The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1900-12-25
DEAD man
DEFENDED.
Scout BENEFITS Career
Was BIameIess.
MAJOR ENNIS WRITES
Camp Mckinley Commander Urges
Solving Of the Schneider
Mystery.
Camp Mckinley,
= -'I -fNtIifO.
Honolulu, December %, 1900.

Honolulu December D. 1900. }
Editor Advertiser: Now that the in !
quest is ended. it is act of justice to
show. in view of the harsh criticisms
published, what sort of a man
the late Frank p. Bennett was and the
character he bore during his life. Those +
who could best defend him are not I
here but fortunately many of them Y
have left on record their tribute to his c
worth.
From early manhood the greater por-
ton of Mr. Benefits life was passed on
the frontier. His service brought him +
in close relations with prominent Off !
GERS of the Army and with many citi- ,
Zens of note in the Territories. AS a
guide and scout he had no superior and,
other qualities considered, but one ;
Iequal-Capt. Fisher. General Crook re- {
fers to them as twins.
Here are some of the testimonials Civ
en- him. General George A Forsythe
wrote, He is a rare man in many
ways-energetic tireless. absolutely re-
Liable, truthful always, and upright and
honest in every respect Governor I
Ross of Arizona wrote, He is avouched I
to me by Army officers as not only a I
faithful and intelligent gentleman in all
/ his relations to the military service, but
as a gentleman of good character and
integrity and worthy of consideration
Mr. l. G. James, superintendent of the
Carlisle Mining Company of New
Mexico. wrote of him, He has deliver
ed at the railroad station for this COM
pany, with safety, 100000 in gold bull
lion This service was one of much dan
ger and required man of bravery and
GOODNESS as well as of integrity and hon.
esty. In all these qualities Mr.. Bennett
has no superior.
General Crook says of him, II can
lxr,xr aN<Nv.c or
press my high regard for this man and
his character
These are only few of the testimo-
malls which Mr. Bennett possessed.
There are others from Army officers and
from prominent citizens in New Mexico
+ and elsewhere, all highly commencing
him.
Mr.. Bennett has often risked his life
for others, and there are in Honolulu
today people who have been saved from
serious carriage accidents by his skill
and daring.
And this man, who in his life bore
such an excellent reputation and was
never known to speak unkindly of any,
one. is no sooner dead than his charac-
ter is assailed. He is reported to have
been a drunkard and gambler and even
suspected of murder. The case has
been treated as thoHgh the burden of
proof was on him. and the dead man
was called upon to prove his inno-
lcence. Some of the Honolulu papers
, have the unique distinction of being the
only ones that have ever printed any
thing derogatory to his character, and
8 they have been the channels through
(which an honest man has. been malign-
led before the whole country. They have
based their reports. upon the uncoR-
firmed testimony of q man who, for
reasons best known to himself has hast
ened to blacken the character of one
who was his friend, and, If Mr.. Bennett
is to be believed, his benefactor.
And this testimony when put to the
proof amounts to nothing. Is betting
II money on horse race such serious
| stain on mans character? If so,
: there are many reputable citizens in
Honolulu who have been overlooked.
If Mr.. Bennett had been a gambler or
iintemperate, he could not have hidden
it from everybody at this post. l have
searched in vain for anyone here who
has ever known him to play cards foI
money or amusement, or, save on one
occasion. to drink a glass of intoXicat-
ing liquor. DR.. Reidy states that Mr.
Bennett once came to his store intoxi-
. Gated. On that occasion Mr.. Ottmanr
accompanied him, so DR.. Reidy informs
me.
SO it appears that Mr. Ottmann is the
only man who, in % years sue
ceeded in getting Mr.. Bennett intoxi
Gated.
That Mr.. Bennett did not use NOR
those connected with the hospital a
= this post, by the fact that none coult
be found among his effects and by DR.
Reidy's statement that he was strenu
ously opposed to it's use
l believe there was nothing wrong il
~ Mr. BENEFITS relations with Clar,
- Schneider and l am not alone in th
belief If he invested for her any O
her money. he must have placed i
where he put his own. If hers was lost
his was lost also. There was not 81
+ much as one cent found among his eff
1 fects. He did not spend it on himself
His habits We're simple and his want
Few. He was man justly proud of hi
record and jealous of his good reputa
s. tion. and it is absurd to suppose that il
u, his later life he had become a conf
" dence man or petty thief
lie never saw Clara Schneider on tn
Tuesday night preceding her death. 1
:. can be proved beyond reasonabl
doubt that he was alone in his room
during all that night and also that n
woman, except those belonging here
was on the post during that time
Let us hope that there is sufficien
detective skill in HONOLULU to solve tn
mystery of Clara Schneider's death an
to learn who was the woman referre,
6 To in Mr.. Bennett's last letter. a letter
by the way. that isxpathetic and indi
Gates nothing of wfHul wrongdoing.
No one could be associated with MI
Bennett without being impressed by hi
generous and manly character Ever
officer and soldier at this post was hi
friend. and the attacks recently mad
upon him have but intensified their re
gard Tor him and their faith in his we'll
earned reputation for honesty and in
tegrity.
| am, very respectfully.
WILLIAM ENNIS,
Major, Sixth Artillery