Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-05-30
WOODWARD WANTS LIBERTY
Asks Supreme Court To Reverse Sentence Of
Life Imprisonment,
MEDICAL SOCIETY TO INCORPORATE
state Preparing TO Let Contract for
Eishty-Five Thousand Tons OF
Coal for variOus state
Institutions.
tFrom a star Correspondent

DIES MONIES, Ia, May 29.-(SpeciaL)-
The famous Woodward murder case, from
Decatur county, will be argued in the
supreme court at the next period, which
opens Tuesday. Charles Woodward, the
defendant. Is now at Fort Madison, a SEN
tence of life Imprisonment having been
imposed upon him in the district court of
Decatur county. He has appealed and the
case has just reached the highest tribunal
1t is two and a half years since Mrs
Charles Woodward, wife of the defendant,
died in terrible agony from what was at
forwards held by the district court to he
strychnine poisoning woodward is serv-
ing time after a conviction of murder,
but there is not a scintilla OF direct evil
dence against him and his attorneys have
great hopes of securing a reversal.
There is circumstantial evidence galore
against woodward, but absolutely nothing
to prove conclusively that his was the
hand that speeded his wife into eternity.
December Is, 1903 they started for a
buggy ride. While on the trip Mrs Wood
ward was taken violently Ill. She was
driven to her mothers home, where she
died Experts found she had died Of
strychnine poisoning. Where the strych-
nine came from was never learned and is
as much OF a mystery today as It was two
years ago.
Woodward was convicted because Of
threats he had previously made to harm
his wife, because OF contradictory state
ments and because her life was insured
for $4,000 in his favor. Lawrence DeGraff,
assistant attorney general, viii argue the
case for the state and " II. McGinnis and
c. w Hoffman OF Leon for Woodward.
Medical Society Incorporated.
The Iowa State Medical society Of which
DR.. @. H. Sumner of Waterloo is president
and DIR. L. V. Treynor of Council Bluffs
secretary, is making plans to incorporate
under the laws of the state. The society
has heretofore been merely an association
Of physicians assembled for mutual, sci
entifc benefit. II now proposes to go into
business and before doing so must be in
corporated.
Contracts for Coal.
It takes 5000 tons of coal to supply the
Iowa charitable and penal institutions a
year. and the State Board OF Control is
now engaged in opening and listing bids
for the entire amount. At Clarinda, where
one Of the insane hospitals is located there
Is said 20 be a bed of coal. It is not
worked. however, because it is supposed
to be OF inferior quality. No coal is to
be. found at any of the other institutions
The board makes a practice of giving
contracts for the various institutions to
companies in those sections OF the state
other things being equal Contracts are
made separately for each institution in the
state. About twenty dealers have bid for
the $1,000 tons.
Memorial Day Observation.
Memorial day will be observed at Des
Moines with monster parade of veterans
military and civil organizations, etc, in
the forenoon, decoration OF the graves OF
soldiers and memorial exercises at the
Auditorium in the afternoon. The local
companies of the National Guard and the
Eleventh cavalry, stationed at Fort Des
Mones, will participate in the parade
General James B. Weaver, one time popu
list candidate for president and now mayor
Of ColfaN, will be the orator Of the day
at the Auditorium.
| Pioneer ILL.,
Edwin r. Clapp, one of the oldest resi-
| dents of Iowa and one of the wealthies
men in Des Moines, is seriously i'll here a
his palatial home on Grand avenue. He il
affiicted with angina pectoris. 'sr
Sunday Services In Parks.
The Young Mems Christian association
and the Young Women's Christian assocla
ton of Dies Moines are determined to Civ
the city's young people religious service
on Sunday afternoons. AS soon as goot
weather comes the young people make 70
the public parks on Sunday afternoons
The Christian associations have decided t.
carry religion to them. In pursuance o
this idea, a plan for holding religious serv
ices in each of the public parks every Sun
day afternoon throughout the summer ha
been adopted.
Settles Iowa Scale.
The settlement of the coal strike in Ill
nois on the basis of the 1903 scale yester
day afternoon makes 1t certain that til
same scale will prevail in Iowa for tn
next two years, When the Iowa opera
tors signed the wage scale at the join
conference here 1t was upon the agree
ment that in case a lower rate. shuul
be made In competitive fields, referring I
Illinois, the Iowa operators should hay
the benefit of IT, To this the miners al
scented, although they declared that Ill
Illinois miners could accept no less sea-
than the restoration OF the 1903 wage
, That this proved correct is apparent frol
, the settlement in that state upon this
basis. There is now no question that II
, 1903 scale is here TO stay until the pre-
! ent contracts expire.