Mexico weekly ledger., 1881-02-03

JAIL. January Oil Was
arrested in Louisiana, Mo-, April "a,
1880, on the charge of cow stealing
and sent to Bowling Green Jail.
Being unable to procure my witnesses
at that time, l was i%ncarcerated in
that dirty hog pen, where they let
me almost rot with dirt and filth, and
l became literally alive with ver-
min. In that slaughter-pen l suffered
with sickness, and they would not
even give me as much as a clean
shirt. Nevertheless, I bore this cru
city like a man until the night Of the
4,h of September, 1880, when made
my escape, but was recaptured Sep.
25th, and brought back TO that hell
on hearth. Up to that time l
could get a letter to any of my friends
Or them to me /; all communication was
cut off. After returning l was chained
down with four chains. l was kept
in this condition until the first week
in December, when l found myself in
such bad health 1 could scarcely stand
alone, and suffering very much. l
could not stand it any longer, and
with this determination I broke my
letters. l was then sent to the Mex
leo Jail on the 18th of December, and
| have many thanks TO return for
being sent here. Since l have been
in this jail l have been treated like /
was a human being. l have clean
beds and bedding, and my clothes
are washed every week. l behave
myself like q man, as the sheriff. Mr..
d. d. Woodward, will tell you. /
wish to return many thanks for the
kindnesses l have received at Mr..
Woodward's hands. One of the
leading officers of Pike County said
to me In public that he would never
rest until he lodged me in the peni-
Tertiary, but l am happy to say that
l am now ready for trial and am able
to prove my innocence. l see in one
of the Bowling Green papers a para
graph in the following language:
Upwards of twenty years ago. when the old
Pike county Jail stood in the northwest corner OF
the square. a man named VIM. johnson was ar
rested for horse stealing at Edna, Knox county.
Mo-, and brought here for safe-keeplng. The
prisoner was a shrewd and cunning rascal and
soon made his escape. Nothing was ever heard
of him until a few days ago. when jailOr Ed
---- L. t. W.
johnson, at present confined in the county Jail,
charged with cow stealing. Johnson is evidently
an adept at the jail breaking business. He es-
capped from the Jail at this place a few weeks
ago and was recaptured at Alton. Ill. He has
repeatedly broken the chains with which he
was bound, ana only a few days az succeeded
in wrenching his cell-door entirely off. He
could not restrain his curiosity to fluid out some
thing of the Old citizens whose acquaintance lie
formed while IA prisoner at Bowling Green more
than twenty years ago, when James Gatewood
was iailor. johnson was taken to the Jail al
Mexico this week for sale-keeping until circuit
court.
l promptly and em%phatically deny
the above, ami say to the writer that
he penned a willful and malicious lie
without any cause for SO doing; be.
cause
First. / vas born in the year 1S47.
which would make me. according tc
this statement, only l3 years ole
when the horse was said to have beer
stolen.
Second, MOI having seen me from
that time-20 years ago-until now.
it is hardly reasonable to suppose
that one would recognize an own son.
much less an entire stranger; and
Third, 1t is not at all probable that
Knox County would send a prisoner
that distance for safe keeping, when
there were prisons much nearer than
Bowling Green.
All l have to say is, that the writer
of the article In question shows thai
he has no sound sense, and wrote il
to prejudice the minds of people
against me. l will now close by say
ing that l car prove myself clear o
the charges at the proper time.
Your most ebedient servant,
WIN. H. JOHNSON.
I'VE know nothing about the pris'
oner, only that he was sent from
Bowling Green to this city for cafe
keeping. He asked US to give the
above a place in our columns, and We
do so, not endorsing anything con
tanned therein. Sheriff Woodward
says johnson has behaved very vel
since he has been boarding with him
-ED. LEDGER.
Surveyors! Survey!