Telegram-herald., 1886-05-12
A TRAMP KILLED HIM
VIM Ringgold Tells OF the
Murder Of Farmer McLain.
1 C00PtS.VILLt CRIME C0AfESSED.
a Tramp. : oii o. kemorse. Tells a 81.
LOUIS Paper tto~ ne Killed an
Ottawa CoVnts fsrmer-fts
Wants 10 GNe Himself Up

~ loIIs. No MAY ll-on tie night of
s~pt "a lss4 tragedy occurred near
Coopersaus. in OusWA county. Mich. a
isrmeF named J. A McLain. living sia
mites roflh ~ the village being SHOT bs
revolver in the hands 81 tramp Nho lad
received the hospitality ef the house A
tramp. ~ho is encamptd with party Of
fifteen gave the following 10 C.,oaicls re-
porter today
My name is Wm. Ringsold and I anl
the man " DO killed the farmer ia Western
Michigan The dispatches al the time
say that / went into his house anG raised
disturbance That j. not true had been
walking all day and sas tired and nearly Sam
ished for something tO est asked or food
and shelter bur instead received insults and
a stern command T. leave the house with
out a moments delay. The old man sat in
a chair 0y the fire. and there were no other
persons ia the room except the san spoken
OF The father toli the son 60 ron % Gte
neighbors for assistance the necessity for
which did not see a. | was Ou The point
of leaving when he gave the young man the
order.
The boy ran out and the old man turned
10 me and began 10 curse ana call me names
In a moment of passion / shot him dead
then ran ont of the house and fled TO the
woods, where J spent the night iu great
agitation aud dismay. The next dav ]
yentured ont 10 a cornneld. gathered an
armtul Of roasting ears ana, returning 10 the
forest built iire and roasting them. salts
fed the pangs Of gnawing hunger In the
afternoon / Travelled through the woods
until II became 50 dark could no longer
see my way The day following | cOntin
ued the Journey. found more corn. roasted
and ate IL and then slept in the woods again
continued This practice until ! reached
Chicago. and after sknlking around the
outskirts OF the city for "a while. finally
yentured To- the Mccormick reaper works,
where / luckily found employ ment as "A
rousiabout during The winter. The remorse
Of having killed McLsin aud the
fear of beng apprebended al any moment
drove me almost crazy al times. In April
loS5. ] left there and went % Minneapolis
where obtained "A few weeks work about
Touring mill. Then / secured position "a
deck hand ON the steamer White Eagle,
then, and believe now. plying between
that city and ~. Louis. Al ~ Louis ]
took the steamer City of NIcksburg and
made one trip with il a. a deck /
hand 10 New Orleans. Here | called for
my time and paw and after seeing the sights
of the Crescent City for week took To the
road and have been "A wandering yagabOnd |
ever since | arrived at East St l. nis a
day or two before the strike and hoped 10
profit by il and get some work. but IA that
! was mistaken. Last week we organized |
this gang and started toward the southeast, |
but God only knows where We shall land"
Ringgold told the story. through choking |
sighs and gr0ans He declared his only 1
object WAS TO unbnrdcn his mind. He stated l
further that the impulse 10 20 back 10 the /
scene of the murder and give himself up be- 1
came almost irresistible al times and NAV /
vet do SO. said he
: He is "A man about five feet ten inches /
high. dark hair, gliJtering wild eyes. pale, I
haggari face. and very nervous ~ his man
ner. He NAV be a lunatic. However. his 1
story Is very remarkable one, TO say the |
least.