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Show inn en PAGED BY AGENT OF GOVERNMENT Information was given out yesterday yester-day by Leon Bone, special investigator investiga-tor of the United. States department of Justice, to tho offoot that he had boon engaged in tracing shipments of ammunition from Ogden and Salt Lake to their destinations. His statements state-ments led to tho confirmation of tho Standard story that hardware stores of both oities have received numerous numer-ous orders for cartridges irom probable prob-able agents of warring factions in Mexico. When questioned on the matter yesterday yes-terday evening, George B. Browning, sooretary-treasurer of the Browning Brothers company of Ogden, made tho following statement: "It would bo impossible for me to say of my own knowledge that shipments ship-ments of cartridges made by our firm mostly to points in California werd intended for use in Mexico, but from what I have been told by a representative repre-sentative of the government who visited vis-ited me a few days ago and oIbo the salesmen, I have good reason to believe be-lieve so. Whether tho ammunition went to Huerta or the loader of some other faction I do not know. "Because of the heavy shipments from all over the country, I know that it has been impossible for us to get our orders filled In the oast, except ex-cept for the regular trade. Representatives Represen-tatives of these Mexican factions have been gathering up war munitions muni-tions all over the country. They not only want cartridges, but rifles and machine guns. Tho eastern manufacturers manu-facturers will not sell us ammunition other than for 'our regular trade, De-causo De-causo they can get twice the price from European nations and also from representatives of Mexican leaders. "The impression seems to have gone out that our firm has an unlimited unlim-ited supply of ammunition and guns stacked up here in Ogden. Last month we received more than fifty telegrams from points In California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and other oth-er border states asking for arms and cartridges. One man, who probably represented one of the Mexican factions, fac-tions, wanted from 10,000 to 15,000 rifles and a million cartridges. And there seems to bo nothing but money down there. Every man is willing to pay In advance, and In the case of several large shipments wo have made to California and New Mexico we got tho money before the goods were shipped." J. W. Abbott, vice president and manager of the George A. Lowo company, com-pany, the only other local house that deals In ammunition on a wholesale basis, in a similar conversation, emphatically em-phatically stated that his firm had not shipped as much as a single cartridge car-tridge to the warring factions in Mexico. He stated further that it would be Impossible for his firm to ship any amount of ammunition to any person or firm without the full knowledge of the purpose for which it was to bo used and that the George A. Lowe company had made no shipments ship-ments other than to regular customers custom-ers to be used for legitimate purposes purpo-ses in this country. . . rr . |