Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-12-21
"WILD HORSE" MEN
SAY THEY'RE GOATS
], Sidney Smith, President,
Says Farmers and Land
Sharks "Stung" Him.
PRoCLAIMs HIS INNOCENCE

Ii any one got stung in wild horse
transactions, it was the United States
Live Stock and Investment COM
pany. This was the testimony OF J.
Sidney Smith, president of the organ
ization and one OF the eleven men
now being tried in the United States
district court for using the mails to
defraud.
He testified that hundreds Of real
estate dealers and farmers who had
property and who had found it i'm
possible to sell or trade, attempted
to load it off on his concern for the
exchange of horses which his firm
owned in Coconino county, Arizona.
At all times he testified his firm
acted in good faith and at no time
did it use the mails to defraud in the
carrying out of its transactions.
One Deal.
And to prove his statements he
told of number of dealings where
traders had attempted to mike his
corporation. He told of Ed Mason.
Villisca, Ia, farmer who had traded
property valued he said, at $4,000
for twenty-four head of horses.
After looking into the property |
found that it was worthless and
traded it off for one Villisca horse,
which l shipped to Omaha and after
wards sold for SIS.
Then there was NJ. Emdc, Rolfe,
Ia, another government witness who
testified that traded him seventeen
horses for his eighty-acre farm in
Missouri. | found the property SO
badly incumbered that it was sold for
taxes. | never recorded the deed for
the property"
"And there was E. T. Dufer, Lori
more, Ia, who told Of trading his
farm in Colorado to my firm, The
truth of the transaction was that |
gave Mr.. Dufer a bill of sale for
twenty-five 2-year-old colts and my
new seven-passenger. Buick for the
land. | took back mortgage on his
property for $1,000, and to bind the
deal he gave me $3.50 cash. Before
had time to realize on the trade
DufeT foreclosed the mortgage and
started action in the courts whereby
he got back his land. | certainly was
the loser in that deal" 'r 49,
Owns Some Wild Ones.
That he actually owned large
number of horses, or, rather, that he
thought he owned them, he told the
jury. To prove this he showed
number of cancelled checks for which
he purchased in the neighborhood OF
1000 animals from parties in Flag
staff. -,.
When asked if he had misrcp-
resented his brands as being bred up
from Percheron and Morgan stock,
he refuted the allegation and said
that he only told his purchasers what
had been impaired to him at the time
he bought his range horses.
II was told that Bishop Lot Smith,
one of the founders of the Mormon
faith, had once made a settlement
on Mormon lake on the Coconino re-
serve, and that he had bred some OF
the horses in the locality with Nor
mon stock ...+ r.
Judge Henry Morgan of Alberta
La, 4h mia, ollC VI tiIS NlilCl NoullSCl
for the defense, Twas unable to ap-
pear in court because his eyes had be-
come infected with blood poisoning.
1t is probable that he will not he able
to continue in the case. go.
Since the government has started
its case against the United States Live
Stock and Investment company and
the Omaha Land and Investment
company for the use of the mails to
defraud in the selling Of wild and
imaginary horses in Coconino county.
Ariz., a number of local hotels and
restaurants have adopted the wild
horse" slogan.
1t is now possible to walk in some
of the select eating places and order
a steak with wild horse dressing
and Arizona salad. In fact there ap-
pears to be no limit to the foods now
bearing the wild horse" appelation.