St. Landry democrat., 1881-09-03
Gulteau. Ills Attack Upon the JaiB
Guard,
w ASHINGT0N. Aupus+ 10

| WASHINGTON, August 49,
| Warde1: Croker, of the jal, now admits
that Guteau did have knife and ,,sed if in
his assau!t upon Guard McGiIl, "Wednesday
The weapon used by Guiteau turns ont 40
has oeen sst,teG, to be "cheaser,,, but
instead OF having been made from shoe
Shank, Wiss merely piece of cDrse; steel
ABOUT fo;iF inches long and three fourths Of
an inch vide, with a handle mad, of paner
"fappc" with common string 1t has ona
eaSe liIjc sharp. In fact, II was, savs
McNill, IA sharp As :. razor, as it cut cntirolv
through lss coat and vest and nearly reached
III, skim The Warden thinks that the
weapon ggt into Guiteau's cell from another
cell ABOUT the first of each month the
prison btZls are taken out and steamed.
tfocker tsinks that i'll returning hem = cot
from SONG other cell i'll which TIE knife was
conceaiedtwas put in Guite4u's cell. instead
OF the col:he formerly had; but this hardly
looks plat: sihe, Is in washing and steanino
the cots ii would appear that ANYTHING con-
cea!cd about them must have been dj~cov.
cred. The accepted theory is that Bedford
Tue c"!oFed man who was hung for the
murder OF Lelth, LETT the knife in the cell.
an" '''!''a iouitu II. General Croker il Of
opinion lhAt t'u!teau's Tc>t!eSsnes, the night
before the attack was occasionrd by the CON
pctIon that The President was dead. Even
before the appearance OF additional SOL
dlers at the jail Guteau manifested the
most intense uneasineSs, and when the sol.
dlers moved, he would go every five or ten
minutes 10 his window and look out at their
movements, and McGill, who has been seen
hut lltble by Gulteau in making his rounds.
startled the wretch, and he, thinking an at
tack was to be made upon him bya moh
resolved II fight.
1t is M"GiIl's custom At night To oo
through al the corridors of the mil and see
that the prisoners are not engaged in mis-.
chief. This he did early Yesterday morn
lhs. ana hhdlng Guteau sitting On the side
OF his bed, and thinking something wrong
IN MS movements, spoke sharply to him.
ana asked him what he was doing. This
aroused tie prisoner, and, jumping to his
feet, he rushed spasmodicaly at the taller.
W hen questioned as to why be attacked the
guard, GGiteau said he had no business
in his cell ut that hour of the morning, and
he only intended to put him out.
Gulteau Is even more fond Of writing now
than he Was when first put in Jail He fire.
quently asks the Warden for pens and pa
per, and wales away the time writing let
tiers. These letters are all taken in charge
by the Warden, and for the most part treat
OF assassination. In nearly every one of
them he says he believed when he shot the
President that he was simply carrying out
Gods will. The tone of some of the letters
would indicate that he thought the Presi-
dent was dead. Guieau is still engaged in
writing UP his life, which he SAYS will make
B book Of 800 pages. The episode OF yester-
day morning has not interfered greatly with
his work. In the pages he wrote yesterday,
and which were handed to the officers. he
speaks of "the late President Garfield.O
md writes Of ''Mr. Arthur, President of the
United States" This impression he has
doubtless got from the guards having been
doubled aid the general aspect OF affairs
tbout the Jail. Numerous letters and post
sl-cards continue to come to Guiteau, most
IT them abusing him, and predicting that he
will be hung. One postal card. postmarked
springfield, Ohio, reads as follows:
"Chnr1es G. Gstteau: will give you $500 per
light to lectlretafter you have served eight
ears in the Dry 1ortugas. | will advertise
'ou as he L cat unhung, but will not be
esponslble forshe caprices Of Judge Lynch"