Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-12-21
Instead Of Ordering an Official
Investigation Tribune
Enters Denial.
SOME MORE EVIDENCE TODAY
How Alleged DeniaIs of Deseret
'cWs Stories Were Secured
Over the Telephone.
cisain cGns Scandal Grows Worse the
Deeper IL Is Probcd-Morc
Testimony of Cruelty.

Instead os ordering q thorough, Of
fetal. public investigation ana hearing
Of the charges OF brutality against
Mounted Patrolman George Harris, in
charge of the chain gang prisoners,
Chief of Police Samuel Barlow this
morning came out in The Tribune with
Il denial of the article regarding these
abuses, which was printed Monday
evening in The News, and also gave out
two alleged deniais which The Tri-
bune stated had been made by Mrs. II.
j. Halton of AIS u street. and q mcm-
Der OF the Engbers family.
The manner In which these alleged
denials were secured was shown this
morning. when a representative OF The
News again interviewed the persons
who, according to The Tribune, made
them Monday night
Mrs. Halton stated that the chief of
police had telephoned to her home, and
that after Mr.. Halton had talked, he
turned the telephone over to her: that
she first talked with Chief Barlow, and
that she told him the story printed in
The News contained the main facts.
and that she did not deny the account
as 10 seeing tne cndll gang prisoner, a
young boy, tied to d pole.
II did not deny the story in The
News TO Chief Barlow and The Trib
une." said Mrs. Halton. II was sorry
that l had talked about the matter
of the boy being captured nnd beaten
In the Engbcrg home and then being
tied to post In the rear of 31S Tenth
avenue, because my husband WAS
angry that our names had been drawn
into the affair
1t thus appears that Mrs. Halton
merely dreaded the publicity. which
was perfectly natural. fnasmucn as her
husband strenuously objected to her
having told The News about the chain
gang prisoner being bound to q post by
the patrolman. but that the story was
true nevertheless.
The Tribune says this morning:
ASKED regarding the article which
purported to quote her In the Monday
edition of The News, Mrs. Z. Z. Eng
berg of 466 c street. and her daughters.
Lillian. Dell and Jennie. denied the
printed story. Miss Dell, when asked
for her version of the affair. said: The
only thing which ever saw the guard
do TO any of the prisoners was when
one OF them ran away and tried TO
hide in our house We just had the floor
painted in the hallway and 1t was COW
cred with thin pieces OF cracker box.
After catching the prisoner in the hall
way. the guard picked up a piece of the
cracker box and struck the boy about
four times. 1 am sure neither one OF
the blows hurt the prisoner. All the
rest OF the story of brutality is a fab
rication."
is NO SUCH PERSON.
In the first place. The Tribune mis-
represents the facts when ii says that
the article printed In The News Monday
night purported to quote MI Eng
berg and her three daughters. ilu.
Dell and Jennie"
There is no such person as Mrs j..
E. Engberg," living at that house. but
1t Is not surprising that The Tribune
tiled things up for. as usual it never
sent a representative to the Engberg
home at all
The News did print an interview with
Mr.. e. n. Engberg. an elderly maE,
who is the father OF the Misses Dell.
Lillian and Jennie Engberg- Mr.. Eng
berg still stands by that interview, and
so do his daughters.
Miss Dell Engbery. when seen this.
morning at her home by a representa-
tive OF The News. stated specifically
that che never Issued q denial of tho
story printed in The Ncws. including
the interview with her father Shc
stated that there was no such person as
Mrs L. f. Engbcrg' living there. as
her mother is dead.
DID NOT DENY IT.
Somebody called me up over the tele-
phone Monday night" said Miss Dell
Engberg, and asked me about the
story In The News. did not deny H.
was asked II the chain gang prisoner
had been beaten X my home, and /
said to the man on the other. end OF
the line that the boy had been beaton
l also told him that the boy had been
Struck by the guard with a board I
never said that all the rest OF the story
OF brutality is a fabrcation.'
Il was here when the boy ran away
from the chain saSs. He sought refuge
In our home. We heard shots fired by
the guard, who was chasing the boy.
The prisoner begged US to hide him. and
he was in great fear. The guard cana
into our home and beat the boy In front
of me- I saw the. guard do It. Tho
boy begged for mercy. The guard bound
the boy to post under the rear porch
of the new house which was being built
at SIS Tenth avenue. II was raining
and very cold. The boy was taken
away after the women In the neigh
borhood had objected to such sight.
We did not telephone and complain TO q
the police but know that some other
women did"
The alleged dcnials made by Chief
Barlow and The Tribune are ridiculous.
in face OF the fact that every woman
living in that vicinity saw the affair.
and some of them tolephoned to police
and complained and de-
manded that the boy be unbound from
a telegraph pole at the cooking camp
cfplDF KNEW ABOUT 1T.
Chief OF Police Barlow denies