire with
dry sticks. Air. Loberg demonstrated,
but Gibbs raised murdprOuS gun to
his shoulder and remarked that Mr.
Loberg would make the fifth dead goose
if he didn't git"
Frightened Away.
Mr. and Mrs. Loherg raced to the
boat. and it was hastily rowed to the
other side of the river, where the hired
man declared that he would rather lose
months wages than to run "ag'inst
another ftrociouS g0oSe-kilier" LO-
berg hitched up his best horse and
FASTENED to Great Falls, and before
Gibbs, Gray and their companions ar
rived civil action for damages had
been commenced in Justice George
Hugs cont. A change of venue was
taken. and before Justice Race LOberg
was awarded SIG rs damage for the
slaughter Of four handsome geese.
GRAY and (,il,hc flied on oath that
they were i'll Alice Moore's house al the
time the goose killing occurred. Alice
Moore ard her companion corrubofatpd
the story. All four of them committed
perjury of the most aggravating kind.
After the civil sui was ended and GRAY
and Gibbs bad settled. they were ar
rested on Il charge of perjury. They
were arraigned and Gibbs was convicted
at the May term of the district court.
He was sentenced to eight years in The
penitentiary at Deer Lodge. Gray lad
little money aud few friends, who
succeeded in getting his trial continued
to the August term. but there was no
defense, and after brief trial Gray re-
cGiyed a sentence of eight Years, and
10th men now anguish.
Taken 10 the Supreme Court.
Recently strong effort was made to
get rvhparing. EX-Gov Leslie was
employed by Gray'S friends 10 bring
about new trial. The case was taken
TO the Supreme court of the state on a
list of errors, and after careful and
exhaustive presentation of the affair a
new trial was denied One of the JUS
tees remarked that the decision of the
supreme court was the placing of all
animals OH an equality i'll Montana
that the penalty tor lying about goose
was the same as for lying about horse.
GRAY and Gibbs have given up hope
and are lingering i'll the dingy prison.
Wnere there are not many chances for Il
taste of that toothsome bird, the goose
A Rich Old Man Dies.
Father Ignatius: 81 wonder whether