The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-06

oozed out of them and Redeemed the
water in the tub. From the deepness of
the red impaired to the water by the
stains the quantity of blood on the gar
ment must have been considerable. My
investigation had been swift as I did
not wish to be seen, and after making
the discovery of the blood stains 1
hurried to the front of the house as
though / had Just appeared; on the
/ scene. Mrs. Swigert Responded 10 my
knock. After telling her I was a Chi
cago reporter 1 asked her several ques-
lions concerning the relations of the
Higgins and Swigert families. The
only bit of information of any value
elected was this:
"Some time ago Higgins and my hts-
band had some words over wages. The
| difference between them, though, was
| only about a dollar and Higgins paid
] il, and after that they were as friendly
as ever. This was several months ago.
The path from Swigert's house led
down the hill to the bars near which
! Higgins had been killed. a distance Of
/ nearly half mile. The grass grew
/ high In the angles of the oId-fashioned
I rail fence. a few lengths Of the fence
! distant from the bars through which
/ Higgins had passed, and in a hidden
/ angle of the fence, 1 found the grass
/ mashed down, as though some one had
/ lain on it for some time. and so re-
Gently that the evidence was still there.
! The appearances indicated that the
( murderer of Higgins had expected his
] victim to pass through the bars and
| had used the high grass in the fence
! angle as a hiding place. If this theory
( were correct the murderer must have
I been some one familiar with the habits
/ of the victim or who at least knew Of
his punctiliousness in attending q
! O'Clock mass at Gross Point on Sum
| days. This fact was known to all who
knew the man. and therefore, while not
of great value, narrowed the scope OF
inquiry somewhat.
The Gross store, like most country
stores, was the center of neighborhood
gossip. Here most of the residents of
the immediate section did their trading,
/ snapped stories and discussed neigh
borhood affairs generally. Such a
| clearing house for gossip might be pro-
ductiYe of information bearing on the
/ myself as d reporter for the Times.
After some rambling conversation with
Gross asked.
Did You attend Higgins funeral?''
'YesP he said.
Was William swigert there?"
did his absence excite any COM
ment?"
"Wem, since you mention it, I did
hear several say it was strange he
/ Did swigert and Higgins have any
trouble?"
Not that / know Of
"Do you know whether Swigert
owned a revolver2''
NO; he didn't own one for about a
month ago he came to me and wanted
To borrow one. He said he wanted to
kill some -polecats that had been around
the house.
did you lend him oney7'
Il let HIM have an old revolver we
had around the store to shoot rats
Has he returned it p
/ mo. 1t was about four weeks ago
that he borrowed it. and two weeks ago
I asked him for it. He said he had
killed two of the animals he was after
but wented to keep theTevolver until
he could kill two others he had seen
The other day I asked him for it again
aud he said he had forgotten to bring
ft-that It was at home in a bureau
drawer
Did the revolver have any peculiar
ities2'
1T WAS an old affair. with a very
short cylinder-so short, in fact. that
we had to>cut off the ends of the bull
lets in the cartridges so that the CYL
inder would revolve. Ny son Charles
cut off the bullets That We're in the
revolver when Swigert borrowed it and
had cut them crooked. 1 remarked al
the time that they would not SHOOT
straight cut off In that way, and Char
/ ley said he guessed they were good
enough to Kill rats with.
: With this Information in my posses
sion I began to work with new idea
: IN mind. The first step was TO secure
) one OF the bullets that had been due
out of the ground under Higgins body
when il was found. This bullet proved
: to be of the same size as those used. n
? 1.-The Gross revolver; and the point had
r been cut off unevenly.
Il One of, The peculiarities OF the case
was the fact that the body so far as
T was able TO find out. had remained
where it fell from early Sunday morn