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Show K5 'i(IcIv-Known Mining Engineer Ends Life With Cyaniile oi' Potassium . WORRY OYER FINANCIAL MATTERS IS RESPONSIBLE Tells Druggist That Poison Is to Re Used in Assay Tests. Tired of the scemingl3' useless struggle strug-gle and driven insnuc from constant worry over financial matters. Captain W. A. Johnson, formerly associated with John Hays Hammond and considered at one time as out of the greatest mining min-ing engineers iu the world, committed suicido by drinking a solution of cyanide cyan-ide of potassium in room So of the Belmont Bel-mont hotel, home lime after -J:.'!0 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. He left an endearing endear-ing letter to his brido of nine months. Tn tho letter. Captain Johnson said that he was crazed over financial matters mat-ters aud wished to bo forgiven for what CAPT. W. A. JOHNSON. he wag about lo do. His body was dis-covcrc'd dis-covcrc'd by one of the dorks of the Belmont hotel Wednesday afternoon at : o'clock, and the cleric immediately telephoned tho police. Dr. Paul was called and pronounced tho death duo to cyanide poisoning. Johnson was last sppii bv his wifo Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock, when he left llni Ctillon hotel with the usual farewell words of endearment. Just whoro ho wont after leaving Iho hotel bs not known, but he visited tho office Continued on Page Two. CAPT. W. A. JOHNSON DIES BY OWN HAND Hj Continued From Pago One. H nf Kent O.'Kcyes during the noon hour, where lie met Mrs. Kcvs and niado j; inquires for licr husband. At that Lime I he appenrcd to be worrying about busi- ness troubles. Leaving ihc office, be h tnet Mr. Kevcs and spoko for n few r minutes about, the difficulty he had ex-H ex-H porienced in collecting money duo to H! him from n number of jicople. i No then went to tho Elks' club, whore ho spent tho creator part, of the r iftoriioon with a number of friends ; There was nothing peculiar about, his , net ions, with the possible except ion t 1,0 seemed to bo worried about ' financial matters. Jle spent most; of i Hie lime at tho club, sitting in the icad-Ml icad-Ml i ing room and gazing out at the per; j : sons passing on the opposite side ot the sircef. His fricDds say that ho ap-H ap-H poarcd to bo in a mood of abstraction HI . of the time. Hj Goes to Knutsford. H: At .'I o'clock Captain .Johnson told one H of his friends that he was peine to the H Knutsford hoi el to see "Tex" Bick-I, Bick-I, ard. the Nevada mining man. The lot-Hi lot-Hi lor he had written to his wifo was on H. the stationery of the Kutitsford hotel H: and was evidently written nt that place. Hi Al 4n!0 o'clock 'ho went to tho W. II. H; Pnvlon drug store, opposite the Belmont H- hotel, and asked for ten cents' worth H of cyanide of potassium. Mr. Dayion H: wanted to know what tho poison was Hl to be used for, and Johnson laughingly H' said that he was an aesnyor and wished n to make a few tests. According to Mr. Hh Dayton, he seemed to be in a perleelly H; normal condition and joked about, the . use of tho poison while signing Ins H ' name to the. register. Uc did, however, H! sin tho name of Peterson, of Gold-H. Gold-H. field, instead of his own. I This was the Inst seen of the tin-Ht- fortunalo man by any of his friends H ! until the discovery of his body by tho H: clerk of tho hotel. .Johnson had done Hi pvcrvthing in a very deliberate manner, H i and "from the evidence of the room, was H' calm in all his actions before drink-Hf drink-Hf ing the' poison. Ifcnioviiig his cloth-H cloth-H ing. ho prepared as if to spend the H night in sleep. His clothing was folded Hj and placed on. one of the chairs, and everything was left in nn orderly man-H! man-H! ncr. After drinking tho poison ho had Hlj! . assumed a natural position in tho bed u and when found, except for the deathly HI' . pallor, seemed to bo sleeping peace- HI, As soon as Captain .lohnson failed to HI; " nppear nl the Cnllcii hotel Tuesday HI' night at his usual time, his wife be- HJ ramc alaruiod and told a nuinbor of her li friend.';. She was advised not to worry I und a search was begun for the missing HT man. At an early hour "Wednesday H morning tho polico were notified that H Johnson had disappeared and were giv-H. giv-H. cn his description, -Tt. was known that Hl; he had started to drink on Tuesday, af-Hl af-Hl cr having left, tho Knutsford, which HI; was the first, drink ho hnd taken since Hi hits marriage on January -1 and it was H! feared that hn had met wjth foul play. Hlf All of the better class saloons were HI! searched but without avail. H News Broken to Wife. HI, As soon as tho body was discovered H Mrs. Keyes broke the news to tho young i wife, who bore up bravely under the HI ; shock. Everything possible was done to HI j light on the 'blow by Mrs. Keycs -with HI ' whom the young woman had been work- Hlj ing tho da beforo making dresses for H I Those intimate with tho afTairs of Cap- lain .Tohueon, tell a pathetic story of tho reason for his rash act. At one HI' time as stated he was oneof the most ; prominent mining exports in the world n. , and was an associate of John Hayes Hammond. For a number of years ho was manager for the Guggenheim?. He accumulated several fortunes, which were dissipated by numerous mining j ). . speculations. After severing his con- h unction with tho Guggenheim interests, Hi ' it is said that, ho was associated with Jj Cecil Rhodes in South Africa where he Hi later distinguished himself in tho Boer HH war and was recommended for promo- HH t tion by General Kitchner. HH After leaving South Africa, Captain HH I Johnson came west and engaged in niin- HJ Ing on a largo scale. In the develop- HJ i mcnt of nineteen claims in tho Mason HH I mining district near Ycriugton, Nov., HH' Captain Johnson sunk a large fortune HJif and his failure to promote theso claims HHJ; -was partlj' responsible for his self-de- HHJi . struction, it is said. While residing H nt Ycrinpton, he married Miss Maude HJI Warren, 21 years of age, who was a HH f school teacher at that place. Tho wed- HH ding took place on January 4, after HHi which ho nnd his yonug wife came to HH jj Salt Lnkc Citr to live, registering al HHI I the Cullcn hotel, HH i Captain Johnson was a mombcr of tho HHJ ' Commercial club and of tho Elks lodge HHf, of this city. Tho funeral arrangements HH -will bo under the auspices of the Elks HH Jj lodge, with tho interment in the Mt. HH1 Olivet cemetery ou Friday. HH'ij Captain Johnson is survived by his HH wife, three sisters, Pauline, Florence HH and Amelia Johnson, who live at 51G HH East Eighteenth avenue, Donvcr, Colo., HH a brother. Sliib Johnson, nnd his mother, HH who reside at Excelsior Springs, Mo, |