The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 18, 1897, Page 14

14 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1897 CONFESSED HE WAS AN IMMORAL FIEND Hoff, Accused Mary A. Clute, Admitted He Was a of Women. Motive for the Crime copical Examination by the Brute Known to Have Been One of the Prisoner’s Effects. The police bave now no doubt but that Albert Hoff. the old upholsterer whom hey have closely guarded Prison, was ihe man who murdered Mrs. in M2 . Clute. They bave evidence in their possession that the vrisoner has little regard for womanly honor, produce wit- pesses who will st t Hoff had boasted to them of how he had taken ad- vantage of women in whose houses he bad te:n calied to do some work as an upholsterer, and of how such women bad refrained from causing his punishment because of the unpleasant notoriety it would bring upon them. One of his vic- tims, he cluimed, was the wife of a sea- faring man. These admissions were made to Mayer May, who resides at 1315c Steiner street. It was Mr. May who gave the information to ti.e police that the coupling-pin, which was used by the mu life of the unfort Guerrero street, was nate woman at 803 one of the tools used by Hoff. The murde four or five es, was ern 4 by Mr. May to repair furniture, ana the last t:me he was at the house, about t vears ago, Hoff became confidential iter he admitted his brutal nature Mr. May dismissed him from the house and since that t.me had not seen him. Mr. May said that on aimost every occa- sion when Hoff was encaged by him, he bad seen the coupling-pin among his Lools. Mr. May tcok an interesi in the man’s work, and waiched him and taiked with him wh as engaged in mendin ile he me I saw the coupling-pin ools,’” said Mr. May, I vicked it up and asked him what 1l was. He told me it was a coupling-pin. I know very littie of such thin and its name conveyed nothing te iind. 1examined it close. nd out wual it was used for, but 1 still in the da A few days afterward { had occasion 10 make a jour- ney in the cars, and then saw one and ried ibere the use of such an instru- nt. AL the time I was talking to Hoft about 1t I asked bim what he used 1t for, Je me and he it woula be useful as a weapon of def Two or three times after tuat e same coupling-pin, and ever afterward when I wou.d sce such an instrument it would bring a recoliec- tion of the upholsterer to my micd. In that wav [ always connectea Hoff with a couplin;=pin, and on the subsequent occa- 8ions, Wuen Le camse to the house, I no- ticed the heavy iron bar, and I got to know it almost as weil, or pernaps better, than I d.d the man him elf. “On the morning afier the crime was commitied when Isaw a reference 1n the papers to a counling-pin and the pictures of th: weapon ihe man Hoff came to my mind and 1 ielt convinced that he was the man who had committed the crime. Then when I saw that Hotf had been arrested [ went 1o police hiendquarters and saw the couplir well that I conla rick 11 out trom smong S —————————— NEW TO-DAY. good 1dea Give a man a suit or over-coat for Christmas That’s sense Thatwill last and please for a year $7.50 to $25 others higher A hint smoking jackets grips bath robes morning gowns If it doesn’t fit or please we ’11 ex- change cheerfully Open evenings ROOS BROS 27-37 Kearny corner Post ¢ the City derer to beat out the | I know the instrument so | Murderer of Debaucher Revealed by a Micros- - The Weapon Used Jdozen and Iam satisfied that the one the po.ice now have in tneir posse sion is the | one that for several years was carried i the murder. *I was surprised had committed the murder. I did not think he would be capable of suct a crime. | From his admissions to me I believed him | to be 5 man depraved and withcut any sense of manly honor. I bad riade up my mind that he would not hesitate to take sdvantage of a woman should the opportunity permit and use violence to accomplish bis ends, but I believed that b+ woul . hesitate at murder.’” Ever since Hoff was arrested the polics | bave been hunune for a motive for the crime. Dr. H. Kugler, 1065 Howard tresi, Who came 1o the assistance of ihe | Coroner to make a microscopicalexamina- tion of the remainsof thede.d woman | has, 50 far as science is pussible, throwa srme light on that feature of the case The test showed (Lat au assault other ihan | murder hsd been committed. The puy- | sician stated ihat too great a time had elavsed between the time of death and the time the eX mination was made o muke ihe test absolutely positive, but the ind Cplions Were t al & most Lorribie ciime | bad been added to that of murder. T e police_had been inchined to the opinion that Hoff had been anery at Mrs. Clute because she had empioyed oiher men 10 do some work for her about he | house, and ulso because he had iost so | much time in trying 10 find her. This, | a vated by tbe liquor he had taken, | x they zut, Lave ied to a quuriel | re~uliing in murder, thouch they a.d not use sight of the more probable intent, as shown by the examination of the phy- | sician. | " Poiice Surgeon Edwin Bunnell made a | second and more compleie examination of the wound on the pair: of the Jeft 1.and of the prisoner yesierday. It isadeep | wound, sligbtly curved, and has the ap- among the tools of the man charged with | 10 e told that Hoff | f pearance of havine been cauced by some blunt but rough-edged instrument, ihe rough projection ou the end of the coupling-pin with which the murder was | committed would. in the opinion of the| surgeon, cause such a wound. Hoff isa I-fichanded man and Dr. Bunnell gave i as his opinion that the injury in the prisoner’'s hand was caused by the rough projection on the coupling-pin while i was being used as a bludgeon to beat ou: | | the life of the murderea woman. { | Hoff was extremely nervous while the examination was being made, aud gave | evasive answers to the questions of me] ph an. { Hoff's statement that the wound was | caused by a tack in a roll of carpet in the | ro. ms woere the crime was committed, at 803 Guerrero street, is not borne out by | iacts. Tne police yesterday made a clos examinati n of the carpeis, and th y were | uuable to find a tack sticking in any part | | of the carpet. The carpets had just come | from the cleaners when tiey were deliv- | ered at the nouse, and they were free from | tacks; consequently the wounda could not | bave been intlicted a=< he savs 1t was. | These tacts with the evidence that will | | be given by Mrs. I Legg and her | father-in-law, C. A. Le:g, who positively | identified Hoff as the man who came out | of the house and hurriea away a few minutes aiter they heard the woman's screams for help and the sound of the 1all | | of a neavy body on the floor above them | | wiil, the “pol y, weave a web of cir- | | cumstantial evidence ubuut the accused | | man trrom which he will find extreme | | diffienity in extricating him-eif. | Hoff almost conunuously paces up and | down in the narrow confines of his ceil. His nervousness increases almost every | hour, atd ihe prison officials keep a close waich on him. fearing he will attempt suicide. He slept only about an houri | during the first night of his confinement, and when he appeared in the Police Court | | betore Judge Joachimsen vesterday morn- ing he was Lollow-eyed and pale and he could scarcely keep stil. His hanus| 8hook violently when his case was called, | and during the time the charge a aimst | nim was being read he fidgeiea in the dock 2nd seemed on the verge of coliapse. He pieaded “not guiity,”” and on con- senioi the prosecution and the attorney for the defense the ca-e was -et for u hear- | ing on Wednesday, by which time the | Coroner will have conciuded the inquest. | From the courtroom the vrisoner was | | taken to the rooms of the detectives’ | offices and a numpver of photographs of nim were taken. i Hoff refus-s to tell anything of his past | lite. To the police he says he Las no w fe, but beyond tuat he will say nothing. He, | bow+ver, has a soi and a daughier, who | unul recentiy were living in the city. | The son held a re-ponsible position with a prominent drug firm, snd is a young man | of mostexemplary character. The daugh- | lieris the wieof a repuiable physician, | ans well known in social circles. Hoff, it | s said, was a 1nan not to be respected as a | | father or as a husbaud, and he became es- | tranged from the fam/y. | E. R Ciute, the husvand of the mur- dered woman, arr ved in the city yester- day morning from Nevada, where he nad | | been pursuing his avocation as a commer- | cial traveler. The body of Mrs. Clute was removed tc the undertaking parlors of Porter & Co., 122 Eddy street, at about noon, and soon afierward the husband, acccmpanied by tis mother-in-law, C. H. Clark and F. J. Bosseily, his employer, saw her remains for the first time. He was nearly wild with grief, and | throwing himsel! on the coffin cailed 10 her in endearing terms. After a time he | was induced to leave the room in whict | the body iay. The body will be em- baimed and to-day, aiter a service held vy | the Order of the Eastern Star, of which the decea-ed was a member, it will b2 sent to Watsonville for interment. | To the poiice Clute said that his wifs"s | fuil name was Mary A gusta C.ute. Her | maiden name was Rattl.. Sne w < born | in London on May 20, 1852, Her fam.ly | move to Canada when she was a small girl and there her father, Daniel H. Rui- I tle, held the position of Sheriff of one of | he counties of one of the provinces. Th- | I I family syb~equently came 0o California, where Cute met Miss Ruttle, and he ! married her in San Francisco. Afier the marriage they lived in Utah sna Nevada and a few yesrs ago ceme 1o this city. Detective Sevmour was busily engaged yesterday afternoon in taking measure- ments oi the upper flit of the house a: 803 Guerrero street, in which the murder oc- curred. **This fellow Hoff was caught in a bad con.radiction regi:ding the location of the rear yarda,” be said. “He told us Mrs. Ciute showed it to him, and said he could repair a mattress there. When we got him up here he was badly confused ahout the way to the rear stairway, and denied that he had said anything about the yard.” Cbarles A. Rbhewald, who keeps the Golden Bell saloon on Market street, said | he had known Hoff for about ten years and in that time oiten had 10use harsh measures with nim to keep him from cre- ating disturbance i his place. “The man,” he said, “‘was a crank. He was erratic, trea herous, mean, vicions, | quarrelsome and an unmitigated liar. Ho | was grasping for money, and I believe Le | ha- deposiis in the savings banks in the | city. L. A. Logg has moved from the house where the murder was committed, an. with nis wife and invalid fatber bas taken up bis residence at Valencia and Twenty- first strests. Mr. Legg said he wanted to svord the notorietv of hiving in a house where such a crime had been commitied. e May Ba Kiow s In San Jose. SAN JOSE, Dec. 17 —The police authori- ties of this c1ty are inclined to believe that Albert Hoff, who killed Mrs. Mary Clute in San Franasco Wednesday evening, is guilty of an atrocious murder committed in this city on or about A pril 23, 1896, On that day ma H:iwkins, ute woman known as “Engiish Emma,” was f und her room in the Hensley House: wit ber throat cut. had been torn from her body. There were | numerous other knife wounds, all of which had been mnfi.cted with an old case- knite founa in the room. After committing .he crime the mar- | derer had searched the place {or valuables | ana then piled tue bedclothes upon the bedv of his victim. The last seen alive of ine Hawkins woman she was in company | of a man answeriug Hoff’s description Mrs. Dorcey, the iandiady of the Hens- ey House, saw th» man leave the woman’- | room. and ber description of the feliow at | hat time tallies with that of Hoff. She | 1id he might be a Portugue-e, about 50 | ars of age and bad long whiskers. | The police were unable to <ecure any | Tue clothes | | of the fine, in accordance with seciion 1446 | | quarter, clew 10 the murderer, but now several on the force beiieve that Emma Hawkins' murderer and Hoff are one and the same. Datective Robert Anderson and Officer McClintock are strong_in this velief, while Chief of Police Kidward is more | cons: rvative and places less stock in the mutter. The case will be fully investi- gated. CAFTAIN JENKS' OASE. The Horse-Starver wants to Get Out on Habane Corpus. Captain Charies A. J nks, ‘ormerly of Troop A of the National Guard, who was convicted of starving his horses (o death, does not like the idea of paying the pen- alty for his offense. Late yesterday, by his attorney, he presented to the Supreme Court u_pe.ition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petition sets forth that Jenks was jound guilty of the charge of cruelty to animals and Police Judze Conlan 2sen- tenced him 1o pay a tine of $500 or ‘.0 be imprisoned in the County Jai until said fine 18 paid, not exceeding six month=," Jenks' atiorney contenas that Judgs Con- lan proceeded in part with the scntence | under section 1205 5 of the Penal Code, and | that he sbould haye given the alternative of onedav’s imprisonment for each dollar of the sume code. The coatention, in | other words, is that Capiain Jenks could | serve all of his time except one day and siill be made to pay the full amount f the fine, $20). The attoruey stated that the petition was made to the Supreme Court | because Sup-rior Judge Wallace rofused | ihe petition ior tiie writ. .-~ The Christmas Wave. Thereis an ides in the Christme: mekes an effort at sugge-ting and the cosmopolitanism of San Francisco, and is rather more than the usua: compendium of stories and pctures that go to make the average Christmas ssue. Tne life of the Latin the Chinese quarter, little Mexico on the side of Telegraph Hill, tne Spanish and Mexican life of the South, | are rendered in a series of exceedingly clever photographs, all of which ot exh:bit | whatSievenson meant in calling San Fran- | cis he smelting vot of the rwces.” Tnere | are some seven pages of these clever pictures, and they really make a most interesting ana | characieristic exhibit. Besides these there is | & full page r production of Fred Yates’ “Siren,’ aid a fine photographic study, “The | Old Fiddler.” Otherwise the number is pro- | duced in a througaly artisic manner. The | cover is sugeestive of the S.evenson monu- | ment, and is after a siriking design by Ge. rge Poper. Tne stories ar> unusuailv good, the ‘Perverted Taies” by Frank Norris being especially amusing, cousisiing of parodi-s on tie writers of the day, inciuding Rudyard | Kippling, kret Harte, Richard Harding Davis, Amurose Bierce and others. The story by | raldine Bonner is also a decidedly clever ece of work. Altogether this makes an ex- | leut number aud 1> goton up lu & Very at ive mauner. 90 | JOHNSON | in Ukiah, usually registerea at the Grand UF UKIAH DISAPPEARS Official Inquiry Discloses a Shortage of Six Thou- sand Dollars. GOOD FELLOWSH:P RESPONSIBLE. He Filled the Combined Offices of Tax Collector and Sheriff, THE MISSING FUNDS PUBLIC MONEY. When the Popular Sheriff Visited San Francisco He Let His Monsy Go Freely and Had a Good Time, When the news came by wire from Ukiah yesterday that Sheriff John- son of Mendocino County had ab- sconded with §6000 of public money there were many waisperings. It was known to a few that the Sheriff, who is a family man, with a wife and four children | %fim&t @fiic;%m «fl?x;gndmo.@;l.. | W. S. Leake, Esq., Manager " The Call," OFFICE OF THE SUP'T OF MAILS, December 17, 1897. San Francisco, Cal, Dear Sir:--- The rates of postage onthe " New Era " editionof the San Francisco | Call will be as follows: Toall points in the United Bales. ... ... iuniensiniinincovss To Canada and Mexico Supt/ Of Mat 5 cents! 5 cents| Hotel in San Francsco, but irequently PUt up Somewhiers else in town The Bheriff did not play poker with | Tax Collector of passionate devotion to the ga and whenjae did play he was not relished as a pudding. ' In fact Ukiah graduates in the science of poker can hold their own better in a large town tuan the sophomoric players from San Jose. Sheriff Jotnsoa dia not play the races with reckless disregard of consequences. He aid not indorse notes to gratily iriends in financial distress, but he did have an absorbingy passion for the sociely of women, and where petticoats were con- cerned pedigrees were mnot con<ulied— high-fivers and low-fiyers all locked alike to the Sher ff. In Mendocino County the offices of Sheriff and Tax Colleclo{ are held by one and the same man. Mr. John<on, a good feliow, was eiected on the Republican ticket, and, when his firs expired, #as re-e ected. Several times of late quiet rumors were circalated tnat he was short, but facts to the contrary. Three weeksago reports of som-thing crooked caused the sureties of the Sheriff and Tax Collector Lo urge payment to the Tieasurer of all the money 1n the hands of the Tax (ol- lector. Johnson then paid over $93,00). It is figured that he must have he.d out $6000, for that is reported officially to be the sum of his shortage, term of office | \ | | investigation developed | | Yesierday Alex Duncan, a Supervisor of | Mendocino Couny, now in San Francisco, | received a message by telephone from Su- pervisor Smith, cheirman of the toard, siating that the report was true that tne Sneriff had disappeared, and that $5000 of cown that should be in the safe wus not | there. the board to consider the shortage. To-day there wiil be a session of | Not very long since Sheriff Johnson left | Ukiah ostensibly for Wiillows 1n cnase of ~tage-robvers, but it is believed that he came 10 San Francisco, shaved off his mustache and went in pursuit of more | agreeable game. Word comes trom Ukian that no explanation is made of his pro- longed absence. It ix d:fficult to fix the exact date when Sheriff Jobnson was last seen by his friends in San Francisco. He is weli known at Ferguson & O'Cornor's place, 10 Mason street, where many Ukiah peo- ple go. Mr. O'Connor, Jack Holiiday and Juck Usher,wno are intimateiy acquainted with tie missing Sheriff, do not entertgin the notion that he has goue away wiith woman. In fact, they predict that he wi | turn up all right and square his accounts at Ukiah. *'G.ve him the easy ead o1 11,” they all said, *‘jor he is 0ue of the best lows on earth. No, he has not gone w a bad girl. He thinks too much of nis family for that. More than likely heisin Round Valley now, having a time, or up in Trinity County, hunting bear. i | [ [ | [ ““If he has skipped tie man who goes | after bim to bring him back will not have | an easy job. If Jim Johnson has gone wrong, then one of the best all-around fellows thateverlived has got on the wrong track. Tnere are a lot of fellows up there in Uklah trying to ‘do him.” When every- tbing isinvesiigated it may turn out that | it is only a paper shortage.” The Sheriff's son, Virgil Johnson, a voung man 22 years ol age, wasin the city yesierdav with the hope of finding some trace of his father. Several other ciuzens of Mendocino County tele- phoned to Mr. Holiday at 10 Mason street for iniormation as to the Sher ff's whereabouts. It was said last n'ght by intimate friends of the missing Sberiff thut whiie he drank treely and had a good time with the boys in San Frauncisco he d'd not visit houses of gilt fam and ‘*hat he was not a men hat the s as could easilv eapiivate. When 1ast een at Ferguson & O'Connor’s | the Sheriff's mustsche was on and on To all foreign countries (except Canada and Mexico)............10 cents Very respectfully, : e straight. The theory of a Kiondike skip i< ad. vanced by some who know Johnson. They remarked : I is true that his accounts are §6)00snort and tnat he hes skipped on that ground you can res. assured that he is across the line by this time.” —_— DISCLOSUR S AT UKIAH. UKIAH, Dec. 17.—For some days past | Sansome st. here has been a rumor n cirfulndov\ to the effect that J. R. Johnson, Sherift and tnis county, had ab- sconded with a variously estimated amount of monev, the procecds of tax col- Jeciions. Foratimetie report was cnar- acterized as idle and malicious, put this morning Under Sheriff Philo Handy re- srted to District Altorney Sturtevant t there was » shorts :li:: Tax Collector’s office, which | only discovered after a final baiuncing of the cash-pook and asse sment rolls. Sturte- Vaut at once investigated the matter and this afternoon notified C. P. Smith, chair- man of the Board of Supervisors, of the status of affairs at the Coulectcr’s office. Chairman Smith 1mmediately com- municated with the various members of the board requesting them tomeet in this city at the earliest possible moment in order that proper action might be taken under the circumstances. i From what can belearned of the affair at (his time, it seeins that when Mr. Johnson left this city some three weeks azo, ostensibly in pursuit of the Boone- ville .outlaws, he had in his possession funds to the amount already approxi- mated. Some time before Johnson’s de- parture, it was reported that as adminis- trator of an estate in course of probate in Sonoma County, Johnson was some $3000 stortin his accounts. He nhad b-en re- peatedly urged to make a settiement, but on various pretexts pos'poned the matter. He is finally said to have been cited to ap- pear and show cause at u date in the near { tutnre, and it is possible that this may have veen responsible to some exient for his departure. 2 Jounson before he left here paid all bills which he owed, and on his arrival in San Francisco sent a large supply of pio- visions and ciothing to his fimily here. Several Ukiah people claim to bave seen Jounson in San Francisco shortly after he leit here, and state that at thac time he bad shaved off his mu tache. Many ot Jonnson’s iriends claim that be will retura shortly and explain every- thing and that the a.ieged shortage may be due to an error in he books, which will be unearthed when the books are overhauled. This was Johuson's second term as Sheriff and Tax Coliector, and ne nas always been credited with being a competeni and efficient collecior and a brave officer. Of necessity, much of his work wus entru-ted to his deputies, but he was extremely car-iul in the selection of his assistants. Tha county is amply protected by ihe bond filed Johnson. D-puty Shenff Virgil Johnson has gone to San Francisco in search of his fatner, 1n whose 1nnocence heis a firm believer. Sheriff Jobnson has lived here for many years and hasan interesting family, con- sisting of a wife ana four children, for whom much sympathy is feit. At the meeting of the Board of Supervisors, which Chairman Smith in an interview this evening stated would be held in all probability on Moaday next, action will be iaken by the properauthorities looking to the removal of Steriff Jonnson, hisap- prehension and the appointment of his successor. Inthe meantime W. F. Thomas has been employed 10 expert the Collecto:’s books, that the exast amount of the shortage med. may be asce BROKE INTO A STABLE, The stable of Dr. Eilinwood at Pacitic avenue and Devisadero street was eniered by burg.ars about 10 o'c ock Thursday morning. The 1oom of the coachman was broken into unua a watcn and some clothing stolen. When the doctor left his house in the morniug he notced a susp c.ou -iooking character loafing near the stavie, and tofd his coachman to keep ai eye on him, but when the coachman returned from driving the doctor d- wnlown the robbery had been commitied. Tbe pulica have been notified and think they ar: on the track of the man, as the doclor gave a very good description of him, ————w— For throat and lung troubles use Low's horehound cough syrup, price 1€, 417 goods. Y — CLOTHING An Awful Drop! Those all-wool suits in Tweeds, Cheviots, Worsteds and Cassimeres, latest colorings, made up in single and double breasted sacks and 3- button cutaway frock suits: THEY'VE DROPPED FROM their honest value of $15t0.ccveencecreceeneiecn e .. $8.85 ijs A GOOD REASON FOR IT— near stocktaking. We want the room for January These suits will go all right, it's only a question of how quickly, for they are made by white labor, made to fit. AND DRESSY XMAS SUIT in perfect har- mony of color mixtures. (and money back politely if in any way unsatis- factory. THE THING WE SELL.” Ladies! There ‘“THE THING WE One moment, please. an extremely choice a A RICHLY SWEET The price is $8.85 ADVERTISE IS ‘We have ssortment of Mufflers, Ties (in Puffs, Im- perials and Four-in-hands, re- duced from soc to 25c), Hats, Gloves, Collars and Cuffs for HlM [ S. N. WOOD & CC COLUMBIAN WCOLEN MILLS 718 & 722 MARKET 87 POWELL & EDDV