The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-02-22
FETZER'S HIDES.
The Convict sends a Sensational Affadayit
to the Examiners.

10 the Examiners
Special Dispatch to the Standard.
Helena. Feb. 2f.-At the regular
meeting of the state board of exami~
ners to-day payment for the j. b. Fetz-
er bounty claims was again considered
without any definite conclusion being
reached These claims amount to 81
s2o. and the board has been holding
them up, awaiting substantial proof as
to their genulneness. Attorneys repre-
sentIng the owners for the largest
claims appeared before the board and
argued in favor Of their payment. They
maintained that they were purchased
IN good faith; If they We're fraudulent
that was a matter for the state to set
tie with the clerks and recorders who
issued them. l. Parker Veazey of
Great Falls appeared for Fl. II. Mathe-
son Of Great Falls and Charles X.
Welser of Decorah. Iowa, owners OF
$500 of the claims; Massena Buliard or
Helena represented the Stockmen's Ma
tional bank of Fort Benton. which
owns sl.929 worth. The balance. $42.
belong to r.. g. White Of White Sulphur
Springs. He was not represented but
sent a letter urging the board to allow
his bill. At the conclusion of the hear
ing the board informed the attorneys
that they should write briefs outlinins
their contentious. These will be con-
sidered at later date. This leaves the
claims still where they have been all
the While, under suspicion and with a
strong probability of suit in the
courts being necessary to ascertain
whether the state should pay them.
j. b. FetZer, the man who is the au-
thor Of all the trouble concerning these
claims, sends from his cell in the pani-
tentiary where he Is paying the PEN
atty of his crimes committed in Beaver
head county, most remarkable affi-
daVft This was placed before the
board to-day for the first time. IT ir
We're the sworn statement of anyone
but convict wearing stripes for the
commission of crime against the laws
or the state Ii might be termed sensa-
tional Some time ago. as stated in
these dispatches, Fetzer wrote to the
governor offering TO tell how he
worked his bounty taking. provided he
were guaranteed immunity from fur
ther punishment as soon as his present
term for the crime committed in Beay-
erhead county expired. He also asked
for "A pardon. Whether the governor
has offered any such guarantee is not
known. At any rate. Fetzer has pro-
duced an affidavit naming the times
and places in which he defrauded the
state He recites how he visited first
one county clerk and then another,
palming off his spurious hides. He
names the officers and the witnesses
One county clerk is alleged TO have ae-
cepted FetZer's hides after he had been
R@t1 eAaN VI ~ SHEElAL
canvassing for votes upon the eve OF
his reelection is alleged to have acted
as witness when he knew the hides
had been punched before. TIL board is
not inclined to take Fetzer's confession.
or "squealing." for all 1t appears to be
worth. They believe that perhaps he
tells the truth about the hides brought
from Utah. and that much of his affi-
iayit may be entitled to some weight.
but otherwise they will have TO be lib
orally supplied with salt to grab" all
1e swears TO. The character OF some of
the men assaiied will amply defend
hem from a felon's charges.