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Show rorxj-i"" . w-- s Arrcsfin Blackmail Case ' MYRON i SMITH CHARGED WITH 1 BEING JNEJFJLACKHANDER8 y Offered to Disclose the Identity of the Bandits While Fore-warning Fore-warning the Authorities of the Explosion That Occurred Saturday Night at the Eccles Home Then He Became Silent Except to Retract What He Had Said Former Conductor on the Union Pacific Telephone Call That Came From 135 Twenty-sixth Street Smith Seen Near Eccles Residence at Night Arrest Brought About by Gilbert Gil-bert Belnap, Former Sheriff of Weber County Letters Written to the Eccles Family Hearing on Next Thurs-day Thurs-day Before Judge Corn of Federal Court. Since the arrest of M. A, Smith, the government officers 9 4nd private detective who were largely instrumental in making . the arrest and who thinks the evidence sufficient, believe that confederates of Smith have left, or are keeping in hiding, if I Smith is the man wanted. If Smith is found to have had no connection with the recent blackhand matters, then the authorities authori-ties must start on a new trail, as the man under arrest and others who have been questioned, have been the men suspected t for some months. ! Outside of the men closely connected with the case, the -II local authorities are inclined to doubt the man's guilt. The 1 1 government men and Gilbert Belnap, however, have run down I several incidents that go to make up a chain of evidence which, d even though circumstantial, seems, they say, to point strongly F toward the connection of Smith with the threatening-letter business. The detectives have observed that recently Smith has 1 taken a great interest in the going and coming of members of I the Dee, Eccles and Bristol families. From the Eccles' skyscraper sky-scraper site, he has been observed to watch the movements of f the automobiles belonging to the families. On the Wednesday a month ago, when the Eccles family had gone so far as to hire the white horse and buggy, a tele-' tele-' phone call came to the Eccles home at 10 o'clock at night. The one telephoning asked concerning a carpenter who had been employed on the house. "Is he there now?," the voice asked. Such a question at that time aroused suspicion and it was learned that the call came from a house at No. 135 Twenty-" Twenty-" sixth street. The house is occupied by a negro family. When local detectives investigated, the negro woman told them that I no one had called from the house. Ji The detectives working on the case have known that ! Smith is frequently in that locality. v it Also recently a chauffeur of the Eccles family saw Smith and a man supposed to be Libby near the Eccles residence late at night. The two turned into Orchard avenue and there the chauffeur saw them stand in the shadow of a house until the auto had passed. Then they hastened from the scene. Frequently, Smith has conferred with Libby after Smith p has left his post of vigilance near the First National bank i building. i The following account of the arrest of Smith is from the extra edition of the Standard of last evening: Myron A. Smith, a railroad and mining man residing at m 479 Thirtieth street, was formally charged with sending blacks'1 black-s'1 maVing letters to Mrs. R. E. Bristol and Mrs. Bertha Eccles be-i be-i fore U. S. Commissioner Corn at 4 o'clock Tuesday after-I after-I noon. His bond was fixed at $5,000 and he is being held in j the county jail pending his hearing before the commissioner ? next Thursday. jp The arrest was made when Gilbert Belnap, Postoffice In to: spector L. A. McGee, and Assistant United States Attorney Ut William McCrea deemed the similarity between his recent handwriting and the handwriting of the threatening letters suf- ficient evidence to justify the complaint. A link that connects Smith with the Reese holdup lies pi in the fact that Smith and a man named Libby were shadowed by Gil Belnap for several months. Belnap suspected them of "J the crime. In the letters sent by the blackhanders, the state- ment is made that the writer was concerned in that holdup. Smith has been suspected for some time. When Belnap was hired as a special detective by R. B. Porter and R. E. Bris- tol he had not forgotten Smith in connection with the Reese tir holdup. Also it was observed that Smith was on the streets jjllrj a great deal and was seen to watch members of the Eccles fam- ily and Bristol and Porter as they came and went into and near the First National bank. Belnap had been watching Smith carefully until last Thursday. On that date Smith came to the office of R. B. Porter in the First National bank. Porter knew Smith, having employed him when Porter was at the railroad, i Smith asked Porter if a reward would be given for the capture 0j of the blackhanders. Porter lead him on by saying he did not Ji know and finally had Smith consent to come to his office in I the bank the next day at 10 o'clock, c 9" F1?' Smith did not show up and Belnap went to Smith's residence to inquire why Smith did not keep the ap- pointment. Mrs. Smith invited him into the house saying her husband was not there. Belnap arranged for a meeting with f! Porter, Smith and himself for Saturday night. On Saturday night, Smith was not so talkative but he did Kf u8est that he thought it advisable to get the men while committing com-mitting the act and he even went so far as to state that the gL blackhand men would do violence that night. A Preceding the meeting, Porter secured written statements I ; (Continued on Page Seven ) 11 1 ' B ' MYRON A. SMITH. MYRON i SMITH CHARGED WITH BEING ONE DF BLACKHANDERS (Continued from Page One.) fefrom Smith and also some written signatures. These signa-3 signa-3 H lures vere shown to Inspector McGee and comparisons were $ limade with the original letters in the hands of the government m uln. The writing was declared to be identical. Also Bristol f ind members of the Eccles family were shown the writing and ithey could not distinguish between the writings. McGee, who j U an expert on handwriting, still wanted to be thoroughly sure i of his ground so he took the specimens of writing to various j bankers in town, men who inspect much handwriting. The bankers to whom the samples were shown declared that the 'writing was all done by one man. Feeling sure of his ground, Inspector McGee requested Attorney McCrea to come to Ogden and the federal attorney I made out the complaint yesterday. Deputy United States Marshall Julian Riley served the warrant on Smith. Smith was arrested at his home yesterday about 7 a. m. i i although virtually he had been a prisoner before. His wife i )d not show any concern when the arrest was made. Smith denies that he is guilty. He has made a bold front i and has refused to talk since his arrest. For the reason that Smith has knowledge of dynamiting and handling powder, the officers are still further convinced that he was connected with the dynamiting. During recent conversations, when the detectives led him on, he told them bow to arrange a blast in order to produce the desired effect. I Making Repalrt. L R Eccles has begun the repair-j repair-j ine of his house which was so badly v shaken up Saturday night by the ex-1 ex-1 plosion of a 6tlck of giant powder. g I j supposed to have been discharged M by blackhand fiends who have recent - I ly been sending threatening letters. I He states that he ha remained at J the house since the explosion and Intends to remain there, hoping that jibe arrest ot Myron Smith had put ij stop Lo further disturbance by blackmailers Smith is confined In a separate cell in the count) jail and b denied an udiac with any one. He will be J : arraigned before United Stales Commissioner Com-missioner S. T ('om for preliminary hearing Thursday morning and, If he II bound ocr to the federal court, ,he Hkeh will be taken to th state penitentiary for safe keeping. The man has not yet secured the services serv-ices of an attorney for his defense 'and he has not said anything about I setting one. I After going over the facts In the n j case yesterday afternoon and before 'filing the complaints charging Smith I MWlth using the malls to defraud. As- eiltant United States Attorney Wll-;j Wll-;j Ham McCrea stated that he considered consid-ered the evidence furnished suffl-l suffl-l - - 1 ciently strong and conviucing to war-' war-' rant placing the man under arrest I and bringing him to trial. The at-I at-I torney stated, however, that corro-j corro-j boratlug testimony would be neces-ear)' neces-ear)' for a conviction and he was quite certain that that would be forthcoming at the hearing There la Another Smith. When Smith was arrested, conjec-I conjec-I ture was rife as to what particular Smith It was, and, for a time, it was I said that it was the Smith who inadvertantly in-advertantly turned the larfre valve at the power plant October 21 and sent I tlc great voluran of water through thp power house with such destniC-' destniC-' tjve force. Considerable significance I attached to this theory, as Manager ! 9. T Whltaker, just before the ac- cldc-nt at the lower house, received I a telephone call from some on who simply said : "Where was Mo whnn the lights j went out:1" awl the sarno query was made over the telephone the nxt morulng. In addition to this, the manager, the following morning received re-ceived a post card bearing the same I question as to whero Moses was when the lights went out. siimed "Smith." It was difficult to tell from where the telephone calls came, but as near as could be determined they wore from near tho Utah Hot Sprinps The post card was deposited in the po;i-offlee po;i-offlee at about 0 o'clock on the evening even-ing of Ihe accident at the plant. The question now Is. waa It Myron Smith v. ho telephoned the mrnagr of tho !iht company and followed up tiif telephone inquiry with the post card? A comparison of the handwriting on tho post card will be ; made with that on the blackhand letters. When Smith wni searched after I his arrest, a blackjack was found in j his hip pocket He explained that h had been carrying such a weapon since his work as a special agent ' for the railroad Less than a week ago he purchas- ' ed some dynamite from a store at Pii Points He told the police that ; he used the dynamite in his prospect - , lug work The marked similiarity in peculiar i itles In the letters sent to the Dee. Bristol and liccles families was what decided the goerument officers to swear out a warrant against htm It Is said that in thp letter sent to Mrs Ralph E Bristol, a period was placed after the word "Ralph. In Qhe I specimens of handwriting secured from Smith while he was out of hts normal coudltlon because of drink. It was said today that when Smith wrote the address: "Mrs. Ralph E. Bristol he placed a period after the j Ralph." There wer? other marks and pe- I culiarlties that led the bankers to ' declare (hat the letters and specimen I were written by the same man It Is p.lso pointed out. however, that there ; are differences between the letters and Smith's writing About the only thins that will con- ; vlnce those mainly Interested that Smith Is not the man will be the ro-celpt ro-celpt of another threatening letter In handwriting similar to the ones already received Should such a letter let-ter he received, the evidence against Smilh would probably be entirely I upset, Julian Riley depasj United States ! marshal, who arrerted Smith in Orut I yesterday, said !a6t night that Smith ' handwriting seemed lo correspond In almost every particular with that of the blackmail letters received by Mrs David Eccles, Mrs. Thomaa D Dee, and Mrs Ralph F. Bristol. "From what Information we got." said Mr Riley. "Smith had been hang Ing around saloonR In Ogden for some i tim and had not been known to work, I ulthouRh he told us he had done some j work for a man of the name of Valentine. Val-entine. All h would say was that he Is Innocent of the charge and that I subsequent events would ehow he is guilt lest "He weighs about 1 R5 or 190 rounds, is 5 feet 10 or U Inchps in height, la of dark complexion, wear a heavy black moustache and Is rough I In his manners and speech. "His wife appeared for his examlna tlon She sat through the proceed incs with a half Interested expression on her face After the examination was over, Smith turned to her and asked : "What do you think of that?" "Oh they are Just trying to railroad rail-road you " she said " h-n we searched Smith we found c-n him a blackjack and two skeleton keys and 25 cents In money " Written With Lead Pencil The reason Postofflce Inspector McGee Mc-Gee had Smith write with a lead pen ell was that the letters addressed to Mrs. Eccles, Mrs Bristol and Mrs Dee were written with an Indelible pencil and handwriting experts assert that Ink and pencT writings may appear ap-pear the same If written by different persons or different if written by the I same person The writing done by I Smith seems to bear a great similarity similari-ty to the writing on the envelopes of the letters which were mailed In Og den demanding money, so the postofflce postof-flce lnspectar asserts. The letter S has practically the sajno curves and the letter D has a similar drop to the drop In the word Dee on the envelope wnicn was tent to Mrs. Dee. Smith v rote the abbreviation ' Thos " for "Thomas. ' and wroto "Vanburen" for "Van Buren " In the letters add-essed to Mrs. Deo the word Thomas was speiled In full and Van Buren was written In two words Smith also spelled Eccles as "Eclea and In several instances misspelled words which were spelled correctly on the envelopes The writing on tb envelopes is very small md seoms to be disguised, while Smith's writhe yesterday Is medium large and Borne what cramped. He also wrote out a statement, according to Mr McGee. which aries from the handwriting on the envelopes and which In larger than the writing he is said to hae done In the police station Mr. McGee said that Smith has been employed as a special officer by the Union Pacific and had l.ved in Opden for the last ten or eleven years. Ho has not been worklug recently, according ac-cording to Mr. McGee. It is stated by the officers that they hope to con nect him with the blowing up of th Leroy Eccles home Sunday. Mr Mc-Cee Mc-Cee said last night that he did not think that Smith was workinR alone, and that others were under surNell lance and arresta would be made as soon as sufficient evidence haa been collected Sworn Complaint. The complaint in the Eccles case, with the letter Is as follows "On this 3d day of November, 1918. beforo the undersigned, 8. t Corn, United States commissioner In and for the district of Utah, at Ogden. in the northern division of said district, personalty appeared D. A McGee, who b-ilng by me first duly sworn according to law. upon his oath complains and saya that heretofore, to-wlt, on or about the 2d day of Oetoher. 1913 at Ogden. in the state and northern division of the district of Utah, one Myron A. 8mlth. who had theretofore devised and Intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud one David C Eccles and other oth-er persons to affiant unknown, which said schemo and artifice to defraud was In substance that the said Myron A Smith would prepare a certain letter directed and addressed to Mr David C. Eccles, at Ogden, Utah, which said letter would contain certain cer-tain threats that If the 6aid Mr. David Ecclea did not, on or before a certain cer-tain time, and at a certain place, to be designated In said letter, cause to be paid and delivered to the said Myron A. Smith the Bum of one thou-sand thou-sand dollars, that he, tho said Myron A. Smith would cause serious damage and Injury to the said David Ecoles, he, the said Myrou A Smith, Intending Intend-ing then and did thn and there unlawfully, un-lawfully, wilfully, knowingly and feloniously fel-oniously and for the purpose of executing ex-ecuting the said scheme and artifice to defraud and in attempting so to do, deposit and cause to be deposited In Hie noBtoff' Mi- n-. J....c at Ogden, Utah, then and there an authorized depositary for mail matter, mat-ter, to be sent and delivered by the postofflce establishment of the United Unit-ed State, a certain letter Two of the blackhand letters are Included In the formal complaints charging Smith with using the United Unit-ed States mails to defraud Tho accompanying ac-companying Bristol letter Is the one on which the delivery of $500 was made In tho canyon road The Eccles Ec-cles letter Is the one received by D. C Eccles on October 1 laat, shortly after preparations had ben made for the first visit of tho blackhanders. The letters, following the exact spoiling, spoil-ing, punctuation, capitalization and grammar are as follows Ogden. Utah, March SI, 1913. Mrs. Ralph Bristol I take this method of notifying notify-ing you that you are to pay me the sum of Five Hundred Dollars Dol-lars noi later than April 10fh, 1913. This amount to be In Gold And no marks of any kind to be placed on any of thr coins for the means of Identification in the future, now to be plain with you I need the money and I am going to get It if I dont you will have to leave Utah for good, and II you think thlB is a joke some one is trying to play on you you may step over to your neighbor Mrs Culver on .Tackson Av. I ihini tho in la L'oaT vou mav see her and compare this writing writ-ing with a letter 1 wrote her If she still haa It In ber possession, posses-sion, ahe no doubt remembers me still for she was nice enoug to give me her carines also two Diamond rings but she made a mistake in petting pevlsh about it otherwise she would not have suffered any Illtreatraent at my hand I simply had to be rough with her In order to make be her good. It Is aginst my my will to be rough and mistreat anyone at all but at UmeB I have to be or I would not be successful In this line of business, now when you read this do not have a fit and think you arc going to get hurt In an v way for you are not If you do as I tell you if on the other hand you should oppose me in anv way yon may expect that 1 will certainly call upon you and In a way that t"111 cause you to remember me for manv a long dav I wish to caution you against calling on any of the celebrated detectives of the Ogden Og-den police department they are a Joke and will only cause you grief If you attempt to get assistance as-sistance from them in this case, as Mr Culver will tell you that you cannot hope to trap me In any manner I am an old Hand at th game and have every advantage advan-tage In pulling off a deal like thlB m plan la this you ar to meet me on a certain nlsht not later than April 10th you may use your Auto and on the night specified spec-ified I will notify you by telephone tele-phone JuBt where to meet me If you do as you aro told to do you will be treated aa a Ladv in every respect If you do not. you will have to take tbe results of your mLbtake. Mr. Thomas Dee will call upon you by Thursday Thurs-day night of this week the same amount is duo from her If she falls that will be her own fault and not yours as I am not go- any ones eles actions I will say that I only pick out parties who are well to do in this worlds good and I do not consider that I am Imposing any hardships on cither you or Mrs. Dee iu asking you to each contribute $600 apiece pay this and you will not be molested any more fall to do this an take the consequences. The S. P. Co and the O S D. companies took such an interest in me that they offered $15,250 for my self and pal for tricks turned on tho nights of June 2d 1910, and Jan 21911. a word to the wlso Is sufficient if you wish to comply put the above ad In the evening standard not later la-ter than Friday evening it U does not appear I will take It for granted that you wish a little excitement ex-citement ' You may have your husband or any one else that you wish accompany you on the night in question but you must bo there with out fall I will take no excuse ex-cuse for your absence as I like lo meet the society Buds my self occasionally and tho tell me you are sure strong on that point. 'Lost A Diamond ring on Wash Av. on night of March 31. reward for return to Standard office Mrs. Ralph Bristol ' remember not later than Friday Fri-day night Eccles Letter. The Eccles letter quoted In the complaint against Smith follows: Ogden, Utah. Oct 1, 1913 ' David C, Eccles You no doubt were disappointed last wed night that I did ncit name a meeting place for no doubt you thought you were going to slip one ovr cm me by your preparations to receive me let me tell you right now young man that 1 knew exactly ex-actly what i our plans were and If you think for one moment you can follow awhlte horse and bug gy with your 7. Pass Auto load ed with officers you have made a serious mistake you had better think of another plan the paper stated next day that you had not informed the pollco and the Sheriffs Sher-iffs office, you aro a dirty liar and you know It ou bad a half dozen of the Big Bofibs In your house that night you even admitted admit-ted It to me when 1 called you up that night and told you that 1 was Chief Norton. Objects to Auto why you would send a man out to his certain death to avoid paying a thousand dollars is more than I can understand but you surely Intended dolug so that very-thing very-thing dont you ever attempt to have an auto follow a horse and buggy and turn your electric lights on what a jako. it makes me laugh to think of it now. 1 will tell you what I hav made up my mind to do with you If you don t pay this money to m on Friday night the 3rd day of this month I am going to murder you just as sure as your name Is Dave Eccles I am not going to give you a ghost of a show I am going to shoot you like a dog you will nev-crlive nev-crlive to enjoy the old mans money mon-ey like you think you will you had a chance to square yourself aud be let alone you ran to the Post Office Inspector as good did it do you I have hud - them looking for me for the Past 15 years and they are still look lng now to make along story-short story-short if you dont pay this amount 1000 dollars on Friday night you will never hear from me again until you hear the crack of a gun then you will know your time on this earth has come so tike your choice vou may use a white horse and single rig and let Is be understood that only one man will drive and ride in it and that man must be an Eccles. no othr will do and any man that attempts P J to drive it if he is not an Ec- Jj cles Boy will surely get shot for 'J . j his trouble I will send you word by 11 P. M. Friday nfght where jtj to meet me !f you fail to meet II me as directed I will camp on j i your trail until I ge t J oil Rc3p Chief Norton. 4 ij It is my Intention of making an f example out at you for your n smartness so others will not defy J me as you did. It will make f thtm stop ;nd think I am want- J ed for murder at present so I ' don t give a dam ll" I have to Ij plug you too. '! |