Rocky Ford enterprise., 1907-11-01
HARRY SWIGER is ALIVE.
Where Is Miss Rose Leo Smiths
Brother?

Like Banquo's ghost. that would
not down. the dead man that Miss
Rose Lee Smith. once a resident OF
Rocky Ford. insisted on identifying
as her brother. and whom her rcla-
tivcs in Virginia would not recog-
nize rs their son. and truned over to
others to bury under the name OF
Harry Swiger, bobs up again for re-
Identification. Harry Swiger reports
himself alive, down in Cuba, and
Howard Smith has not been heard
from. So the question arises afrcsh
wasn't Rose Lee Smith right in iden-
tifying the Grand Junction dead
man as her brother and sending him
home to Virginia for burial. Or is
Howard Smith. the crstwhilc family
where. after joining with chum,
Harry Swiger. in scheme to bury
his dead past and his own identity in
another mans grave.
The circumstances are. to say the
least. interestingly mystiiying. This
| is the way Frances Wayne. writing
in the Denver Post. puts il up:
Las, April. in the first week OF the
vcrnal season. corpse was lowered
into the grave OF West Virginia
cemc,cry: the corpse of man who
had no name that people knew. yet
who had been linked with the glad
world by being given the name OF
two mcn-fioward Smith and Harry
Swigcr. Said sister of the former.
Rose Lee Smith. teacher in the
Denver schools. after looking on the
face OF the murdered man. pallid
against the morgue slab OF the death
house OF Grand Junction:
That is my brother. my beloved
brother"
And those who entered the quiet
room OF a Southern home where n
easket was set which had bcen sent
from far-away Colorado. "Pos Hal;
he's gone. but we'll give him de-
cent burial. even though from below
the roof OF others than his own pco-
pie he is carried to his grave"
While relatives argued. some rcpud-
iating, some claiming the dead. the
corpse behind whose lips the seere;
OF real identify was locked was given
back to the arms of old Mother Earth
as Harry Swigcr. The sisters idcn-
tihcaiion was believed to be mis-
take. and reasonably so as she had
not seen her brother for years.
Now Harry Swigcr. who has conc
to life. finding no trouble to do so
since he never has died. has written
to his friends in West Virginia from
Cicniucgas. Cuba. stating that lie has
finished with the soldiers life and is
coming homo-homc for Christmas
and all that the Southern Christmas
means.
II Harry Swigcr is no, dead and
buried. too: IL the man killed at Grand
Junction was not Howard Smith.
who. asks those caught in the
threads of the mystery. was the man
buried in the Ciarksburg cemetery
during the first week OF the vcrnai
season as Harry Swigcr, Where is
Howard Smith: And why didn't
Harry Swigcr matcrialize before this
day of graccS Both came from the
each other in boyhood and their rel
aiivcs now know each other.
At the time of the killing of How
ard Smith cloud OF doubt as to the
identity OF the man arose.
To be sure, the measurements ta-
ken of the body did no, tally exactly
with those given by Miss Smith.
Howard Smith was fec, I inch tall (:
on his right arm was tattoocd a
heart, surmountcd by the initials "H.
II. s.. and he was 10 years old, IL a
day. when death stopped his race for
freedom.
Harry Swigcr. or the man who was
buried. was S feet inches tall. on
his right arm was tattoocd n heart.
surmountcd by thcini,iais "H. s."
Relatives in Yves, Virginia identified
the body supposed to be Howard
Smith as that OF Harry. and pro-
claimed his age as IS years.
Against their identification came
the certain. unmistakablc knowledge
OF the sisters eyes, and against tho
identification and knowledge now
supposed to be dead and buried
On the body of the dead man were
number OF papers bearing the name
of Howard Smith. taken from his
coat pockets by the coroner. II was
known that Howard Smith and Har-
~ Swipcr had been fricnds-indccd,
Swigcr had. with Smith. iourncycd
out of Goidfcld. New. to Grand
Junction: they had bunkcd together
and shared meal tickets with each
other when times were not tingcd
with the glow of prosperity.
Swigcr writes home that he is
through soldicring-yct it was be-
cause he was n descrtcr from the
army that he was wandering about
Colorado and Nevada.
How did he get back into the
army? Was it as Howard Smith tha.
he again enlisted and had he made
some arrangement with Smith. who
had become outlawcd. to let some
other man have his coat and papers
and get himself arrested and killed
aud identified as Smith. and by so
doing make it possible for both out
laws to open a new door leading into
life and opportunity?
It's Sherlock Holmes mystery
and won't be solved unless a real
| Howard Smith appears to tell of the