Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-08-18
VICTIM OF PERJURY
"Lifsr"l Who Died in the Pen
Believed Ian ocent by Many
ne WAS CONVICTED IN 1877

Though u Was Establlshsd That NJ.
Q. Fisher Was Convicted On
il False Testimony He Was
I. Never Released.
! Des Moines.-M. B. Ffsher, the life
prisoner in the state penitentiary at
Fort Madison. who died recently u
believed by many persons to be IN
nocent Of the crime Of hrst degree
murder, Of which he was convicted
two separate time. Fishers case
was most unusual one. He was
convicted and sentenced to death In
1877 for the alleged staying of EN-
NETT Reed near Bradford. The su'
preme court reversed the case. On
tho second trial he was again con,
victsd and sentenced to life impris,
onmeut. In this second trial the
most important states evidence was
given by q man named Howard, who
claimed that he had seen Fisher near
the scene of the crime the day after
Il ", committed and that Fisher
then had several horses and some
wsso.s beloaaesg 70 nssd. Howard
also testified that Fisher told him
thst he had the best Of Reed" and
not to say anything, II he heard any
thing drop down at Bedford" After
Fisher hai been sentenced 1t was
discovered that Hovard's testimony
was 1sise. It was found that on the
day hs WAS supposed to have seen
Fisher that he was doing time In
the state penitentiary. Hence he was
convicted Of perjury. Fishers at.
tempts to secure new trial by rea-
son Of this false testimony were
fruitless. the Iowa law making no pro-
vision for . new trial in such In
stances.
During his confinement In the pen.
itentiary Fisher made numerous ef-
forts to be pardoned or paroled. but
mover had his case been before the
state parole board. He was fifty.one
years OF age when he died.
Attorney Dsnounees cosson.
County Attorney Chris N. Jepson.
At Sioux City. emphatically denounc.
ed the methods taken In the Moon
law test case against Charles Ber.
gsr and declared he wanted to be
.set right In the matter.
TN justice to this office" he said.
II Wish Il to be known that neither
my assistant Carl Jones. nor myself
haA anything to do with arranging
this Berger frameup. Attorney Cen
esal Cosson personally employed the
means Of the untrue defendant and
% his subordinate was compelled
to comply with his wishes. 1t was
not . method I would have counsel
led" Following the disclosures that
Berger is not . Sioux City saloon
man and is not even a resident of the
state, Judge David Mould declared
that II information reached him that
the supreme court would not receive
the case he would drop 1t, otherwise
he would let the case continue. The
attorneys on both sides Of the case
refuse to discuss the matter.
Ro. Back From Dubuq.s.
State Fire Marshal Roe has com.
pleted his Investigations Of the sew.
eral lumber yard fires which have
occurred in the past year in Dubu'
que. He stated that he believes that
sleepy" Dixon, who is being held by
the police Of Dubuque. is the man
who has started all the big fires.
There Is no question in my mind but
that Dixon has had hand in the
starting OF every one Of those fires"
said Marshal Roe. II am convinced
that he deliberately fired all Of the
places. was unable to find any mo.
tive for his actions. Dubuque people
arc in q nervous state Of mind all
the time. They fear q disastrous fire
every night. Insurance rates are In
creasing there as a result Of the dis
astrous fires Of this year. Business
men are alarmed over the situation
and are demanding vigorous action
from the council"
Canning Compounds Dangerous.
Bulletin No. S Of the state food and
dairy department contains warn
ing by Commissioner Barney against
canning compounds. The bulletin
says: "Many so.called canning com.
pounds are being sold to preserve
vegetables in the home. Many of
these products contain boric acid,
borax, salicylic acid or other harm
ful preservatives. Preservatives are
not necessary where products and
containers are properly sterilized.
The use Of preservatives encourages
lax methods and inferior materials"
The bulletin is the best the do
partnent has ever sent out. 1t con-
tains copies of the new laws af-
fecting the department. beside warn
ings against dirty ice. vinegars. so.
called Temperance drinks, Ice cream
renovated butter and other articles
Of food which are commonly adul-
tersted.
viii Ask New Holiday.
The 1912 session of the state legis-
lature will witness . statewide Of.
fort on the part of the Knights Of
Columbus to have October 18th set
apart as . holiday to be known rs
Columbus Day or Discovery Day"
and to be celebrated in commemora-
ton Of the discovery Of America
The state delegates who attended the
national convention. held last week