Omaha daily bee., 1894-01-19

| ful officer. I am informed, and while think
| II guilty of this he should be punished.
would be very much in favor Of giving
| HIM the benefit OF every doubt Bloom
has proved himself an efficient officer fre-
quently and when he resigned some. years
ago / was glad to approve of his application
for reinstatement"
Captain Mostyn was seen also. He said :
81 have nothing TO remark about the matter I;
have not see the letter Of which you speak (;
don't know of any complaints being made by
Bloom or of any being made against him.
That Is all know about the case.
ogicer Blooms statement.
Officer Bloom was seen at his rooms, 1902
Douglas street, last night and TO BEE re-
porter said The first iutimation received
that this letter had been written got from
Chief Detective Haze at l0;3O this morning.
Mr. Haze came to my room this morning
and said the chief of police wished to see me
at his Office at 1880 in regard to the
reporting OF an opon saloon by Detective
Vaughn and myself. got up, as
] sleep during the day, my work
went to the chiefs office. ] remained there
for some time before being told what was
wanted of me. Different officers came in
while was there, and, finally, the chief
told me to accompany him to the rooms of
the fire and police commissioners did so,
and all the members of the board were pres
ent. was brought up and Secretary Smith
stepped forward ard handed me letter and
asked if wrote IT, | said no.
lis this your handwritiugP was the next
question put TO me.
This letter was not written By me nor is
the handwriting similar to mine
Here Chief Seavey stepped to the front
and suggested That, as had been a faithful
officer for years,l be given fair opportunity
to prove my innocence So he urged that
be given sheet of paper and that the
secretary dictate the letter said to
have been written TO the mayor
by me, and that | copy 1t.
| was some time at this. and when L finished
1t was handed to the secretary, who said,
If you did not write that letter ] am not
sitting in this chair and this without any
trial or examination beyond that already
mentioned,
There was q peculiar coincidence in the
comparison of the letters. The words "fol-
lowing" and (which" in the letter addressed
TO the mayor were spelled following and
''wuiCh," respectively. 1t was exactly the
same in the letter the officer wrote.
This fact was stated to the officer and he
was asked how such striking rese III Dlance
could have occurred
II am alta loss to account for IT in any
way. If the spelling of those words was the
same in one as in the other L could not help
IL.
Most BewiIdered Man In Town.
"It was simply an inexplicabe combina-
ton of circumstances, and am the most be-
wildered man in the city regarding the origl-
nal letter or how the conclusion was drawn
that should wish to write communica-
ton Of this sort to the mayor. l have
been republican all my life; never
actively engaged iii politics; | once resigned
from the force, in 1889. but was reinstated
upon application in 1890; l never had any
particular fault to find with the way / have
been treated as "A member OF the force in
fact, | have been treated in liberal manner;
nor did | ever expect promotion OF any
kind; | never IN my life wrote a letter or
communication to the mayor, and only once
did write to the fire and police board-in
my application for reinstatement"
"Why did the officials single you out from
among the other officers on tine force to
answer this accusation!'
THAT is as much n mystery to me as 1t is
to any one; do not know"
why He Resigned.
when the charge was made, and you
were satisfied of your innocence. why did
you resign, as you did this EVENING""
"Simplv because |. as an officer of the law
would not feel justified in retaining the
power to arrest others while |, myself, was
under the Dan of suspicion"
Have youany enemies, officially or other
wise, who would go to such extremes to
injure yorr position and character?"
II have many enemies on the force, but
not any, so far as know, who would take
al
''You would be willing to go on record as
swearing to the fact that you know nothing
of this letter."
81 would. l will appear before the board
tomorrow gladly to answer this charge, and
/ only hope it will be carried to the supreme
court of the United States that | might
have trial before the United States grand
jury
IF could imagine any motive or see the
slightest gain in a course of this character,
pOcSib1v MIGHT he htni
accusing me-"
Fears He VIII Not Got Justice.
"You expect n thorough investigation will
prove your lnno IenceF"
"Yes; thorough investigation would
but fear that when-alr eady, without trial
OF any kind-one of the board members has
accused me openly. from the Board of Fire
and Police Commissioners can expect little
justice If had written the letter | would
say so, as it contains nothing criminal; so
why should fear the truth"
You sent in written resignation last
evening, did you not?'
II did, turned over everything to Clerk
Brownlee. In my resignation | said ! would
prefer to remain suspended till the matter
was cleared up, and also said at the close
of the letter that if had the ablest lawyer
in the country it would avail me nothing in
asmuch as will have first to be tried by the
fire and police board | am willing and de-
strous the public should know the true
status of the case and will hope that in
the end my character, which has so far
borne no stain, will be thoroughly vindcated.
| only hope to get fair treatment and can
promise to clear up every doubt. In closing
| would have you make it emphatic that
am most sincere in my denial of this charge
will be on hand tomorrow NJ 4 p. IN"
Mr. Bloom smiled pleasantly. as though he
had nothing TO fear, as he informed the re-
porter that serions mistake had been
made.
pTrrr nr-,