SCHERMEYER ON STAND RE
LATES ALLEGED STORY OF
IDITAROD MAIL ROBBERY
—
(Continued from Page 1.)
sack, which he thought contained the
mail matter, took it past the mail
sleigh, crossed tha river and threw it
into the road. He had started to re
turn when he decided it should be con
cealed better, and, retracing his steps,
placed the sack on top snow and
brush, the witness said. He then
rune back to the roadhouse, cleaned
up and went to bed, he said. This
was about 12:30 a. m.
Mr. Ellis asked the witness if any
drinks had been served after supper,
and Schermeyer repield that every
one but Virginia Howard and he had
been drinking. Virginia Howard,, the
witness said*, never drank any moon
shine, but . might, possibly, have, had
some beer-with. her.
“Who.^served the drinks.?’'' asfcwi
Mr. EiRa.w;
“How-many were served after sup
“NelKe-V. the witness replied,
per?" the prosecutor quizzed.
“Qbitte' a few,” was Schermeyer’s
inswer.
Chester Brink, was first to leave the
roadhouse next morning and Virginia
Howard;'and. S?ig Wiig were next.
Duff jS'and Mrs. Bates started on the
trail toward McGrath about 1C
o'clock1.’ i..
As soon as everyone had gone,
Schermeyer said, he went across the
river and got the large mail sack and
brought it to 'the dining room .of the
roadhouse. .H e star tod to take out
the mail matter, he said, and in so
doing .found a small sack insider He
burned them in two separate stoves,
and while-stirrihg the fires his pokers
encountered the locks • and1 other
metal, the: witness declared. He said
he. had- not thought of the -fact that
they might be-incriminating evidence
against him and renvovedUhewt imme
diately.. Wftfen ho stirued the 'fire in
which the-asnaller sack.;; had. been
placed Schermever testified'that he
thought he. saw currency unfolding in
the heat?.- After..the'Tsscksi.andt-maJ
had been - huhned the witness stated
that, he removed the ashes .hi order to
dispose of the mail sack eyelets, and
other. bits of metal that might be
present. -He-said that he* rctok« the
two ocks and walked down the trail
back of the roadhouse for about- half
a mile, wheceihe. threw the 'locks intc
the snow/
Returning, ip thej roadhouse, Scher
meyer said he: saw a tag protruding
from the sak which had .burned. He
pulled it off and^hdrned it, he-testi
fied. The next , morning, rhe- said, he
dug up the ppuch ."containing / the
money and after placing it in a gun
nysack burin dit in a hole in a wood
road some distance from the road,
house. Then he took his dog team
and hauled, wood in order that: all
traces of digging might be obliter
ated, Schermeyer declared.
There the money rested until the
I following spring, Schermeyer said.
I The prosecutor halted, the narrative
here and asked Schermeyer if “any of
the men were intoxicated*-’
“They had drunk quite a-little,’,’ the
witness replied.
“Was the mail sack completely de
stroyed by fire?” questioned Ellis*
“I think so,” answered Schermeyer.
“Did it contain mail matter?”
“Not that Inoticed,” Schermeyer
answered.
The government attorney asked the
witness if he had heard about the
registered sack being taken to Flat
to be opened, and Schermeyer said he
had not
On the 4th of May in the spring
of 1923 Schermeyer testified that he
took up the sack containing the money
and. moved it to the roadhouse. That
evening o rthe following morning, he
said, he placed it among several mag
azines,. tying the bundle up. Scher
meyer said he closed his roadhouse
and went to Iditarod, taking the
money with him. . There he stopped
at the Adams House, and in order to
prevent any suspicion attaching to
him the witness said he carelessly
threw the magazine bundle on a
billiard table and left it there for sev
eral minutes. The next day Scher
meyer said he went on down to- Fat.
He testified he saw Mrs. Bates that
night and told her he had the money
with him. The next morning, be said,
she came to the place at which he was
stopping. There they opened the.sack j
and Mrs. Bates counted the currency,
the witness declared. He said that
he took no part in the- countng and !
that the defendant told him the-pouch-1
contained $28,000. Schermeyer said j
he then hid the money in. his bed- !
They discussed, the problem of how- to '
dispose of it, and Mrs. Bates suggest
ed that-she bring pieces of rubher
coats and the currency be buried, in
them, the witness asserted. The next
day Schermeyer said he buried the
bills in the greenhouse at Flat. It
appears that the witness had be be
come interested with, or was-working
for,- the greenhouse owner.
Some time later Mrs. Bates told
him that Starr T. Pink ham, posts lin
spector, was coming to the Iditarod
district, presumably to investigate
the robbery, and she asked- him what
he intended ito- 'doj according to the
testimony offered by Schenaeyer. He
said he replied that he might, be sus
pected and so he moved the money
from the greenhouse and buried it.-in
the garden.- Ini-the fall the witness
said He agin changod the1 hiding place,
burying the: package in a-roothouse
, under two tons of'carrot*.'
When- hfe went to recover it in the
spring Schermeyer said he had diffi
culty' in locating it. The place- in.
« which- he claims to have buried the
money, was damp, he said, and while
using a crowbar to feel ifoir it. he
struck the package and <’ mutilated
-some of the $50 bills. Sehermeyer
declared he told Mrs. Bates of this
and that she suggested ironing the
money. This suggestion was followed
outi. He took the bills to her house in
bunches of about 200, theswitnesjrtet
tided. He said that she ironed them
and that the currency was thin placed
in fruit jars. The money was left in
the garden until earttr in September
of 1924, the witness said.
At that time Schermeyer said he
once again cached the loot’ in a* new;
place, hiding it this time under the
barn. About then-, the witness said,
be- had 'made up his mind to go- Out
side, so once more he dug up the
package and took from it what he
considered to-be bis share—$14,000.
Schermeyer iisserted that after lie had
done this We took the gunnysack con
taining the other valuable fruit jars
to Mrs. Battes and that she hid’her
share in ar sump bole Back of "her
home.
Not ong- after this, Schermeyer tes
tified that he-said to Mrs. Bates, “I'm
going to put some of these: bills in
—-L__ 'il"
circuation and am what happens." He
distributed a. number of (20 bills, he
declared, and they passed unnoticed.
The witness said he reported the suc
cess of his experiment to the defend
ant and that she told him, “I think
I'll try it, too.” Serial numbers of
the distributed bills, were kept by
them, Schermeyer stated. When some
of the bills put in circulation by Mrs.
Bates returned to her via the bank
they both felt safer, the witness tes
tified.
Schermeyer said he left for the
SThtes on September 20,1924. A few
days before Mrs. Bates called him to
her house and said, “Bill, what do
you think?" the witness asserted.. Be
said he asked her what the trouble
was and she replied that Duffy sus
pected her and Schermeyer of steal -
ing the money and demanded a share
of it. Schermeyer testified that he
gave Mrs. Bates enough out of his
share to give Duffy a third of the
proceeds, when Mrs. Bates’ share had
been added
When he eft Flat Schermeyer said
he had $7,100 in a talcum powder can
and the rest of the money in two to
bacco tins. At Iditarod, he testified,
he met Sirs. Bates and asked her.
“What in the world are you doing
here?” She told him that the jar con
taining the $1 and $2 bills as well as
the jars containing the bills mutilat
ed by the crowbar were missing, the
witness said. She had looked, in the
wrong pace and he told her where to
go to find the money, Schermeyer
stated.
“How much money did you have in
your possession when you left Flat?”
Mr. Ellis asked.
“Between $11,009 and $12,000,” the
witness replied.
Noon recess was then ordered by
Judge Ritchie* ' * > >
- i ■ * • ,'y 1
A new telescope wll reveal'objects
840,00(1000,000,000,000,000 miles’/
away.. It can be used handily to keep
tab on the Erenchc debt. settlement.
—Arkansas Gazette.
What pedestrians need more than
rales are wings, and sometimes they
get them.—Brooklyn Eagle.
In the Probate Court for Kuskokwim
Precinct, Fourth Division of
Alaska, before George W. Hoff
man, Commissioner and ex-officio
Probate Judge.
In the matter of the Estate of
Thomas Anderson, deceased—No. 2,
ia Probate.
Notice of Final Account.
Notice ia hereby given that H. M.
Hansen, administrator of the estate
of Thomas Anderson, deceased, has
filed his final report in said matter
with the Probate Court for Kusko
j kwim Precinct, Fourth Division of
I Aaska, and that on Monday, the 25th
day of April, 1927, at 10 o’clock a. m.,
i the said final account will be heard
and considered before the said Pro
bata Judge at his office at Napamute,
Alaska, at which time and place all
persons interested in said estate may
appear and file their objections in
I writing to said final report and may
contest the case.
Dated February 15th, 1927.
H. M. HANSEN,
Administrator of Estate of
Thomas Anderson, deceased.
I First publication, Feb. 26, 1927.
Last publication, April April 23,
19*7.
FORFEITURE NOTICE.
To John H. Anderson, his heirs, ex
ecutors, assigns and successors in
interest:
Yea, and' each of you, are hereby
notified that the undersigned, through
power of attorney ,from Frank E.
Johnson, has expended for annual
labor and improvements the sum of
One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per
year for the year%-1911V 1920, 1921,
19**, 1923, 1924. 1925 and 1926, a
total of years years, upon the follow
ing described placer mining claims, all
located n the Ruby Recording District,
Territory pf Alaska:
No. 3j Above Long Creek, one-half
imarest;; -
Rjght Limit Beach, Long
Creek. ,qrJe-f®urth interest;
Claim, Long Creek, one
‘ ‘ ,
Association, JLpng Creek,
.interest. '
y>f ssud work and improve
required by? ...law ■ and
pon said clfirh'in compli
in order to:hold the
same for each said year and there
after, all of said work having been
performed by Jensen & Wiklund.
And if within ninety (90) days after
the publication of this notice you and
each of you do not contribute to the
| undersigned your proportion of said
i expenditure for each Baid claim for
each said year, your interest in said
claims will become the property of
the undersigned, according to the pro
visions of Section 2324 Revised Stat
utes of the United States.
H. JENSEN,
Attorney in Fact for
Frank E. Johnson.
First publcation, January 1, 1927.
Last publication, April 9, 1927.
NOTICE OF FORFEITURE.
To Max Altman, his heirs, executors,
assigns and successors in in
terest:
You, and each of you, are hereby
notifitd that the undersigned has ex
pended for annual labor One Hun
dred Dollars ($100.00) per year for
the years 1915, 1916, 1917, 1920,1921,
1922, 1923, 1924 and 1925, uuon the
following described mining claim, in
Ruby Recording District, Territory of
*
The SANDBAG ASSOCIATION
CLAIM, on Greenstone Creek, a trib
utary of Long Creek, in order to hold
said claim under the provisions of
law protecting annual labor on min
ing claims.
And if within ninety (90) days after
the publication of this notice you, or
any of you, fail to pay your portion
of the amount expended on the above
claim, your interest in said claim will
become forfeited to the undersigned
co-owner, according to the provisions
of Section 2324 Revised Statutes of
the United States.
DAN SUTHERLAND.
First publication, January 1, 1927.
Last publication, April 9, 1927.
| *
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