The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1873-03-06
WHERE TEMPORARY INSANITY Is
no EXCUSE FOR MURDER.

In tie summer Of 1870, while Co. 4.
9Th {. :. Infantry, Of which | was at the
time a member, was can ped in the imme-
date vicinity Of the town of Kit Carson,
Colorado Territory, | SAW tragedy enact
ell III which murder Vas committed and
the murderer hung by those executors Ct
Lynch Law . ligtiaHtcs. As III ac-
count Of the Lfar may not be uninterest-
ing to the readers Of tie PILOT, | will en-
dcayor to relate as accurately as my mem
CRY will permit, the circumstances attend
ing it.
Near the site Of our camp, which vas in
close proximity to the Kansas Pacific Rail-
Rad, was Il large well and tank or raised
cistern, used fDr supplying locomotives
with water, ana also a large proportion Of
the water consumed by the inhabitants Of
the town at that time was obtained from
this we'll Transporting the water from
the well to the toxin furnished emrlov-
ment tor several men with teams, hauling
the water in barrcls-a barrel Of water de-
livered in. town beng worth twenty FIVE
cents. One Of the persons engaged in
hauling water was a gray-headed old man
who must have been nearly seventy years
OF age although he was still strong and
healthy, and managed with lis team of
ponies to earn a RESI- cctablc livelihood: he
had the reputation of being an in,fensivc,
Industrious man, respected by all who
knew him One evening, on appearing at
the well for his last load for lie dGy, he
was trllle later than usual and the en-
2ncer who had charge of The WELL the wa
ter being raised by steam power, had stop
ped the engine and was preparing to leave,
and being intoxicated, became greatly in
censed at the old man for coming so late,
and refused to pump any more water that
night the old man reconstructed with
him and began to approach nearer the
well with his team, whcrcup0n the en-
ragged man picked up rife and began
beating the horses. The old man jumped
oil the WAGON to protect his team, and was
himself the recipient If blow given with
such force as to crash in his skull and
bend the barrel of the gun in tie
hands Of his 2ssalal It. Several soldiers
who had witnessed the scene from a dis
lance Immediately ran to the | lace-thav
found the OLD man in i d;lns condition,
and the engineer, perfectly crazed with
liquor, tearing about, striking at imaginary
foes etc. After much trouble he WAS Sc
cured, taken up to town and turned over
to tie custody of the sheriff in the mean
time everything possible was done to help
the old man, but he was fatally injured
and died an hour after receiving the blow
While up town during the evening |
hcI nj it rumored about that the murderer
would be lynched during the night, and
that the l'yilaHtes bad begun to organize
for that purpose, but | did not cred t the
report, fer, although | did not feel like ex-
cusinS IN any measure the cruel murder of
the harmless old nan, | did not think it
possible, that, taking into consideration
the peculiar circumstances of the case, and
the excellent facilities afforded by tie rail
road to transport the Murderer to some
place where lie could be tried fer his
crime by regularly organized court of
justice, persons possessing even an crli-
nary degree of intelligence would counte-
"a zee such course-I was mistaken. The
Sheriff surrendered the man 10 the LYa-
cAerS without protest, and without being
allowed even the form of a trial he vas
taken out and hung launched into eternl-
ty before he could have possibly awakened
to realization Of his crime. In the
morning when the revcille was sounded
and the company fell into time for roll-call,
we saw before us and not one hundred
yards away suspended from the trestle-
work of Il small railroad Lridge, all that
was mortal Of the man who had in bis
frenzy the night before taken the life o ,
the old water carrier, and whose character,
as far as was known previous to this last
act, was without stain. Q.