Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-10
BIBLE FROM SCHOOL
Supreme Osurt sustains the Contention Of
Daniel Freeman.
CITY TO INTERVENE IN POLICE CASE
Court Holds that District Tribunal
Erred in ~Liberating John ".
Loechner Of south Omaha
on n TechnicaIity.
rrom a star corrsspondsnt,

-
CFrom a Stan co~rrespondent)
LINCOLN, Oct. e.-(specisl. )-Daniei
Freeman, who made in Gage county the
FIRST fling ever made under the homestead
law, has achieved a new distinction. He
has secured from the supreme court a de-
cree for q writ prohibiting the utterance
Of the Lords prayer, the reading Of the
bible and the singing OF such hymns as
Jesus. Lover Of MY Soul" "when he
Cometh" and Nearer. My God. to Thee"
in the public schools. 1t was some two
years ago that Freeman brought suit In
Gage county to secure an injunction against
the Board Of Education OF one Of the
school districts Of that county restraining
Il from permitting the teacher, Edith
Beecher, from conducting the customary
religious exercises In the schools. In his
application he alleged that she was in the
habit Of reading from the St.. James trans
lation OF the bible, which Is an incorrect
translation made In the interest Of a GER
tain English church and unfit in many
places to be read to children; that he was
not a believer in the bible nor It's teach
ings: that he paid taxes for the support
Of the public school. which was attended
by two Of his children; that the morning
exercises also included singing from Cos
pei Hymns" edited and compiled by Ira
d. Sankey, known as The Singing Pill
GRIM and that the teacher also engaged
In prayer In the presence Of the pupils.
He maintained that the prayers we're
often not addressed to anyone but the chill
dren and were intended to guide them in
the faith Of their teacher. He held that
these religious exercises took up time that
should be devoted to education Of the chill
dren and that he did not desire to pay
taxes for the support Of a house Of worship.
There was practically no denial OF any Of
his allegations In regard to the holding OF
the exercises TO which he objected, but It
was shown that he had causeds several
teachers before Miss Beeeher's time to dis
continue them and had caused the school
board a great deal OF trouble by his deter
mined oppositionl to any such services in
the schools.
On the hearing In the district court Of
Gage county In December, 1899. Judge Let
ton denied the application for the writ and
held that II was within the discretion OF
the authorities OF the school to have such
exercises conducted. To-day the supreme
court handed down an opinion in reversal Of
this holding and ordering q, writ to issue
from the supreme court. The opinion 10 by
COMMISSIONS Ames, Justices sedgwick and
GOlCOmD COuCuTTluKs Inc IOTHbT hlLhCutb
his special concurrence 'solely on the
ground that the exercises complained Of
we're sectarian instruction within the mean
ing OF the constitution and the latter con-
curing in a separate opinion. One inter-
esting feature OF the case is that one OF the
briefs filed was from John H. Lindale az a
friend OF the court, in which he protested
in the name OF the Roman Catholic church
and It's membership against the reading OF
the st. James bible In the schools.
reverse Ruling in LOechner Case.
In an opinion submitted today the SUI
preme court has said that the release of
o Henry Loechner OF South Omaha from
prosecution for the frauds. charged against
him as a member OF the Magic City Board OF
Education was wrong. Loechner escaped
prosecution just prior to the last city cleo
tion In South Omaha in time TO become a
democratic candidate for mayor. His re-
lease was effected upon a technicalIty. II
was urged in his behalf that the statute
upon which Il was proposed to prosecute
him applied only to public ohicials holding
administrative ofhceS, and the membership
in the Board OF Education was not OF that
sort. After his release the county attorney
.hled exceptions to the findings Of the court
and brought the case to the supreme court
90 test the question. In an opinion handed
down today by Justice Holeomb the excep-
lions OF the county attorney are sustained
but 1t is too late to apply the law to Loech.
ner.
Among the opinions submitted was one
Affirming the decision Of the district court
OF Boyd county In the case OF Melvin Hub
bard, sentenced from that county to seven
years for the crime of criminal assault. In
this case the victim ~ EInkAa ~dt. .Nt.--l
passion wrote a letter from Iowa after his
conviction, In which she said that she had
sworn falsely at the trial and that II was
Hubbard's hired man, whom she after
wards married. with whom she had beer
intimate. but the court was evidently in.
elined to believe her first story rather thar
her last.
There was some disappointed among ex.
pectant ones when II was discovered tina
the supreme court had adjourned without
having appointed a successor to George
A. Day on the commission. The ~resigna.
tion Of COMMISSIONS Day was accepted b,
the court.
Ruling ON Kennedy-BrOEtch Case.
Among the orders in the supreme cour
was one granting time to the mayor AM
city council Of the city Of Omaha to In
tervene and file q cross Information in tn
case of State ex rel Kennedy agains
Broateh ct al.
The Beerline Irrigation Canal company o
Bridgeport, Cheyenne county. has filed ar
ticles OF incorporation. It proposes TO ap
prOpTiate water from the North Platte rive
for the operation OF irrigation works. II
incorporators are: George w. and JohI
Beerline, Edgar d, and Materi b. smith
and its authorized capital stock is $4,000
General Barry and the other member
Of the National Guard returned today frou
attendance at the military maneuvers a
Fort Riley and will in a few days submit