Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-12-23

~..x rwAIS's CRIME.
,..rwa;n,s latest. and, in the 0pin-
,,,ay,v his best WORK, Life on
!on sVtt;.s;as;npi.'' contains some chap
tne t.;n,fnl Of a humor that appeals to
t1 s Srhars are not few men to whom
au. of their boyhood days will be
llnn cd i,y the following Question
OF Law: .. 10 aone f,orr tho
.nth ~ Pear Creek, and so IL the small
~, Ior caIabooSe) which once stood In
a;cbborbood. A citizen asked, Do
nc 10 remember when Jimmy Finn, the
I'm drunkard. was burned to death in
the calabOoseT'
Observe how how history becomes de-
a,sd through LAPSE Of time and the help
~ had memories Of men. Jimmy Finn
was mot burned to death in the caA-
sooaa Init died a natural death in n
tsr vat of a combination Of deiirium
s,smens and spontaneous combustion.
When | cav natural death, inean it
vse a natural death for Jimmy Finn
IN die. The calaboose victim was not
oitizen: he Was poor stranger, a
harmless whisky sodden tramp. know
more about his case than anybody else;
knev too much of it in that bygone
day 70 relish speaking of it. That tramp
Vas wandering about the streets one
ehilIy evening with pipe in his mouth
ma begging for a match. He got nei-
ther matches nor courtesy; on the con-
t,ary, a troop of little boys followed
him around and amused themselves
Nth naeging and annoying him. as
listed. But at last some appeal which
he wayfarer made for forbearance, ac-
eompanyinR it with a pathetic reference
s bis forlorn and friendloss condition,
toched such sense of shame and rem
nant of right feeling AZ were left in me,
1od l went away and got him some
matches, and then hied me home And
bbed, heavily weighted rs TO conscience
and uabuoyant in spirit. An hour or
two afterward the man was arrested and
looked MP in the calaboOse by tho mar
shal-large name for constable, but that
was his title.
At two in the morning the church bells
rang for fire, and everybody turned out.
Of course-I v it'll the rest. The tramp
had used his matches disastrously; had
set his straw bed on fire and the oaken
eheathing Of the room had caught
When l reached the ground. two hun
dred men, women and children stood
massed together. transfxed with horror
and staring mt the grated windows Of
the Jail. Behind the iron bars, and
tagging frauticaily at them and scream
ing. stood tho tramp. He seemed like
. black object set against the sun, 10
white and intense was the light at his
back. The marshal could not be found,
L.. - a.. -, l~Avv A hnk
ram was quickly imprOvised, and the
thunder Of its blows upon the door had
o encouraging sound that the spec
ntors broke into Wild cheering, and
believed tho merciful battle won. But
Il Was not SO; the timbers were too
strong; they did not yield. It was said
the mans death grip still held on to
the bars when he was dead, and that
in this position the fires wrapped him
about and consumed him. Az to this l
10 not know. What was seen after l
Foooenized the face that Was pleading
through the bars was seen by others and
not by me.
! saw that face, 80 situated, every
night for Y long time afterward; and
believed myself a. guilty Of the mans
death ~ IL had given him the matches
purposely that he might burn himself
10 with them. had not doubt that
should be banged il my connection with
the tragedy were found ont. The hap
ponings and the impressions Of that
time are burned into my memory, and
the study of them entertains me M
much now as they themselves distressed
me then. II anybody spoke OF that
grizzly matter, ! was all ears in mo
meut, and alert to hear what might be
said, for I was always dreading and
expecting to find out that l was sus-
pected; and so fine and 10 delicate WAS
the perception of my guilty conscience
that il often detected suspicion in the
most purpOeeless remarks, and in looks,
gestures. chances of the eye, which had
no Significance, but which sent me shiv
ering away in panic Of fright, just
the came. And how sick it made me
when somebody dropped, however care
lessly and barren Of intent, tho remark
that /" murder will out" For n boy of
ten years Was carrying pretty weighty
cargo.
All this time I was blessedly forget
ting one thing-the fact that vas an
inveterate talker in my sleep. Bat one
night | awoke and found my bed-mate
my Younger broker - sitting mp in
bed, contemplating me bv tho light Of
the moon. said:
"What is the natter?"
"You talk 30 much can't sleep"
came to n sitting posture in an in
slant, with my kidneys in my throat and
my hair ON end.
sWhat did I say? Quick, out with it.
What did say?"
Nothing much"
ats lie! You know everything"
Everything about whaty"
"You know we'll enough about What"
about whatS Idont know what you
are talking about. think you are sick
or crazy, or something. But, anyway.
you are awake, and I'll get to sleep while
l have chance"
He fell asleep. and laid there in a
cold sweat, turning this new terror over
in whirling chaos, which did duty 40
my mind. The burden Of my thoughts
was, How much did l divulRe? How
much does he know? What q distress
is this uncertainty. But by and BY /
evolved an idea-I would wake my bro
ther and probe him with supposititious
CASE.
I shook him up aud said:
"Suppose a man should come to you
drunk"
"This is foolish--I never get drunk"
81 don't mean you, idiot. I mean the
man. Suppose . man should come 10
you drunk, or borrow knife, or toms-
hawk. or pistol, and you forgot to tell
him il was loaded, and"
"How could you load tomahawk?"
IL don't mean the tomahawk, and ]
didn't say the tomahawk; said the pis-
tol. Now, don't you keep breaking in
that way, because this ia serious. There's
been man killed"
"What! in this town."
Yes, in this town."
"Well, go on; ! WON'T say a single
word,
well. then, suppose you forgot to tell
him 10 Ia 0ar0fnl With IL hOoAu0e Is