Williams news., 1920-08-06
HE TOOK TO THE GUN AND
 PERISHED BY THE GUN

Io0Ol0 mother Ol OO yCdAS
 eighty hard working years of right living and service--wept
 with the hopelessness of utter
 despair, over the end of her son whose body she had come to accompany back to the home in Los Angeles, for burial. She was accompanied by her daughter-in-law who was the wife of the dead man, and for number of years had known more of shadow than of sun- shine. The body they had come to claim was that of AL bert L. Baldwin who for several months had been assuming a position as manager of the O. K. Lodging house, occupied and furnished by Mrs. Felipa An- drada about year ago. Bald win had paid with his life for a rapid downfall from the posi- ton of an upholder of the law to one of it's most desperate vio- lators. The mothers cup of sorrow was indeed running ov- CT and none could but feel the tenderest sympathy for her in her declining years. Past eigh- ty summers, her rest near and yet her son failed to spare her a disgrace that can but make bitter her few remaining days.
 It was a number of months ago when MT. George Spell mire, manager of Babbitt-Pol. son Company, first had called to his attention the disappear ance of a number of articles from the stock of goods of this company. As additional losses were reported, MT. Spellmire called the attention of his clerks to these and cautioned them to use every possible pre-, caution to keep track of goods in the store and to try to learn where the disappearing goods were going.
 It began to look as tho some person must be doing some very clever shoplifting. The fact that there were positively no signs of anyone breaking into the store and that only a small number of goods disappeared | at one time, made it seem inn probable that the store was be- ing burglarized.
 Articles were missed from all departments. Guns and other articles from the hardware shoes, shirts, mems suits, wom. ens' dress goods. jewelry, trink cts, toilet articles, groceries, l meats, in fact there seemed to be no line in the entire stock that was safe from the inroada i of the thief. Articles that were useful and articles that were not, alike were spirited away.
 In addition to this, merchant disc about the store began to have a peculiar way of appear ing in places far from where it i belonged, and, without any ap- parent means of propulsion. A ham left hanging in the meat l market one day was found on a | counter in the grocery depart ment the following morning It was as though spirits were at | work at night, for what but 1 spirits could enter without | breaking in and depart in the same noncorporeal manner?
 Shortly after MT. Iverson ar rived to take charge of the dry goods department, he was ex- asperated by the inexplicable i disappearance of pair of plum colored pumps. He reported the same to MT. Spellmire and together they endeavored tc find an explanation. MT. Iver- son had noticed the pumps one night and the next morning they were gone. The boxes in which they had been packed were left but instead of being turned over as the clerks were accustomed to turn boxes after selling shoes, had been left right side up with the lid on, but empty. Plum colored pumps are unusual. This seemed to offer an opportunity to detect i the thief. Private detectives were set to work to spy the town over. Practically every foot in town was observed but