The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1908-05-15
LEGAL-CRIMINAL
Indiana Murder Farm.

AS the result of the fire which de-
stroyed fine country house near La
porte. Ind. occupied by Mrs. Belle
Guinness and three small children and
from the ruins of which the bodies of
the woman and the children were
taken, the authorities of the town have
unearthed what appears to have been
q regular business in murder or in the
disposal of the bodies of murdered
persons. The first clew came from
the request of John Helgelein Of Aber
deem, S. D.. that the premises be
searched for the body of his brother
Andrew, who last January had gone to
the Guinness home in answer to a mat
rimonial advertisement and who had
never been seen again. The local sher
if located the body of the missing
man four feet under the ground near
the burned house. Further seach dis
closed number Of dismembered
bodies buried about the place. Al.
ready the number has reached fifteen,
and more are expected to be found un-
der the cement floor of the cellar. Mrs.
Guinness had been twice married, and
both husbands died under suspicious
circumstances. One of the bodies dug
up is thought to be that of Jennie Oh
sen, siXteen-year-old girl whom Mrs.
Guinness had adopted and reared. Ray
Lamphere. man who was employed
on the Guinness place at the time of
the fire, has been arrested and jailed
as q suspicious person. He had been
seen wearing q coat now known to be-
long to Helgelein. The local authori-
ties have theory that Mrs. Guinness Is
still alive and that the woman's body
found after the fire is that Of one killed
by her so as to throw the police off
the track. They believe that Mrs Gun
ness also killed her three children ant
herself set fire to the house.
Thaw Hearing Divided.
When the habeas corpus hearing in
the interest of Harry Thaw for the
purpose of freeing him from the New
York State Asylum For the Criminal
Insane came up before Justice Nor
schauser at Poughkeepsie the district
attorney for the county objected that
the county of Duchess could not stand
the expense of hiring experts and pay
ing the expenses of numerous wit
nesses involved in the famous murder
case originating in New York city.
His motion to have the hearing re-
moved to that city was denied, how
ever, in part. The justice held that
Thaw's side might be heard there and
the states side at New York. Pend
ing the taking of evidence on May IL
Thaw was allowed to remain in GUS
tody of the county sheriff and occupy
luxurious quarters Of the undersherif
at the top of the Jail. There he has
received his mother and friends, it
being made clear That Mrs. Thaw is
in sympathy with the efforts of her
son to be freed from Matteawan.
The Right to Dismiss Soldiers.
Before Judge Hough in the federal
district court at New York has been
made the first move to test the action
Of the president in dismissing the ne
gro troops accused of shooting up
Brownsville, Tex, the case being that
Of Private Reid of Company c. who
brings suit to recover $122.2G, the
amount of his wages from time of
dismissal to the expiration of his en-
listment Counsel for Reid contends
that the relation between the soldier
and the government amounts to con-
tract which the president has no pow
err to abrogate. District Attorney Slim
son for the government holds that IL
the president has power to dismiss an
officer without trial he must have as
much power in the case Of private.
He also asserted that the court had no
Jurisdiction in the case because an
officer of the government is debarred
from bringing such an action. He fur
Their makes the defense that the dis
missal was made for the good of the
service after futile efforts to distin-
guish the guilty from the innocent.
Counsel for the plaintiff argued that If
the president has power to discharge
three companies he has the. power to
discharge the whole army on sus-
picion. This, he intimated. would lead
TO dictatorial powers not intended by
the constitution. In reply to this line
Stimson said, II can scarcely conceive
Of the president leading to battle an
army Of contractors having constitu-
donal rights making them above the
law and putting them beyond the pow