The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 5, 1898, Page 1

- The VOLUME LXXXIII.—NO. 6T. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1898 PRICE FIVE CENTS, FRANK BELEW CONFRONTED BY BIRD HANGS HIS HEAD WHEN ACCUSED OF HIS CRIMES To Others the Monster Charged With the Murder of His Brother and Sister Protests Innocence. It Remains Now for the Law to Complete the Work Which Its Officers in the County of Solano, Assisted by “The Call,” Have So Well Begun. SUISUN, Feb.4.—There has been but | one topic of conversation here to-day. | Needless to say, this was the Belew case, and the surprise given this morn- shen The Call appeared with ex- ing w lusive details. opul ment guilty man has be unanimous. the jail Martin of Photographer Bird both related by nvinced of “you know you told cill Susie and Lew. ou had poison- place abou willing to take the stand and Davis is a quiet nowledges e from the Frank is a murderer. w did not arrive to-day. a telephone message from and remained there, it is ored, for the purpose of drowning vs, and was succe: the young man who at th the brothers at the time arrest, was also here. He stated t lief that Frank is guilty, and s it has been the belief entertained by him right along. District Attorney Devlin is working hard on the case. As per- fect as the chain of evidence is, this gen- words. He He sent Woodland, There has been a feel- | He objects to the notoriety. | all human probability there I believe him gulilty, yet.* cries from the ground. for him to see the prisoner. have modified their opjnion. Tom could say nothing more. the ki er mind,” he said. COPBOOUOOODO0UNOBNVOL0VOUORBVOTLTNGNDN | Bird and Newby have been subpoenaed | to appear here February 8, and at the time the Grand Jury will be convened. A warrant was sworn out for Belew to- | day, he having been arrested only upon such warrant as is constituted by facts, | backed by pistols. This morning Belew came near to confessing. The truth seemed to be | trembling on his but he checked the impulse to ease his conscience. The shadow of the gallows is ever before him, and at intervals he is buoyed for the time with hope. He adhered to his declaration of innocenve, but his frame shook, his chest heaved, and for the | most part a feeling of despair seemed to | possess him. When the death of his tleman is confident of getting material | sister was recalled he was nearly over- wherewith to strengthen it. An effort has been made to create the impression that there is some friction ‘between his office and that of Sheriff Rush, but, on the contrary, the one object of the two is to clear Solano County of the re- | proach of unpunished assassination, and | they feel they are near the consumma- | tion of this. | This afternoon Belew, through his| brother Tom, got a note from his law- | yer not to talk, not to see any news- | paper men, but until late this e\‘cninxz;‘ this was the extent of the counsel re- | ceived. It is believed that he will have | at least three lawyers, headed by Clark, and including Lamont, probably the | leader of the Solano bar, and now | rge of the Belew estate. But while waiting to hear from them ‘ Belew is much depressed. He feels t friends are falling away from him ’ in1 come. “Yes,” he said, “I held her hand when she was dying, but I did not give her the poison. I would spend my money to find the one who committed the crimes.” “But what of the admission you made to Bird and which Newby overheard?” “Bird and Newby both lied,” was the answer. “They are after blood money. They want the reward. They lied. I would not have murdered my brother and sister for all the wealth of Califor- nia.” “Frank,” said his visitor, “you are in a terrible position. I do not see how you can be saved from the gallows, guilty or innocent. They have the evi- dence. Do you not think so?” The prisoner gulped. “Bird had been my friend,” he replied, “but he lied on me.” bles, his blue eyes fill with tears and his throat is pulsating with the speaks, his tongue moistens his feverish lips. viewing him with the pity one must feel for a rat entrapped. Sooner or later he will lay bare his iniquity. He is still able to withstand the promptings of conscience, but surely the leaven is working, and be- world will know from his own mouth that the blood of his murdered kin soul is the death of a sister and brother. fore he shall ascend the scaffold the The man is breaking down. The meeting between Frank and Tom Belew this afternoon was the climax of pathos. It was arrfinged by Leigh Irvine of The Call staff and myself, who were present. Dixon early in the morning and haunted the jail. He got no sympathy, and the officers did not de They even accused Tom of being an accessory. 4 If they could have seen him peering through the bars of the cell, his form shaking with sobs, they would If they could have seen his look of agony as he clasped Frank's looking up into his face, asked tremulously, “Frank, Frank, did you do this?” “No, Tommy; I did not,” Frank answered, firmly, but there was no note of sincerity in his tone. looked on his brother and his eyes roved around the somber corridor. “I am as innocent as any_one of you,” Frank continued. The interview was short. When we entered the jail, dismal jail in California, fairly reeking with age, Frank was in a cell. There was some difficulty in turning Through the bars in the half light it was impossible to see the prisoner, butlooking out he could see us. “We can talk through the dcor.” His brother rattled at the bars In eagerness to reach him. He did not wish to come into view. Frank is cold, impassive, selfish. He has shown that the lustrates a curious phase of difference in the two. natural ties of affection are nothing to him. Tom is impulsive, tender, loath charges that have been fastened upon his brother. is beginning to accept the evidence, and he admits, if the allegations can be established, he can say no more. C-OOOODC(fidGDOfiflfibfimflfifidfiddfififififififififiWfidfificfi&)flbfifififlflfififi GUILT OF BLOOD UPON SUISUN, Cal.,, Feb. 4—To my dving day the figure of Frank Belew as he passed along the dreary and limited corridor of Solano County Jail must remain with me. was about to hide it forever could show more abject despair. feRegeg=gegegogegoFogaRaPReRegeReReaisReFageyeTaFePaFegupePagaRaRaeFagainFueagageFagagegegoPagag-2a2-F:3-1 “Do you believe in capital punish- ment?” There was a pause, and then the pris- oner answered, “I believe in capital pun- ishment.” “Now, Frank,” continued the visitor, “it looks as if you were as good as con- victed. If you could relieve your con- science by telling that’you killed the brother and sister do you not think it | better than keeping the secret?” “I have no secret,” rejoined the man, doggedly. “They lied on me.” “Were you at Bird's gallery on the days specified?” “I was.” “Did you talk on the subjects men- tioned in Newby's statements?” “I did; on some of them. I men- tioned going to Klondike. We spoke of the Clark case, but I never told him I had poisoned anybody. I had never told him I intended to poison anybody. He has lied.” “How do you account for it if he has lied?” “He wants blood money.” “Do you believe in a hereafter, and that then a man will be rewarded for his deeds done here?” Belew hesitated. Then he said, “I do.” So the conversation went on, ever leading back to subjects likely to stir Belew to his depths, to play upon his better nature, if any he has, and to place before him the horror of the past and the terror of the future. He would not yield. At times he checked an im- pulse to speak and bit his twitching lips. FRANK R. DEVLIN DisvAicT ATTORNEY. (® oFFICE oF THE (&, el i SBURAGTD, | G I District Attorney of Solano County. Office : Court House, Fairfield, Cal. L Bt g“’W Peb. 4th 1898 Editor Call, San Francisco, Cal Dear Sir: I am satisfied that the officers in arresting Frank Belew ar- rested the person guilty of murdering by poison Louis and Susie Belew. The evidence which has been gathered by Curtin's Detective Agency, working in conjunctionwith the officers of this county, a part of which has been published, is, I think, sufficient to insure the con- viction of the man guilty of the most diabolical crime ever committe ¥in this county. A ery Respectfully, N Freeworl e vt District Attorney. HIS SOUL. Not even the face of Durrant as the black cap Frank Belew knows that he is caught, that in is no escape for him. Yet he does not utterly break down. His strong frame trem- visible signs of emotion, he gulps as he Through all the ordeal he maintains his innocence. It was a strange occasion. One is stolid, the other easily roused to tears. His strong hands clasped and unclasped convulsively. When his brother called he mani- fested hardly a trace of this weakness. He braced himself for the ordeal and went through it like a stoic. It was only when he realized the certainty that he was enmeshed that he displayed symptoms of collapse. There is no softer side to him. He is abnormaliy selfish. as befits one who slays those who may be in thé way of petty am- bitions. | OFFICERS OF SALINAS | NOT SEEKING REWARD. Bird and Constable Newby Can Tell Much More of the Murder if They So Desire. DIXON, Cal., Feb. 4—There has nev- er been so much excitement and gen- eral satisfaction in this community as was caused by the arrival of The Call to-day, with evidences that it had lit- erally annihilated all contemporaries | in reporting news of the greatest mur- | der of the century. While nobody was greatly surprised, the news fell like a vital blow upon the Belews, who had .‘begun to imagine that all danger to their accused brother had passed long | ago. It seems to be the general opinion | now that nothing can save the unnat- ural murderer from the gallows. When the public beheld the shameful confession of crime in cold print they shuddered to think that such a moral monster had lived and moved in their midst, wondering how he had dared to I think that upon his But he i8 not ready Tom had Zesne from ;‘ it best hand, and, He i 5 3y the. darkest ‘én‘ad raost This {l- to believe .the truth of the But Tom HENRY JAMES. prRegeReRagagaRaRaegfoRegaRaRugegePeReFeRoRoTaRueRoL R oReFoguatoRogetod | face the outraged populace day after day without the slightest evidence of | remorse for his brutal crime. There was a time early in the history of the search for the murderer when some of those most intimate with the | Belews suspected Arthur, and hinted at | the possibility that Tommy had some- | thing to do with the murder. But all | this is now a matter of the past. It is | safe to say that no two ;young men | ever had more heartfel ympathy than _—m—m—mm—— P0900000000000000000000 ® @ NEWS OF THE DAY. Weather forecast for San Fran- clsco: Falr on Saturday, with in- creasing cloudiness and unsettled conditions in the afterncon and night; northerly, changing to south- easterly, winds. Maximum temperature for the past twenty-four hours: San Francisco . 62 degrees *9@@@@@2@@@@@; Portland .... 8 degrees Los Angeles S degrees San Diego . 60 degrees FIRST PAGE. Belew Confronted by Bird. SECOND PAGE. Clark Will Plead Not Gullty. Wachline Dies by the Rope. Japan May Hold Wei-Hai-Wel. The San Jose Tax Rate. Negro Postmaster Boycotted. Fatal Row Among Schoolboys. THIRD PAGE. White Scores Annexationists. Japanese May Become Voters. Is Spain Ready for War? Germany’s Tariff Confiict. The Murders at Lattimer. Bread Riots at Rome. FOURTH PAGE. Congress at Work. Los Angeles Water Battle. A Small Lad’s Strange Mania. Don Carlos' Daughter Free. Oppose a Floating Drydock. FIFTH PAGE. . The Latest From Dawson City. Wadham Brings More Charges Oakland Water Prices. SIXTH PAGE. Editorial. Is It Dole's Hand? An Explanation Wanted. A Bonanza for California. Balboa Boulevard. Exposition Work. The Bells of the Mining Fair. Flour Adulteration. Storles From the Corridors, Answers to Correspondents. SEVENTH PAGE. News of the Water Front. A Fair for St. Peter's. A Detective Detected. Willey's Death Unsolved. EIGHTH PAGE. In the Bporting World. NINTH PAGE. Soclety in Fancy Dress, The Miners' Exposition, The Foleys' Legal Troubles, _ To Sample the Quicksand, | The Captain Dislikes Stevens, TENTH PAGE. The Commercial World, ELEVENTH PAGE, News From Acress the Bay, TWELFTH PAGE, Racing at Ingleside. THIRTEENTH PAGE, Births, Marriages and Deaths, FOURTEENTH PAGE. More Shells Found Worthless, Policeman Hutchings Accused, The Howards' Shert Honeymoon, Wright Gets Healey's Place, * 9020000000000 00000900 ‘OQOOOOOOOQOG»@@@O@@OOOOQ000000@@@@@@@@@®6/6@@@@@@@@@0@0@@@@@9@@@9@@@@@@@@@@&@O@O@ ©® EP99999909900999900990990099909909009P99PPIVPVVVVPOVORVVPVIPVPPPPPOPOOD until I hear him say so,” is all that Ar- ARREST OF FRANK BELEW. these unfortunate brothers enjoy this community to-day. “I will not believe Frank is guilty thur can be induced to say. Asked again and again, this is his sole re- sponse. Tommy Bejew, as he {s generally known, is a melting kind of a man. Twenty times to-day he has given way to tears, yet never has he said a word that shows bitterness toward his accused. brother. “If these men will say what they have stated,” said he at last, “I think they will make a hard case against in | ture,” said Constable Newby, “I desire | to say that we will ask none whatever, and that no one has for the slightest moment the right to assume it.” Bird and Newby are men who stand well in this community, and it is the general opinion that they have told the truth so far as they have spoken, and that there are still depths inte which they might wander without telling all they know of the crime. ————— THE AWFUL SECRET CARRIED BY BIRD. SACRAMENTO, Feb. 4—“It was the is correct,” he said, but when asked | what objections he had to re- peating that statement he simply re- plied, “What's the use?” “Has anything passed between you and Belew not contained in The Call's statement?”’ Na reply. “Why do you object to a further | statement?” No reply. “Did- Belew say to you: ‘To-morrow I am going to commit a tragedy that will shock the community? " “Belew did not designate any time,” was the reply. Thus it will be seen that while Mr. Bird acknowledges in every detail the €. omxeLspieL, %=l OFFICE OF «To 90 o> The = $olano = Republican, DINKELSPIEL & RUSH, Proprietors. The Call, 8an Francisco, Cal.--Your exclusive an Sovons. G Fed. 4tn. 1898, d complete account of the confession and arrest of Frank Belew for the murder of his brother and sister is the greatest news triumph in the history of the State. The supply-of Calls was exhausted and people borrowed from one another that they might the one topic of ¢ early in the day, onversation here. It is read of one of the most atrocious crimes of the century. Frank. But I cannot believe it, be- cause he loved the dead relatives, and there was' nothing within - reason he would not do for them.” g Constable Newby says he has noth- ing to take back in his statement. He says all the information he had came from or through Bird, and that the conversations occurred substantially as indicated in the heretofore pub- lished account of the entire matter. He says Bird has a great deal more evidence than has yet been published, all of which will be divulged at the proper time. “In relation to Frank Belew's charge that we are after a reward for his cap- straightest newspaper account I ever read,” were the exact words of J. W. Bird, when speaking to-night of The Call's startling story this morning, which réveals one of the most heinous monsters of the century in the pub- lished confession of Frank Belew. But while Mr. Bird acknowledges the truth- fulness of every statement made in The Call, he is steadfast and immov- able in his determination to say noth- ing more at this time. But he con- firms all he has sald. He neither with- draws nor denies a single word spoken in the past and published to the world for the first time to-day in the col- umns of The Call. “The confession reported in The Call correctness of the published confession, he will not give out an iteration of what he has already said. Mr. Bird has a good face, a frank and open countenance. He looks you straight in the eye without a quiver. He betrays no emotion when speaking of the awful secret he has carried, but there is just a faint line or two on his clean cut face, which indicates a feeling of re- lef. Bird was no doubt made the un- willing custodian of a secret wRich no human being could carry long. He lived in constant fear of the man who had placed this awful confession in his keeping. Belew's frequent and per- sistent requests that Bird accompany him on hunting excursions, and his last B. F. RUSH, SHERIFF. T.L ROBINSON, URotR SKeRiFs GED. 8. DONALDSON, Jaien J. E. ANDERSEN, JaiLer, VarLeso, Sheriff’'s Office, Editor of The Call: ing. Solano Coungy,. FAIRFIELD, CAL—____Feb. 4th. 188 I am entirely satisfied that Frank Belew killed his brother and sister, and that the evidence against him is complete and overwhelm- Not only have the officers of the county worked long to secure this evidence, but they appreciate the assistance they have received from The Call. has a right to be proud, but has advanced the cause of justice. gratulate it upon its enterprisg.. Your paper has not only scored a "scoop" of which it I con- L Sheriff,