New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-05-18

|
LFrora the Cincinnati Commercial May Ill
| Sterling King, known throughout the war as a
| Confederate spy and bearer of dispatches, with
! the rank of colonel, was born in England in 1884
/ and while yeta boy came with his parents to this
| country, and found permanent home near Rich.
mond, Va He received very good collegiate
! education, studied law, and practiced in Rich.
mond, Va. Upon the Inauguration of the war, be
was among the avery first to enlist as a private
| under Stonewall jackson. Badly wounded in an
engagementin the first year, and distinguished fol
| reckless courage, he was soon promoted to d
| colonelcy and detailed to act as spy. In this
capacity he travelled all through the North, man.
| aging, as he brought experience to the aid oI
natural abilities to work successfully in procuring
passes, passing the lines, and procuring informa-
ton useful to the cause, He made trips through
all the Northern and Eastern States to Cuba
| Canada and even to Europe. He several times
had business in this city, and on one occasion &C.
cupied small office near the soldiers home, on
Third street, where, under the guise of claim
agent, he occupied himself, during several weeks
in collecting from the inmates Of the home Stats
tics as to the strength and location of all the reg
ments represented by them.
He was fully acquainted with all the business of
the Confederate mail service, and was at one time
| employed in selecting men and routes for that
business. couple of years since he was cap
tured here, and imprisoned as a spy. Propositions
were made to release him in the event of his Civ
ing Information that would lead to the arrest of
certain agents IN this vicinity; but he stubbornly
TeIu5euS SbHJlHS IuaL NE intended 10 make his eS-
cape with his hands, and this promise he made
good by working his way out one night, and pass
ing the guard, despite bayonet thrust in the
| thigh.
Having thus given the main points in Kings his
| tory as colonel and spy, we come now to his
| operations as horse-thief. Pretending to the
| honor and punctlio of q gentleman of the first
glass of chiyalry, while in the service in which he
| confined until the war closed he nevertheless
| turned professional thief upon again being
thrown upon his own resources Coming to this
city about three months since, he planned and fol
a time successfully executed, thefts Of valuable
horses and vehicles from three livery stables
| Fay's, Biglers and Hiernan's. He would make
| himself familiar with the propIietors-One after
| the other-hire and return few times talk OF
| purchasing fine horse, and when ready for the
theft, hire the most valuable " turnout y of the
stable as II to 60 few miles out, and then take
the whole establishment horse buggy, and bar-
ness, to Bowling Green or Louisville and sell it.
On the 18th of March last he was recognized as
horse thief, in the Louisville Hotel at Louisville
and was Immediately arrested and placed in iail to
await the necessary acquisitions from Governor
Cox. Then It was that he invented the lie as to
the assassination of President Lincoln declaring
that he was the assassin, and that John Wilkes
Booth had nothing further to do with it than to
hold his (king's) horse while he entered the thea
ter, fired the pistol-shot, made his escape and re-
mounted. His object in telling this story was to
induce the authorities to take him to WASHINGTON
where he would be liberated, and 80 escape both
charges
Failing in this, and being reduced to the extreme
OF dependency and modification at the position
to which he had degraded himself, he resolved to
put an end to his wretched and apparently unen.
durable existence, At about II o'clock lastnight,
when all save himself in the Jail were in bed he
cut an artery of the left arm and allowed the
blood to gush out unimpeded. The loss of blood
produced sickness OF the stomach and violent
vomiting, which awakened a felluW-pTisoner who
was sleeping in the same cell. This man gave the
alarm and assistance came IN time to save the life
that the woud-be suicide had sought to thus cast
off
But the resolution to diewas not to be thus con.
quered. Sterling King was man of inflexible
will He ceased entirely to eat OF any thing that
would feed the fire of lte watch soon began to
wane and then, day by day, grew more and more
| feeble. In forty days this man tasted bat five
times of food anda that he ate in that entire time
did not amount to one full dinner for a hungry
man. Rapidly his flesh began to disappear, and
tne bones OF limbs that could be easily spanned
with the hand grew horribly prominent. He
ceased to walk or stand he only raclined,
breathed, and refused to eat They told him that
the requsition from the Governor Of Ohio would
reach him at certain time, He wanted to die
n9t III the jan Of Louisville, but out somewhere
where he could breathe the pure air, and see ma
tnre once more. And so this living skeleton coolly
calculated the length of time he had vet to live.
and finding that, if he did not eat he would die too
soon, ne TOOK some soup, bread and preserYes-fve
tunes, as already mentioned.
Day before yesterday, detective Larry Hazen,
of this city, reached his prison, produced the re-
QUESTION, took King mp as though he were child,
ana conveyed him to the carriage aud thence to a
berth ON the mail boat. He then endeav0red ia
induce him to eat; and said King, in a voice
scarcely audible, Sc Mr., Hazen, if you will promise
me to make such arrangement as will enable me
to compromise this matter, will commenCe eating
today Mr.. Hazen could not promise this Ana
the dying man shook his head and refused the
food. He calculated that he had three days to
live, which would enable him TO reach Cincinnati
and settle up his little affairs but about O'Clock
yesterday morning, little after the boat reached
the landing here, the death-rattle sounded in his
throat, and the detective found him dead
The jury called by Coroner Cary, yesterday, rem
deTed verdict of suicide by starvation. We I'M
derstand that the deceased has friends in Bowling
Green, Ky.