The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-25

Yesterdays developments in the
Scandinavian Methodist church trag-
edy were of ?omewhat startling ma
ture and of great Importance as links
in the chain that is being forged to
connect pastor Francis Heqrnans with
the murder of Miss Henrietta Clausen,
and the subsequent cremation of her
body in the furnace of the church.
THE KNIFE IDENTIFIED.
The large carving knife, which, to-
gether with the two razors, were found
in the ashes Of the furnace, was posi-
lively identified yesterday as one that
has for years been used in the Her.
mans household.
CHIEF PRATTS BUSY DAY.
Chief Pratt was a basy man yester-
cay looking for clues. When a Herald
man entered his private Office, the
chief. with the aid of a magnifying
glass, was making q close examination
OF the razors and bowie knife blades in
the hope of decipherlng some mark
or initials that might lead to the iden-
tification of the knives with which
Miss Clausen's body had been cut into
mincenaeat preparatory to putting it
into the blazing furnace. 1t was found
that all the blades are of English
make. a fact which in Itself might not
he OF any consequence; but upon the
side of the large carving knife blade
was stamped in gold impression the
mark ''Warcut." Anyone that had
handled the knife or seen it would be
apt to identify it among hundreds,
particularly by reason of its odd
shape. Miss Annie Wilden, a young
lady who used to visit the parsonage
before Mrs Hermans, death, says that
the blade found resembles in
every particular the blade of the
carving knife used in the Hermans
household Miss Wildell frequently
made remarks to Mrs. Hermans about
the peculiar and large carving knife,
and when she saw a cut Of the knife
in The Herald she az once was struck
with the similarity. a more COMPLETE
description of the blade together with
the stamp upon il only tends to make
her more firm in her opinion.
HERMANS' RAZOR.
Elder Nork is also quite certain that
one of the razors at least belonged to
Hermans. Mr.. Mork knew that Her.
mans had quite a number Of razors and
among the collection was one with
white bone handle. This corresponds
with one Of the razors dug out of the
ashes. and although the handle is near
1y consumed. enough of it remains to
show that the blade had been set in
handle of white bone.
Aside from the above. the discoveries
yesterday were mostly Of an incidental
nature. The efforts of the police to
locate fermans have not been reward
ed and as far as can be learned not
even : clue to his present whereabouts
has been obtained.
ANNIE SAMUELSEN.
@dhe disappearance of Annie Samuel
sen, Eermans' supposed second victim,
engrossed the attention of the authori-
ties yesterday. What conclusion they
have reached is matter of conjecture,
but significant fact is that the en-
tire basement of the church will be
excavated today in the hope of finding
some clues or possibly the body IF
Miss Samuelsen,
Having considered every detail con-
nected with her mysterious disappear
ance there is all reason TO believe that,
if killed, the deed has been committed
in the same study where Miss Clausen
is supposed to have been administered
the deadly drug.
VISITED BY THOUSANDS.
The little brick church on Second
East street where the charred bones of
Henrietta Clausen were found was the
objective point for thousands of peo-
pie yesterday. From early morning
until late last night, crowds of
curiously inclined people passed
by and gazed at the barren
walls of the little edifice AS
no services We're held, the doors were
locked up and no one gained admit
lance. The more reserved contented
themselves by standing on the sidewalk
in front but others walked over TO the
coal chute and peered into the musty
recesses of the basement. Occasionally
a young visitor would catch glimpse
of the furnace and then it was always
followed by an exclamation and others
exerted themselves to satisfy their NOR
bid curiosity.
ALL CLASSES OF PEOPLE.
The visitors were not confined to the