The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1915-02-28
WOMAN TELLS
Of INTRIGUE
IN j. s. COURT
AN INVOLVING MILLIONAIRE
QUESTION OF LEASE IN THE
GUSHING OIL FIELD.

Muskogee, Okla. Feb. 27.-A tale
OF intrigue, brIte"v and double cross.
ing, all directed by a millionaire
master hand, posing in the guise OF
7hianthropist, was told by Sadie
james, a negress, ir the United States
district court here Thursday. The
witness was testifying in the hear
ing on the question of receivership
for the Tommy Atkins lease in
the Gushing field.
Charles Page, known as "Oklaho-
mas Rockefeller" directed the pro-
ceedings of a small band of hired
men from his spacious office in the
First National bank building in Tul-
sa, from beneath the shades of the
arbors in his park near Sand Springs,
and directed rehearsals OF witnesses
! in private sections of his office, 1t
was declared by the witness in a
statement which took over three
hours to be made.
Page, the head of the Gem Oil
company, was seeking to find wit
nesses who would swear that Thomas
| Atkins was a person who lived but
who died at Leavenworth, Kan, at
the age of about II or 10 years,
the witness declared.
II went into Mr.. Pages office
with Mr. Long" she said. "Mr. Long
made me stand by the railing and
Mr.. Page came up and we was intro
duced Mr.. Long says, Mr.. Page, this
is Sadie and then Mr. Page said
Why, Sadie, you are just the person
we are looking for.
Il told Mr.. Page there wasn't any
Tommy Atkins. Mr.. Page then said,
I don't give a damn whether there
is or not He said that government
are going TO make one"
Sadie James commenced her story
at the beginning when court con-
vened Thursday afternoon. She sta
ted that her age was As. That she
went to the Carlisle Indian school at
the same time with Minnie Atkins
and Bette Mann, known also as
Sarah r. Mann.
She said that when the search
was commenced for Tommy and
Minnie Atkins, that she accepted en-
ployment from II. L. Bartlett, mill
ionaire oil man of Sapulpa, who was
seeking, she said, lease or deed
to the Atkins allotment.
She stated that she told Page that
she would take the job of creating
Tommy Atkins and then have him
buried at Leavenworth where she
could secure plenty of witnesses,
she said to swear that Tommy At
kins lived there. But she baked on
his promise of pay.
"He told me l would get paid well
enough she declared but | said
that | wanted a written contract to
show that l would get paid So he
told me TO meet him that night in
his park and he would talk it over
with me.
my husband went with me to see
Mr. Page. We went out to the park
and met Mr. Long. He went and
brought Mr.. Page How much do
you want to get this for me?" Mr..
Page asked. | didn't know just what
to say and I waited a few minutes.
Finally he said, I'll tell you what I'll
do I'll give you $1,000 if you will
get these Witnesses"
The negress then said that she held
out and finally arranged to meet
Page the next morning at 10 o'clock
in his office She declared that morn
ing that a contract was drawn up by
which she was to get $1,000 when
/ the proper witnesses were secured,
and that she was allowed $500 as eX-
pense money She declared at this
time that Minnie Atkins was then
in an adjoining room going through
rehearsal OF the part she was to
play.
She said she knew Dennis Jones of
Leavenworth, and he might help her
in securing the needed witnesses
Hes a niger lawyer, former po-
liceman, and a politician" she de-
scribed him.
She then told of a conference with
Dennis Jones at Leavenworth. "Oh,
we kept that Leavenworth trail hot"
! she exclaimed. az told Dennis what
was wanted and he said he didn't
know whether he could get a witness
or not. I said TO him, 4 can get
I a.. 4.