Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-26
R O ING STRONGER.
SAMUEL PHILLIPS IS AS GOOD AS
FREE NOW.

Is AS GOOD AZ
FREE NOW.
Samuel Phillips, the man accused of
having murdered Fritz Schwade in this
vicinity on or about May II, 1897, is as
good as free although he possibly does
not know it.
There is one thing in particular IN con-
! nection with the supposed identity of
Phillips as the nan wanted that created a
doubt at the time of his arrest and has
never been removed; and that is: the men
who saw the supposed murderer hanging
about Whisky gulch prior to the commits
sion of the crime say he had a scar on one
cheek and another on the neck. Phillips
has no scars on his face; and when in
court at the commencement of the pre-
liminary hearing last Friday was most
anxious to submit to inspection. OF Phil
lips the Spokane Review of Tuesday says:
"A man lies in jail at Butte charged
with being the murderer of a man who
was shot and killed at Butte by a robber
May II, 1897. at the very time the present
prisoner was working or the streets of
Spokane, in the employ of the board Of
public works.
Sam Phillips, May II, four and one.
half days" This is the entry on the books
of the board of public works that will
save a man neck. The victim of clrcum-
~stantial evidence, friendless, terror-strick
en- and alone, Sam Phillips may hail it as
his salvation.
Hired by the city May II, 1897, Phillips
worked for the city on the streets four
and one-half days thereafter. The testi-
mony on which he is held at Butte asserts
that he was seen about there for several
days prior to May IL of the same year,
and that or May II he was seen in the
neighborhood of the cabin of odd Fritz
otherwise Adolph Schwade.
The evidence of the book of the city
will be taken to Butte, if necessary, and
Phillips will be cleared without a doubt.
There is no question to his identity.
Phillips is as innocent as a babe" said
Patrolman Wilson yesterday. He is no
more guilty of murder than / am.
phillips was in Spokane up to some
time in June, 1897, and could not have
been in Butte when the murder was COM
mltted. There are several pieces of evil
dence aside from the city records to fix
the date. One is the testimony of Attor-
ney Charles Wolf, for whom Phillips work.
ed just before he left here. Phillips was
working in Mr.. VOLTS garden, and by &C.
cident dug up Mr.. VOLTS cabbage plants.
Mr.. Wolf fired him then. This was about
two weeks before Mr.. Volts wife return
ed from the east, and she returned the lat
ter part of Tune.
The man is a Jew, and is unfortunate
in having a repulsive face. One would
think to look at him that he would kill
anyone, but on the contrary his DISPOSE
ton is inoffensive and he has a heart in
him as big as an ox. The only thing
gains him is that he has a temper. He
is not, however, a man who would murder
or harm any one for money. When he
was about my house he often had an OBJ
p%ortunity to get money, but he never
sought to take it.
Il first knew Phillips early in 1897. He
was doing odd jobs around town at that
time. In March while %chopping wood for
j. w. Beckett on College avenue he
chopped off his thumb. He was sent tc
the Sacred Heart hospital, and later the
Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society
through its president, Mrs. Solomon, took
up his case, and had DR.. Dutton attend
him.
II took Phillips home from the hospita
to my house, and cared for him there, an(
when be got well he did many an odd jol
for me about the house. He also worked
:, for others. among them being Herber
Balster. He painted the barn Of G. Mees.
at one time. My wife remembers him t,
have been here in June, and l think I will
!, be able to secure considerable other evi
dence to the same effect. 1t is absolutel,
impossible for him to have been in Butt
az iiiN NiliIS Ait vas
1t is simply a case of mistaken IDENTIFY
THE man who was murdered was know
by the nickname of "Old Fritz" He live,
in a cabin in Whisky Gulch, near Suite
He was murdered May IL, 1897, the pur
pose Of the murder evidently being rob
berry. Miles Fuller, a neighbor, says h
saw Phillips hanging about the place
few days before the murder. but did no
see him again until about two weeks age
Fuller procured his arrest. Phillips form
erly lived in Butte, but left there in SOC
When he left here he said he was going t
San Francisco. In his testimony at tn
preliminary examination at Butte he de
clared he went from here to Tacoma. an,
later to New Orleans: after that to Colo
rado. and back to Butte"
St. Clair & Lang. Gents-Having beel
lcrippled for over nine years from
broken limb from which four inches O
shin bone was taken out just above tn
ankle, leaving the joints of the ankle an