The herald., 1896-01-05

mysterious cousin stopped with old Peter
and shared the humble accommodations
which he offered to almost everyone, indis-
criminately.
The cid man had three dogs, one a large
dog, which has been with him for many
years and the other two. pups. No one has
seen the dogs since the fire, although they
were seen at the house during Friday.
some of "Pete's'' friends are inclined to
think that th9y were taken away by the
person who killed their master and some
of them are anxious to find out where the
man who became known as the dead man s
cousin has gone. He is known to have
been on good terms with the dogs and
some think they might have followed him
from home. Whether these friends
seriously connect the man with the crime
is uncertain but quiet quest is going on
for him.
M. Mendoza, who telegraphed to Sheriff
Burr concerning the tragedy, tells of a
stranger who ate supper with the dead
man about z o'clock Friday evening. Men.
doza called on Pee and the stranger was
sitting at the table with him. Mendoza
was surprised at this. Pete had never
made practice of inviting strangers to
eat inside, but would give them lunch on
the porch. At request by Mendoza to
come into the saloon, Pete replied, "All
right. l will be there in a moment"
Turning to the stranger, he then said.
"Please excuse me for moment" The
stranger replied, "All right, my friend.
the stranger but says his voice was unfa-
miliar. Pete came across the hall from
the kitchen. The two men conversed for
a short time.
Two suspicious men were seen loafing
about the road house Friday afternoon by
neighbors. They were seen to enter and
take several drinks.
man who passed the house at 10
o'clock at night noticed that the lights were
all extinguished. No doors were open at
that time. Half an hour afterward the
house was seen to be in flames by f. E.
Allen, who lives about sixty rods away.
When Allen saw the flames he rushed to
the burning building. He found the side
door open and rushed in, and calling out
"Petei'' as he advanced, he FASTENED
through to the bed room. Here the flames
were so thick tnat he dared not enter.
Within five minutes atterward the whole
house and the tank house adjoining were
found to be in flames Mr.. Aiken noticed
coal oil ON the bedroom floor, and at that
time only the floor was burning.
A Mexican who has been stopping at Mr..
Aliens house disappeared last Thursday
night. Pete had charged him with being a
thief and had asked Allen why he kept
him around.
A man who was on his way to Los An
geles with load of hay said he had seen a
horse about mile from the burned house.
The horse appeared to have been ridden
hard only a short time before. An exam
inaton of the horse seemed to prove that
he had been ridden bareback. No one in
the neghborhood recognizes the horse.
On account of q large quantity of burr-
ing corn in the building it has been impos-
sihe to make very satisfactory progress
in the search for clues. 1t is necessary to
play water on the smoldering mass con-
tinually.
Salient points in the greatly mixed mass
of suspicious incidents collected by the Of
ficers point strongly to the conclusion that
"Pete' was murdered. Coal oil, both on
the floor and in rags, and its strong odor
in the air indicate an attempt to destroy
evidence of a crime. The disappearance
of the upper part of the dead mans skull
lower jaw point to brutal assault COM
weapon. The three doors through which a
guilty man would pass to escape from the
scene of his crime being open, indicate
hasty flight. The fact that half hour be-
fore the fire was first seen the road house
was dark and all doors closed disposes of
the possibility of an explosion and seems
to point to the conclusion that the person
who committed the murder had been per-
mitted to sleep in the house, rising from
his bed to kill his benefac Tor and afterward
starting the fire and fleeing away. The
strange horse is proof of a murderer who
is unknown in the neighborhood,
The sheriff's Office appears entirely at
sea in the matter and is industriously en-
gagged in running down all sorts of stories
and clues.