Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-04-13

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called over the phone by Mr.. Cremer
to appear as a witness In the Smith
case. This was about 4 o'clock In the
afternoon and he promised to appear
the next morning at the court house
here. He intended to keep his promise
but was phoned early the next day
that he would not be needed.
He denied hearing that the sherih
had been at the school house looking
for him and said that he had been
there all of that day. When requested
BY Mr. Cremer to be here as witness
he obeyed, did not demand a copy OF
a subpoena and consequently never
had any. .-.
Subpoenaed In Court House.
Mrs. Mavern Kicker, young mat
ron who lives near Hedrick, was sub
poenaed as a witness in the Chester
Smith case too. She was served with
the paper in the court house but could
not remember who served her. She
came from Hedrick as a spectator and
did not know she would be sub
poenaed She could not remember
what part of the court house she was
in when the paper was read to her.
Father Tells Same.
Henry Schwartz, farmer living
seven miles northwest OF Hedrick Is
Mrs. Klicker's father and he substan-
tiated her story in every detail He,
too, was not subpoenaed until he reach
ed the court house and could not
remember in what part Of the build
ing or by whom he was served.
Mrs. Lille Schwartz, mother and
wife of the preceding witnesses, fol-
lowed them and told much the same
story.
Calculates Distance.
Wade Kirkpatrick, a resident Of
Hedrick for 66 years and w. H.. Coff-
man who lived in that vicinity about
the same length of time, we're called
to the stand to give their estimates
on the distance which would be cover
ed by person in an automobile, call
ing upon the parties named In two
subpoenas, known as exhibits Nos. 229
and 23O. They both placed it at be-
tween 80 and 35 miles and the state
alleges that the sheriff charged a
mileage of 1862 miles.
Mr.. Cremer's attorneys objected
strenuously to this testimony claim
ing that it was based on ideal travel
ing conditions They say that the roads
were in very poor shape on the day
the trips were made, that some OF the
people subpoenaed live in very obscure
places, hard to find and unknown to
many, but 1t was admitted by the court
and written into the records.
Scores Former Deputy.
In the opening statements W. A.
Work for Cremer scored Charles E.
Doran, former deputy sheriff. He in
timated that the sheriff was the victim
of a conspiracy, Matched by Doran for
the purpose of boosting himself into
his superior's position.
He said that he conceded that Mr..
Cremer had made mistakes, that mis-
takes would show in the evidence, but
that that did not make him guilty of
corruption. He declared that it was up
to Deputy Doran to show how the
books were kept and why they were
kept in such shape If 1t was not to hide
himself.
Mr.. Work alleged that toward the
very beginning of the Cremer-Doran
regime some difficulty between the
two had arisen when the sheriff found
out that his deputy had been in an In
toxicated condition and had attended
cock fights, an offense against the
state law. He claimed that Doran had
aspired to the Office as early as that
time and that he had been working for
the place since. He flayed him for his
conduct and his alleged disloyalty to
his chief and bore down heavily in his
remarks that the deputy had refused
to 70 over the books with the sheriff's
attorneys but had found plenty Of time
to closet himself with detectives and
representatives of the state in an ef-
fort to conspire against the man who
hired him and who had paid $50 out of
his own pockets to teach him how to
run the books Of the office.
Claim $500 Overcharae.
In the opening remarks for the state,
which were short, John T. Fletcher, as
sistant attorney general for Iowa, out
lined the case, following the allega-
lions in the petition and promoting
facts and evidence to bear out all OF
them.
He said that the total, which Cremer
is alleged to have gained for himself
amounts to about $500, which is about
$50 each month that he has held office
or an increase of his salary from
$1,000, the amount allowed by law, to
about $4,000.
The state attorney said that they
would show where Mr.. Cremer had fail
ed to punish v1olators Of the law when
he knew that it was being misused and
he scored him for saying that he was
too busy.
Mr.. Fletcher claimed that the sheriff
had been guilty of misconduct, corrup-
ton and malfeasance in office for the