The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-05-15
BELIEVE ASHES
WILL SHOW GOLD
eLoBuLEs or METAL FOUND IN
DEBRIS or GUINNESS FARM.
PROBLEMS UKS0LV we'd
Many Pitiful Letters Received by La
porte Officials lnquiring About Bod
les Found Believe Lamphere
BlackmaiIed.

Laporte, Ind, May 1.-THE posi-
BILE determination that the globules Of
metal found by the mining operations
at the Guinness farm yesterday were
bits Of gold used by dentist for nh
ing in crowns Of the woman's teeth
is likely to be development Of inn
portance in the case today. The
specimens were turned over to a local
jeweler last night and 1t is expected
that he will report on them soon.
The tests which are necessary, one
by applying acids to the metal, and
the other involving calculations of
the weight, are comparatively simple
to experts.
The facts that these products of
the sluice box tailings are globulous
is taken as prima facie evidence that
the metal is gold. DIR. l. p. Norton,
who pronounced the pseudo speci-
men found Tuesday to be bit Of
gilded picture frame, said yesterday
that gold of the fineness used by
dentists, always bubbles to globules
under a fusing heat and these speci-
mems in question are supposed to be
in the hottest part Of the ruined Gun
ness home.
The mystery has reached a stage
where the determination Of such
facts is Of major Importance. The
discovery of additional bodies is a
remote possibility and the identifica-
tion of any Of the seven cadavers re.
naming unmarked is even more dis
tantly to be expected.
DeIuged With Inquiries.
The authorities are being deluged
with inquiries concerning missing
persons but with a few exceptions
these communications are valueless
because Of the absence Of information
as to malformations Of dental work
or other marks which might give a
clue to the identity of the crumbling
skeletons which are listed as totally
unknown.
Most Of these remnants Of human
ity have been under ground for years,
circumstance which has not been
taken into account by majority Of
the volunteer correspondents. Many
Of the letters reveal pitiful stories Of
anxious parents, brothers, sisters,
husbands or wives, who have waited
long months or years for word from
their loved ones.
Yesterdays developments did little
to elucidate the unsolved problems
arising from the corpse-sown farm.
The letters from Cleveland concern
ing the attempts of an accomplice Of
Mrs. Guinness to draw another victim
into her net, served to strengthen the
idea that the woman was the center Of
! a system for numbering and feecing
those persons who followed the
trails which led to the bamyard cem-
etery on the place.
Defense Wants Havens.
Outside of this there was nothing
of magnitude. The attorneys for the
defense are said to be looking for
David Havens, who, it is reported, aid
ed in uncovering the bodies Of the
persons whom Lamphere is accused
OF numbering. According to the In
formation current they claim that
Havens was declared an undesirable
citizen by Sheriff smulzer and or.
dered away from Laporte shortly af-
ter the fire. The attorneys also claim
that Havens had declared that when
the bodies were found in the cellar
on April % they were lying on the
floor and that there was no debris
under them. They assert that testi.
mony to this effect at the trial will
do much to clear their client Of the
charges again him, arguing that the
circumstances show that the bodies
had been placed in the cellar previous
to the beginning of the fire which de-
stroyed the farm house.
Offer to Produce Woman.
The testimony OF other men who
helped Sheriff Smulzer uncover the
corpses and of the sheriff himself IL
|against this supposition. In addition
the findings Of the physicians who
examined the corpses established the
fact that the persons burned were
clothed in night robes and that re
mains Of bedding and mattresses
were also present. II Havens, wher
found, substantiates the claims Of the
I defense, an interesting conflict O
testimony is likely to follow.
Over 100 letters OF the crank va
riety were received by the sheriff, cor
oner and others today. Some Of then
offered to produce Mrs. Guinness TO
"a consideration.
II The state announced today that con
hrmation Of their belief that Lam
phere had endeayored to blackmai
Mrs. Guinness, has been secured iron
a former resident Of this city. who