, 1879-03-02
THE "KID'S" STORY,

/ NO puOucallon6 p Toiess1EE 10 De LQe con
fessions Of criminals, experiences Of detect
ives, or romance Of crime yet published have
! ever exceeded in intensity Of incident and
graphic description the story told by
FREEMAN on Thursday LOST, from the original
suggestion Of the burglary OF JAFFnA4's
| store to the tragic shooting of Officer RACE
| 1t far exceeded in thrilling interest any
| thing in the way of fiction, anything
! in dozens, and its impressive cha1ac~
| ter was due TO the evident truth which
| marked every sentence Of the narrative. No
one who heard or who has read the state
ment can shake off the Irresistible conclu~
sion that this person, who has been thief
during the most Of his life, the inmate
Of prisons, and the accomplice in scores
| Of burglaries, told the story of his
last crime with al1 the earnestness of
truth. For the first time in all
his ripe criminal experience was he brought
face to fnce with blood, With the wanton
murder Of 8 human being, as part of the un~
dertakiug in which be was engaged, and the
new experience seems to have taken possess
sion of his mind with so1emnity to which
be has hitherto been total stranger
FREEMAN is only about 90 years of age, the
greater part of his life having been spent as IN
active thief and accomplce of thieves, or in
prison as q convict. From his dininutive
size he has been known as the Kid, and he
was used by burglars, rs OLIVER TWIST was,
in emergencies whera 4 small-sized person
was more available than large one. In
September last, as he rel1tes, he made
the acquaintance Of the pawnbroker
FRHpBERa, who proposed to him the
job Of burglary, FR1EpnEne to receive
the goods. He introduced other 'sgood
and reliable thieves, who would not give
him away" to F1EDBEaa at the latter's
solicitation. The result was the planning by
Fn1EpBERa Of the burglary of silks from
JAFrRAY's store, FRrEDBEEa to pay IS cents
n yard "all through" for the goods. FREE
MAN and his accomplices examined the build
ing, and took note Of the entrances, op enings,
and exits, and of the hours Of thos3 engaged
in the store. On the Sd of October FREEMAN
met LAMB at CoRcoRAS's saloon, with Gn1r-
FIN and DURPHEx, by appointment. For a
gang Of professionals they seem to have been
at the time most impecunious lot FREE |
MAN had some! thing over dollar, out Of which |
he paid 50 cents for drinks, and gave so cents |
to LAMB to get something to eat. Leaying
the saloon they proceeded to the open street, |
and there discussed the plans for the burg |
larry to take place the next night. Two |
other thieves who had been privY to the |
proposed job had been arrested that morn
ing, and part Of the discussion wes whether
these men, absent without any fault
on their part, should be entitled to
share Of the expected swag. 4 wagon !
and horse were essential to the job, as
the goods were to be conveyed from the
store to the "fence," and the plan to get
horse and wagon was ingenious enough to
have done credit to more respectable un-
dertaking, On the morning Of Oct. all
hands met at Orr's saloon; at noon FREEMAN
and one other went to the - fence; there
they were furnished with navy revolver by
fR1EDBEBG, which they carried to gun-shop
and had loaded. They went thence to the
house Of an expressman, whom they engaged
10 bring his wagon to the neighborhood Of
0TT's saloon, between S and o'clock, to
haul d trunk. Promptly on time the wagon
Sas driven up, and when the driver entered
he saloon FREEMAN went out by another
loor, mounted the seat, and drove the morse
o the South Side, where it was Kept until
Needed to haul the goods. On the way
mother revolver Was secured. The gang,
rhich now inclnded FREEMAN, LAME, DUR
HEY, DR1soo11, DESE1s, and GRIFFIN,
Fere all in the neighborhood, and
ad been watching the store until the
Jerks had all gone. Finally they de-
ided that DENNIS and DuRPm1 should |
inter- the building BY lifting out the grating ]
. the basement window, and the others re- I