Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1910-10-12
THINKS PLATTEV1LLE
CRITICISM UNFAIR
Sheriff Harcleroad Replies to Attack
Made Upon Him by Editor of
The Witness.

m1. Will RluulduU, Jig 6uILOE anu
publisher, of the Platteville Witness,
has heen bowling in each issue Of his
paper since Sept 23d, because. as ne
claims, the sheriff and his officer
have been slow, lazy and neglectful
of duty in the matter of arresting Leon
Showalter for the crime of rape COM
mitted by him at Platteville on the
above date. Now that Showalter is
behind the bars awaiting trial at the
present term of the circuit court, I
trust Mr.. Rindlaub will subside. con-
Guiding that the noise that he and a
few others in Platteville have been
making has at length awakened us
from our slumbers and accomplished
the desired result. As matter Of
fact it is easy for Mr.. Rindlaub to sit
in the editorial sanctum with a
bottle of ink in one hand and copy
of the Old Sleuth Library in the other,
and berate officers who are lying
out lin the vet brush, keeping
the wires hot and travelling hun 1reds
Of miles by train, by auto and on foot
in an earnest effort to apprehend the
accused. 1t is another matter to cover
the western part of Grant county in
the Mississippi hills with anything
less than regiment and quite
an other matter to spread the deputies
over our country from Maine to
California. Another fact, which Mr..
Rindlaub cheerfully ignores, and mis-
states, is that not until Monday, the
goth of September did either the
sheriff or the district attorney get any
real information concerning the Of
Tense. True, the justice who issued
the warrant called the sheriff by
phone Saturday noon, the 24th. but
the account given was vague. From
it | learned that some sort Of assault
had been committed. told the dis
trict attorney that some kind of an
assault had been committed, and that
papers and further Information would
doubtless come by night, Nothing
came. On Saturday evening the
Sherlock Holmes of the Witness office
called me up. and from him | got
little more, the subject not being one
which could be discussed in detail
over the telephone. In the meantime,
took what steps could to guard
against Showalter's escape along the
liver roads, and notified all officers of
cities and villages. The
first direct knowledge the district at
tolney got of the matter was Monday
noon, the Goth. Ny deputy in Platte
Vile, and other officers there, were on
the hunt from the start. At Lancas-
ter we not only sent out dozens of
photographs, with descriptive matter,
but from that point secured the west
ern part of the county and up the
river railroads. AS it appears now,
the country of Southwest Wisconsin
and Eastern Iowa was SO thoroughly
covered by photographs and notices,
and the train crews were so thorough
ly posted, that Showalte1 could not
make a get away to any distance.
I had thought l would not pay any
to the Witness, but this
harping of Rindlaub has become too
annoying to pass over. 1t has been
extremely unjust, and, while people
who know the source would pay no at
tention to it. others, who do not,
might think the charges of official
neglect had some foundation.
James M. Harcleroad,
Sheriff of Grant County.