davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20

and intelligent and his manner that
OF a man who has avoided dissipation
and exCesses. RepUse is his strongest
forte.
Such was the picture M0rtensen pre-
scented last night as he lay stretched
on a cot, telling listlessly under the
WatchfuI eye OF Sergeant Hempel. A
few questions Of a simple nature fol-
lowed. to which Mortensen suaVely
replied that in view of the advice Of
counsel. he could not answer. Then
tie questions beca me more pointed and
Of an insinuating nature leading up
10 what was almost q direct charge.
Biz by bit MOrtsnseu passed through
a complete transition. From lOiiiag,
careless fellow he became the fox at
bay. crafty. resourceful. with wonder
ful force and energy and ready 10
meet anything His open. innocent
ewes half closed with an expression
Of readiness to resist, his nerve was
more than natural and became an ap-
parent draft on an inexhaustible stOr-
age house; he was like an automaton,
schooled and hardened TO meet the
situation
Right then ne was not the man one
wcdld care to trifie with, nor the man
to turn back when his mind once be-
came fixed on an object Power, both
muscular, nervous and mental, was
manifest and he showed up as one
who could surpass his natural limita-
tons under pressure. To all appear
ances that is precisely what he is do
in
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20

'Ivanhoe" Allen was absent, Cap
tain Ston and his eastern brand Of hot
air were conspicuous by their absence,
but otherwise the Elks annual bath"
was a wet but bowling success. The
invitation said that no one but the
antlered gentry would be allowed to
cavort within the sacred confines Of
the sulphuric circle, and the invitation
had the proper bunch
A spirit of Elkish gayety pervaded
the funny smelling atmosphere, but
the earnest little temperance lecturer
who attended Just to see" said that
she didn't note anything to shy at
and wouldn't be afraid to go again -"
A gOOdly punch bowl had. by some
crooked means, stationed itself about
midway Of the hall and insisted on
intercepting each guest as he wended
his unsuspecting way towards the pool
To all of which the indignant guests
naturally objected to passing. In
other words. the proverbial Elk spirit
was everywhere apparent, and every
body was happy.
The festivities started off by the
thrilling game of water football be
tween the All-beer- and-fats and the
All-punch-and-leans which resulted in
a victory for the happy audience, the
players being satisfied to get out alive
The. game was scientifically correct. all
the rules of the game being closely
observed from a distance. George
Tngham kicked off-about seven inches
and Quarterback Billie Barnett cap
tured the ball. In a trice about
ninety-seven husky Elks were piled
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
MoRTENSEN TELLS HOW
HE WOULD HOLD UP A MAN

Considerable stir was created yester-
day in police circles when Judge Jacob
Johnson of Spring City. who is wen
acquainted with Mortensen. came for
ward with a story of a conversation
between himself and Mortensen some
time ago, in which MortenseE had de-
scribed how he would hold up a man If
ne We're going TO. do such a thing. The
description jibed so well with one of
the theories now held by the police as
to the manner in which Hay was dealt
with. that they lost no time in putting
AIortensen through a course Of sweat
ing" about II. Judge Johnson said that
the conversation occurred while Nor
tensen was building a house for him
in Spring City some time ago.
He asked me for some money on the
contract" said the judge. and hap
pening to have 500 in my pocket, L
gave it to him. He seemed greatly sur
prised when I took so much money out
of my pocket and asked me if I were
not afraid of being held up. He told
me that if I were in ogden and tried to
go around with that much money in
my pocket, / would certainly be held
up. 1 laughed at him, and he declared,
Why, I could hold you up in this town,
even If you had your pockets fU'l Of
revolvers, and you wouldn't know what
happened to you. I asked him to ex-
plain how he would do it, and he said:
Wen, of course, I couldn't do il on a
crowded street. but out somewhere
would just step out to pass by you, and
as I passed / would give you whacS
/ in the head, and you would never know
what hi3 you
As soon as this was communicated 90
the police, Detective Sheets cioseted
himself with MOrtensen ana sprang the
story on him as a surprise. MOrtensen.
/ il is said, showed no signs Of surprise,
however, and coolly replied
We'll, let Judge Johnsc~ come here
and tell his story, If he .ss TO, and
knows so much about it."
Mortensen would not say anything
further about the natter anF when
questioned said: "Oh, You want to get
me III too tight a box"
well" said Detective Sheets. If yOu
have straight story TO tell, you
shouldn't have any fears of getting
tangled on it."
Wei. my attorney told me to say
nothing" said Mortensen, "and I have
nothing more to say" Further than
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
ELKS PLAY THRILLING FOOTBALL CAME
NWARM WATERS OF THE SANITARIUM

onto little Billie, with Cal Woods and
his heavy shock Of hair on top.
At this point Fuilback Mat Dough-
erty, not to De outdone. made a flying
leap and put Woods to the bad Mats
astonishing agility caused EllingWOod,
Tobin and George Silks to tOpple over
into the seething soup, while bowls Of
joy emanated from the Threats Of Lee
Ransohon and Billy lie Vielle.
AT this critical Juncture Bob Shaw,
from Wyoming, who knows more about
cattle than he does about football,
made a fearful blunder and caused the
defeat Of the AIl-leans. Bob got on
the wrong side and helped push his
side to defeat.
At this point Julian H0utz stole the
ball and was making a hot I'm for the
goal when he was tackled grandly by
Chief Devine. From then on il was
easy, Hot-air Douglas scoring a goal
with about four tons Of Elk meat
hanging 20 him.
Fred Dern missed goal by about a
mile. and then the players stopped to
listen to the living pictures. The pic
lures were there with the noisy habit,
but were shy on accuracy. VIII Sibley
entertained with two well rendered
songs and then Joe Gahney butted in
And just because eighteen or twenty
Elks jumped on Joe and stood him on
his head for fifteen or twenty min
utes Joe got discouraged and cult the
ring. After which Frank Hoffman
sang some coon songs and they had
more pictures Music was furnished
by the Manila Mandolin and Guitar
club and punch was served BY every
Elk who wasn't doing something else
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
RECEIPT WAS MADE OUT
AT MoRTENSENs REQUEST


The information was ELECTED from
Manager G. Z. Romney of the lumber
company yesterday afternoon that the
receipt for the money which MOrtensen
had was made out at the latter's re-
quest, and that Hay took it home with
him because NOrtensen asked him to.
when MortenSen came to the office
Monday afternoon. said Mr.. Romney,
he asked us to make out d receipt for
the money wnen we wanted it, and the
receipt might as well be made out
then.
Mr.. Hay made out the receipt to
suit him, and then he asked Mr.. Hay
to take the receipt home with him that
night Why he asked that, 1 do not
know, but he did. and then saw Mr..
Hay put it in his pocket. We all three
then went away together, and I left
them to go home"
These facts are looked upon by the
police as being very dark for Morten-
sen. The latter. when asked about the
statements Of Mr.. Romney, said that
he had no statement to make, as he
had been advised not to say anything
more.
More circumstances which are con-
sidered as directing suspicion against
WI NCAioNLA ttl = fllC dClloiiS VI lUEItuSEIl
the morning after the disappearance of
Hay. Charles r. Rogers, a brother-in-
law Of the murdered man, stated that
on that morning MOrtensen seemed to
try to impress upon him and Mr.. Rom
ney that Hay mad defauIted. Mr.. Rog-
ers stated that Mortensen remarked
that Hay, when leaving his house with
the money Monday night, had said:
I. Now is my chance to skip to New
York, but Ernest ROmney would catch
me before I got there"
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20

this the prisoner would say nothing.
Judge Johnson was also able to give
something of Mortensen's past record
that is not favorable TO him. The Judge
stated that MOrtensen had been en-
gagged to build a house for him. but
that before signing the contract he
made MoTtensen furnish sureties.
'AIortensen represented to me that
he was raging in advance for all the
material that was used in the house,
and after he had the work well under
way, said the judge, -he asked me to
advance him some money, saying that
he wanted TO meet the payments in
advance. I let him have $1,000 twice,
think. and again he wanted money to
pay freight, and / let him have S100.
I discovered later that he had not
been paying for the material he used
in advance, and the men from whom he
had been buying stuff came TO me with
their bills. ! told them that I would
pay the balance due on the contract,
but that I was protected by sureties
and would pay no more. / told them
to file their liens, if they chose. but
they never filed them. I don't know
whether they got their money or not,
but I know that Mortensen had a rec
ord about the town for not paying his
bills"
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
A MATHEMATICAL WONDER.
Former National Treasury Employee
Dies in Washington.

washington Post)
lanes 7 McMurray. who had for
nearly a quarter of a century been a
familiar figure upon the downtown
streets of washington, and who was
known to hundreds Of people simply
as "Old Mack, the Dog Seller" died
Thursday afternoon at the Emergency
hospital of exhaustion. He was SO
years old. and had been a cripple dur
ing his entire life. He was taken to
rl-e hospitaI several weeks ago, suffer-
ing from the effects of years OF dissi-
patton. physical pain, exposure and
disappointment, and he died with re-
proaches upon his lips for the friends
whom he had known in his better days,
but who. he claimed, had deserted him
in adversely
Durinr racing weeks he for many
years frequented the Hobbies of the
hotels where the hOrsemen were stop
ping. and entertained them with the
tricks Of his favOrite dog. Mack, an
animal which ne had trained to recog-
nize figures drawn by him upon
blackboard and to announce them cor
rectly by barking. In addition to this
pet he raised terriers in numbers, and
for many years made his living by sell
ing them to the Tacemen and to So
ciety people who happened to fancy
them IS pets
Mc1IUrray was formerly clerk in
the treasury department. and was a
mathematical phenomenon. He was an
expert accountant and was known as
the lightning Calculator" His sal
airy was $500 per year. and he made
as much more outside keeping private
business accounts. His defOrmity.
which caused him great pain, and later
an additional burden Of family trou-
bles. led him TO dissipation, and he lost
his position in the department. He
continued to keep private accounts and
he gave private lessons in boOkkeep-
ing. The police will try to locate his
relatives but he has been so reticent
about them that few persons know Of
his connections or his early life
Among the many people who knew him
for years and who saw him day after
day, no one remembers his Christian
name. 1t was finally found in the po-
lice records.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
MoToRMAN 10 NOT SURE
THAT HE SAW MoRTENsEN

The mOtorman who told the police
Wednesday night that he saw a man
on the railroad tracks with a shovel
in his hand about 1915 Monday night,
was taken before AIortensen yesterday.
ana he declared that Mortensen looked
very much like the man he saw. He
would not positively identify MOTten-
sen, declaring that his testimony might
hang a man, and that he would not,
in the light Of that fact. swear that
Mortensen was the man he saw on the
track
When the mOtOrman, whose name
the county authorities would not give
out, was taken into, the room where
MOrtensen was. he exclaimed. as he
looked at the prisoner: Bad for Nor
Jensen He looks very much like the
man that I saw
When pressed for a more positive
Identification the young man declared
that he could not swear that he was
the man. and would not do it for fear
his testimony might hang an innocent
man.
Mortensen, when asked about the
statement of the car man, declared that
the motorman had not seen him there.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20

vet for a few moments he entered into
spirited discussion Of certain elements Of
the case Under the force Of the re-
peated argument advanced by Detective
Sheets that only a guilty MIA need re-
sort 10 silence innocence only confirms
itself Through speech he unbosomed
himself.
sWhat sort of an implement was used
TO dig the grave?' ne was asked.
ny, q spade.
You have examined the grave thor
Oughly. AS an expert don't YOU think Il
indicates the use Of some such instrument
as q carpenter sadzT
AS an expcrt2' and Morteusen's eye
took on a wicked CLEAN. Why as an
expert2"
Carpenters are called upon to dig post
holes and do other digging"
MOrtensen looked craftily at his cues
toner and evidently took the final words
as an iusinuation. He replied that ms
experience in digging was limited. When
asked p0intedly in reference TO having
spoken of having a cache along the
tracks he fell back on the advice Of his
lawyer in q sullen, resistenJ mood. and
for the time resorted to silence.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
MORTENSEN AS HE
APPEARS IN CITY JAIL

Peter MortcIsen. upon whom the
eyes Of She entire community are rest
ing because Of the terrible charge that
is hanging over his head occupies a
unique position. At present, although
deprived OF his liberty, he IS not a
prisoner. but technically guest Of
the police department
Occupying the detectives room at
police headquarters, he has for COM
pauIou a grim guard The room is
pleasant enough in its way-that is
fog criminal hunters To a man under
suspicion Of nlarder there can be little
cheer gathered from the decorations
that adorn the walls-blOOd-s stained
daggers. jimmies, burglars tools, safe
crackers implements criminals pie
lures, each a souvenir telling the tale
Of swift and certain justice thGS fol-
i lowed the apprehension of the original
owner and offender against the law
These suggestive surroundings have
n effect upon the guest who occupies
that chamber. He is not of the ply
sical o. mental makeup 20 be affected
b. such things. On first acquaintance
Mortensen suggests frankness and his
nerve CONVEYS the idea of Innocence.
He Is of the type Of the successful me-
chauic. who. through association, has
acquired a certain polish looked for
ia the semi-professiOnal man. His
face does not indicate particular in
itelltgence and bears the stamp of north
Of Europe birth or parentage. His
lips are of the variety that denote sim
pie generosity. but this impression Is
neutralized By other characteristics.
His hair is inclined TO turn gray; his
eyes are Of blush gray, with dark
pupils. open and frank under ordinary
circumstances. and his face in repose
Is of the sort to allay suspicion. His
/ language is cheice, his utterances keen
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
SHERIFF MAYOR Is BUSY
WORKING ON THE CASE

Sheriff Naylor, as the highest police
power where the murder occurred, has
placed his entire staff at work in a
search for Hays missing hat, the i'm
plement with which the grave was dug
the missing money and the clothing sup
posed to have been worn by MOrtenSen,
which. he maintains. if MOTteusen COM
mitted the deed, must be blOOdStained.
and were either burned or are concealed
somewhere in the vicinity His force
was early on the scene Wednesday, work
ing on the same theory that the police en-
terrain After making a fruitleSS search
of Mortensen's home, his barn ana the
immediate premises at that time, ne APP
peared on the scene yesterday with J. L d.
Eldrldge, Joseph Raleigh, Thomas BusBy
and John Cummock and entered upon a
systematic search of every vault, stream.
cWvert or similar hiding place near at
hand.
Volunteers were plenty, and if the evil
dence sought has not been destroyed, It
cannot long escape the army of searcners
IN the field
The Sheriff learned that August Peter
sen. 220I Seventh East street, who lives
in the nearest house to the tracks where
the ira gedy occurred. heard the fatal
shot Petersen retired at 9-45 he said. and
a few minutes later heard a single shot
family from the west. As such Il thing
is not uncommon there, he made some
joking reference to his wife concerning it
and went TO sleep
Two cOlOTed women occupying apart
ments over the Forest Dale store, Mrs.
Smith and Mrs. Rawlins, also heard the
shot. and made INQUIRIES about II the
following morning. Other persons living
just south of where the tragedy occurred
heard it also, but thought that boys had
been annoying the Chinese gardeners in
the tract and that the Cinnamon. as has
frequently happened before, fired a shot
to frighten the boys away.
Following the same lines an the police,
the sheriff sent for Leo. the Chinaman.
whose shovel bore evidence Of having
been used to dig the grave, and whose
hut :; the nearest habitatiou to the scene
of She murder. He became satisfied that
Leo told the truth in stating that he had
spent Monday night down town, return
more going down town. Lauk. another
nearby Chinese gardener COrrObOrated
Leo's story. The shovel is still held by
4 ~. lrfr.ieInrlslrl
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
Mortensen spent Regtless Night.

Mortensen spent q restless night on
his cot in the detectives room Wednes-
day night. Officer Chase, who was
guarding him. stated that he did not
retire until late, and after going to
bed did not get but little sleep. He
appeared very restless and nervous. 1t
is said, and was up good deal of
the time. The sheriff and his deputies
visited him about midnight and re-
NAMED for two hours or more. After
that he attempted to sleep, but COM
planned that a yelling drunk who was
making an unearthly noise in the jail
near by aroused him every time he got
started to sleep. Yesterday morning
he appeared considerably worn out. He
ate heartily, though, and appeared tq
liven UP.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
Discrepancies in Statements.

1t was learned from the county at
torney last night that there were dis
crepancies between the stories told by
Mortensen, his wife and the sister-in-
law. The discrepancies, it was learned
further, are of some Importance, but
as to what they were the county at
torney would make no explanation.
When asked about the matter he said:
Yes, there are discrepancies in the
stories. but what they are I cannot
tell you, because that would WRECK
the prosecution" Further than this
Mr.. Christensen would not talk about
the matter.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
ONE FRUIT JAR WILL
HOLD NEARLY $4,000

One of the important developments
yesterday was the demonstration that
Mortensen erred in his calculations of
the capacity of a quart glass fruit jar
holding gold coin, Mortensen stated
to the police and others that he had
his So, 500 of gold in $50 pieces placed
in two fruit jars, quart size, and hid
den in the cellar of his house
So certain was he that the jars were
flied with the coin that it was de-
cided yesterday morning to test the
capacity of a glass bottle which he
claimed held part Of tie secreted coin
Al the Utah Commercial & Savings
bank demonstration was made to the
police that the quart jar would easily
hold $4,000 in tWenties. and, as Cashier
Game declared. with a little shutting
it would mold $1,000. According to
Mortensen's calculations his two jars
would have contained not less than
So. 200, instead of $500.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
Personal NeHsfEOEs.

Sam A. King is up from Provo to re-
cuperate from his recent severe attack OF
typhoid fever.
Walter c. ShOup received "a letter from
his sister at Boise announcing that his
father. Senator Shoup. is cOnvalescing
from his recent severe illness.
H Z. Parkhurst surveyor in charge OF
the board Of underwriters of the Pacific,
will leave tomorrow for San Francisco
to spend the holidays with his family
IT. F. Perkins. a former clerk in the
OREGON Short Line offices, arrived from
Omaha yesterday with his bride. After
a short visit here. Mr. and Mrs Perkins
viii 90 to Portland, where the groom
viii enter the employ of the Oregon Rail-
way & Navigation company.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
CROWDS OF PEOPLE VISIT
SCENE or THE MURDER

students of human nature found
much to interest them about the scene
of the murder yesterday trom eefIy
morning until nightfaH eroW1s
threuged - the suburb 81 Forest Dlie
10 revel in the sruesoine eNhiDits- All
classes and conditions were repre-
scented ip the floek OF humanity thaI
1famped through the muoNy yara on
fhe Mmtensea home. wended about the
alley in the rear made its way town
the railroad tracks and GOOD in thrill
lrk awe over tie fmpr0vised tomb.
some drove out in sine carriages and
81 gaia Gay attire. others patronized
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20

over" responded Mortensen. we did
not have any conversation on the car
ABOUT the money
These wsre the first questions dur
ing the aferr con to which Morteusen
wouif give any direct answer when
questioned bout vital points relating
to the money matters ~ the affair. and
after answering them he relapsed into
his silent mood, AID would talk no
further
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20

New York, Dec. l9.-Lyman J. cage
and Thomas 3. Reed were the speakers
at the meeting of group eight Of the State
Bankers association at the Waldorf
Astoria tonight, nearly 500 guests and
members being present Mr. Reed SAID IN
part:
AN the satisfaction with our pres
ent currency system seems to be In the
west and south. The people down there
have all about them great national re-
sources as capable OF producing wealth
as those in the east. What they want IS
the means to develop these resources
The trouble with them has been they
thought they wanted currency when they
really wanted capital For this reason
1 believe in a mixed currency
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
VIII Be Charged With Murder.

According to the statement last
night of Assistant County Attorney
LOOfbourOw, a complaint charging
Mortersen with the murder of Hay will
be made out the first thing this morn
ing, and viii probably be filed before
Judge Diehl today. The complaint will
probably be signed, it is said, by either
Detective Sheets or Mr.. Sharp. When
asked last night If an inquest would be
held, the county attorney said he had
not yet determined that matter.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
Old Clothing Found

While searching over the lot in which
the grave was found Chief Hilton
found a bundle Of old clothing, about a
quarter of a mile from the grave, but
from their appearance it was evident
that they had been there for months.
The bundle consisted of some under
clothing wrapped in a macintosh. and
they were mud and snow soaked. They
were thrown away, as having no bear
ing upon the case.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-20
UTAH RATE CUTTING
ORDERED STOPPED

Chicago. Dec. presidents and ex-
ecutive officers met today TO put a
stop to the indiscriminate rate cutting
that has been going on west Of the
Missouri river. 1t was deemed mad
visable to take any concerted action
that might be construed as a violation
of the antitrust law, so each road
pledges itself individually to strictly
maintain tariff rates after Jan. /. Ship
pers have been notified that no more
cut-rate contracts viii be made,
All the contracts. it is believed, viii
be disposed of by Jan. 1.