The San Francisco call., 1901-11-14
WOOD RATTLES
OFF TESTIMONY
Nome Contempt Cases
Are Nearing Their
Completion.
Taking Of Evidence Will Be
Finished by End Of
the Week.

the Week.
Joseph K Wood, who played the part
of District Attorney in Nome when Nc
Kenzie and Noyes f1ourished, stepped into
/ the shoes of the leading man yesterday
j afternoon. The attorneys finished with
Judge Noyes and, save for a few ques-
tions asked Attorneys Metson and John
son, Wood was the star of the days pro-
! ceedings.
AS he is one of the respondents held for
/ contempt and is without an attorney he
conducted his own examination. When
! Wood filed his answer he pleaded guilty
10 the charges of contempt, but begged
| for the courts leniency and mercy.
Wood put himself on the stand and
without warning ratified off his story for
/ more than two long hours. During the
! last four weeks he has been skulking
ABOUT, sitting quietly in corners, pulling
his mustache with fierce vigor and wrink-
/ ing his brow into heavy lines, all the
time charging himself for the effort On
the stand. He has unloaded. The center
! of his target was Hume, every one of
/ whose allegations were emphatically de-
! MED. Wood adorned his denunciation of
Hume with many homely SMILES used to
express the Nome attorneys material
worth.
! The testimony taking is now near the
end. AT II o'clock the Circuit Court of
Appeals heard from the attorneys state
ments as to progress made Both sides
agreed that they would be ready for the
nearing on Monday morning, at which
time the court ordered the attorneys to
present their case
I Patches Sewed in Case.
The morning session began with a cross
examination of the witness on the petit
ton sent by the attorneys of Nome to
Washington begging for Judge Noyes' re-
movaI In the course of this line of Ques-
tlons the date of the opposition to Noyes
opposition began when a certain news
paper published an article against him
Tor removing one of its friends who had
! been commissioner in the Kugarok. and
when the petition of attorneys was wired
TO the President. Pillsbury went through
the list of attorneys who signed the pc
the witness that four-fifths of the legal
business in Nome was conducted by those
men who signed the petition.
On another switch PillSbury asked: ''Did
you meet a man by the name of Ham
burger, the private secretary of Senator
Carter in Nome?"
Il have no recollection of it." responded
the witness.
The impaneling of juries came UP for
reconsideration. Pillsbury wanted to
know if the Grand Jury panels were not
exhausted by discharges on the part of
| Judge NoyeS.
The cross-eXamination of Judge Noyes
! concluded rather abruptly, and the re-
! direct examination was begun. Old mat
ter was thraShed over, and then Judge
Mclaughlin dismissed the witness for all
time. Judge johnson took the stand at
! the call of respondents attorneys to tes-
! tify on matters of Alaska law concerning
the taking of dispositions. William Fl.
Metson followed on the stand, and was
asked but a few queStio in regard 10
the Lane interests, which he represented.
! Metson gave way for the witness Of the
day.
Wood Rattles Away.
my appointment as District Attorney"
r0l f0 Soma for
Carter and myself. I say at this time
Mr.. Mckenzie had nothing to do with
Kenzie until two or three days after my
appointment. 1 knew of him by reputa-
! tien since 1885. Mr.. Mckenzie. however,
knew my father and mother before l was
born. Our relations were always pleas
ant He has never asked me to do any
| thing which would involve me in trouble.
| His only advice was to keep my office
/ clean and clear. Attorney General Griggs
! refused to appoint me as District Judge.
/ Senator Carter, who was working for me,
said:
. Mr.. Wood, in reference to the part
! took in the alien legislation, people would
| say that | expected to secure through the
! bench that which | could not obtain
! through legislation
The witness denied all dependence upon
| Mckenzie for transportation for hotel
expenses from st. Paul to Alaska. Con-
tinuing, the witness said: 'Mr. Mckenzie
never paid a cent of my hotel bills in his
! life barring the fact that he bought me a
! few S. dinners when / met him and /
wanted to eat. Mr.. Mckenzie never So
| licited me to appoint Mr.. Hume as deputy
district attorney"
Then the witness told of the partnership
agreement which was to give Wood one
quarter interest in the firm of Hubbard,
| Beeman & Hume and Mckenzie another
| fourth.
"At the first converse tion," said the wit
ness, sit was agreed that Hume should be
deputy. At the second interview the
terms and conditions of the partnership
were discussed. There was absolutely no
suit of action mentioned. Papers of part
nerShip were drawn UP, but / don't think
the contract was ever signed. The express
understanding was that the contract was
not cOnsummated, though it was drawn
up"
Further on Wood said:
81 learned from either Chips or Hubbard
! that Mckenzie was going to be appointed
! receiver and then / told Mckenzie that
| did not care to be in a firm where attor-
neys were interested in a case and one of
them in a receivership."
When the witness hit upon the name of
Hume in earnest he carried him up and
down the ladder of falsehood and iniquity.
1 Hume, according to Wood. is a very bad
man, indeed and was guilty of many acts
unbecoming a true gentleman of the Arc
tic Brotherhood. Woods story ended with
Hume. Wood said:
Two days after l appointed Hume dep
uty | became dissatisfied. for he suggested
having all the people on Anvil Creek ar
rested for robbing a mining claim. / said
to him / would not permit it. because it
was using criminal process to civil ends"
The witness explanation in regard to
the keys which he refused to deliver was
rather ingenious. When asked for the
keys he said. "I'll see about it." Wood
claims he meant that he was going to see
Mckenzie ard ask him about it.
I