Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-11-11
SUDDENLY CALLED AWAY
vFillmsr Tailor Leaves tho CITY With
/ Employers Cash in Pockets
Forgets to Return.

1t is some over week now since
Ole AsbJeld, tailor, left this city
ostensibly for Minneapolis. He has
NOT yet returned, although he gave it
out that he would show up again in
Willmar on Wednesday or Thursday
following his departure. Mr.. Asbjeld
bade goodbye to this city on Monday
OF last week, after pocketing sever al
amounts in cash which had been
collected for his employer. Asbjeld
was a resident of this city for about
four weeks, during which time he
was employed at the tailoring estab-
lishment of J. J. Ekander. He came
here from Minneapolis, and during
his months stay in Willmar nothing
out OF the ordinary had been noticed
19 his conduct, although he had a
fd1ndness for the social glass, which,
as 1s we'll known, could not he put in
to practice quite as frequently in this
city as in the gay metropolis further
down the line. In spite of his faults,
however he was q good workman.
He claimed to have family living in
Minneapolis. On the day of his
departure, Asbjeld gave out infor-
nation that he had received a message
from home announcing the serious i'll.
ness of his wife, and that her con-
d1tiOn was such that it would be nec-
essary for her to undergo an oper-
alton. Accordingly he must respond
at once and Immediately he made
plans for hasty departure. The last
seen of him, according to fellow en-
ployes, was when he left them at the
shop, and it is presumed that be
boarded one of the afternoon trains.
Whether his destiu alton was Mime
apolis remains yet to be proven.
Subsequent developments would in
dicate that he had planned to take
advantage of his employers absence.
Mr.. Ekander was at the time in Du-
luth and several payments had been
made at the shop here which we're re-
ceived by Asbjeld. They included
different sums from patrons besides
payments on insurance in the Macca-
bees order, of which Mr.. Ekander is
the local lodge secretary. According
to q slip left at the shop, the balance
retained in those collections amounted
to S22.25. Other sums collected, it is
thought, swelled the amount qui 9 a
little. At the Glarum Hotel, where
he boarded, he had removed. all his
personal effects from the room except
an old and very much worn overcoat.
The fact that he had stated at the
hotel his intention to return in a
couple of days or so aroused no
suspicion until it was discovered that
he had quietly removed all of his
clothing and left his room rather bare
looking. The full amount of his
board bill however, had been secured
through the making of a suit of
clothes for the clerk, it was stated at
the hotel, and the greater loss would
fall upon his emplo5er.
Mr.. Ekander returned home on
Thursday, after being notified of the
affair. Sheriff Lundquist in the
meantime had been called to make an
investigation, but at this writing no
warrants have been sworn out for the
arrest of Asbjeld. Pending further
Investigations which may reveal some
thing else in the matter, the case will
not be pushed. 1t is limited that there
is a possibility Of the discovery of the
man without taking the regular legal
proceedings. AS Asbjeld had some
money coming for wages, the loss will
not be quite so heavy for his employer
as was at first thought.