The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-08-02

To-day was the most oppressively hot one of
the season, the thermometer a part OF the
time reaching as high as 1O5 degrees in the
shade. An old man, whose name could not be
obtained tonight, was Frustrated in the streets
! by sunstroke and died in few minutes after
| reaching the hospital.
| The situation of the telegraph strike is un-
| changed.
Charles Gillespie, tax collector, made his
| settlement with the county A prosperous
condition of affairs are shown by his reports
| The collector was charged by the county with
s. ,335.l6, according to the assessors rolls. and
of this amount MIR. Gillespie turned over to
! the treasurer the sum of S6i, ,116 81 leaving
| balance uneOllected of S52172 25. The insolyent
| list, errors of assessments and the property
bought III by the state made the exact amount
| of S52lT.25 The insolvent list amounts to
| S1642G6, a less amount than ever appeared in
| any former settlement 18th the county.
The Johnson county Jail at Cleburne was de-
| StrOyed by fire on the morning of july 20,
! and the prisoners were removed to the Dallas
county Jail, in this city. Among the number
smooth face, dainty little hands, large blue
eyes, height about five feet, and an address so
mild, pleasant and cultivated that no one see
ing him outside the portals of prison would
for a moment suspect him of being criminal
and fugitive. The young man was none
other than Wright e. Rat , Christian, formerly
| of Ashland, Mo-, and who, in 1876, Killed Sid
ney smith, at Columbia, and who, in 1880,
escaped from the Jefferson City penitentiary,
while serving out fifteen years sentence.
RAT" Christian, if he Wera so Inclined could
''giFe uB'' an interesting Interview, und SO
called on him in the corridor of the upper cells
and made known his business. The prisoner
was very trsctable and it did not take mneh
persuasion TO start him IL his sFpFS. Ie said:
M name T. Mrigat Christian Of ashland
am in my twenty seventh year and am so u9-
fortunate as to be the .slaYet[f Young man
have ALREADY suffered as muci as my crime
merits, considering all the circumstances. On
the 4th Of March, 1870, Went TO. Columbia to
when got in with some OF the boys and we
went to. dissipating and got drunk On the
night of March 6, young man named
take young man. a stranger 10 me, u student
at Columbia college, who was drunk on the
sidewalk. down to Gilman's drug store. While
we were waiting for the store to Open. young
Smith, game Np. He VAS also StIldenta lit the
eolege hishSiae nom being IT, IL the the extreme north
some hard words about same persoIIai matter
buE as was not interesteA, did not partic-
pate in the quarrel, Smith soon left: going
myself. We left the drunken young man in the
store, and EACH tqck drink Of whisky, and
purchased & halfzpfnt flask. We left tlif drug
gested that we stop in barber shop, the only
building In which Il light was burning. Enter
ing we met Smith and his roommate, r r.
started i.staa,iX Al smith Tie latter said:
'Very plat evening, this morning. A few
cutting remarks passed between them, but
ever tii,ds started fGt h6nls1 smith, Kennard,
Winston ANA imyselt, all in close proximity
Kennard and Smith resum d their quarrel
had taken no part UP to this time, and With
fss at fS e IL aaf al Pafteaa aafs adE %
kenEaTd Spoke S Ike sp sF S5 Ss we Sat se w item Rsm
amy amy = AIN that Rsaffi al faEe SSas drnk
ard AID hone home SIM Smith then turned on NE and
saaf ah f sB oS%s RnSSso e fSF;ss SF
apart ana both advanced Nptil we met, when
said i have come Smith slapped me on |
the shoulder, saying: I don't want to pay a |
fine for r lighting children: We were each Is |
large for his years. l laughed at his remark |
about fghtMg slkdfen t eng l.snara came up
shoulder and said: Let us go into the street |
and fight it out and lie the fine go to hell ? !
We went out together, Kei nard and Winston /
Wb GuInlnoneea tnhting Smith hit me several |
times. and seeing that he was getting the bet |
a heavy blow on the right side of my head, |
knocking me halfway roI!na !,esatiflg my
bala0ce. ! atriiph 4 random blow ar him,
plIlnging the hlade OF my h knife ne into t the right
He fell, and was picked up by Kennard aSd |
Winston. who carried him t6 the sideWalk,
Ens KhsEe Rs ea i daS pase as and ne NOT maee
1 had never known Smith and consequently /
never owed him amy iIl-wilI. ! did nat fea1izee
what Mas aG4S Aadi aFef the ahGhng thg AID
walk. | tlel and CANT. TO Texas, and was cap
tured about ten days afteFWaftl az penlS0n. L |
wvaa tried. convicted aud sentenced to the pen
/ had served four years of my sentence
az was in such delicate health that l |
had TO be placed in the prison hospital. In |
victed of highway robbery and serving sen-
tence of twenty years ali SleSeliS, also a |
rohlef. ans gatholfe priest whose name
the priest plotted our escape, by plan to slip |
into the cellar when the hospital attendants
were not vigiant, climb out of a Cellar win
the top OF the penitentiary walls and lower
ourselves by a rope made OF blanket strips. |
We all succeeded in making our escape in
November, 1892 | don't knoW Whetier the
learned sgme. tllie ago that Jim Chastine was
have % been e III % texas TIVE twenty Seven mont6s, iv
ing most of the time in Cebgrne, where have
endeayored 70 conduct myself IN an upright
town, including the mayor to EcilGh for my
average good conduct: have tenged 4 saloon
bar most Of the time, but no one can say that
haXe dpne them wrong or taken an unlawful
My Identity and capture was thfaugh acct
dental betrayal on the part OF friends, and has
t% meyer been pfPeery pc ynr sTated d LEFT Ge6aras
Springs for my health. There ! met the sons
OfG. W. Coleman. from Columbia. Mo. The
younger al them, about nineteen years old,
positively identified me, ami invited me to go |
to see his father mother and sisters, which | |
did. They all assured me that need not feel |
any uneaSness on their account, but to rest !
easy. Coleman was running restaurant. l
promised to do what could for him i'll the |
way of increasing his patronage, and intro |
duced several of my Cleburne friends to him. |
He unthoughtedly told T. b Archer of Gle |
burne. who was, and Archer informed Depu-
to Sheriff Coulter, of Johnson county: | had
Coulter arrested me fGere di the Sd Of last |
June, pretending there were gaming cases
against me at Cleburne; but 1 am salts
tRG tRat %H uatey fssaa be Rake SeF here anf
would have 1een released on the charge OF |
jail. deny the published reltorts that | set |
fire to the Cleh1rne Jail on July 0, 70 enable |
origin of the fire. But 1t is a good thing it |
burned. 1t was equal to a death torture to |
have to remain in It, The Dallas Jail or the |
Missouri penitentiary are either one OF them, |
a Paradise in comparison"
The prisoner stated that for three years pre- |
vious to his killing sidney Smith he had acted |
as deputy postmaster at Ashlnad, Mo-, and |
been a clerk in his fathers drug store. He is |
now in a delicate state nf health, and he does |
not believe he could survive il he should be |
again confined to serve the remaining eleven |
years of his sentence. Hesthinks his punish |
ment has been amply severe and declares that |
if pardOned he would live an upright and use |
the Missouri Denitetiary, Judge Buckha DIT |
before whom he was c0nyictedi the twelve |
jurymen and many prominent citizens peti- |
toned Coy. Phelps for his pardon, but as the |
prosecuting attorney, S. G, Douglass, refused |
to sign the petition. Gov. Phelps never took ac-
ton. Christian feels confident that if he is |
returned to Missouri the same petition can be |
secured, and that Gov. Crittenden will grant |
him a pardon. The probability is that papers |
will soon be received, and that Christian will |
once more be confined within the walls of the |
Jefferson City penitentiary. He does not |
know if there is any reward for his capture, or |
his capture.
RASTR0P