The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-11-28
A MURDERER'S LIFE.
Religious Training of a Bur
glar and Assassin.
HOUSED OF REFUGE.
s.More Than an Honorable Man" Car
Stand to See q Guiltless Man
Punished.

CHICAGO, November 24.-James Young,
the convict in the Joliet Prison who made
a confession Il few days ago declaring that
he committed a murder for which a man
named Thomas was sentenced, has wrltten
a history of his life and crimes. Thomas
is confined in the Joliet prison also, and
the sight OF an innocent mans lmprls'n-
ment, Young states, was more than an
honorable man could stand" In his con-
fession Young says:
II was born twenty-eight years ago in a
pretty little village in the South OF Ireland.
People generally in after life ave pleasant
memories of the spot where they were
born, but l have none. That little cOun-
try village was a hell to me. Every rock
and pond and green meadow was made to
shelter a devil, u witch or any other horrl-
BILE thing that foul superstitution i'll
the brain of unnatural man could in
vent to brighten and sadden the mind OF
childhood. Ihad the misfortune to be born
of Protestant parents in a Catholic COM
munity. l had a splendid religious train
ing. The fear of the devil, hell, birthstone
and all the other cheerful institutions OF
bigotry were well ground into me-so well,
indeed, that I often think it is the reason l
have kept his company ever since.
ToRTuREs OF
"They tell in books of the awful dreams
of felons and villains of all kinds. l be-
lieve that to be a lie. My after life has
seen a comedy compared to the tortures |
suffered, sleeping and walking, when an in
nocent child. The whole face OF nature
was made a blight to me, until l used to
often wish / had been created a COW, or
something of that sort, as | saw they
seemed to agree and never quarrel with
each other, nor frighten their calves with
religious matters.
"In Philadelphia a reaction set in. 1 re-
member I began TO pray less fervently not
to be obliterated in my bed before morn
ing. 1 used to have plenty OF fun with the
boys. We did not fight (the boys l went
with) about religious matters. After
ting a little too wild wv hich l was), took it
into his head one day to give ME a moral
and religious training.
THE PHILADELPHIA HOUSE OF REFUGE
For that purpose l was committed to a
reformatory institution called the House
of Refuge
"Now, if that mild creature, the Devil,
and all his angels were to assemble for that
| purpose in the most secret chamber of that
INDICATED hell, they could not plan a more
| perfect t~raining-schOol for crime thar this
| place. l was II years old then. All the
boys OF the city and country, in every
stage of viciousness and innocence, are
gathered here in one indiscriminate mass.
| When a boy leaves this institution, and is
not prepared for treason, s~tratagems and
! spoils' he must be either naturally very
lazy or else guarded by a very special Prov
force here, and you must lie, steal, fight,
use slang, be selfish. and even worse than
any Of these, in order to get enough to eat
and survive. For there it is the survival
of the fittest,' and the tender ones are
driven to the wall.
I'VE vent TO church seventeen times
every week. TIL Superintendent used to
read the Bible to us with a plug of tobacco
in each jaw. He could squirt tobacco Juice
while turning a leaf in the most solemn
and religious manner of any man l ever
saw. The kids went into ecstacies over it,
and to initiate it in different degrees of
completion was all the rage.
FOR TELLING THE TRUTH.
II was a good boy, and told the truth for
two consecutive days in there at one time,
but as l was promptly logged for it l saw
my mistake and it did not occur very often
again. When l left there l was shrewd
enough to see how easily men are mistaken.
l had nothing but contempt for the silly
tales told me. But | was not wise enough or
OO CuOuSA w 9 OliGAU may UC ~ xulu.
ing principle in human life beside fear.
got the idea somehow or other that every
one wanted to be as bad as possible. and
that they were only fools or towards VINO
proessed religion: the slaves OF an unnatu-
raj fear that was not unknown to me. No
one had ever told me that virtue would be
it's own reward or that there was any
natural good in the world.
"Up to the time OF the killing of Mr.. Allen
I had never even wounded any one. had
very little regard for the rights of property,
but to shoot a man dead in his own house
was a climax of villainy l had not counted
on. 1t was a miserable combination of cir
cumstances that caused the shooting that
night. l was not feeling well. and so went
into the house with my overcoat on-some-
thing l had never done before. It was but
toned to the throat. l was standing with
my back to Mr.. Allen; l bad looked at him
just a moment before, and he was sound
asleep.
II had then turned and taken down the
clothes-pants and vest, l ~think-with a
watchchain hanging from the vest. I hada
candle in one hand and had taken down
the clothes with the other without making
any noise. would have left in a second
could turn, Mr.. Allen spoke in quick words.
All, you are there I think is what
he said. As quick as the word he had
his arm thrown around me, the candle was
out, and we were in the dark. We fell over
on the bed, he on the back and me with my
back on his stomach and his arms clasped
firmly around me-. Now, l could hardly
tell afterward how it all occurred. As l
have said, l was not feeling very well, the
room was small and close. q handkerchief
was tied across my mouth tina was snffo-
eating me, and which 1 could not remove. |
was no time to think; l was helpless
as a baby in the position l was in. My |
partner did not come to help me at first
when he heard the scuffle, as he should, and
| did not know but he had left me. There
is no time for reflection in a struggle like
this. He vas holding me and I was stray
Cling to get away. l told him several times
to let go or I would shoot. 1 was nearly
crazy with excitement, and it was simply
the animal feeling of self-preservation that
caused me to fire the shots. l was so weak
when l got outside that in running ! fell
down two or three times"
Gould Not See the Joke.
Lewiston (Me) Journal.
In a teachers convention at Dexter re-
l. A.