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Show " ' : ' . . ; . . ' . ... : ' THE BINGHAM BULLETIN, BINGHAM CANYON, VJAli . Thursday, July 12, 1928 The Bingham Bulletin Entered as second-clas- s 'matter at the postoffic'e at Bingham Canyon, Utah, under the Act of Congress of March .V 1879. Subscription Price, per year, ,in. advance l................:......'...,'.$2.00 Published at 446 Main St., Bingham Canyon, Utah ' HOWARD A. JAIIVIS, Editor TELLS HORRORS OF LIFE IN SHADOW OF DEATH CHAIR ' . ,. Boy, Sentenced for Murder, . . Is Saved. by Sister and ' Sweetheart. ' t " ErooklJn. Tltf pWow of the chair, the wooden'and'''w1re and hva contraption which' Is" In the clt'iin, white room at 'Slug Sing, bung for 13 months over Robert Welner. !ut It's gone now; at feast,' be to "out of Its Immediate shadow, and believes that his troubles are over. There are jjot njiiriy .jne.ln- - ,New. lork state wlw have "spent long lag-ging months,; 'waiting and watchihR for that lust rip through,w;h!)t once was "the llttlf). greeo door. If Isn't green now, r course; It's, browned steel and It's Jblg and heavy." I!ut the Idea Is there, , For, thofce, rnVn- n ho hove lived ejernltles eachp day and-wee-there Is-- no way ou'tf- - obce they have passed ftirough tb door.' ' .. Twelve persons, ebpvcn'mpn" one woman, maiV'he'd - slowiy, (Ojuffllng along through that door, 'tle Dob Welner watclicd them. 'A'riil Jiow he shudders, and bis smile fudeV when he thinks of them. He saw Riith Snyder, sjouch through It lie saw'Jiidd Cray go, and several ' others. ' '; Two Women Aided Him. 'They sent him to the. death hous. under penalty of denth, for his al-leged part In the Tombs prison break and killing of 1920. He denied any part. ISut a Jury" found, hint guilty. . ' j' Then 'two' women, In.ileed they are little more' than girls, set out to prove him Innocent. One was his sister. The other was f i Is sweetheart. The story of how they battled against odds, fought with officials, worked and Ml Bob Welner Watched Them. struggled Is In Itself a story. But they won when the Court of Appeals ruled that Welner be given a new trial, and the district attorney In Manhattan ad-mitted he couldn't produce the evi-dence which would again convict the Brooklyn boy. Now Welner Is home, Just trying to get acclimated. He Isn't going out. He Is Just sitting around home, trying to realize that when night conies he will not have to sit in the semidark-nes- s and count the hours. He hasn't yet, he says, understood fully that he will not have to play checkers through the bars, or hear the shouts and laugh-ter of condemned men who are trying to appear carefree, hut who are worry-In- g and counting. A Terrible Feeling. "It's a terrible feeling," he says, "this knowledge that some night is coining and that you are going out of jour cell and that you are not coming back. "I played checkers with these men. We had to play our own board, shout-ing out the moves, because death house confinement Is solitary confinement. And we would play, or talk, n?ver seeing the men we were playing or talking with. 'Then would come the night when we would hear the shuffling of feet. I think that was the worst. We would hear the men shuffle down the cor-ridor. I would see a dim form, then two or three others pass the cell. The men would cry out their farewells. The others In the cells would call out, too. But the man we had known If only by voice, had gone." Welner feels, he says, as If he had been dead and had come hack to life again. r " V;:' " ' !C M 'tmmt) v.faw- - fir: I - 7S rr-d- J Sir" - .- - r.l - Mrs. Catherine M. Brown of San Francisco, sole survivlor of the d Donner party,! recalls the vivid incidents of early ..California history when .he was a little girl during the hectic gold rush ,days, and, being an artist of unusual ability, puis them' ' ' ' on canvas. " ' ' t "' n By ELMO SCOTT WATSON . ff .11 WE other day a news pic-T- " ture service Issued the photograph shown above and In doing so brought back for a moment from the dim past the memory of one of the most glo-- rlous periods in all Amer-L- - -- ' lean history and recalled the story of one of the two outstanding tragedies of those far-away times. In the annals of the his-toric "Days of MO" there ore no more thrilling stories than those of two dif-ferent groups of homeseekers. whose sufferings on the overland trails to California have Immortalized the names of the ''Donner pnrty" and the "Jayhawker party." It Is a curious coincidence that both parties originated In the state of Illi-nois, that both traveled over the fa-mous Oregon trail until they reached the region of the Great Salt lake lu Utah and that both made the tfcigic mistake of seeking a shorter route to the Promised Land Instead of fol-lowing the route which would have brought them In safety to fortune and happy homes in a new land. But there tho coincidence ends except for the fact that both found Death awaiting them along the trail. To the Donner party, which set out from Springfield, III., in 1S40, Death appeared In the form of starvation and freezing cold In the snows of the high Sierras. To the Ja.vJiawker party, which left Gales-burg- , 111., three years later, In the spring of 1849, and which, seeking to avoid the mistakes of the Donner to be abandoned wnd eventually the party emerged from.,the desert and approached " the moimta'fhs." Then It was discovered that their' food sup-- . plies were running low und California was still hundreds of miles awny Py this time, too, dissension had nrlsen ,,ln the party and a dispute between Reed and Snyder resulted In the kill-ing of the latter. When they finally reached the mountains it was to find that the many delays had brought them even greater dangers. For the early snows had begun to fall on the Sierras and crossing the mountains would be Impossible. So with heavy hearts they turned back to a cabin on the shores of a lake, since known V as Donner lake, which had been built ' by a party of emigrants two years earlier, built more cabins and pre-pared as best they could for the win-ter. A series of storms piled up the snow until it was 14 feet deep. The food supplies were almost exhausted and when the last of the cattle had been killed and eaten the emigrants were reduced to' eating the hides, which when boiled, were little more than masses of glue. Several attempts were made to push across the moun-tains and seek relief In the California settlements on the other side, but all, except ope, failed. A "forlorn hope" expedition, of ten men and five women set out and although eight of the men perished on the way, the survivors linnlly reached Sutter's fort A relief party was Immediately sent out by Cuptaln Sutter which e . - party fell In with another emigrant truln, commanded by Edwin Bryant, consisting of US fighting men, .10 wom-en, 40 wagons and 3.10 cattle. The addition of the Donner party to this caravan made it so large that it was divided Into two parts for conven-ience in traveling wid an organization with the proper otlicers to direct its affairs was formed. By the middle of June the emigrant train was mak-ing Its way through Nebraska, and nearing Fort Laramie, which they reached safely and stopped to repair their wagons. Although several of the party (main-ly the older ones) died and were bur-led along the trail, the party reached Fort Bridger without undue disaster Then when it was near the Great Salt lake the emigrant train divided, the larger portion deciding to keep to the old road to California while the Donners, Reeds and many others, .87 in all, made the fatal decision to at-tempt what was called the Hastings Cut-of- which passed along the south-e-edge of the lake and was said to shorten the route to California by 300 miles before it rejoined the Fort Hall emigrant road on the Humboldt river In Nevada. The Donner party soon found that It had made a mistake, for the emi-grants were seven days in reaching Weber canyon and then found that they must make their own trail by cut-ting their way through heavy under-brush and making a road as they went. While they were struggWng through the Hasting Cut-of- f they were joined by the Graves party, another Illinois group which had setjmt from their homes near what Is now I. aeon. 111., at about the same time as the Donner parry had started. The Graves party consisted of W. . Graves, his wife and eight children, his son-in-la- Jay Fosdlck, und a young man named John Snyder, and they were to play a prominent part In the tragedy that was so soon to foUow. No less dra-matic than the stories of Eliza Don-ner und Virginia Reed Is the account of the Donner tragedy as given from the viewpoint of the Graves family and recorded in an old book "Records of the Olden Time, or Fifty Years on the Prairies" by Spencer Ellsworth and printed In Lacon, 111., in 1880. After making their way at last through Weber canyon, the combined party found Itself facing a desert They hud been told It was only 40 miles wide and they took what they thought was an ample supply of water. But the desert proved to be more than twice that distance across and foi two nights and a day they struggled across the dreary alkali waste, suf-fering from heat und thirst by flay and from cold at night. When the third day came and the unending des ert still stretched before them, one of the party went ahead in search of water, leaving instructions for the drivers to unhitch their oxen and fol low if the cattle began to give out All of the, wagons except one, hud party, fell into greater tribulation, Death nppeared In the form of starva-tion and thirst and the overpowering heat of that earthly Inferno to which they gave the name of Death valley The Donner party was one of the hundreds which began to llock to Call fornla almost Immediately after the war witn Mexico. On April 15. I84C 81 men, women Hiid children who bad assembled at Springfield, 111., for what they thought would be a s Journey to t he pacific coast, set out for the Gulden West. The 01 .nlzer of the party was James F. Reed, but it took Its mime from the Donner brothers, George und Jacob, who were neighbors of Reed. Of the 31 in the purty, 16 were children, among whom were two little girls. Eliza Donner and Vlrginu Reed, who later wrote stories of their Journey which have become classic uccounts of this expedition. Eliza Donner's description of the equipment which her father and uncle provided for the long Journey Is as vivid a description of the "covered wagon" era In Amerl can history us can be found anywhere. In one wagon were the seed and farm-ing Implements for use when they reached California and with these the laces, muslins, satins and velvets to be used In trading for land. In the second were tiie supplies for the Jour-ney, the food, clothing Mild camp equipment, us well us various bright colored garments, beads, necklaces, mirrors and the like, to be used in making friends with the Indians ulong the route. The third wagon was thf family "home on wheels" and It. as well as each of the other two was drawn by three yoke of oxen. For several weeks the Journey was uneventful. On May 19, the Donner cached a supply of food along the way and arrived with only a small amount r of provisions which were doled out to the famishing members of the party. On February 22 a party of 23 started out to cross the mountains and after struggling through the snow feund that wild animals hud destroyed the cache of food. Fortunately, another relief party from Sutter's fort reached them In time to save them from star-vation. In the meantime scenes of utmost Indescribable horror were taking place among those who had remained at Donner lake. Faced by the alternative of starving to death or resorting to cannibalism the wretched survivors chose the latter and it Is In the ac-count of the Graves family, as writ-ten by Ellsworth, that the harrowing details of what took place then are revealed. More relief parties even-tually arrived and by degrees the rem-nants of the pnrty made their way over the snows of the mountains down into the valley of the Sacramento and to Sutter's fort. Starvation and the cold had exacted a fearful toll. Forty-tw- o of the S3 members of the party who had been overtaken by winter In that terrible camp had perished. Only 18 of the original party of 31 which hud left Springfield ever reached California. Descendents of some of the survivors still live in California and In 1018 hart a part In dedicating a monument on the spot near Donner lake where many of the party perished. It Is a monu-ment to the dauntless pioneer spirit which carried the survivors of the historic Dhiner party through bor rers and privations such us few hu-man beings have experienced to death less fame. I City Cash-Marker;- :; 1 ; i: GROCERIES, MEATS, FISH . f i; f AND POULTRY ''v I 'x .;: ' . . Imported and Domestic Products i I 3 8 1 MA IN STREET : ' ' 'PHONE 148 ! - - i :: ,J Bingham Canyon, Utah t ' - " ' :.; : .( '! V . ' fevWWAVWW.V.'.V. S3 i jj - i-- 5 There are all kinds : $ Z of cheap printing s 5 but none of It Is real- - 5 'y cheap at least J S not on a basis of s ' i value. Cheap stuff - ? ts usually worth al- - J J f most what it costs. Our printing Isn't '. J; the cheapest you K 2; can det, but It's as , 'I ood as the heat, feg.v.w.w.-.'Av.v.v.v.vy- ji advertiseI if you warn to move, your merchandise. Reach the In their homes through (buyers of THIS PAPER every dollar expended reap a handsome 1 i." ''tend. 5j : : CITIZENS COAL & SUPPLY CO. COAL, ICE, HAY and GRAIN AGENTS FOR BECCO Phone : : : : : 39 I BINGHAM & GARFIELD RAILWAY COMPANY Ship your freight via Bingham and Garfield Railway. Fast daily merchandise cars from Salt Lake City in connection with the Union Pacific System. USE COPPER Brass piping for $4500 cottage only costs $48.87 more than galvanized iron piping and will LAST FOREVER T. H. PERLEYWITS, H. L. DAVIDSON I nsst. Gen. Freight & Pas. Agt., Agent I Salt Lake City, Utah Bingham, Utah I t : Patronize Home People For the Best in Laundry Work Call Murray Laundry ROUGH DRY WORK ONE DAY SERVICE FRIDAY Tax payers of Bingham Canyon George Streadbeck Manager " Phone 98 84 Main Street i J Mother Found Guilty; Attacks School Teacher Lafayette, Ga. An irate mother who whi.iped a school teacher Is un-der a l'J months' suspended sentence on the chain gang. Mrs. J. W. Groce pleaded guilty to an assault charge for an attack on Miss Bertha Harp, 1 iiicKamaiigu school mistress, last year. The whip, dug occurred on the street after Miss Harp had punished the Groce boy for a schoolroom Infraction. A long switch was used by Mrs. (Jroee, When i this was broken she used a club, ue- - j cording to the victim. er. Electrolysis has been found to be injurious to the lif. of steel, and this may be a destructive factor (about which little Is known) which under certain conditions may shorten the life of the skyscraper to half a century or so. Life of "Skyscraper" The associate editor of the Archi tectural Record says that the average skyscraper Is estimated to continue In existesce from 25 to 30 years. This brief period of existence Is due to the rapid growth and change In our ciries. and does not indicate failure due to construct!! n. The modern skyscrupei with proper care to pro tect the steel framework and fcot-Iocs- , should stst a century or long led the waters by a series of daim and syphons up over range to the penstocks. Now the plant has an effective head of 70S meters, pro-duces lOUOUO-hors- e power and cat generate 8iu,0OO, and the annual rum lige of the rivers, which once reultei In Hooding ten square miles of valu able land within the city, has beet squelched. Fine Engineering Feat Engineers developing a hydroelec-tric power plant near Sao Paulo, lira zil, caught a cuple of rivers which had the habit of flowing westward, re formed them to flow east and then Injury Worth $7,503 London, Eng. Forced to wear long skirts to hide an injury to her ankle in an automobile accident, Joan Rar-ke- r, of this city, won a $7,500 dam-age suit. The Canadian government has es tablished a sanctuary about la.uut -- quaie miles In extent for musk oe |