The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1905-04-07

a. hAf NAfHNAA - VI tit ADMAAl
In California r. a. Hyde. John A.
Henson and Henry r.. Dimond. exten-
siye land spectators. have been lndict-
ed on the charges of conspiracy and
the effort 10 take them TO Washington
for trial.
The First Clew.
This, in brief, Is the outline OF the
plot, the results OF the investigations
and the progress of the legal battle,
IL was in the latter part of 1902 that
the first intimation OF extensive land
frauds reached the ear Of Secretary
Hitchcock. and the circumstances con
nected Herewith are OF rather a singu-
lar character. 1t has been said that
IL takes a thief TO catch a thief, and
strange enough the first information
OF frauds in the land entries was given
by a man who had been in the employ
OF land-grabbers, and who was threat
ening TO expose the frauds in order to
enforce the payment Of hush money.
He sent letter after letter to the gen
eral land Office at Washington, but IL
is said hat Binger Hermann, al that
time commissioner. ignored the letters
and then sent evasiye replies I'm an
effort TO suppress the matter. But
when the letters became too persistent
a special agent was at last sent o In
yestigate to Tucson. Ariz.. from which
point the letters had come. The report
OF this agent did not reach the depart
ment until September. and the clerk
who read IL was so impressed with its
Importance. as it stated that big steals
and frauds were being perpetrated on
the government. that he took IL direct
TO Commissioner Hermann. There il
rested.
Commissioner Hermann Exposed.
About this time Secretary Hitchcock
received a confidential letter, intimat-
ing that such a report had reached his
department. He at once sent for Her
mann and asked for the report. and
upon its being produced. the commits
sioner's resignation was demanded.
The latter requested three or four
weeks time. which. it is charged. he
spent in destroying press books and
other tell-tale evidences of corruption.
and for this he has just been indicted
az Washington.
Impressed with the seriousness OF
the situation. Secretary Hitchcock at
once assigned Arthur b. Pugh. an at
tOrney of the interior department. and
Harry +. Steece, a special agent OF the
general land Office, TO make an inyes-
tigation. When they reached Arizona
they found that the man who had been
instrumental in starting the ~inyestiga-
ton had changed his mind and re-
fused 10 make any further statement.
They then proceeded to California and
after a brief Investigation returned to
Washington and reported that the
frauds were evidently extensive and
that the services of a detective would
be necessary to work up the evidence.
Chief John +. Wilkie. of the United
States secret service. was called in and
at his suggestion one Of his operatives.
I, William J. Burns. was placed in full
charge OF the secret service end OF
the case. As a preliminary TO his work
MIR. Burns spent a month in the gen
eral land Office, f~amiliarizing with the
general details OF the work and gather
ing all the evidence at hand.
Fine Detective Work.
Fortunate circumstances favored him
ana before he started for the west he
had secured a confession from J. j.
Barnes. who had been employed IN the
general land Office for 80 years. This
gave him inside information which he
was not slow to use on reaching Cali
fornia. His Investigations led him
into Arizona and oregon and other
western states, and when he had the
details we'll in hand. he boldly faced
b. +. Allen. who for years had been a
trusted agent Of the interior depart
ment and who al the time was foresi
superintendent at Los Angeles, Cal,
and charged him with completely in
the frauds. with the result that Allen
broke down and confessed that he was
connected with n. A. Hyde. an extern
slve land Spectator, and at present
under Indictment for conspiracy and
awaiting removal to Washington for
trail.
The trail now led to the Office of the
forest supervisor. Grant l. Taggart.
whose reputation up TO this time hal
been above suspicion. Burns rigid
examination forced the details from
Taggart OF how he had established the
boundaries of the forest reservations
in his territory. under the direction,
ne said. of John A. Benson. who was
another land Spectator. and who with
Hyde is now under Indictment.
Traps Set.
With the inside Information thus OBJ
tanned. the secret service man returned
10 Washington. and proceeded to en-
trap certain men in the general land
Office. for by this time he knew the
men he wanted. There Were two men
especially implicated in the chain o.
evidence which he had thus far forged
link by link. one was w ID. Harlan,
chief of the special service division.
and who up to this time had the entire
confidence of the department. lie had
charge of the special agents whose du-
ties are to Investigate all depredations
of the land Office. The other man was
william T. Walk. who had charge of