davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

All Photos Courtesy Billings Gazette.
I'm going to croak, I might as well die
happy"
If taking my neck pleases them and
eases the feeling against me, my con-
science is clean,' he said:
I'm going to walk right up to the
scaffold and take it like a man. I'm
going to do my part, you do yours:
I'm not the first man to be hung and
I'm not the last one" Robideau said:
The minister lthe Rev: H: S. 100
I'm brave. I said, well, I thank you
AS the car passed near Park City,
Robideau vas given a cigar, lighted
by Stephenson. We'll, this is my last
smoke. I'll never ask you for another
cigar"
clock passed 12:45 a. m, the caravan
started up the Columbus hill. Soon
the lights of Columbus were visible.
Looking at the lights, Robideau said;
well, I guess they're all set for me-
Then Robideau asked Dan NC.
starting a song. I'll sing it with you
and you'll have something to write in
YOUR newspaper tomorrow"
A query revealed his .favoritism for
my Wild Irish Rose"
But before the song was started
ROD1Oeau SAID. NOW L WdllC yOu w
write a good story about me. I'm com
ing back down here tomorrow night
and read that story. If it's not a good
one, I'm going to haunt you tomorrow
night"
through the moonlight night as Ben
jamin sped past the lead automobile
as the caravan entered the city limits
OF Columbus.
Scores of automobiles were parked
at the side Of the drive near the main
entrance Of the Columbus machinery
shed which was turned into a death
house. =,
surely q lot Of people around here"
RohideaH said as the automobile came
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

ure county for the Staying of Under
sheriff Irving Keller in Treasure
county on Friday, Dec. 9, at the Glenna
M. Bolton ranch, IS miles south of
Hysham. They were Joe B. Reagin, a
gun-packing young desperate and Mr..
Bolton, operator OF the ranch where
the murder occurred.
The story back of the killing in
volved the theft of some bedclothes
from the ranch of Mrs. Gamble, mother
of Jess C.. Gamble, supposedly taken
by Reagin and Bottoms brother. Un-
dersheriff Keeler was stationed at the
Bolton home where the stolen bedding
was awaiting Reagin's return. Reagin
had earlier conferred with Bolton INC
knew the officer, whom he had never
seen, was waiting there. He outlined
a plan whereby he would hold up"
the officer, take the bedding and de-
Stroy it as evidence. Bolton apparently
agreed to the scheme since it did not
involve a killing.
However, as Reagin entered. Keeler
was sitting with his knees drawn up
and his hands locked around them.
The other occupants of the house.
Bolton, his wife, who was suffering
from a broken leg and a man named
Pope, threw up their hands at Reagin's
ing and Reagin drew down on him
with the gun and it went off, killing
the officer instantly. In a confession
signed later, Reagin said the gun had
a hair trigger and that he merely
meant to aim it at Keller but it went
off accidentally.
He then made an escape and told
the others to say a small man with
whiskers, riding a white horse had
done the murder. This story was told
first but later Bolton told the truth
and implicated himself as an accessory
before the fact by ~confessing he knew
of the plot to hold up the officer and
recover the bedding.
A resident of Treasure county, w. E.
Williamson, deputized by Sheriff T. j.
Cunningham, encountered Reagin the
following day and shot him through
the right knee, bringing him from his
horse on which he was seeking to es-
cape. Two unusual incidents in connec-
ton with the trial were brought to
light by subsequent events.
On the jury that convicted the men
Of murder was Phil Isaac, who, the
following year ran for the office of
sheriff Of Treasure county and was
elected. AS sheriff it was his duty to
! execute the men. Another was that
Williamson, the deputiZed man who
shot Reagtn from his horse and made
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

was dropped through the trap of the
same scaffold, erected this time in the
county Jail. Zorn merely walked 13
PAGES from his second tier cell door
to the trap and was dropped through
to his death in the presence of some
60 peace officers and witnesses.
The last man to meet death on the
Rosebud county gallows was George
Criner, negro, who came to Miles City
from Havre, with a Mrs. Marie Allsup,
negress, and crazed by drink on the
night of Aug. 7, 1895, went berserk
and proceeded to beat her with an iron
poker and slash her innumerable times
with a knife. Veteran Police Officer
James Fraser, accompanied by Chief of
Police Joseph Sullivan, the latter off
duty n unarned. went to answer a
call that a man was beating his wife"
at 800 South Fourth street.
AS the two men started to enter the
house they were met by Crlner, who
wrestled Fraser's gun from him, shot
Chief Sullivan who raj to a nearby
house and telephoned for help. The
call was answered by Sheriff Edgar
Taylor and Bill Cahill, deputy, who
fired a rifle bullet into the air and
brought Criner out OF the house to be
arrested.
Criner was rushed at once for safe
keeping 10 GIle OWSG Sou1lly JoAA
at Billings where he remained except
for his hearing at which he pleaded
guilty of first degree murder and when
he was brought back to Miles City Tor
his execution IN the morning OF Oct.
16, 1885. The negro accepted his fate
very calmly and told the assembled
officers and witnesses as he stood on
the trap that he was sorry for what
he had done but that he had made his
peace with God and was ready to go.
A few minutes later he was pronounced
dead.
Robideau Is Last
Frank Robideau, Latin-American
rancher and laborer from New York
state originally. while awaiting his exc
cution at Columbus. sat patiently ! n a
| cell in the Yellowstone county Jail at
I Billings. After hi had tried to confuse
officers into thinking Mr.. and Mrs;
Mike Kuntz had been murdered and
their son. Larry, aged five. had been
badly beaten by a pair of hltchhlkerS,
he confessed to the crime and said IL
was the outgrowth of an argument
over some wheat stored in the Wheat
Basin elevator operated by Mr.. Kuntz.
He asserted he and KuntZ were going
, out to duel it out with guns, but Of
ficers discredited his tale.
Robideau. after his sentence of
death, also confessed that he and his
: brother had murdered a man IN New
York state in 1920 over some money
and that he had hidden out in the
west since that time. save for n trip
back to the scene of the crime where
he thought he was recognized and
came Immediately back to Montana.
( Miles City is also slightly connected
with this case in that Robideau was
once thought to have worked at the
old packing plant there when horse
meat vas being processed just after
the war.
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

The first man to be executed on the
"galloping gallows' was Il Alfred
Lane. who dropped to his death Sept.
3, 1920 at 3:45 o'clock in the morning,
in payment for the murder of Henry
Theade of Hathaway on April 26 of the
same year. Lane. at the time was en-
ployed on the Ben Benson ranch n
disappeared the day the body of
Theade was discovered in a cellar on
the Benson ranch shot twice. once
through the shoulder and once through
the side. The body was discovered by
Mr.. Benson and Arthur Lott.
On May 3 Lane returned from hid
ing in the hills and robbed the West
Mercantile store in Hathaway OF a
quantity of provisions. He left a note
signed by his name, saying: I am
sorry to have to do this. MIR. West. but
it is the only way and means I have OF
securing food. I would fix your window
if I had time"
The following day. however, with
only three shells left and little food,
Lane surrendered to Simms Roberts
Jr. at the latter's ranch. He was at
once lodged in the Rosebud county
jail and remained there until he was
hanged on the morning of Sept. 3,
Sheriff Henry Grierson, officiating.
Double Hanging
On Feb. 9. 1923, two men went to
their death on the galloWs in Treas
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

to a halt between a line held back by
officers from several counties and state
patrolmen.
On the ride down. Robideau told Of
ficers nothing new about the Staying
of his Wheat Basin neighbors. Mr.. and
Mrs. Mike Kuntz, on the Columbus
Wheat Basin highway a day following
victims. survived the death ride to later
identify the slayer.
Robideau had promised officers that
he would divulge the place where ne
had buried the gun, which, he said,
Mike Kuntz had at the time OF the
slayingS. The gun was not mentioned.
1t was 1903 a. m. Benjamin and the
others in the car stepped quickly from
the machine. A minute later: Robideau
was standing a foot from the first OF
the IS steps leading to the scaffold.
Benjamin handcuffed the doomed man
in back. Benjamin then tied two straps
around Robideau's waist. over his green
polka dot shirt and blue coat.
Robideau's face became slightly pale,
but he asked U~ndersheriff ODonnell,
do you still want to flip that coin?'
He laughed weakly. Wei. goodby
boys
BENJAMIN and Paul Rosean. deputy
saltwater county sheriff, led Robideau
up the Is steps. Seconds later Rob-
ideau had made his last remarks. The
black hood was placed owe his head,
the rope was jerked tightly around his
neck.
Undersheriff Benjamin snapped his
finger. 1t was Ill am. A trapdoor
sWished. Robideau disappeared from
the platform. The rope remained still.
His neck had been broken. Then. 163
minutes later, the man was pronounced
dead.
saltwater county had witnessed its
first hanging.
Girl Witness in Crowd
And in the crowd of some 375 men
in the machinery shed was n Flor
ence Bowie of Columbus, who was
dressed like a man.
At 3 a. M, a Columbus bartender
, said: This is the biggest night we've
. ever had in Columbus"
Montana's famed ~'Circulating Gal
lows" used for the execution OF Robi-
deau, previously claimed the lives Of
five murderers was used twice in
Miles City within a period OF six
months, was used twice in Treasure
county and once in Rosebud county
for the execution OF murderers. Con-
structed OF heavy timber, well bolted
together, it can be dissembled and put
together within a short time. It has
been borrowed by the sheriff of Still
water county from Sheriff George
Burns of Rosebud where it has re-
manned since its last work, the eXecu-
ton of George Criner, negro, at Miles
City.
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28
RELIEF RAIDERS
NOT PROSECUTED
ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS THEY
SHOULD NOT BE GRIMM
ALLY CHARGED
raid Conducted in Orderly Manner
and Without Violence; Persons TAX
ing Clothing Overcome by Dire Need;
Rules Inflexible and Unjust"

Condoning the action of a mob
hat raided the Great Falls COM
modify office of the state depart
ment of public welfare Dec. IL and
seized wearing apparel valued at
nearly $4,000, Attorney Gen. Har-
risOn J. FreebOurn stated recently
the raiders as criminals.
The attorney generals statement was
in a letter to I. M. Brandjord, admin
istrator for the welfare department,
who asked Mr.. "F'reebourn to prosecute
the persons taking part in the raid.
The raid was conducted in a peace
able manner, welfare department Of
ficialS said, while Cascade county and
Great Falls authorities stood by as the
raiders helped themselves to the sup
plies.
Many of the persons taking part in
the raid were WPA workers and un-
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

Phil G. Greenan, Cascade county at
torney. stated a few days after the
Freebourn ruling that the action of
relief workers in raiding the Great
Falls office could not be condoned and
that his office would institute prose-
cution proceedings, Greenan stating
the offense was within the states
Jurisdiction,
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

Read the Classified Advertisements.
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28
SALOON PERMIT RECEIPTS

Nearly half a million dollars was paid to
the state during January by establishments
obtaining licenses to sell liquor and beer dur
ing 1898, according to L. NJ. A. Wass. admin
~istrator OF the state liquor control board.
There were 746 saloons licensed during 1897
and the board expected that the number will
be about the same this year. At the middle
of January the state had licensed 1.0l9 beer
parlorS for s203. 800. The amount received from
liquor licenses at that time was 1928. $50.
There were about 1900 beer licenses issued
last year.
The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-01-28

employed relief clients, it was polnteo
out, but after the raid, second hana
store operators were besieged Win
persons irving to sell clothing identl.
fled as having come from the reilel
office.
signed in a ledger as they took mer-
chandise from the office, and at q
meeting of the state welfare board, II
wa decided to present the case to the
district attorney for prosecution.
Welfare board members also polnted
out the office probably will be moved
from Great Falls, as city and county
authorities there apparently do not
care to protect the departments prop
erty." They said the office probably
will be moved to Havre
Necessity Prevailed
Mr.. Freebourn't letter to Admins
traitor Brandjord:
After investigation, I find that such
taking Seizure OF the supplies) was
done in an orderly manner and with.
out violence, and that the sense OF
right and wrong of the persons taking
the clothing, consisting OF layettes:
sheepskin coats, shirts, pants and
dresses. was overcome by the dire need
n necessity of those to whom the
clothing was given.
Further, the people receiving these
necessities of life were entitled to them,
but because of unjust and infleXible
rules, were denied them.
AN example of such unjust rule IS:
"a man with five in family. working
on WPA, earning $3.50 per month,
wa given relief clothing for his family.
Was Denied
ION the other hand, a man with
four in his family, working on WPA,
earning $3.50 per month, was denied
relief clothing for his family.
1.-The amount of $500 per month
is not sufficient to support. properly,
a single man. How can a man with four
in family pay for groceries, rent. light,
water, fuel, clothing, medical attention
and other necessities out of $500 per
month?
THE state and federal governments
have allotted an abundance OF money
to replenish county poor funds, when
exhausted, and with which to make or
buy relief clothing for those in need.
I'm view of the facts of this partic-
ular case, I cannot approve prosecu-
ting these people as criminals, and
sending them to Jail. It is my opinion,
therefore, that the persons taking such
/ relief clothing should not be GRIMM
ally prosecuted"
Phil G. Greenan, Cascade county at
torney, stated a few days after the
Freebourn ruling that the action of
relief workers in raiding the Great
Falls office could not be condoned and
that his office would institute prose-
Evening star., 1938-06-04
NEW HOUSE SALES
50 PCT. OVER 1887
May Figures Show Rise of
Business by Builders
in Capital Area.

New house sales in Washington dur
ing May Of this year exceeded May
1887. by 39.3 per cent and May.
1886, by SO per cent, according to
figures in he preliminary June issue
Of the Washington Business Review
published by Rufus S. Lusk.
During May ITO new houses were
sold" said Mr.. Lusk. while this is
less than April when 1856 new houses
were marketed, it is well above the
average monthly sales during the last
two years. In May, 1887, the sales
were 122 and 125. for the same month
of 1896.
"As a result of this faster-than-
average sales pace of new houses, the
number of new houses on hand con-
tinued to decrease. AS of June / there
were 755 newly completed houses for
sale In Washington On May i there
were 860 and on june /, 1887, 694.
Around 600 would be q normal num-
ber.
"The reason for this decrease in the
number of new houses now for sale
results from the % per cent fall in
new house construction. With this
improvement in the inventory OF the
new house market it should be remem-
bered that the present rate of build
ing Of houses and apartments is at a
greater speed than the city can nor
n1ally absorb
Mr.. Lusk also stated that study OF
month-to-month sales of new houses
during the last Is months indicated
there was no season" for the sale of
new houses. It seems to be. according
to his statement, that the time of the
year has little or no relation to the
number of houses sold.
Evening star., 1938-06-04
More Than 400 VIII attend
Realtors Outing on Tuesday

More than 400 members and guests
OF the Washington Real Estate Board
will attend the realtors annual outing
to be held next Tuesday at Bay Ridge,
Md. The program calls for day of
sports and entertainment with buffet
supper to be served at 6 o'clock.
Preceded by q motorcade of Metro
politan Police. the main group Of
realtors will leave from the board
Offices at 1890. At the District line
q detail of Maryland police will meet
and escort the party to Bay Ridge.
A large number of prizes, which
have been assembled by j. Lee Dom
nelly, will be awarded for the various
athletic competitions. Washington
merchants and business firms are
contributing the prizes.
Golf, which will be played at the
Sherwood Forest course, will begin at
9 am. and all entries in the tourna-
ment must be made before 2 o'clock.
John H. Davidson viii be in charge
Of this sport.
s. s. Spruce has planned entertain
ment of an unusual type, assisted by
Albert w. Walker. Sports will be
supervised by Thomas w. Sandoz,
while special committee headed by
Richard D. Stimson will, furnish
amusement which viii be appealing to
those present.
Among the invited guests who have
indicated that they will attend are:
Gov. Harry w. Nice of Maryland,
Senator William H. King, Dan I.
Sultan. District Commissioner; Francis
G. Addison, jr., president, Washington
Board of Trade; Fred D. Allen District
assessor; Maj. Ernest w. Brown,
Robert J. Cottrell, executive secretary,
Washington Board of Trade; e. A.
Dent, District surveyor; Maj. Daniel
J. Donovan, District auditor; Riley E..
Elgen and Richmond B. Keech,
Public Utilities Commission; Elwood
Seal, corporation counsel; Walter L.
Fowler, assistant corporation counsel;
Vernon West, assistant corporation
counsel; Col. John w. Oehmann,
Evening star., 1938-06-04
BUILDING CONGRESS
TO HEAR WILLIAMS

S. M. williams, president of the
Bureau of Contract Information, will
address the June luncheon meeting
of The Washington Building Con-
gress to be held at the Lafayette
Hotel at 1890 Monday. His SUBJ
ject will be Establishing the Re-
sporsibility of Contractors, and Are
Their Profits Reasonable?"
The Bureau of Contract Informa-
ton Is an organization of Nation
wide scope established in 1929, which
Is supported largely by surety COM
panies. A period for discussion and
questions from the floor will follow
Mr.. Williams talk. He is said to oe
the Ebest informed man in the country
on the financial responsibility of con-
tractors. The meeting will be the
last indoor luncheon of the congress
until next fall.
Evening star., 1938-06-04
HOUSE BUILDING
DRIVE PLANNED
Magazine Bases Campaign
on Greater Value to
Owner.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

NEW YORK, June 4.-Plans for a
Nationwide campaign to stimulate
home building by showing that the
modern house offers greater value to
the home owner than ever before in
history were announced here today
! by Joseph B. Mason, eastern editor
of American Builder magazine, which
is sponsoring the drive It is Endorsed
by the Producers Council, national
organization of building material and
equipment manufacturers.
The plan enlists the financial sup
port of all local factors interested in
the building industry, and aims at the
simultaneous carrying on Of local
advertising campaigns, paid for by
local building groups. in 1000 towns
and cities throughout the county.
Each local campaign will consist of
a series Of seven tuu u-page advertise-
ments.
Cite Facts and Figures. vn
These advertisements cite facts and
figures to show that: ,e95
/. A home buyer gets more today
for his money than at any time in
history.
2. Today's house contains improve
ments, comforts and conveniences
undreamed Of 10 years ago.
8. A purchaser has the advantage
Of the lowest-cost financing ever
offered
4. The 1888 home represents IS to
40 per cent greater value than the
1926 house. .-..
S. There are at least Is points Of
outstanding value In the house Of
today not even available few years
ago.
6. The 1888 home is bargain
value"
The pubhc's lack of information
about true home building values,
coupled with a great amount of mis-
information about building prices, has
seriously retarded building recovery,
Mr.. Mason declared in announcing
plans for this Nationwide effort,
which all local industry factors can
support through their. local news
papers, This situation exists, he said,
despite the fact that there is a great
need for new houses and that con-
(see CAMPAIGN, Page B-3)
Evening star., 1938-06-04
PR0DUCT|ONL|NE
PLAN HELD NEED:
. |NHOME BUILDING. !
Magazine Contends Buying
Handicapped by Lack oftyA
'Packaged' Units.
SYSTEM CONFUSED
BY PARTS DEALERS
ri
Variety of Services Cited as Easy
Purchase Barrier in Big sar
Industry, ~~ ~,

If home building is ever to perform
any great service in pulling the coun-
try from depression, all the miscel-i
laneous services which 60 into the
erection or remodeling of a home
must be co-ordinated, thereby making
1t easier for the consumer to buy, the
Saturday Evening Post states in an
editorial on housing. "The housing
market must be solicited and sold:
not merely studied and analyzed," the
publication states. 2'
Pointing out that business men.
economists, college professors and
politicians have at various times de-
clared that an awakening of home
building would pull the Nation from
the throes of recession, the Post stated:
The belief that building can easily
NIL the demand for homes and, in
filling it, do for the country what the
automobile industry once did, and
IN the same manner, is another of the
great American myths" The editorial
continued:
True that many Americans are
housed below minimum standards.
(see PRODUCTION, Page By :
Evening star., 1938-06-04
REFUSAL OF PERMIT
APPEALED TO COURT
Plaintiffs Seek Order to Force
Inspector to Approve
Prefabricated House.
By Stan Correspondent of The Star

By Stan Correspondent of The Star.
ROCKVILLE, Md, June A suit
to enjoin Paul Imirie, building inspec-
tor for the western suburban district,
FROM refusing to grant building per-
init to Alfred w. and Helen Springer
Moran and the Marshall-Walker Co.,
building contractors, for a prefabri-
Gated house was filed in Circuit Court
yesterday.
The petition. entered by attorneys
for the plaintiffs, Miss Vivian v. and
Joseph B. Simpson, jr., stated that the
permit had been asked for a house
with seven rooms and bath in Hunt
ington terrace, to be erected with pre-
fabricated material supplied by the
Gunnison Housing Corp. of New Al
bany, Ind.
The permit was refused, the COM
plant claimed, because the plans did
not comply with certain technical
specifications of the county building
code, but that structurally the ma
terials were stronger and safer than
those specified in the code.
The plans and materials have been
approved by the Federal Housing Ad-
ministration for a loan and are SINH
Evening star., 1938-06-04

building inspector; George W. Offutt,
chairman, A. B. c. Beard; Capt. Hugh
P. Dram, executive officer, zoning
Commission; Harold E. Doyle and
Aubrey st. Clair Wardwell, Real
Estate Commissioners; John A. Petty,
secretary, Real Estate Commission;
Capt. H. C. Whitehurst, director of
highways; w. A. Van Duzer, director
of Traffic; Capt. Patrick H. Tansey,
Assistant Engineer Commissioner; E.
D. Merrill, president, Capital Transit
Co.; Ford z. Young, president, Mer-
chants & Manufacturers Association; (;
Robert D. Hagner, Montgomery
County Commissioner; Clifford Lam
ham, superintendent of trees and
parking; T. Howard Duckett, Mary
land Park and Planning Commission,
and M. C. Hargrove, District pur-
chasing officer.
Harvey L. Jones Is general chairman
and has been assisted by members of
the Real Estate Boards Program
Committee as well as many members
Of the board.