The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-28
COLLECTOR Is
A HIGH ROLLER
Wine and Women, MiEth and
Laughter.
FORTUNE EASILY SPENT
NO GLUE TO SAN FRANCISCO EN-
BEZZLER.

Edward ). Smith. the fugitive tax
collector Of this city. has been OBJ
tanned by the police, though Captain of
Detectives Burnett thinks he may have
gone to Honduras to escape arrest and
extradition. The full amount of his
defalcatiQn will not be known until the
experts now examining the books Of
his office have completed their work.
but the loss to the city should IL not
exceed 500, 600 viii be made good by
the surety company which furnished
his official bond The manager of this
company says that Smiths previous
shortage of $165OOO which was made
good by his brother. was never brought
10 its notice.
Hard to UnraVel.
The methods used by the tax coIiec-
tor to conceal his operations are de-
Clared to have been many, involving
considerable labor on the part Of che
accountants who are endeavoring TO
trace them. After their report has
been made to the board Of supervisors
that body viii take action on the SIS
pension of Smith by Mayor Schmitz
Approval Of this suspension is eqUI Va
lent to a removal from office. The
litetN vi Ailtl4 n III nave the dRDOill 4
of a successor TO the defaulting Off
Cial.
The grand jury now i'm session las
taken notice of the matter and prob
ably will make a thorough investigd-
lion.
Amount at Least $4,000.
It is estimated by the experts en-
gagged i'm examining the books of the
tax collectors office that Smiths dCfai-
cation Will amount to at least SOS 600.
They discovered today one il M Of
$4,000 which had not been entered. and
also detected several smaller shorta grs.
The police believe that most Of the
money taken from the city was :, eut
by Absconder Smith for the benefit Of
women friends. one of whom is alleged
10 have accompanied him on his Hisht-
General Checking Up.
It is the intention of those examining
into the case, to make a full eXamina-
ton Of the books of the county treas
urer. and probably of others who have
The handling of public funds
Deputy McCabe. at present in cha, g.
or the tax collectors Office. devoted
most Of today TO going over the deiiu-
quent tax lists. He is calling IN the
larger delinQuents to ascertain whether
or not they are really delinquent.
He quickly found three large taxpay-
eTs who had paid Smith sums totailing
over $1,000. hut he had not credited
them with these amounts. showing
them still delinquent on the books Of
his office.
other similar cases were discov cred
as the day wore on
Smith Got the Checks.
In every case the tale was similar
To that OF the Southern Pacific Railway.
smith had received the checks. but i'll
stead of depositinE them to the cit s
hp h.. 4 a ,, ...,r-,,
credit or had received the cash
The city attorney has taken the pre-
Gminary steps to recover as much as
possible from the residence and other
property belonging to Smith i'm this
city. suit having been filed today. Thu
surety company which is on Smith 5
bond viii make up any deficit.
Mayor SChmitz said today that an Ga
pert was making an examination OF tie
treasures office. I'm which he declared
there evidently has been gross careless
ness. Referring TO the fugitive tax col
lcCtor, the mayor said
Two Fortunes in One Year.
I'm round numbers Smith got away
with $4,000 OF Southern Pacific tax
money the $4,000 on the check Devote
Cashed for him and smaller amounts
from individuals elsewhere. bringing
the total up to about SOS, 900.
Besides that there was the 1885,. 600
a wear that Smith has embezZIed
The most charitable view that
have yet heard Of the matter is that
Smith is insane. No sane man could
have acted as he did. even when in
fotuated with woman"
Actress With Him.
\ former actress. TO whom he paid
much attention. is reported TO have
gone 10 China and there is suspicion
that he also may be travelling toward
the Orient
At "a special meeting this afternoon
the supervisors formally removed
Smith from the Office of tax collector
According TO the bulletin. when
Smith left this city last Wednesday
he was accompanied by woman who
ON the previous night had said she was
going TO Hot Springs, Ark. Ito NEE;
man who had made $4,000 in one
day"
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