The morning call., 1893-05-04
ON ROYCE'S TRAIL.
Doubts That He Attempted
Suicide.
THE GRAND JURY STEPS IN.
Faint Hopes That the Veterans Home
May Yet Recover Som Portion
of the Dedication.

1t was expected that Clark Z. K. Royce,
= the defaulting treasurer of the Veterans
Home Association, would be arrested yes
terday afternoon upon warrant issued by
order Of the Grand Jury, but inasmuch as
the Grand Jury was unable to go over the
whole case yesterday, it POSTPONED a de-
cision in the matter until Friday next. In
the meantime detectives are constantly
shadowing Royce's residence and should he
make an attempt to skip out be will be
promptly arrested.
The Veterans Il ONE Association have
good reasons to believe that nearly all of
she story told about Royce's attempted sui
eide is false. 1t is now almost certain that
Royce never shot himself in the head or
anywhere else aud it is equally certain that
he is net now ard never has been paraly zed
from the effects OF his injuries.
1t will be rem embered that all attempts
to discover the kind of a revolver used, its
callber and what became of the weapon
after the shooting, as well AS to get a min
ute description of the wound, have baen un-
availng. Vague descriptions OF the wound
have been given by DR.. Thayer, but otfing
tangible has ever been made public by that
gentleman.
The doctor Is the only one. who has. ever
seen the revolver used or claimed TO have
been used by Royce in his attempt at self
destruction, aud he refuses to tell what be-
cane OF the weapon, ana can only describe
1t as ''Oh, q common. ordinary pistol"
As-to Royce's paralysis there is hardly
drubt hut what the statements made were
false. The Veterans Home Association
has evidence that the man is tand has not
been paraly iZed, even partially.
1t is also certain that the association has
the evidence of four persons who we're in
the suite of rOonS adjoining The one occu-
pied by Royce when he was supposed to
have attempted suicide for several hours
before the defaulter entered bis suite of
rooms and who remained several hours after
Roy zee was taken away.
These people will testify that no pistol
vas fired in Royce's room during the after
noon; that there were no means. no groans
or other noises, aud that had there been
they would certainly have heard the noise
The detectives vino have been and are
working on the case now believe that Royce
probably cut his scalp slightly with his
pocket-knife in order 10 bleed and that the
bullet in the base Of the brain Is myth, as
is the paralysis.
1t is also believed that not only every do
lar due the Veterans Home Association
will be recovered. but that E. r. Steen,
whose share Of the judgment Iii the Steen-
/ Hendy case was assigned by Royce to
Rathgeb OF Alameda. will also recover the
money due him.
" Yesterday. in addition to the suit CON-
menced by the Veterans Home Association
against I1UNt0 70 ENcuFtT the money lie mad
stolen from its treasury, William 81. Jordan
the counsel for the association, also levied
an attachment upon the judgment in the
Steen-Hendy case.
In view OF the fact that the judgment at
present Is only Sic. 600, of which Royce was
10 have one-half. and the further fact that
he assigned the whole Judgment, Stems
half and his own, to Rathgeb months ago to
secure So. 800 the leyyng of an attachment
seems at glance to be worse than uspIess
fls..rn .tTrr h.,
geb wOodple" ana Attorney Jordan found
him.
1t seems that the only assignment for the
Judgment Rathgeb has is for 5000 given
him in 1887 by w. f. Guad, to whom Royce
had assigned that amount of his interest In
the Judgment and who Feassigned it to
Rathgeb.
The rest of the money loaned Royce by
Rathgeb which goes 10 make up The 500 800
was loaned subsequent to the assignment
and is not covered by it..
In other words, it Is believed that the only
claim Rathgeb can hold against the Steen-
Hendy Judgment Is 5000 and interest since
1887.
1t is known that Royce expected to re-
cover between S2JO, 900 and S4000 900 in the
case, and ii WAS upon the belief that he
would secure at least $780, 600 as his share
that he borrowed right and left and finally
embezzied the money OF the Veterans
Home.
Another peculiar thing is that Rathgeb,
who has held the deeds to the lands in
Piumas County owned by Royce. never re-
corded them until Tuesday last, aud if the
stories told about the deeds are true Rath-
geb VIII find himself left again.
In the first place the lands, which were
taken up under Government patent. were
never taken up by Royce himself, but were
assigned to him by other parties who gave
him deeds with the name of the grantee lett
out. These deeds were, it is claimed, turned
over by Royce 10 Rathgeb with the name of
the grantee left blank, and either Royce or
some one else must have filed in the name
of Rathgeb before the deeds could be re-
corded on Tuesday. According TO lawyers
/ the deeds were never any good and will not
stand the test of law. Whether or not
Royce has any title TO the Piumas County
lands or not remains TO be discovered, but
/ if he has, attorneys say he could not recon-
vey The property TO any one by means of
deeds in. which no -ona appeared as the
grantee when they were made,
Through the work OF Attorney Jordan il
now begins TO look as if the directors of the
Veterans Home would get a good portion;
If not all, Of the money stolen from them,
while Air. Rathgeb and others will have to
suffer instead. as the collateral given them
|. by Royce is worthless in the one case and
in the other good only for $1,000 and inter
est instead of SIS, 800, which it is supposed
to secure.