Iditarod pioneer., 1915-07-17
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 among the merchandise handled by hlm were gasoline lamp mantels. There was a shortage of such goods in Iditarod in the fall of 1913, and he wired to his brother, George w. Smith, at Fairbanks, to send him some The latter sent him two dozen and said he had ordered six dozen by telegraph from Seattle to be sent to him at 1ditarod. On November 2l or P, 1913, he received from M. Seller X Co.,, Seattle, an invoice for six dozen mantels. The invoice was ln- troduced in evidence over the objection ot the defense. He told Thurston the post master of receiving the invoice, and ln- ouired for the mantels, and Ihurston gave out the inference that they had been de layed On December 17 he inquired again, and was informed there was no package Tn the postoffice for him. Thurston told him that he himself had mantels coming from Nome, and few days later he advertised them for sale. On April 9, 1914, Wile who had recently taken over the postoffice, came to Smiths store and informed him of the finding of the six packages of mantels ad- dressed to him He went to the postoffice and was shown the packages. They were ln cotton sack, covered with dust and dirt The packages were plainly addressed and one of them had been sufficiently torn to display its contents. Vile called Thurston, who was living over the postoffice. The latter denied ever having seen the pack ages Smith told of having berated Thurs ton. He said to him: "You surely have the gall of the devil to be selling mantels all winter while mine were lying in that sack under your table. You ought to have ! made a good thief of yourself and destroyed the packages" The wrapper which had ntained the mantels, and which had been torn open, was admitted in evidence over the objection of the defense. The other packages had not been preserved, Mir Smith said, because he had had no thought of prosecuting the Thurstons. The prescott tons were not instituted at his instance. Vile had indorsed the opened package with his name and the date on which they were found-April g. He had later talked with Commissioner Albrecht, Deputy United the incident.
 Henry Roden, in cross examining the wit ness about Wiles discovery of the packages, and his having indorsed them with his name and the date, and the reasons for such ac- ton on Wile's part, asked: AS a matter of fact, you don't know much about the packages?" You bet your life l do" re- piled the witness. He could not testify as to the time the mantels left Seattle-he had only the invoice to go by The wit ness was asked as to intimate personal mat ters, and replied, That was my business" and the question was not persisted in. He could not say as to when the packages ar rived at the Iditarod postotfice, They might have arrived after Vile took charge of the office for all he knew
 Albert Vile on the Stand
 Albert Vile testified that he took charge of the Iditarod postoffice on April l, 1914, and that the first mail after that time ar rived on April 6. He identified the package which had been placed in evidence, and stated that he found it under the sorting table in the postoflice on April 9, while cleaning up the office, and had indorsed it with his name and the date for identification purposes. It had been found in an old sack, which was covered with dust and dirt along with five other similar packages, all ad- dressed to Joseph H. Smith. He detailed the calling into the office of Joe Smith and Thurston. Thurston denied having seen the package. He was extremely pale, and Smith and Thurston 'chewed the rag" He cor | roborated Smith as to the conversation that took place. Vile said the packages did not arrive after he took charge of the office, and must have reposed under the table for months Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Thurston ever spoke to him of the matter afterward On cross examination he denied that the packages might have come on the mail of | April G. There were parcel post stamps On | the package and Mir Roden intimated by his questions that it might not have come as first class mail The questions took such I form that the court interfered to protect | the witness from what was termed improper questioning.
 | Joe Smith was recalled, and in answer to a question by Mr. Roth, stated that Thurs ton had told him he had cleaned up the office a month previous to the day of the alleged finding of the packages,
 Testimony of Thomas
 w. B. Thomas could not identify the | package, and detailed his connection with the postoffice during 1913 and 1914. It
 was not customary to place several pack
 ages in a sack. When packages were too large for the lock boxes a card was placed
 in the box calling attention to them.' He l did not know of anyone but himself assist
 ing the Thurstons in distributing the mail. 1 Cross examination elcited the statement
 that he was not familiar with the postal
 laws, and could not state definitely that the
 package had been received as frst-class matter.
 Smith Had Complained to Marshal
 Deputy Marshal Percy G. Charles identi-
 fled the package placed in evidence He
 stated that Smith had complained to him
 that the packages had been delayed in the
 mail, and showed them to him. They were
 contained in sack. He had not conversed
 with Thurston about the incident; later he
 qualified this by saying he might have done
 so He had had difficulty in purchasing
 mantels in the period mentioned, and had
 bought some from Thurston. On cross l A.- l olNar