The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-04-12
BY LOUIS p. KIRBY.


What viii be the fate of the man
who stole the s1O6.2 $50 from the vault of
the Utah National bank?
VIII he prosper and live to enjoy the
stolen fortune and laugh at the thief
takers?
Or will he in the end fall into the
clutches of the misions of the law and
expiate his crime IN a prison?
These questions have been much dis
cussed in Salt Lakes clubs and other
gathering places of men who are inter-
ested in the hunt for the bank rob-
Der.
The history of other famous robber-
les is not a cheering record for the
man who has the secret of the Utah
National bank mystery locked in his
breast. There have been other thieves
as adroit and as skillful as he; there
have been other communities as per-
picked as the people of Salt Lake; there
have been other long periods of wait
ing for the truth to come to light-but
in almost every case the skulking
wretch who, yielding 10 a lust for
money, has betrayed those who con-
fided in him, has ended in the stripes
of convict or in the grave of a sui
eide.
How the Thief Feels.
II wonder how the thief feels to-
night?" remarked a young man con-
nected with one of the large corpora
tiOns, last night. Il have tried to i'm
agine how that man now looks upon
his achievement If it were possible
TO have him settle the bet. I'd wager
that the guilty man would be glad to
undo the crime and be again as clean
man as he was last January Even
though he has that money hidden away
somewhere, the change in his life, even
before he is branded as a criminal,
must make him feel that he has Sacri-
feed something that was better than
gold. His heart must be torn with self
reprOach and he must look upon his
hidden hoard with loathing. Or even
though his nature is too base to feel
that the things he has thrown away
are worth more than money, the fear
of the prison, the terror of watchers,
the panic of a hunted creature must
wiring from him the wish that the Utah
National bank robbery We're a bad
dream and not reality that must tor
ture his conscience forever"
The thief may and he may not be
troubled by conscience" said COM
panion. Before he committed the
crime he must have thought of it night
after night, perhaps for years. Do you
remember that page of Rosseau in
which he tells OF dreaming so constant
ly of having princess for his sweet
heart that his capacity for loving ordi-
nary maidens was blunted? This Utah
National thief probably dreamt of
looting the vault so often that he be-
came a hardened criminal before he ac-
tually thrust his guilty hands into the
vault
Mccormick Deeply Moved.
Il remember how deeplv impressed I
was upon discussing the affair with
Mr.. Mccormick interposed a friend of
the banker. 'It was the only time
ever saw Mr.. Mccormick exhibit any
particular emotion. You know that
can take a business loss as well as any
of Them said Mr.. Mccormick, and
many a time / have staked my money
on a quick estimate of a mans char
acter, but to have a scoundrel whom l |
trusted take it from me, and at such
q time, ii is almost enough to shake |
ones confidence in human nature 1t !
was paid to be seen that ii wasn't |
the actual money loss that moved him |
so much" continued Mr.. McCornick's
associate, 1T was the fact that he had |
been betrayed in the house of his |
friends"
Although he committed only one
crime, he is probably as wicked as any |
criminal in the state prison." returned |
the former speaker. He had plenty /
flee when he became a thief, and he |
made the sacrifice with his eyes open.
But the thief's sacrifice was nothing |