The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-17

that the claimants were provided with
some good hides and some very bad
ones. That the same hides had been
presented over and over again is proved
by collection that has come into the
possession of Sheriff Emery. They
show that punched ears have been
plugged uD, pieces cut off have been
attached to the hide again by gum
hair has been glued TO bare spots Some
of the hides reek Of cainohor indicat-
ing great age The present law re-
quires that hide must be presented
within sixty days of the date of killing
the animal.
Bear Skins in a Grip.
a common telescope grip, about
twenty-fOUr inches long, eighteen
inches wide and twelve inches high, is
an exhibit in the case. According to
employees of the clerks office this grip
was invariably borne by the men VINO
appeared at the Office to claim bOun-
ties. 1t is believed two men besides
Davies and Jones were actively con-
cerned in the scheme. The outside
men, sometimes alone and sometimes
together, would always ask for Davies
when they came to the Office. If Davies
We're not present they would wait for
him. If one of the other deputies in
sisted on taking the matter up and
disposing of it at once the men would
produce a few good hides, secure the
certificate and depart.
In many cases, il IS believed, no
hides were presented at all. One of
the men, it is thought, would simply
sign the affidavit and be given the GER
tificate by Davies. The work in many
Instances is crude. Names are writ
ten over" erasures are frequent, and
many wrong calculations are to be
found.
Provisions of Bounty Law.
The new bounty law. under which the
frauds were committed. was enacted at
the last session OF the legislature The
bill was introduced by Representative
Watts of Willard county. Prior to that
time the law required an applicant for
bounty to swear that he killed the ami
NAL within the county where his appiica-
ton was made The present law merely
requires the applicant TO swear that he
killed the animal in the state within six
~ days of the date of application. the
new law thus made it possible to collect
legitimately a bounty in one, county for
an animal killed in another The bounty
on coyotes was also raised 20 cents The
present figures arc: For coyote, $50: for
lynx or wildcat. 81 for wolf, lion or bear,
3. The new law is less definite than the
old one in regard to punching the hides.
The new bounty law was designed to
aIloro great protection TO the 1lOckmaS-
tiers of the state. and at the time OF its
passage was generally believed TO be a
good measure
difficult to understand how the frauds
escaped detection so long is the descTip-
tons that appear on the bounty register
coyotes and wildcats are more or less
plentiful in Utah. but wolves and noun
tain lions are said to be practically eX-
terminated in the state Sheepmen and
( others who have had special reasons to
give the matter attention say they have
not heard OF a dozen wolves or mountain
IONS in the state for years past. Bears
are also rare in Utah. Yet claim after
claim recording the death Of scores of
wolves, lions and bears. calling for thou
sands of dollars. were passed, some Of
them by one office and many of them
} by two offices.
Tho present system Of conducting coun-
/ t. clerks offices came in for severe ar
Taignmeut yesterday after the DrOba bic
| extent OF the frauds became known 1t
was argued that system which vested
the disposition OF large sums of money in
system of checking is vitany defective.
Legislation designed 70 correct this is
among the probabilities
county Clerk Eldredge yesterday issued
an order stopping all payment of boun-
ties pending the investigation.
Man Under Two Names.
The man arrested at ogden Travelled by
the name of Jones in Weber county. In
Salt Lake II Is believed he appeared as
John Ward. Sheriff Emery secured his
description and located him Saturday.
The sheriff was not then prepared to
make an arrest, but had the house
y atched by his deputies. Jones, or Ward,
apparently became suspicious and left He
was arrested at Ogden on an order of the
Salt Lake sheriff Davies was arrested
"a his home here that night Davies is "A
native Of Wales and has always been re-
Sarded as an honest man Until this time.
lie was a deputy under County Clerk
James for two terms. II he had any
fault, say other employees Of the office,
l. was tendency TO be a trifle careless
in his work a belief that he INDUCED
III drink occasionally grew out of re-
quests he sometimes made of other clerks
10 fill out blanks for him. This custom
OF his explains the appearance Of the
Eames OF other clerks on some of the
bounty certificates. Davies was not re-
appointed to his deputyship by Mr.. e.
oredge but had been employed TO do
some extra work for a few days prior to
his arrest. Davies is a small man of dark
compile Xion- lie is about 20 years of age
and has young wife and a son about
years old.
The officers are stH busy on the case.
Iney are securing new evidence almost
n"uriN. ana several arrests in the near
future are expected.