Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-04
C0NLEY AYERS
BUILDINGS NOT
NEEDED BY HIM
Former Warden Says He
Has All Improvements
His Activities Need.
Walton Ranch Bought
on Unanimous Approx
al of Prison Board.
(Tribune's Helena Bureau

(Tribune's Helena BureaU)
Helena, June Buildings erected
on the Walton ranch with the aid of
prison labor and into which prison brick
entered were of no personal value to
Frank Conley. but really are of value
only to the state in connection with the
proposed purchase by the state of the
land upon which they are located, Mr..
| Conley told the court Saturday while
on the witness stand regarding the sec
ond cause of action in the trial of the
case brought against by the state as
the outcome of the prison Investigation
conducted last year.
Mr.. Conley reiterated his testimony
| of the previous day that he had made
the purchase of the Walton ranch act
ing for the state, and that the deal
was made in his name only with the
idea of protecting himself to the extent
of the money he had put into the deal
and for which he expected to be reim-
bursed by the state
Says Authorized by Board
He said he had been authorized to
make the purchase by the state board
of examiners and that this authority
was given at a meeting of the board
held in the state capitol upon the unani-
nous approval of the board
When he first took the stand Satur-
day morning Mr. Conley resumed the
Identification of checks. TO which bills
were attached, given by Conley & Me-
Tague for building materials used in
the erection of the structures upon the
Walton ranch. These bills and checks.
he said, covered everything used in
the construction of the buildings with
the exception of the brick, which was
obtained from the prison brick yard
and some second hand rough lumber
secured by the tearing down of some
old buildings on the ranch. The checks
aggregated slightly less than $1,000.
He testified that about 175,0OO pris-
on brick were used in the Walton
buildings. the market value of which
in the Deer Lodge valley in 1920 and
1921 ranged from 81 to S13 per thou
sand, and averaged about $40 About
40 per cent of the rough lumber used
in the buildings was second hand
Ayers No State Logs
He testified that none of the lumber
utilized came from logs for which the
state had paid, such lumber as the
state had presented claims during its
presentation of the case having been
used entirely at the prison. at Warm
Springs, at Galen and at the girls vo-
catonial school. He said the latter logs
had been bought by the state at SIT
thousand, had been sawed at the
prison mill. resold to other state insti-
tutions at 500 thousand, and the slabs
used at the prison for fuel
Mr. Conley testified that the states
expenditures of S2,6231S upon the
Walton ranch during the year 1919. as
presented by the state. were for sup
plies and guard hire only.
He said that he took the land and I!
erected the buildings with the under !
standing that the state would reimburse |
him for the money paid upon the |
land and expended in materials for the !
buildings. together with interest; that |
he had tried TO get the present board |
TO take the ranch over. as he did not |
want II. and that the buildings thereon |
were of no use to him as he had ample |
farm buildings for his own purposes /
on the Bratton ranch
Rankin Would Buy Farm
He added that Attorney General |
Wellington ID. Rankin had told him he |
was agreeable to the plan of taking !
over the ranch and that Secretary of I
state {. t. Stewart would see" what !
he could do about the matter He said /
be had never refused to turn the prop
erty over to the state and was ready
to do it now.
Questioned by counsel for the de-
tense as to whether he had ever dis
cussed with the state board the ques-
ton of the general character of the
buildings to be erected on the ranch.
ne replied affirmatively and said the
board had insisted they should be con
structed of brick and Of the same char
acter as those erected at the industrial
school and one or two other state in
Under cross examination by the at
forney general Mr.. Conley told of the
by the board of examiners
Of the purchase of the ranch, but he
did not remember if the clerk of the
board was present at the time. He
Sald the action of the board was unani7
nous
Questioned as 10 the character of the
lease he had taken on the Walton
ranch for the season previous to the
year IN which the purchase was made,
le replied:
any written leases Ny word used to
- 10y Soou over tncre. uou
Know how it is now"
With the intention of showing that
1t the time of the visit to Deer Lodge
n the summer of 1921 Secretary of
state c. T. Stewart took down penciled
notes of the offers upon this and other
anches and of personal property own
d by Conley e. McTague, including
larry stock, chickens and hogs and
hat these notes contained the price of
he 800 acres in the Walton ranch at
80 per acre, the attorney general
aused to be brought into the court
hose notes which were obtained from
he vault Of the office of Governor ,