Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-08-28 | Page 16 | Fears Detection of Birth; Steals $6000

FEARS DETECTION OF J B!ITH;!ff' Native of Germany, Jq Bensing, Worked Ten-ty-five Years for U. S. CAUGHT IN PEORIA Takes Postal Funds After , Worrying Over Possible Exposure of Nativity. Haunted by the fear that registration of enemy aliens by the government a.11 the detail of description and personal hiptoiy involved, would result in t-pa. ing the fai-t that he was a citizen Germany, although for more than tw?V ty-five years he had posed as an Amen- ' can citizen, John Bensing, who sprt nearly all of the second week of Austin Aust-in HaJt Lake, hiding from federal ovi cers, has finally given himself up . Peoria, HI., and has admitted the theft of nearly $5000 of government funds wb: acting in the capacity of superintend; of finance of the Peoria postoffice. While in Salt Lake. Bensing lived v the Wilson hotel under th& name of & G. Foster, although he vifiiLed a la?; number of friends in this city under .h proper name, a pparntiy without fc-that fc-that he would be discovered. According to information receive t7 federal officers in this city yesterdav Flensing lived in continual fear. the opening of the war. that the fa- that he was not an American cit!2-1 would be discovered and that he wyjj be severely humiliated and punished hr-.ving posed as a citizen of this ev.r.1. try without having become naturalized." In U. S. Aimy. For more than fourteen years he u in the postal sen-ice at Peoria, hoicri? several responsible positions, and , eight years he did service in the Uchi .States army. He was honorably t-charged t-charged when he became attached to ti posuU service. Flight teemed the only avenue opn ;-, hi in. accirdir.g to admissions sa:d -: have been made by him, and. b::? vested with the right, as superintend of firnce. to draw against the p',?x dr-nosits in one of the Peoria banks, :.j the siur of the moment he is aliegea ; have drawn So'Vm.i on July L'T. to -tj. I h e semimonthly pa y r o 1 1 . W i th money he is said to have confessed in: he left hurriedly for California. Restiivs, however, and fearing to r.. mam in any one place, he came to Lake, where he had a number of fr! Whiie in this city he determined to ct-$ his wife and family we-st, and sent l-l-rrtation fr.r the trip. Anxious to i rn m his wife, however, but f earir.? liberal use of the nviiis or teler-i-e.-pialiy out of Salt Lake, he uev. : Provo and f n:-m there sent a lo"'-i . tance telephone message to hisV-: who w a s tiv?. in S p r : rjz ' : e i d . I a his wife he learned that his letter j:: taining the traiwi-'Ttat ion had been tercepted by the pKsiaI authorities a ; that his 1'jc-ation had oeen oiscovere:. Decided to Surrender. Pensir.jT ;he;i wenr to Eur.e, t leaviTtg i.t once over the Great Nor.': f-T Mir.r.capolis. i;nri. Frt'm yrtrV-! yrtrV-! i s he w ; re-j the o ; f ic e rs a t Peoria ; : . he was on h : s way X s u r r e r c e r i : : f.ice the onarge of enibri;':emer:i. -wa s m e t at the t ra i n o n its arr.a i Pccria and p-aced under arrest. "hi!e in Sail L:ike Bei.sn-.g sen: :. : wife JU"'"0 of the alleged stclen and by his wife this am. unt was re:-in re:-in The postmaster at renTa. It ;. i thr.t nearly Ji'i,t.t the ivrV has t-: 1 ro: urned r licns'.r.c's army re-ord :? sjd :o been excmp'.ary. and it is re-T:ec he wis hichiy eff.c.eni ar.d hcres. cr-ii'g cr-ii'g the tirr.e he served as super: nter"-:' of finance . i the rev.ru posToffi. 7 ! ir.c the twenty-five ears that he r-" an American citizen. Bensm? 7e" farmed every duty of c:tizenh:p. &v.i--himseif of the r.cht of tr.ns iy i h e I d an lionoralve position in scc.'.y. oniy far seenuni to be that t'r-? t i that he was an enemy alien wc-.i discovered.