The San Francisco call., 1898-02-09
MURDER
 VAS HIS PASTIME Belew Twice Tried to Kill Charles
 HOugh. Shot at Him and Later Gave Him Poisoned
 Food. Wanted to Remove the Farm hand to Save Paying His
 Wages.
STORY OF THE VICTIM
Laughed At by the Dixon Officers When He Told of the Attempts
 on His Life.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

| STOCKTON. Feb. S.-Charles Hough who has been mentioned as a farm hand whom Frank Belew tried to as- sassinate and later poison, Is a resi- dent of this city, conducting a second hand store on Weber avenue, near San
 Joaquin street. Hough says that when he went to Dixon after his experiences
 and related his story he was accused | of being crazy, and he hopes that the officers who refused to take action then will credit him now with sanity Hough certainly appears like a sober and intelligent man, and tells his story in manner calculated to convince.
 T went to Dixon in the spring four years ago." says he, "and found em- ployment. with Frank Belew, helping him around his place for two months. l never worked for man more agree able to my face. When we got through
 he owed me SAT, but as I had some
 money told him not to inconvenience himself, as I was not broke. I went
 down to Dixon and met him there on
 the street one day. and he dunned him. self. Later, while working over at an- other place, I fell and hurt my side and went back to Dixon to rest. 1
 met Belew on the street again, and he said he was all alone at the ranch and suggested that I come out and eat supper with him.
 T went, and after the meal I had to go and He down for some time. It 1 seemed that every bone and muscle
 in me was paralyzed. I got better however, and returned to town that evening. The idea that Belew tried to
 poison me never crossed my mind, as | I supposed I was merely sick from l some cause.
 Along in the latter part of Septem-
 Der I got hard up and I went out to
 Belew and asked him if he would not
 help me out by letting me board out l that debt. I thought 1t was all right,
 as Mrs. Belew had told me several 1 times to come out and feel at home.
 This was one Saturday evening, and
 the following Tuesday, Mrs Belew be-
 ing away at the time, Frank asked me | Ii l wanted to drive across to his other
 place with him. He harnessed up and
 went with him. He took his shotgun
 with him, but I thought nothing of ! that, as he frequently carried the gun
 around with him. We arrived at the
 place and after looking around l
 started to get back to the wagon, SUD- posing that Belew was going home,
 Since it has turned out as it has I can
 see that his actions were wrong, but l thought nothing of them at that time He hesitated and finally suggested that
 We walk over to the road fence and see
 how things looked In that part of the
 country. We went, and he kept hesi-
 tating and gaining time by small talk We were near the haystack at the time i ana he said he was going over on the
 other side of the fence. I told him l l guessed I would lie down on the straw
 and walt until he returned.
 | l lay down, with my head resting on my hand and my elbow on the straw and was dozing when I heard the re-
 port of gun, which was followed by a
 charge of shot tearing off my hat brim,
 My first thought was that it was an ac- | cidental shot from long range, but
 when l got up and went around the stack 1 saw Belew walking away from
 me over on the other side of the fence
 thought this was funny, so I Jumped | over and overlook him. He looked 1 rather white, and when I told him he | had almost struck me by wild shot 1 he grew very nervous and seemed to be
 making no preparations to go home. never suspected anything up to this time, but now I felt a little uncertain
 l called his attention to the fact that | his team was loose, and so we went 1 down, and catching the horses we rode 1 home. On the way home he told me
 not to say anything about the close
 call, as it might worry his wife
 Arriving there Mrs. Belew was not
 at home, and as it was a warm evening 1 in the early part of October I sat down 1 He called me in. and we had hardly sat l down when he jumped up and said the 1 gun accident had made him so nervous 1 that he could not eat. l reached over | and, breaking a biscuit buttered it.
 The first mouthful was so bitter that ] | spat 1t out on the plate. I noticed some l white powder. Then I was scared and | jumping up I went over and got my ] coat. Belew was out in the yard, and
 so I went back to the table and got a 1 piece of the bread and put 1t in my pocket. Without waiting further cut
 across the fields and did not stop till | got into Dixon.
 i .'The next day druggist examined
 the biscuit and said it was full of poi
 son. I complained to the Constable up l there and he told me I was a stranger | and Beiew we'll thought of, and 1t
 would do me no good to press the case
 even told Franks brother, whom he l poisoned, and he made no comment. l | talked some of the days attacks. on me | and to contradict me a report was 1 started that I was crazy and had tried | to commit suicide.
 When this poisoning case came up I told some of my friends here that in ! view of my experiences I thought Frank was the guilty party. Now l | it