The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-03-31
CURIOUS ACTIONS INVESTIGATE
ED BY THE AUTHORITIES.
An INQUEST is PROBABLE
Rode Slowly for Hour in Drenchinq
RAIN Lowered Top Of Auto.
mobile Before Accident.

Buffalo, March 2e.-District Attor-
ney Coatesworth said he expected to
wind up the inquest into the Burdick
murder by noon tomorrow. The hear
ing will be resumed to morrow morn
ing.
. "Have you discovered any. new evil
dence?" he was asked.
1--WE have brought out at this in
quest everything that we have" he
replied. "The public knows now as
much about the case as we do. Moth
ing of Importance has developed late
IL that we did not know before the
inquest began"
MI. C~oatesworth said he knew moth
ing Of a plot alleged to have been
concocted by Pennell to entrap Bur-
dick by using a oma as a lure and
thereby prevent Burdick from press
ing the divorce suit against his wife.
Asked If the case would go before
the grand jury. Mr.. C~oatesworth
said: ut depends upon Judge MUIR
phys action. II he issues a warrant
for any known person or for John
Doe and Jane Roe, it will have to go
before the grand jury"
Actions Of the Pencils.
Since the name of Arthur r. Pen
nell became so prominent in the Bur
dick inquest, the authorities, have
been accommodating evidence bearing
on the death OF Pennell and his wife.
1t is likely an inquest into the death
of the Pencils will follow the Bur-
dick inquest. In tracing the move
ments of the Pencils on the evening
of their fatal trip, which began at
4:40 p. m. on Tuesday, March 10, and
ended at $3.50 p. m. in the fatal plunge,
the police have learned much.
During the hour and 10 minutes of
that drive four interesting incidents
that seem to be we'll substantiated
took place. A fifth incident, the al
legged act of Mrs. Pencil in emptying
a small flask of whiskey and throwing
the bottle away, seemed to have the
shadow of a doubt cast upon it, al
though Jacob Geiger "a laborer, who
says he witnessed the incident, posi-
lively AYERS it is so.
The first incident is the riding of
the automobile up and down in front
OF Frank Geiger's farmhouse at the
corner of Bailey and Kensington
streets slower than a person would
walk and in a pouring rain for about
half IN hour.
The second incident was the stop
at George Volk's saloon on Kensing-
ton avenue, where, Volk says, Pennell
bought a glass of whiskey and took
another glass of the same liquor out
TO his wife. Volks' mother lives next
door to the Pencil home on Cleveland
avenue, and he was therefore well ac-
quainted with Pencil.
The third incident was a repetition
of the Bailey n lettering and
az AS SolACl vi
sington avenue and Geider street for
5 or 10 minutes, at the same snail-like
pace and in the same drenching rain.
The fourth incident, the last feature
of the drive aside from the tragedy
itself, is the strangest of all. This is
the incident of the Pennels letting
down the canopy, or top of the ma
chine, sc that they were exposed to
the heavy %downpour of the rain. This
happened two or three minutse be-
fore the automobile took it's tragic
plunge. 1t was on Kensington avenue
west of Geider street about a quarter
of a mile from the scene of the trag-
edy. Three persons living in a house
nearby saw the incident. Their story
is substantially as follows:
ut was about 5:45 o'clock when we
saw the auto on Kensington venue
1t was just creeping along. The mar
and woman were conversing quietly
and intently. Because of the unusual
spectacle, it being raining heavily, l
watched them at a point 40 feet from
Geider street. We were surprised to
see the top of the automobile lowered.
There was nothing over their heads
and the rain was coming down in tor
rents.
ut was commented upon at the
time that the woman's white crown
ed hat would be ruined. They were
in sight from 5 to 10 minutes. The
machine started off in the direction
of the stone quarry. They could
reach there going at fair speed in a
or two from the last time they