The Rock Island Argus., 1881-10-01
DIfRuoIrE. La Sent. 2G
FATHER REAKDoN.

The alleged confession of Glenn Gallon,
/ by which lie is made to state his guilt in
the DiIley murders for which he was hung
at Cambridge, has been brought to the at
tention of Father Reardon, the priest whe
was his friend and faithful and trusted
confessor on the gallows as well as during
the last hours of his Imprisonment in the
jail. ss
| The Kewanee Courier publishes the fol-
lowing interview with Father Reardon,
and at the latters suggestion it is given
below:
ssWas that statement ever compared
| with Gallons confession to you ?"
| 1T was not"
| did YOU ever have an interview with
the editor OF the San in regard to the
matter ?"
81 did not"
Have you ever had any communication
with that gentleman in writing 2"
II received a lett II from him"
Did you reply to that latter Z"
81 did not.
would you be willing to give the sub
stance of that letter, and your reasons for
not replying to it ?"
reply was that / considered the communi-
cation in the nature of a conGdence-lstter.
He commenced by stating that he had
sought an interview with me while was
in Cambridge but could not get it. His
son-in law had been an attorney for the pris-
oner, therefore he (the prisoner) had made
confession to him. Lastly, (as he, the
editor, knew all about it, you see,) would
be so kind as to disclose to him the con-
fession--sort of compare notes, you un-
derstand Now what Iwant to say is:
1st-If the editor of the Sln had sought
al interview with me he should have had
it, as other newspaper men did. Ind
Because his on-in-law was counsel tor the
defendant is no reason why the prisoner
should make confession to him. 3rd-
Tf the editor received confession from the
prisoner which am certain he did not, he
ought to be satisfied with the word of a
Gying man.
Then you do not believe that the
eeverend editor ever succeeded in get
ting confession from Gallon, as he
claims2"
II do not If he did, he is more of a
success as reporter than he ever was as
a reverend, if am correctly informed,
Then what have you to say of the mat
teri"
Il pronounce it falsehood' entire. He
admits in his introduction that he drew on
his Imagination for the manner of the
crime, before he claimed the prisoner had
confessed it. He simply went on drawing
on his imagination for the whole matter, in
the hope of creating sensation and sell
ing few extra copies of his paper. The
falsehood was quite plausibly, though
bunglingly, written up; and yet a careful
reader will observe holes IN IL. For in
stance it hardly looks reasonable that
mask of the description which he gives
would be thrown off" mans face BY q
woman starting up from the back side of
bed, when the man was crouching at the
front side. Mr.. Spuriock says that Gallon
told him, on the eve of his execution, that
he had made confession to Father Rear
don, whereas he made his only statement
to me on the morning of the execution, be-
tween $50 aud o'clock. To this the
sheriff can testify. After said confession,
according TO the rites of the church, no
reporter was admitted. His whole stery
is falsehood 2
Would 1t not be well for you to give
your reasons to the public for not disclos-
ing the prisoners statement to youf"
Il am wiling to do 50. 1at-The priest