The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-05-23
Nation Awaits
Legislative Action
Continued from Page u

Continued from Page ~
His choice was Il $25 fine or 80 days
ut hard labor.
Tabert wired home for the money
and his family sent him $50 by
registered mail and urged him to
come back. He had seen enough
COR his first big trip, they wrote.
But that letter never reached Mar
in And because it didn't. Martin
dicd and whole ration was to read
. alter ON Of what seemed in this age
I'D time I'm impossible reality.
The letter, sent in care of the
aeriff, was returned to the family,
"t,n lained' The family thcreupon
licvrd their boy had been able 10
cave and forgot about the matter.
IA the meanwhile, however, Tabert
WIS taken under guard to the lum-
beg camp Of the Putnam Lumber
-l"mpany, at Clara, Fla, GO miles
away, to work Out his fine.
uuder existing laws, this lumber
nlnpany, owned by State Senator
j. knabb, utili2es convict labor
nom several nearby counties.
\ month and half after his az
~ {, Tabeft died in camp. The cause
gcn was fever. Company officials
: ured his family in North Oak ota,
ih, lad had been given Il Christian
( t'iaI
: fellow prisoner in the prison
annp wrote to the Tabert family
I., I.t. rtr
ag that Martin died under unna-
,aral circumstances. The investi
ti on machinery then started into
acton
A. long hearing followed. Wit
re ses by the score testified that
be whipping boss" of the camp
has beaten Tabcrt numerically, be-
cause Martin was too weak to labor
fast as the boss liked throughout
coad Tabert was forced to stand
huec-deep in mud and w$er in the
= feacherous swampland. It. was
aDrk that only those seasoned to
hat part of country really could
Gear
. On certain Friday night the
nth was called out Of line just af
&C. dinner. A leather strap, three
--atd a half feet long and some four
d half inches wide, was obtain
-nu, and used, men testified.
Get down." the boss demanded.
Tabert dropped to prone posi-
on, and then blows as hard as 1t
: Is possible for the "boss" to strike,
lined on the lads back, which was
left a mass of pulpy welts.
After the death, it was testified
~ the negro who helped prepare
he body for burial, a sheet was
Tried to the body, fastened by hard
ened blood
The boss" is now under indict-
. ment, charged with murder. Sheriffs
Of two counties probably will pay
with their official heads before the
investigation is completed
Just now the question is, "Where
is Tabert buried"
Fellow convicts swOre the body
was dressed in cast-off clothing Of
a. itbap anu pun III CHtdp Dun,
which was thrown in hole half fill
ed with swamp water. No mound 20
show the spot of the grave. No
stone to tell it's sad story Just
smooth earth, said these witnesses.
H. But company officials deny this.
They say three white women and a
minister were present at the burial
which took place in hallowed
Florida ground. This body will be
eXhumed soon, just after authorities
down there receive a chart of Ia
hert's teeth, which remain the only
possible means of identification
These three women testified they
sang, and that the minister asked
Cor the peace of the soul of the de-
parted. But they admit they did
tot know whom they were burying.
they did not know his name. They
lid not know what he looked like.
North Dakota, as state, is sat
iafied that Florida as a state, did
not know of the conditions that
dade possible the death of one Of
ne formers young and husky farm
- boys.
But it must not be again." came
me warning, and now on compile
Ion of the report which, when en-
acted into law, will abolish the whip
and the convict labor system, the
hldwestern state congratulates the
southern one and assures that in
cad Of becoming estranged, the
H.,iI Il
sisters pledged to the task of MAX
ng the union a place really free
Tor free men to live in.