The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1907-10-24
INVEST |GAT|ON ENDS
Government Officials Complete
investigation Of Charges
Against |. N. DeDismar
LIGHT KEEPER SETSUP ENGINE
One Armed Man Shows That Claim Thai
He Was Not Able To Do the Work
at the Station Was With
out Foundation

The government Investigation of
the charges against former Light
House Keeper L. N. DeDiemar came
to close just after O'Clock Friday
night and Admiral Ross and the
members of the government party
who have been conducting the inves.
tigation steamed out of the harbor for
Chicago. The investigation closed
with spectacular incident which it
is claimed brushed aside the last
claim that had been made against the
ability of the deposed light keeper.
Mr.. DeDiemar had been on the stand
during the afternoon session of the
investig ating board and had made a
specific denial to all the charges that
we're brought against him. One of
the allegations against DeDiemar
was the statement that he was a one
armed man and that for this reason
he was not capable of doing the work
demanded of light keeper. 1t was
specifically stated that he could not
put an engine together after it had
been cleaned.
In response to this charge Attorney
Fisher, who represented DeDiemar,
demanded that practical test should
be made, claiming that DeDiemar
could not only take the engine apart,
but that he could clean it and put it
together unaided. The bluff was
called and the honorable members of
the Board repaired to the lighthouse,
where the one.armed man was set to
work to disma nile, clean and restore
to order the big engine used in oper-
ating the fog signals. DeDie1nar
never fa1tered in the task, but with
the confidence of practiced machin-
list he pulled the enginesapart and
cleaned it and put it together again.
Then just to show his triumph over
his accuser he turned on the fog sig
nal and the blast that followed was
still sounding when the Dah1ia with
his accuser and judge pulled out of
the harbor.
Summing up the entire investiga-
ton it seems that it was decidedly
favora BILE to the one-armed light
keeper. The evidence of thirty-hve
witnesses was taken during the four
days that the investigation was on,
and of this lot of witnesses only two
of them gave evidence that could be
construed as against the Kenosha
man. One of these was Tony De-
FRANC, Kenosha man, and the other
was Assistant Otteson, of the Man
istee, Mich, lighthouse. Both men
had been employed in the local sta
ton for only short time and they
had found it impossible to get along
with the keeper. The other evidence
was strongly in favor of DeDiemar,i
and it is certain that the people of
Kenosha rallied loyalty to the sup
port of the light keeper.
It may be weeks before any de-
cision is announced in the matter
The testimony will all be written up
in the Office of the Lighthouse Board
in Chicago after which it will be sub
mitted to the Board without argument
from either side. The Admiral in
charge of the investigation has de-
manded the closest secrecy in regard
to the testimony and the attorney for
DeDiemar will not be allowed to make
a copy of it until after it is submitted
to the Board. The Lighthouse Board
is composed of three naval officers,
three army officers, two experts and
preventative of the Department of
Commerce and Labor.
People who closely followed the tes-
timony taken at the investigation, de-
clared that the evidence will certainly
result in DeDeimar being restored to
his old place or given another place
under the lighthouse service. It is
claimed that the real reason for the
removal of DeDeimar is shown to be
personal feeling between the light
keeper and the Government Inspector
]. NJ. Orchard.