Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-02-18
ESTABLISHED 1910.
COL. E. NJ. YERGER.
His eOnditiOH---SIs cOaduot in Prison---H His
Chances of Release.

His eonditiOH---Hls c0aduot in Prison His
Chances of Release.
A correspondent of the Cincinnati
Commercial, writing from Jackson,
o Mississippi, On the 9th inst, says:
The inner cell OF the guard house of
this camp still holds the prisoner Yer
ger. During clearing Of the Court,
the other morning, walked IN the
IDLE interval 10 and fro past his ada
cent grave-fOT such il seemed. The
January summer sun falling around
.dreamily illumined the Well-kept arms
and uniforms of the guards, appearing
.scintillant here and there in the broad
distance of the camp. Sauntering
4 enjoyed the fragrance of a bunch OF
viOlets, which the early spring OF the
South had brought, and wondering
how much you OF the North, in your
frozen homes, would have enjoyed the
sight of the fuli-blown japonicas had
that morning gathered in the rectory
garden. Around me was the sweet
ness and brightness of early summer;
but through the CHEEKY peace of the
morning, could hear another step
keeping gloomy and unconscious pace
with mine, inside the cell, sounding
like an echo. The sunlight shOne in
at the iron grating which served for
his window, and the sharp outlines
mOckingly defined in the brightness,
seemed emphatic of his misfortune.
Colonel Nerger's appearance is
strangely altered. His heavy mus
fache and gsstee, prominent by their
blackness during his trial, have dis
appeared, not less from natures grief
aud care than from the absence of
dye; and his face IS nov covered with
8 growth of hair, gray and haggard,
thai has thinned his features and SEEM I
ingly doubled his age.
For the past six weeks Nerger has
been relieved from his shaCkleS and
handouts by day, gud he is now IRON
ed only during the night. He still
bears himself as if unconscious OF
having done a wrong. He walks his /
cell, not defiant, yet unsuJdued. lie |
believes himself the victim OF adverse /
fate-a YicariOus sacrifice which viii I
not be without reward. With the I
Episcopal clergyman who frequently /
visits him, and the Catholic priest /
whose consultations he has latterly /
sought, he is ever ready to converse /
upon religious topics, and it would not /
surprise his friends if heshOUld abjure /
the Faith Of his fathers for the sake of /
achieving some additional nOtOriety,
and ministe-ing TO an egOtism too in- 1
tense for 3 man 10 indulge in and vet .
be accounted sane. His leading in
stinct now, as il has been for years, is .
an Overmastering vanity and cOnceit. /
Now, Is heretofore, he believes bun
self SIIed for, and eGinentiy deServ-
ing OF, the highest Offices in the gift OF
the people. lie thinks that the sym
pathies Oi the whole country are with
him, and it g0Uld not surprise him
were his prison d6Irs 20 open and ne
were asked even 10 WeSr Gown and
don royal purple.
Colonel Nerger Is simply conscious
of a, unfortunate accident, OF which
CoIoDa Crane was the victim. He ,
WoIid n. axe any recOmpense to re-
nair the NJ, ing 10 the living. He did
SS,--ita . letter % Mrs. Crane-a letter
nerer delivere,, expressive q the ]
despest sympathy Tor her sufering,
and he has again ana 2Sain expressed
a wish TO sacrifice his own life, If
thereby he could repair her wrongs
and grief5.
It might seem absurd TO say Yerger
is insane. He is, or is not, according
10 our definition OF insanity. Similar }
morbid manifestations are not un-
common here in the South among the
higher classes. l know Of a family Of
high social standing, near here, whose
passions are So uncomfortable that The
members, male and female, will, for a 1
1rifiing misunderstanding, hurl knives I
.. "a rs.t.
and that in the presence OF strangers.
A few days ago, drunken, passionate {
man of wealth and position, living
near AatcheZ, entered the diningrOOm
where his elder brother was sitting
with his friends, and deliberately shot
him dead. Yerger has been known !
to whip his children with almost de-
mOniacal brutality. At other times
ne has ragged with frantic OutbuTsts OF
grief over their illness.
A vast amount OF testimony WAS
adduced al the trial, tending to show
that Col. AergeT Was not only unac-
cOUntably outrageous at times in his Z
conduct, but subject 70 paryOXism5 Of
uuqueSuOnable insanity, IS note
worthy fact, in this connection, that
the Government summoned a distiE-
guished physician, ihe uperintendent
OF a Northern Insane asylum, as a |
witness fOr The prosecution. lie came,
AZ, after a faithful, and, il IS 10 be {
Dree. umed, impartial investigation in
ro We rgeT's auteccdeHts and the facts {
~ die case, he declined 10 come upon ]
the stan,i I and testify that Yerger was s
not insan6.'
With prophea,c fOrebOding, in speak
inc 70 the wife Of the Episcopal cler- !
eyvnan OF this place respecting some !
family troubles GI which he was the I
eau.I. used these remarkable words: I
- want you TO know that Ed. is {
crazy. IL anything ever happens, re- 7
member that told you my son was :
insane" =
Within the past month this estima- I
ole lady has descended in grief and I
-roW 10 her grave. She was borne :
u SP last resting place from the house Z
d. nrst born, the home made desc
j hei 'his great calamity. Ncrger's |
ale Oy 1ge AisteTsOD, one Of his :
heie' JuS ths tEist, H2s for some :
Ouhsei at d bis reason dethrODed, y
lonths l,ast n, his i8mily trouble.
Iann;l,, I,i 'iIIosI hn N, e. ing his health
I apply ne ls re- re etvn,1-t'. w.. Colonel G
l4 AoLulcL lLC AAAGAA ~~t- -io.F1u 4 I II
'erger's terrible deed has sh. 6sr I O
Oble family as with pestilence; :, Il
las, il is one Of the neEessitOus anon q
lies Of our civilization that the inno-
mt often suffer equally with the in
lilty. er
Some action, doubt not, will be N,
ken in this case ere many days pass. stG
robably, on the readmission Of the tn
ate, he will be claimed from the hu
Iilitary authorities on Il writ Of ha- III
sas corpus, 10 be tried before a civil Ci'
that his trial before a tn,
ilitary commission was no trial at or
=, being unconstitutional. If re- err
ased from his present confinement, of
is friends may possibly claim that he all
as already been tried for his 0hense. ito
nd is not triable second time for ha
le same Ofiensc. Should he come be- i'm
re a jury Of citizens he may, as / tbs
1ubt not he would, be declared of tro
asound mind and legally irrespOnsi-
e for his act, and consigned, for safe
eeping, to a lunatic asylum for the ,
,mainder Of his life-a better dispo- 20