The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-02-03
IT IS A PECULIAR CASE
Captain j. B. Smith Is in Some
More Trouble.
Is WANTED IN SPOKANE
Some One Has Been Cashine Money
Orders in His Name-A Reward
Offered for the Detection
of the Culprit.

Capt. j. b. Smith. the cratic fellow
with an uncomfortable speech who
claims that his girl wife left him to go
with an Italian section boss and took
with her lot of the captains money,
has some new trouble on hand accord
ing to the following peculiar item from
the Spokane Chronicle:
"A reward of $500 and any quantity
of thanks that may be wanted will be
paid by w. w. Johnson & Co. of Butte.
Mont, for the arrest of somebody in
Spokane. Who this particular some
body is they don't know. If they did
they wouldn't offer the reward
A strange state of affairs is revealed
by letter from Johnson * Co. 10 the
Chronicle-affairs that may put Uncle
Sans detectives on the trail. To make
the story still more picturesque ii in
wolves Capt. j. Il. Smith of Spokane
he of the massive gold chains and the
weird impedment of speech. What Is
more it also involves the captains wife
the silly little country girl of IL, with
blonde hair. and fondness for Italians
that is shown in ways not counte-
nanced by the best society.
We were owing Captain Smith for
goods bought through his agent says
the letter, and thought he was still in
Spokane. We have sent several money
orders there for him and the receipts
come back signed Lilly Smith. per c.
Now we find that the captain has not
been in Spokane for many months and
is ont on the roads selling goods. We
have lost about $4s5 now
Then follows an interesting descrip-
ton of the captains wifc given To us
by a drummer-16 years old. blonde
hair, blue eyes, heavy set, fresh in face
AT the postofiiee there has not vet
been time to investigate the case, to de-
termine whether any registered letters
We're delivered or money orders paid 10
Lily Smith. per c.
- This much is certain, said Assist
ant Postmaster Baldwin. Nobody
could get anything like that from this
office without presenting an order from
Captain Smith
AT the police station nothing could
be learned as to the present location of
either the captain or his Wife. 1t VIII
be remembered that last spring the
captain married a tow-headed country
girl and for time was as proud a
bridegroom as could be found on this
hemisphere: but the child soon tired Of
her husbands erratic speech and ways
and was carried off In triumph by some
Italian friends And a little while
after that she vanished beyond the
horizon of Spokane. In which direction
she now is To he found nobody knows"
The peculiar thing about the above
and has been here for several months.
and that he is the only w w. Johnson
x Co in this city. A great deal of mali
is received in Butte for Johnson * Co.,
and it is all delivered 10 Smith. and he
has been the only person who has been
taking charge of the w. w. Johnson a.
Co.'S business in this city, and II might
therefore reasonably be inferred that
he wrote the letter referred To by the
Chronicle, and that the man the Spo-
kane people are looking for could be
readily found i'm Butte. Many letters
addressed to W. W. Johnson * Co.
have been received in Butte and their
contents indicated that various sums of
money had been sent to Spokane and
receipted for by Mrs. Smith. When
Smith told some Of his troubles to the
county attorney a week or 50 ago lie
stated that w w. Johnson * Co. We're
a patent medicine manufacturing con-
Germ in Portland and that he was the
company's travelling agent.