Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-10-26
!. HE And time ] aver saw CharleI

4 achieved notoriety by shootlna
President Garfield, was in the
office Of Granville p. HAYES
of 40 Broadway, New York,
said Brooklyn lawyer VINO
has offices in the Real Estate
Exchange on Montague street, the other
day.
III WAS back In the year 1878, before
was admitted TO the bar, | was man
aging clerk for Halves, and Guiteau was
tenant, having desk room In the office
for about three months
He was slight OF build, OF medium
height. giving an impression OF small
ness his face was thin, pale, unhealthy.
with sparoe struggling beard, parted AT
the chin, lll-kept, like his hair He had
a furtlye animal look-cunning, secfe-
tive scared-llke fellow on the run.
He had had seamy sort Of past, been
n preacher Of free love, a member OF the
Oneida Community, and so forth but
these things about his past ] did not
know TIL afterward.
"As have said was a young fellow,
filling the place OF managing clerk, and
therefore, pretty busy, so that had not
much time for observing Guiteau. what
| did see OF him filled me with dislike.
His entire personality was squalid ana
repulslve, and his manners were rough,
coarse and brutal
"His vanity was Of that large sort
that does not care for personal adorn-
ment, and II was just as well, Tor no
amount of good dressing could ever
make Charles J. Guiteau good looking.
His tongue argued questions OF
state. He used to come to the once
In the morning primed to argue on the
leading topics Of the day. but no one
could argue with him long, for his Idea
OF retort was TO call HIS opponent liar.
He was exceedingly impatient of opin-
ion that did not agree with his own,
"Guiteau when knew him was try
ing 10 do a collection business and any
thing else In the way OF law that he
could. He never tried a case In court,
but that was nothing against him.
remember the years when | never had
O case to try.
"But Guiteau did a LOT of little shady
things that helped to stamp the bad Inn
preston he had made deeper In my
mind, and finally led to his leaving the
office where l was employed.
"As managing clerk It was my duty
each week TO make out check where
with 10 pay the Office boys and reim-
burse myself for any expenses ! had
been at. This check was signed by
Mr.. Halves and then clerk took Il 70
the bank on Saturday morning and got
the money.
"Guiteau knew this, and one Saturday,
morning he lay In wait for the clerk
with the check and told him that
owed him Sc and had said he was to
receive II out Of the check.
'The clerk accepted this as truth and
gave him the 81 and afterward came
back and told me. informed him that
Gulteau had lied and swindled him, and
he was very angry.
"On Monday morning when Guiteau
appeared. the clerk whom he had de-
frauded pounced upon him, insisting on
the return Of the IS. Gulteau demurred.
Get that So or I'll whip you said the
clerk. You're In danger of getting
whipped every time you come In here
without the money. You are In danger
of getting whipped right now
"Gulteau clustered and threatened but
he went and got the money. which
closed that particular incident
After the shooting Of Garfield the
papers came out with the assasslns
name spelt Cato and a variety Of other
ways, At last they settled down to
Gulteau, and | got q letter from the
West written by this clerk who had
the encounter with the murderer In our
Office. He wrote:
"If the assassin Of the President Is,
as ] suspect, our old friend Charles ].
Guiteau. who had desk room In Halves
Office while We were there, you and
divide a great responsibility between
US, because II either Of us had knocked
his head or, as we should have done.
he could not have committed the
crime.
after Guiteau returned the s. out o,
which he had swindled the clerk, ne
pursued his dark and devious xttle
ways In our Office for some tins. One
OF his methods OF raising money was
quite ingenious. He got up a circular.
quoting pretended decision OF the SUI
preme court 10 the effect that he owned
the patent for the process OF polishing
precious metals by means OF rouge.
81 suppose that the whole thing was
a swindle. My father. who was a manu-.
featuring jeweler, told me that this
method OF polishing the precious metals
had been used In the trade for upward
OF 100 years or more, and that there
could have been no patent issued for IL
that, In fact rouge was the only sub
stance used for the polishing of gold,