Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-05-23

! the Occur d'AleneS troubles worried
! him Or not" said Mrs. Steunenberg
IF they did, he never mentioned it
His friends wanted him to carry a re
| vOlver, but his answer always was
If those fellows want to do anything
they'll get me in the back, anyway
| Long before his death Steunenberg had
put aside all political ambition He
| knew that his action in 1899, in de
claring the Occur d'Alenes to be in d
state Of instruction and rebellion and
calling i'll the federal troops, meant
| political death for him; and he may
have occasionally entertained the
thought that it would mean physical
death
The Murder.
| About $50 on the evening of Satur.
day, December 80, 1905, Steunenberg
started for home from his office His
| Oldest boy, 20 years Of age, with a
| companion, was two blocks behind
him. The early night was dark.
Orchard, who had been waiting,
passed the boy and his companion, and
hurried across lots in order to pass
the father. Orchard reached the side
gate Of the Steunenberg home five
minutes before Steunenberg. He
| stopped down, and picking up a short
| fsh-line attached to the bomb which he
| had planted earlier at the left hand
side Of the walk, just inside the gate
tied the string to the frame of the
gate. (This string was attached by
means Of bent pin to a cork loosely
| held i'll the neck Of a small vial con.
| tanning sulphuric acid. When the cork
was pulled the acid was spilled over
some giant caps, and the bomb was
eXDlOded). When he had tied the
string to the gate Orchard made of
| in the darkness. Steunenberg Oper9d
the side gate, his usual place of en-
| trance. AS he entered he must haYe
! turned round to close the gate, fol
! when the explosion occurred the flesh
Of his right side was torn literally
from the bone When Mrs. Steunen
| berg reached her husbands side he
was able to inquire: whats the mat
ter, mother? What does this mean
| Who shot me?" He lived 20 minutes
| His features were not married. though
portions of his clothing were found
! fifty feet away. When the neighbOrs
! sought gently to place Mrs. Steunen
| berg on a couch, it was found to be
| covered With broken glass from the
windows.
| About ten minutes after the report
of the explosion Orchard appeared in
| the dining room of the Saratoga hot4l
and ordered his supper. While in his
room that same evening, Orchard put
| a bottle containing a small quantity OF
suIDhuric acid in the same coat pocket
in which he had unknowingIy left an
explosive cap, intending later to
throw the bottle away The acid
leaked on the cap, causing an explo,
sion which, in his agitated state
| Orchard thought could be heard all
over the hotel; but it seems not to
have been noticed
| The murder occurred about 6:45
Governor Frank r. GOoding, at his
home in Boise City, thirty miles away,
was advised by telephone of the as
| sassinatiOn at exactly seven O'clock
! He went down town seeking particu
| lars Of the occurrence, and. not learn
| ing anything in Boise, called up the
i sheriff at Caldwell by telephone. II:
was advised that the sheriff had
! nj n ~ n he
town. Governor Gooding ordered g
special train and went at once t.
Caldwell, arriving there an hour and
a half after the explosion. An or
ganizatiOn was Immediately perfected
and the work Of investigation was
! continued all night. The officers went
on the theory that the person who
| set off the Internal machine must De
still in Caldwell. The registers of the
hotels and of the boarding houses
were all scanned very carefully, and
the names of all strangers placed on
the list of suspects. There was quite
a heavy snowstorm on the afternoon
of December 80, and there were six
| Or eight inches of new snow on the
ground. so that the tracks of any one
leaving Caldwell by conveyance or ca
foot could be followed.
On the following day, when every
one IN the town was discussing the
assassination, Orchard called the
chairman of the board of county com
missioners out from an excited group
of men in the Saratoga hotel lobby
and asked him if he knew where he
| Orchard. could buy a band of wether;
| cheap.
Arrest of Orchard
This question, so coolly put, aroused
suspicion later against Orchard. He
was watched closely all that day, Sun
day. Most of the time he sat in ;
chair of the lobby of the hotel gazins
out of the window without change o
position. 1t was dlmcult to engage
him III conversation. About noon hi
room was searched and very small
piece of plaster of Paris and pinci
of explosive white powder were dis
covered in his yalise. He was brough
before an informal inQuisition, held il
the Office of District Judge Frank j
Smith. Orchard appeared perfect.
collected. said he was from Denver
and held a contract with the Mutua
Life Insurance company. as the req
resentative of that company, but ha