The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-03
HE KISSED HIS CHILD AND THREW
HIMSELF INTO THE ICY
WATERS.
OF ILLINOIS NATIONAL
Followed by the Sensational End of
the Man on Whom Rests the
Responsibility.


his two-year-old boy goodbye, and he
was not seen again alive His body was
discovered in the lake at the foot of
Church street, Evanston, this afternoon
by two boys who were playing on the
beach. Mr.. Hammond spent the last
evening of his life at the home of an
old associate, Percy Palmer, who lives
not far from the Hammond mansion.
From s to II o'clock he talked with his
friend about the black prospects be-
fore him, and he gave frequent indica-
lions that his mind was becoming shat
tered under the strain of trouble
When he left he refused an offer of
company, and went to his home. spend
ing few brief moments with his wife
before he retired At 2 o'clock in the
morning it is believed he crept from the
mouse with the fixed intention of taking
his life. A few scattered scraps Of
paper clinging to the Dempster street
pier told the first story of his death.
when the news of his disappearance
became known in the morning At the
request of his wife friends went in
search of him, and they were satisfied
as to his fate long before the body
was washed upon the shore
Mrs. Hammond first missed her hus-
band at o'clock this morning and at
once aroused the household. Carl Stew
enson, hired man, was sent to the
| house of Birsey j. Moore, 1874 Asbury
avenue, and the latter was told Of
Mrs. HammOnd's suspicious He is a
good friend of the family and, calling
his carriage. he drove hurriedly to the
house. On his way he stopped at the
house of Mr.. Lord, of Lord, owen ~
Roth
mona house and satisfied themselves
that the worst was to be expected.
1hen they drove down Dempster street
to the pier
On the end of the pier Mr.. Moore
discovered the scraps Of paper which
settled the conviction in his mind that
Mr. Hammond had taken his own life
me rain or the night had soaked the
| scraps OF paper and they had chung
to the boards, thus preventing the
wind from blowing them away. The
| men recognized the handwriting of the
| ex-banker, and at the end was his
| signature. He had apparently torn the
papers into shreds before throwing
| them away. This was enough to salts
! ny the two men Of what had taken
| place, and they at once set on foot
| arrangements for recovering the BODY,
Mr.. Lord telephoned to the Dunbar
! rowing company in the city and the
! tug Il. T.. Morford, which was close
at hand, was called out at once. Ii
was sent down the river and it moored
! Tor few minutes at the central life
saving station. When it left for
| Evanston it was accOmpanied nv tn.
he saving crew in charge of Acting
Keeper Hannah. 1t reached the Demp-
ster street pier at II 80 o'clock. The
| graphing irons and other apDaratu
| used In dragging the water were a,
| once put to use. Prior to the tugs arri-
val, capt. Larson, with Axel Anderson
of the Evanston life saving crew
worked with difficulty in trying to dis
! cover the body.
AT 12:l5 o'clock, sixteen-year-old w
E. Gedney, Of 1923 Sherman avenue
with companion, was walking along
| the beach in the vicinity of Church
street when they sighted the body float
ing only few feet from the shore. The
lace was looking downward, but the
boys were able to recognize the object
as the body Of man. Young Gedney's
| companion was d. E. Arthur. of 321
Davids street. The boys had previous
ly been at Dempster street and watched
the efforts Of the life saving crew to
recover the body. of Mr. Hammond
They felt certain they had discovered
| the body, and turned backward Meet.
| ing Police Officer White they told hin
or what they had SEEN and with Officer
Michael Ryan, White went to the spot
| The body had by that time washed al.
most upon the beach, and the two ha6
but little difficulty in hauling it in.
BODY RECOVERED.
White called the police ambulance
and the body was removed to an I'm.
| dertaking establishment. Once at the
undertaking rooms, the body of Mr.
| Hammond was soon identified by
friends. The condition of the BODY was
such that it could be readily recoe-
nized. 1t was in no way bloated by its
stay in the water, and the mans face
locked as it did in life. AS soon as the
| coroner heard officially of the death OF
| Mr.. Hammond, which was shortly after
! noon, he sent a deputy to Evanston
The mans friends expressed a desire
to have the inquest held at once an6
! 1t was set for this afternoon at 2:3(
| o'clock. Nothing of Importance was
| found in the mans pockets On a KEY.
ring found in his possession was g
| paSteboard check bearing the name G.
| w. Brega and the following words
| Containing bankers Tel bonds.',"
| The verdict of the jury was that he
| had committed suicide while temper
| arily deranged
The first open charge against the
business integrity of Mr. Hammond
was made only about ten DAYS ago
! Then he was accused of enaeting the
character OF "kiter" He was ac-
cused of decei eng the directors Of the
bank and the depositors and deliber-
ately violating the national bank laws
| His alleged irregularities We're said to
have begun many years ago when the
vice president, it is alleged, began to
use the money and credit of the bank
i'll outside operations. This was done
in such manner, it was generally re-
| ported, that not only were the direc-
tors deceived, but the bank examiners
! as well. Even old employees of the
bank, thoroughly familiar with the in
side workings of 1t, were said to have
been unaware Of what was going on
under their eyes When 1t was openly
charged that the second vice president
had falsified the bank accounts, an in
vestigation suggested that the irrAgu-
larities must have begun at least four
years ago. At this time Mr.. Ham
mond is said to have interested him.
self in the now famous Calumet Elec-
| trio railway. 1t is now believed that
the first over-drafts of this railway,
amounting to $175,0 900, were made OF
this time when the comptroller Of the
currency Immediately called for a
statement from the bank, and Ham
mond disguised the irregularity by de-
| signaling the over-drafts as foreign
| exchange.
Considerable surprise was expressed
by men prominent in financial and bust
| ness circles, that criminal proceeding.
| had not been instituted against Mr.
| Hammond. 1t has been no secret fol
several days past that Comptrollel
Eckles had instructed Receiver McKeor