The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-22
4 BUTTE MAN ARRESTED
Thought to Be the Murderer OF
Millionaire Smell.
CAUGHT THE WRONG MAN
Prank Fsrnsworth Put In jail by the
chicago Police Under the fmprss-
sion That He was willie
Tascott

Frank Farnsworth, until recently .
resident of Butte. went 10 Chicago a
about q month ago. aud sao';;v s.ftcr
his arrival there. was arrested on sus-
picion OF being the long sought for Will
liam Tascott. the murderer II Amos J.
Smell. F~arnsworth. however. convinced
the police hat they had made a mis-
take and he was released. A Chicago
paper gives the following recount Of
his arrest:
For the hundreth time at least a
willie Tascott.' the alleged slayer Of
Millionaire Amos j. Smell. was cap
tured' again to-day. n again did h
man prove to be someone else. For
brief and. blissful hour, Sergeant
Charles Larkin and James Moody and
the Harrison street police station de-
bated what they would DO with h $780,
900 reward offered by the SMELL family
for the apprehension Of the much
sought Tascott. Then they woke up
and began figuring how long 1t would
be until the next pay day came around.
The two s~ergeants were smoking
their after-breakfast cigars this morn
ing when a man giving his name as
John Lang approached N told them
he could point out the murderer OF
Smell. They were at first incredulous.
but the man seemed so earnest that
they decided to investigate his story.
He took them to a point on Clark street
and after a half-hour's wait pointed
out a gaunt. wild-eyed man. who, he
said, was the person for whom the po-
lice of the civilized world had searched
in vain during the past ten years. and
In search of whom four Chicago police
men had travelled a total of 5000
miles.
The supposed Tascott was at once
arrested and taken to Inspector Hart
nett's Office. at the Harrison station,
where the officers proudly mad known
the identity" of their prisoner. A
glance at III man convinced Inspector
Hartnett that Tascott was not be-
fore him. To convince the sergeants,
however, he took the prisoner. who
gave his name rs Frank F~arnsworth,
to the bureau of Identification and COM
pared him with the description of
Tascott.
"Farnsworth is without the scars
which exist on Tascott's knee. hip and
arm; he has false teeth. while the
Smell suspects front teeth are filled
with gold; he is taller than Tascott
and not as old. When these convincing
point were shown the officers. the man
who was responsible for the arrest was
questioned. He said his right name wa
William II. johnson. He was arrested
several years ago in Indianapolis, he
said. on suspicion of being Tascott.
Since then he has devoted much of his
time to a search for the famous fugi-
tive.
HE met Farnsworth in Idaho two
years ago and with him to Butte,
Mont. Two weeks age he again met
Farnsworth in Chicago. and suspected
he was Tascott. He looked up Tas-
colts description in newspaper files
and thought Farnsworth answered II.
He determined to cause the mans ar
rest. The police believe johnson is
mentally unbalanced.
"Farnsworth says he was in Chicago
from 1883 to 1898. He is still a prisoner
at the Harrison street station, where
Johnson is also confined.
Detective Sergeant Frank McDon-
nell. of Central station. who knew Tas-
colt well and who Travelled 25,0 900 miles
In search of him, called at the Harrison
street station to look at the man whose
arrest recalled the celebrated murder.
The detective at once declared the
wrong man in jail.
In similar way has Tascott been
found" and lost" times without num-
Der. The whole case Is one of the most
remarkable In the history of crime.
The murder was never avenged. but
the incidents following IL have been
quite as sensational as the crime IT.
SELF"