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Show I NO SMOOTHER 1 THAN OTHERS I Bounty Sharks reared I Not "Jody." Hi Operated Under His Nose H Just as They Did His H Associates, MM His Attempt to "Stand From Under" Hflj Amusing in Face of the 9 Bounty Records. MB ; Inquiry into tho raid, which the bounty BH swindlers mado through tho office oC the H 'County Clerk of Suit Lako county, dls- MM closes tho faot that tho steal was made MM regardless of who was In lmmcdlato Wm chargo of tho office, tho present Clerk. H Mr. Eldrcdgo to tho contrary, notwlth- H it wlU bo rcmemborcd that In replying H -to an artlclo In The Tribune which ho MM took as a reflection on him when there MM' ns no language that Justified that con- HI' structlon. Jlr. Eldrcdgo declared that he Bfll 'was not present when tho bulk of the Q9H j frauds wero perpetrated. Ho addressed a letter to tho Dcsorct mM j Nows on tho subject. In which an attack Hflh was mado on former Clerk John James, HI tho man who appointed him to tho chief HH deputyahip, and thus placed him in line, B for tho position ho now holds. It was assumed, in tho article to tho News, that Mr. James had inspired The Tribuno HI article. In justlco to Mr. James, it may Mm hero bo said that tho bounty (jucstlon had HH novor been talked over by Tho Tribuno re- HH jiortor and Mr. James, either directly or HH indirectly. Ho had no more to do with H tho publication than a cannibal in tho BH South seas. Neither did the artlclo charge HH complicity against Mr. Eldrcdgo, nor does HH this. But tho facts aro interesting: mm When Frauds "Were Perpetrated. HH Mr. Eldrcdgo, In his disclaimer of re- H sponslblllty, said he was away from tho HH office from September 21, 1001, until ho re- HH turned as tho Clorlc in fact on January 3, 1003. In a letter to Tho Tribune he says' HH "Tho bounty frauds in this county amount HH In tho neighborhood of J2O.OO0. About HI $15,000 of this occurred from the 1st day of IBB October, 1901. to December 31, 15W, at tho HH ver' tlmo '"cn lt would havo lecn ut- NH tcrly imposslblo for me to have known HH anything about it." HH The assumption of Mr. Eldrcdgo 1 that HH had ho been In tho office the swindlers IH would not havo succeeded. It would be Wm impossible, in view of all tho facts, to put a different construction on his statement. MM And this assumption is taken by many HH persons as a direct reflection on tho cm- ploycos of tho Clerk's offico who were MM there ufter Mr. Eldrcdgo left in Scptcm- Mr. Eldrcdgo was succeeded as chief HH deputy clerk by George Armstrong, now making an cnvlablo record ns ono of tho mm District Judges. There is no one who will H say that Mr. Eldrcdgo's nbsenco and the presence of Mr. Armstrong as chief dep- mm uty was an Invitation to the swindlers to m niako tho raid. JH "Dn-vy" Was There. HH David. Smith, son of tho president of tho church and a brother-in-law to Mr. Eld- VmM redgo. remained in tho office In un lm- HH portant clerkship. Was it easier to ruld HK tno ofrlce under him while Mr. Eldrcdgo jH was absent than when Mr. Eldrcdgo had HH official supervision? HH In 1,10 0lllc0 wore several other capablo jB young men and young women, employees who aro abovo reproach. Is there any H wonder somo of their friends felt hurt H whon Mr. Eldrcdgo sought to shift the jB responsibility on them and entirely from jHH Tho facts aro. Mr. Eldrcdgo was no mM more watchful than wero the others. He IBB. was no more a. -mcnaco to wrongdoers UVB than John James, Georgo Armstrong, Cal mm Buckwaltcr, David Smith or their asso- (1 elates. His responsibility for tho frauds, MMt if they are responsible, is equally as great mm an theirs. It Ib not regarded as tho mau-1" mau-1" thing, to say tho least, to attempt to escapo responsibility In tho manner ho mm. has. mm Tho reason is apparent on Inquiry Into MM tho facts. Tako a look at them. HH As Blind as a Sat. H , Bounty frauds wero perpetrated under MM Mr. Eldrcdgo's very eyes. He did not sco Mmt them for tho samo reason that others, MM not let Into the deal, did not sec them. Ho was not prcsont when tho larger num-ber num-ber of certificates wore Issued, but ho I was when scores of fraudulent ones were. MM Tho very first day of his admlnlstra- MM tlon January 3, 1905 John "Ward, tho mUM most noted of all tho bountv swindlers, MM carried out of tho clerk's offico with J. MM U. Eldrcdgo's official signature, a ccr- Bl tillcato showing that ho had presented the MB scalps of thirty coyotes, fourteen wild ! cats, twonty-two wolves, bIx mountain HH' lions and fivo bears, a total bounty award IMWj! of ?224l Later twenty-ono coyotes and IH1 four bear hides wero certified to by tho slgnaturo of Mr. Eldredgc as Clerk. HH It did not make a particle of difforence HB to tho swindlers, it seems, whether "Jody" HMl Eldrcdgo was in tho offico or running the IHHI campaign or visiting in California, and MB ko far as there is evidence there might HH havo been no early end to tho swindling, IHH E0 r aa Mr. Eldredgo was concerned ISH Ho was ,n profound ignorance of tho cn- MfM' tiro matter, v KHi Fine Bunch of Bad Ones. Httfti From June I, 1KM, to September 24, 1MI JHl period when Mr. Eldredgo was chief HfiW deputy In the office, practically all of tho BH time great frauds wero perpetrated jHjf, - through tho Clerk's office. MMM During this period the swindlers had an MB unholy picnic drawing certificates. To say nothing of tho numerous small HH certificates forty-one wero Issued under M Mr. Eldrcdgo's doputyshlp which called MMw for JSSSO.OQ, or an average of J143.42 to tho HM! certificate, and an average of over J57 MsKMi worth of bounties every day for 103 days: MMH An Apology Due Associates. jftfli Thcao figures found In tho records now MM 1" the hands of District Attorney Fred MM Loofbourow do not indicate that Mr. MRU! Eldrcdgo was any moro cunning In dc- mM tectlng bounty frauds than was Johnny WllWi James, Georgo Armstrong, Davy Smith, mil Cal Buckwaltor or other clerks in tho HU office. And the facts show that Mr. Sfjflli Eldrcdgo is a blameable for tho swindling H&ll as were thoao who remained after ho loft MM In September. Davy Smith, for instance. MM was taken In by John Ward and Issued MM. a certificate on Juno 1, 1W4, evidencing HHl fifty-five coyotes and five mountain lions. WAw But for Mr. Eldredge'a zealous dwlging Iflffll these facts would not havo been brought iJRl out. Ho 1b alono to blamo for tho-show- 139? ' herein made No ono, however, jjljp charges that ho was a party to the frauds. |