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Show m fro weeks later Nellie's article "7pred in the "Deseret News." j ii Salt Lake was in an uproar, the I i Mormons howling "foul," the i.Hnons roaring with delight at I sag the tables turned on their Ramies. j Tbe article announced that Salt ,i if City police officer Brigham inpton had arrested U.S. Deputy tehal Oscar Vandercook on the irges of lewd and lascivious Station and resorting to houses il repute. The next day, Hampton ffited bigger game - U.S. Slant Prosecuting Attorney aelH. Lewis. article said the evidence sing to the arrests was obtained vdercover detectives stationed : fporting houses where they could tough small holes drilled in trails. The article went on to say S Hampton was preparing indents in-dents from a list of more than a ied men of substance and Won who had served on juries, warrants, and held other t positions, including some of jast prominent in the territory. of the men on the list were ed, said the article. "also indicated there would be limited coverage of the : sill in the "Tribune" because Harry Chew was on the list charges pending, and would lk so busy keeping himself L jail that he would be ham-1 ham-1 Ms usual editorializing. I toy went on to predict a Hide of wrecked careers, families, disgrace and Nellie added that even if - whundred men went to prison, I f would still be a lot more j penalized by the law than jnons. Nearly a thousand ; had been sent to jail since ?of the Edmunds Law. The by Hampton, while not I ijig the scales of justice, were :l a move toward equality. lj lne non-Mormons scram- avoid scandal, the Mormons 4i!lf's story with dei'gnt and .'M. Brigham Hampton was the day. : ;:;(, b'y the most sensational j .. ;3i e scandal was the near . tmg of "Tribune" editor l Anew by his fiancee', Lydia, : aer Plural wife of Patrick J O'Riley. As a result of the shooting, Chew was in critical condition in Deseret Hospital, with gunshot wounds to the chest and groin, and Lydia was in the city jail. The celebration ended as quickly as it had begun. Judge Charles Zane crushed the prosecution by granting a motion by Assistant U.S. Attorney C.S. Varian to dismiss the cases on grounds the evidence was gained by entrapment. "I would not believe such scoundrels on oath," Varian said of eyewitnesses who patronized houses of ill repute to gather their evidence, "even in the high court of heaven itself." Judge Zane concurred. Mormons were furious. Judge Zane responded by pouring more salt on their wounds by ordering the arrest of Brigham Hampton on the charge of conspiracy. He was tried before a gentile jury and sentenced to one year in prison. "The legal system of the United States is a mockery of justice," bellowed Moroni after reading the "Tribune" article describing Hampton's trial and resulting sentence. He slammed the paper down on the table. They had left Molly's shortly before Hampton arested Vandercook, Van-dercook, and had been hiding in a barn belonging to one of Moroni's friends in Taylorsville. They had decided against leaving town, not wanting to miss all the excitement as Hampton arrested the non-Mormon non-Mormon adulterers. Now the tables had been turned. It was late afternoon, on a warm spring day when a man feels like he ought to be outside working in the soil, breaking sod and planting new crops. Sam, Ben, Moroni and George had been cooped up in the barn for days, living on the anticipated an-ticipated excitement of Hampton's victory. That was gone now, and nobody wanted to stay in the barn another minute. "What should we do?" Sam asked. "I've sat around long enough." "Me too," Ben said, picking up the paper and scanning it restlessly. "We can't just leave," Moroni said. "We have to do something." "Listen to this," Ben said, holding up the "Tribune." He was looking at an editorial on page 2. |