The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-04-18
IT WAS A BLACK PLOT
An Attempt TO Blow Up Old Mrs.
MeKlnnon and Her Home.
ONE MAN IS SUSPECTED
The Copper Plate Thief Jumps His
Bonds and Two Men Are In
the Lurch-Cases In the
United States Court.
Special Dispatch to the Standard.

Special Dispatch to the Standard.
Helena. April 17.-An attempt was made
Saturday night to blow up with giant
powder the cabin of Mrs. Mary McKin-
non. SO years of age, who lives alone at
the mouth of Bear gulch at Ten Mile,
west of Helena. The plot was carefully
planned and that the old woman escaped
instant death is something short of mi
raculous. Some scoundrel whose Identity
is not certain lowered some sticks of
powder down the old woman's chimney
and into her stove while she was away
Saturday When she came home In the
evening she started fire to prepare sup
per, when the stove, a sheet iron affair.
exploded. knocking her down. BY some
strange chance. although she was near
the stove, she escaped serious injury and
ran TO a neighbor's. Pieces of the shat
tered stove stuck in the board roof of the
shack and the furniture was thrown
down and smashed by bits of iron.
Mrs. McKinnon believes that a Swede
named Adolph Shultz was guilty of the
outrage and came to town Tuesday and
made complaint against him in Justice
Woodman's court. A constable was un-
able to find Shultz, but located him in
Jefferson and wfil get him tomorrow.
The authorities have been keeping the
matter quiet. The old woman owns a
promising gold claim which Shultz and
IL
ordered her off the place. but she re-
fused to go. She says that Shultz threat
ened her life. Mrs McKinnon Is very
poor and somewhat demented.
The United States grand jury to-day
returned a true bill against Lee Parish
for trespassing on the Grow reservation.
Parish will plead guilty. The demurrers
TO the complaints were overruled to-day
In the United States court In the suits of
the United States against the Butte &
Montana Commercial company and
against William Fogg for cutting timber
on government land. Julius Barnett of
Glasgow, defaulting United States grand
jury witness, was purged Of contempt to.
day by Judge Knowles. His excuse was
lack Of funds. Mrs. Nellie Chambers, an
Indian of Rosebud. was also excused
She had been summoned before the grand
jury. but was unable to get to the rail-
road on account of the storm. Frank
Holman. who assaulted Clara Chase in
Marysville March %. was convicted of
assault in the second degree to-day, the
Jury nNing the sentence at one year in
the penitentiAry.
Dewitt c. Beach, whose trial for grand
larceny was set for to-day, defaulted and
left his bondsmen. DR.. c. X. Cole and
william Tampsin, in the lurch for $500
the amount of his bonds. Beach was
charged with the theft of amalgamating
plates from an old gold mill at Union
Vile. He was tried for the crime last
fall, and although the state had a strong
case against him. the jury failed 10 agree
Beach evidently feared the second trial
and made his escape last week. He was
last seen in Havre. Beach was believed
by the authorities to be a member of a
gang that had systematically robbed old
stamp mills in the vicinity OF Helena for
more than a year past. Their method
was to get plates, melt them into pigs
and sell the copper to reineries. The
Parrot company OF Butte received sew
eral shipments of such copper last year.
but the company was not aware that the
metal had been stolen. Some of the
plates stolen were rich in gold and the
total amount gotten away with by
thieves must have amounted to many
OF dollars