OCR Text |
Show j I THAT $10,000 ROBBERY , The sensation of tho week was tho i it ' cxposuro of the robbery of two young men of $10,200 and the charge that the chief of police and some members of the department were accessories to the crlmo and protected the robbers. Tho facts as far as we have been able to glean are that Alexander and William Wil-liam McWhlrter, two young men just fresh from Scotland, stopped off to see Salt Lake City on their way to Los Angeles. They had $10,000 In ten bank bills of the denomination of $1,000 each, and some two hundred or three hundred dollars besides. They met some "confidence men," who Inveigled In-veigled them into a room at tho Antler Ant-ler lodging house, 110 West Second South street, and Induced one of the brothers to engage with some of them In n game of cards. In short order McWhlrter lost $2,000, which was pocketed by some of the gang. It then -dawned on the McWhlrters that they had fallan Into the hands of a gang of thieves. They made an out--cry and called for tho police. Ono of tho gang, the one who had conducted the brothers to the room and posed as a friend of the strangers, said ho would go out and bring tho police, and, leaving, soon returned with two men, confederates of tho thioves, who represented rep-resented that they were police officers. Tho bogus officers then Informed everybody in tho room that they were under arrest, and proceeded to search them. From tho McWhlrters they tt)k $8,200 in currency and on the demand of the victims one of tho bolus bo-lus officers gave one of tho Mo Whir-to Whir-to 's n receipt for tho money, saying th.it the cash would bo returned to thm when they got to tho police stn-tion, stn-tion, for which place tho two bogus officers started with tho McWhlrters In custody. They took a. very roundabout round-about road :u tho station and on the way the pretended officer, who had the money, disappeared. Tho other bogus officer accompanied Alexander McWhlrter Mc-Whlrter to the police station, where . McWhlrter told his story to Chief of Police Sheets In the presence of tho pretended officer, who called himself by tho name of Dell. McWhlrter told the chief that he and his brother were left pennyless. Bell suggested that he might bo able to get a part of the money back, and with tho approval of Chief Sheets lie started out, and in about half an hour returned with $750, say.'ng that was nil he could get. McWhlrter Mc-Whlrter pleaded for more, and, leaving leav-ing the $750 with tho chief, Bell stnrted out again, returning in fifteen or twenty minutes with $250, making $1,000, which was turned over to McWhlrter Mc-Whlrter by Sheets. Tho McWhlrters left the police station with Bell, who went to the depot with them and bundled bun-dled them off to Los Angeles. These things happened on Sept. 18. When tho McWhlrters reached Los Armeies they consulted an attorney, who advised Alexander to go back to Salt Lake and have his despoilers prosecuted and try to get the money back. He was directed to Attorney C. O. Whlttemore here, who turned over the case to Attorney M. P. Braf fett, who consulted County Attorney Chrlstensen and Sheriff Emery, who, after Investigation, put the machinery of tho law In motion and warrants of arrest for tho thieves were issued. The thieves, however, had "gotten on" to the fact that McWhlrter had returned, re-turned, and they immediately lied rom the state. Deputy sheriffs are mt In all directions hunting them, and Governor Culler has offered rewards of $500 each for their capture. It is charged and published in tho Herald, Telegram nnd Deseret News, that the chief of police and others on tho force protected the thioves. On tho other hand, tho Tribune nnd Telegram Tele-gram claimed that tho return of McWhlrter Mc-Whlrter and the prosecutions which have been Instituted are the result of a plot against Chief Sheets for the purpose of biinging tho "American" party into disfavor at tho coming election. Tho antl - administration papers may have put things In tho woj-st light for the chief and his men. The Tribune's clmr';o that tho prosecutions ire unjust, growing out of a political plot, is absurd In the extrdnie. Truth hns no ax to grind cither wny. This' is not a matter into which politics should enter. It Is a question of tho safety of every citizen and his prop-eray. prop-eray. If tho charges nindo against the chief of police are true, then Salt Lake Is In tho hands of thugs, thioves and vagabonds Intent on robbing any citizen citi-zen who has anything worth taking, and strangers are considered legitimate legiti-mate prey. Prom a disinterested standpoint tho case has a bad look. Here are n few of the facts which stand out boldly: Chief Sheets was Informed by one of tho men on tho force long before. McWhlrter and Bell reached tho pollco station that tho "trick had been turned," thnt is that the robbery nnd been committed, but he took no stops whatever to find the thioves. When Bell, tho bogus officer, nd McWhlrter were at tho station, Sheets was Informed that Bell had Impersonated Im-personated nn officer In tho affair. Sheets, according to his own statement, state-ment, expressed tho opinion that Bell had a hand In tho robbery, but ho lot Bell go free, ignoring his crimes of Impersonating nn officer nnd assisting In the robberv Sheets made no effort whatever to capture any of tho gang, although they remained In tho city openly for days afterwards. In fact until McWhlrter came bnck from Los Angeles. Sheets knew, unless ho Is an ibsolute idiot, that Bell and McWhlrter McWhlr-ter were strangers to each other and must have seen tho absurdity of Boll giving or lending a stranger $1,000. Tho circumstance of Bell returning 51,000 to McWhlrter was proof enough to anybody but an utter Imbecile that Bell was a party to tho robbery and that the gang just gavo up tho $1,000 to got the McWhlrters out of town, hoping that that would end tho matter. mat-ter. Sheets has been nccuscd, rightfully right-fully or wrongfully, of n good mnny things, but never of being cither an Idiot or an Imbecile. Sheets did absolutely ab-solutely nothing towards arresting the gang that committed the robbery, although al-though he knew them to bo crooks and thlovos nnd know where ho could lay his hand on them. When McWhii-tor McWhii-tor came back, It Is charged and appears ap-pears to bo true that tho pollco aided the thieves to got away before tho sheriff could get them. On tho night of the robbery Chief Sheets and a representative of tho Trlbtino discussed dis-cussed tho robbery, decided to keep it quiet and tho Trlbuno didn't publish a word about It, although It had n 1 i scoop nnd tho best nowspaper item of tho day by a long way. It would have been a scoop foi tho Tribune, as nono of the other papers knew anything about It for many days afterwards. Sheets In his own behalf, In his own words, as published in tho Salt Lake Telegram of Oct. 1 says: "A week ago last Wednesdny a man walked into the office of tho desk sergeant ser-geant and rftuted that ho nnd his bi other had been robbed of something over $10,000 in a brace game. Sergeant Ser-geant Hemplo, who was In tho office at tho time, came Into my office with tho man. "I Instructed Sergeant Hemplo to go out with tho man and seo about the case. "Sonio time later the man came to my office In company with another man, who gavo his namo as Boll. Tho man who claimed to havo been beaten out of tho money accused Bell of being Indirectly connected with tho loss of h s money. "Bell, whom I never saw before, stated that it ho was In any way responsible re-sponsible for tho loss of the man's money, ho was willing to mako good. Tho man who gavo his namo as Boll 3tated that ho only had $20 with him, but that ho was willing to take tho ather man's note for $1,000 and furnish fur-nish him that n,mount. Tho two left .he office together nnd I went to supper. sup-per. "Later I returned to tho office. A i short tlmo nfterward Bell nnd tho 3ther mnn entered. Boll announced Jiat ho had only got $750, and that ho would havo to get n check cashed to mako up tho $1,000. Boll loft tho office of-fice nnd the other man asked me not to let him get away with tho money. "I followed tho man Into tho hall y and told him that ho had better leavo tho money which ho had with him. Ho gavo mo $750 In gold, which I took Into my office. A short time later Bell returned with $250 moro nnd tho man signed tho noto for tho amount. "Whilo waiting for tho return of Bell tho brother of tho map who alleged al-leged that ho had been beaten out of the money came to my office. Tho ' ( brothers, together with Bell, loft tho office. From tho offer of Bell to take a noto for tho $1,000 I believed that It was some kind of a deal between tho threo men. Tho two men who wore with Bell stated that they wished to H r46aHrerXoho?iaBt. Sergeant Hemplo M ottered to get their tickets extended M liVjthoy would remain In town for a H foJthoy'decllped the pffer. M J "McWhlrter wanted his money hack, and-I-Hd; nil-1 could- to get It for him. H "This Is tho story In full. When M Dell offered to take McWhlrtor's nolo m for $1,000 and cash tho note, and when H McWhlrter agreed to this,' I believed M tho entlro row was ;a business ono be- M tween the men." M It Is further urged by tho friends of m Mr. Sheets that tho efforts of the M sheriff ami cburity attornoy to bring M tho robbers -toJufitlco Is, a conspiracy M to bring discredit on tho "American" M party throngHf'Sh'eets' who hitherto M has becn.bplE tprldo and joy. It is M also asserted that tho McWhlrtcrs had B Uttlo sensfe, were very grcon, and that M they ought to have been robbed for M belB,qooHa587o-V!arry so much M money around with them. In further M ojrtpnwa$lQnfte ""urged; that it is a M comnionutfrigHfor'tlio polico' to recov- m or part oj-j JLljpjpion.ory. that innocents M who go up against brace games have fl (y-andrfiturn Jtto them without M prosecuting "no "thfovcsV and that M Shcots did very well in getting back H PlWftfPMcWhirtbrT" Sheets says ho M I was green-enough to supposo that the 9 dlfllcolty grow out of a monoy trans- J s action between Boll and McWhlrter, M declares thticWhlrlc'r said ho was satisfied HhUh'tjVH.QOO and didn't M I wantjnnybody prosecuted, and that he M ft (Sheets) had no authority to arrest M 3 tho thloves. Tho county attorney, M h however, takes another - view of the M r matter and has caused Chief Sheets M 5 to bq arrested on tho charge of com-B com-B B poundfng'a felony. M Chief Sheets demanded an lnvestl- H 'aatlbtU'atr-tho-'aiandB-of.tho city coun- M u ell, and that body has undertaken to M H nmuso tho publlc( by enacting a farce. B ft Tho counoiLcitod' tho 'newspaper men H f, employed on tho Herald, Republican H !& afldT7GWBto"appcar beforo' them and M provo thocharges that havo been g in&Iainstfrsheots. -Tho council M 'A also requested tho county nttornoy to i a Ja" 0ofd""nibm tho dvldehco ho has B & against tho chief and also desired Mr. H fi McWhirterto tell them his stoiy. It M js itfliardly necossary'to say that theso I &SB4ife?JJ2tte.9.8Sff5P,I.ot , adopted, M . and wo don't think thoy will be. No I v'hk-b9ftV-oa?0 mlght b0' Jt M $ is a protty safe guess that tho major- M g ity of tho council will exonerate tho M chief. 'ifi Mr. Shoots, as!'far:s tho council is m 53 concerned; Js .master' of tho situation. M t. For a dozen years, or at loast slnco M y, tho Eula)'Wrayvs.-Kearns caso was M 0. tried, Mr. Sheots has been tho prlvato M ?j dotectlvo for Mr. Kcarns, tho master M 5 of tho majority of tho city council, M i and has dono much work of a nature H f which would not reflect very credlt-M credlt-M j ably upon Mr. Kcarns if made public. H j Mr. Shoots has a cinch on Kcarns. H h Ho knows .tbVmuch and can compel m 3 Koarns to stand by him. Sheots also M ji knows a good many things about tho H I' doings of certain members of tho city H JW,W&.-aSMc'1' ll0 coul(1- uso. against them if so disposed. Tho council investigation in-vestigation won't amount to anythmg. Tho farco was begun on Wednesday1 and continued yesterday, with Assistant Assist-ant City Attornoy Dlnlnny nominally as chief interrogator ,on behalf of the council, but In reality as attornoy for Sheots. ' r This $10,000 robbery caso is not 'b any means'tho only blot on tho police department. That stolen trunk Incident Inci-dent is as bad or worse than the McWhlrter Mc-Whlrter caso, although tho amount Involved In-volved Is not so large. A thief stole a lady's trunk in Denver containing $1,000 worth of sealskins, dresses, jowelry, and so forth. Tho trunk was brought to Salt Lako and offered with Its contents to a second-hand dealer for $15. Tho dealer was suspicious and notified tho police. An officer in formed tho dealer that It was all right and gavo a written O. K., although tho man who had tho trunk said It did not belong to him. Tho dealer bought It and contents for tho paltry sum nained. Tho owner traced tho property prop-erty and came to Salt Lako to recover it. Sho applied to tho police for as slstanco, but was told thoy could do nothing for her. She then saw Sheriff Emery, who, notwithstanding obstacles obsta-cles placed In his way by tho police, recovered a largo part of tho stolen property. Furthermore, It Is a well known fact that tho town for months has been Infested with bunco men and sure thing operators, and that thoy have not only not been molested by tho police, po-lice, but encouraged by them In their nefarious practices. Tho police department de-partment is rotten nnd needs a thorough thor-ough cleaning out. There Is no politics poli-tics In nil this. It is a matter of concernment con-cernment to all good citizens. Instances of polico depravity are Increasing. In-creasing. It is known as a positive fact that a crook who occupied a room en West Temple street turned a trlclt on a verdant green chap and raked in a good many dollars. Tho victim reported It to tho polico and told their whero tno crook could bo found. The polico had to mako a show of doing something, but before they started out to cc.tch tho thief ono of their number telephoned tho fellow that they were coming and that ho had better get away. Ho took tho hint and of cours' wasn't caught. Another bunco man fleeced nn In nocent out of $95 and n diamond ring Tho polico heard of It and went aftct tho thief to got their share of thr plunder. At his room thoy found IiIf femnlo company who refused to tell whore her husband was, remarking that she know all the officers wanted with him wns to mako him "dlvy up," and that ho was better entitled to the spoils than tho polico. Later tho bunco bun-co man went to tho polico station and squared himself by giving ono of tho ofllcers $25, and that settled It. Tho administration boasts that It has stopped gambling In tho city. A favored few who contribute liberally to tho polico as Individuals aro, however, how-ever, allowed to run gambling games and ply tho trado of bunco stoerors, with Impunity. It Js a notable fact that tho rovenuo which tho city formerly form-erly received from gamblers and women wo-men of tho down has decreased vastly. That does not mean that tho vocation of tho gamblor and tho harlot has been stopped, or that thoy go along without being blackmailed. Not at all, Tho simple fact Is that tho police pocket tho monoy Instead of It being turned into tho city treasury. ,, It Js i i very disgraceful that the city should at any, lmo receive money as the price of (immqralltyj but It Is no' Improvement Im-provement to allowia lo of things' in tho gulso of polico ofllcers to extqri money "from those poor creatures call ed women of tho town. . o-l i |