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Show mm . : .he THE CITIZEN f llllllllllllllimiUllllllllllllllllllllUilllllUIIIIIIIIUlHIIIIUIUlilllllllllllHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIUIIUIIUnllHIIMIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKJ to Fjjjj riBSEEVATlON PLANE H k -- BOOH iHiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiili'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii )mals Freed Without woa ihffai Or Trial his ctyjieaity Judge Johnson came to Ie at tcsiaf of the state against Beck- - -- i.tha'other day the lawyer for the Aidant' remarked that his client was tried on a charge that was dis-- 3 gong? ed December 24. dsenpid;t&e prisoner escape from the veral oT from jail? inquired the Ui8, . the prisoner had been re- jed from the county jail a few days ore Sheriff Corless went out of of- I There had been no preliminary tiriwrand, therefore, the arresting aight j, Tr s Icerihad been given no chance to e. tiff, And yet Beckham had been ic clutgrrested and was being tried on the unchtjjg charge and there seemed to be iliUljhat Mi herjnty of evidence. th way Judge Johnson discov-mnon v that a prisoner who had been er to Mn felted on a charge of attempting rones,p.a.iafe had been freed without a Yenfn ai andaL'l i. Beckham was arrested on Novem--t 29 j 1920, by Policemen Golightly ainedid:Brown near the rear window of afte t r Metropolitan store, 256 South Main l0wecreet;J He was snuggled up close to V best set of burglar tools it had )en the pleasure of the police to lay iaM 08 on in a year. One of the appli- ..was a motor which could be jo dam! perated by attaching jur. - it to the elec- - ic lighting system in any store. He ren had a fuse plug so that he would i ie Ifcot be hampered if a fuse should blow isqut Beckham admitted that he intended 3 break into the safe and was taken ggP the police station and booked, tertii At the time Beckham was released of Prom the county jail four or five others ie. Iccused of serious crimes were set ng arrat ord , gu-vif- pull obtained the release of the prisoner. This is by no means an isolated case. Naturally the members of the police force are disheartened to find desperate criminals released without a hearing. The evidence which resulted in the arrest of Beckham and his wife in Butte was collected by C. C. Carsten-sen- , detective sergeant, and Detective J. B. Burbidge. Beckham and his wife were accused of having passed bad checks. The attorney who was active in securing Beckhams release in such a surreptitious manner last December is now defending the pair. A letter from Beckham at the jail In Butte was seized by the sheriff who took a copy of it and returned it to the prisoner. The initials W. L. in the letter refer to Beckham, who was then going by the name of W. L. Potter. The letter L refers to Mrs. Beckham, whose first name is Lucille. The letter sheds a sinister light upon the character of some of the at- him torneys who are engaged in criminal practice in Salt Lake. It leads: Salt Lake City, Jan. Dear W. L. Your letters have come to hand in due time and contents carefully noted. I hardly think it wise for you to return to Ogden just yet. It will not be possible for me to come to Butte short of a month, on ac-- , count of the big case upon which I have recently been employed and which will take at least that long to finish. There has been a hell of a mess stirred about those are being tried for it. rep resents them. No one knows the m truth. I have destroyed your let- ters and you do likewise. No mail has come for you that I can find. No packages from Jainer. dnest taliwai wanted on a charge of forgery, studrhui it was that Beckham came up dancf; for trial on the charge which had been dismissed because it was alleged by ra? PS L0 fcthose in on the deal that there was evidence. The officers were ready ut (no and willing to testify, but a mysterious , A Gay Life , Boys, While It Lasted The city recreation board has resigned because there is no recreation in being broke. The city commission, after merrily squandering hundreds of thousands of dollars, has decided to economize and it refuses to give any more money to the community recreation house. The only community recreation house where money is spent right cheerily is the city hall. But now the city commissioners are going to save the taxpayers money. They are going to keep all the money that formerly went into the recreation house and, at the end of a year or more, buy a potted plant for the; Put Laundries Under Utilities Commission The Laundry Trust has not yet heard that prices are falling. It is still pursuing the upward path of the profiteer. By little readjustments of its price lists here and there it is able to gouge more out of the purses of its victims. The changes is unperceived by the housewife until she is enlightened by the driver. She first is mystified by the increase in her bills; then she asks questions and if she is resolute in her inquiry she learns of some readjustment which adds to her bill. . The confiding housewife, who has not learned her lesson, refuses to deal with the laundry company which has been guilty of such sneakery. She hurries to the telephone and calls all of the laundries up in quick and mournful succession. Yes, they are all making the same charges. Have they agreed. to fix prices. Oh, no; it just happens that way. It is an accident down to the cent. When the driver of another company calls for her laundry he smiles at her confusion, for he knows and she knows that the trust has the laugh 0 on her. mission, which should be empowered to fix and change prices, and to hear individual complaints and take action. RALPH L. MORSE. ' jail. You arrested me for burglary, but the you see how far you got, taunted criminal. " If the laundries were under the Pub- lic Utilities Commission there pro- bably would be Immeasurably i is just before Christmas. arrested for burglary and who had tried to shoot him. The policeman was amazed to see the man out of Hastily Salt Lake ooth of them back, for Mrs. Beckham the policeman. The burglar said that he had been released on the plea of degeneracy, a plea which was the brilliant inspiration of his attorney. Although he had been arrested while attempting to burglarize a house and had attempted to shoot the policeman who caught him in the act, he was freed on the plea that he was a pervert and did not have command of his mental faculties. The burglar, who gave his name as Roy Jones, went to Provo, where he met with hard luck. Evidently the degeneracy plea, if it was made, did not have the desired effect on the Provo judge, for Jones, who had been arrested on a robbery charge, was sentenced to a year in the penitentiary. Some weeks ago a policeman was approached by a man whom lie had Best regards to you both. i Jfflcers went to Butte and brought panies in the trust would not defy the commission. They would' be as good all the year round as the little boy How did you get out?" Inquired The laundry trust has been heedless of all protests. It lias defied pub lie opinion and will have its own way so long as it is unrestrained by law. The legislature should take up the problem and give protection to the people of Salt Lake. Laundries should be placed under the supervision and control of the Public Utilities Com- - later Beckham and his were found in Butte. e up checks I gave and two other people ' A few weeks 24, 1921. 9 less complaint than at present, for the com mayors office. Or perhaps some commissioner will use the coin to add a bay window to his bungalow. But you cant say that the commissioners did not have a good time while spending the money. We certainly gave them the time of their lives. They ordered everything on the programme and slipped us the check. Now they are just as glum as we are. They cant see a bit of fun in a recreation house. They prefer to go out into the park and eat worms. Its a sad story, mates. The city hall is encrusted with ice these days. The chirrup of approaching spring, hath no charms for the chilled souls of the city fathers. Let spring chirrup and flutter and flitter as it may, there is no joy in sitting around with- out money. It was a gay life, boys, while it lasted. When Presidents Try To Be Funny We are inclined to let President Wilson have his little joke about the bungalow man until his friends began to tickle themselves under the (Continued on Page 14.) |