Arizona republican., 1908-12-05
LOST ALL IF
 HER SAVINGS She Had s700 Hidden Under
 the Mattress
 nI i NEPHEW Is ARRESTED Part of the Money Was Found Buried in the Cor ner of a Tent Near Mesa. Kleen Espinosa Makes a Confession.

Seven hundred dollars tied up in a red bandana handkerchief and hidden between the bed ticks, was stolen from the home of Virginia Espinosa on East Cleveland street between Tenth and Eleventh streets, during fair week. Four hundrd and sixty dollars of the mony was recovered yesterday by Mar shal Moore from Kleen Espinosa, a nephew of the woman, who was arrest ed and charged with the theft.
 Although Espinosa, who is about 19 years old, was captured Wednesday he simply laughed at his accusers when charged with the crime and it was not till date Thursday that he finally gave
 up to the persistent grilling to which
 he was subjected by the police and con ! fessed. He then accompanied Marshal 'Moore to Mesa yesterday morning and dug. up S4.60 of the money from the corner of a tent occupied by several ] boys and an old man who acted as cook. What became of the rest of the money is not known.
 Virginia Espinosa is a hard working
 girl who has been employed by the | Troy laundry for the past eight years.
 In that time she and her aged mother
 had accumulated $700. Most of the
 money was in gold and it was tied up
 in a handkerchief and hidden in vari-
 ous parts of the house. Neither of the women had any faith in banks and Ia Ia. ( h.. af
 their life savings.
 | The hiding place for the money was constantly changed and known only to the two women. When both of them were out of the house at the same time one wore the heavy bag of gold about her neck. When they went to the cir GUS Virginia carried the money in her
 waist At other times the hiding place | for the treasure was the chicken coop. the rafters in the attic, behind a picture on the wall and often under the mat tress or between the bed ticks. | About the middle of fair week the
 money was between the ticks. When Virginia was paid off at the laundry
 she went to the bed in the afternoon to place $7 more in it with the rest. She found KleenEspinosa, her brothers son | lying on the bed apparently asleep. Softly she reached between the ticks and withdrew the treasure. Placing the $7 in the handkerchief in with the
 rest of the money she stole out of the room on tip-toes. It was the last she ever saw of the money.
 The next day Kleen said to his aunt. I'm going to quit my job. I am tired working for that man." That was at the end of fair week. The boy quit work and went over to Mesa with some | friends.
 The loss was discovered last Monday. The entire house, yard and chicken coop were ransacked by the frantic women. The research was continued all Monday night and Tuesday morning suspicion began to point toward the boy Finally Virginia Espinosa and the boys father went to Mesa and accused Kleen of taking the money. He denied any knowledge of it. They brought him to Phoenix and called in Officer McGarr Kleen was placed in jail Wednesday. All efforts to worm a con- fessiOn out of him failed. He simply laughed at his accusers and took his arrest in the most good natured fashion.
 Thursday morning Marshal Moore went at him again. The boy had not had his breakfast and his answers were not as tart as the day before. The marshal caught him in his first lie and the rest was easy. He confessed to the theft and in company with the marshal drove two miles beyond Mesa. They drew up at tent where a fright ened old man was cooking dinner. Without hesitation Kleen walked into the tent, got on his knees in one cor ner and dug up s460 in gold and bills. The money was loosely covered with six inches of soil. There were also 19 Mexican fire-cent pieces and four gold rings.
 When the money was counted and the boy asked what had become of the rest of it he said he spent $20. He de- nied that he had taken more than $4S0. The remaining $220 has not been re- covered and probably never will be. as the boys aunt said she thought he had been punished severely enough She refused to prosecute the bay and took him home with her yesterday. Kleen has promised to do better and to stick to the next position he gets His aunt will put her faith and her money in a savings institution in the future