The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-07-22
prpuApsTuEy WERE TWINS.

About twenty years ago robber enter
ed the farmhouse of John West IN Indiana.
and being discovered while proving
around the house. he shot West in order
To make his escape. The hour was mid
night. and there was bright harvest
moon lighting up the room in which the
shooting took place. West had club be-
side his bed, aud he gave the intruder
powerful blow with this before the shot
was fired. The bullet entered his ahdD-
men, and he lived about three days and
was ptIfsctly conscious all the time. He
declared o.l mis- dying bed that his murder
er was young man named solomon
Richards, ii lawless Character who hung
about the village two miles away. Mrs.
West recognized him as well, and when
Richards was arrested and charged with
the crime he did not deny i. There
wasn't the slightest doubt of his guilt, ana
but for the tirmness of the sheriff the fei-
low would have been lynched. He had
been i'll Jail two weeks before he declared
his innocence. AS he had no money he
could not engage a lawyer, but he made
statement to the sheriff which set that Of
fetal at work to prove an alibi for him.
On the night of the shooting Richards had
sat In the village tavern from 8 to 10
o'clock. This could be verified. When he
left the tavern he visited two saloons, but
this could not be verified. Several per
sons were almost sure of having seen him,
but no one was positive At 1870 o'clock
he went to livery stable and climbed up
in the hay to sleep. He claimed to have
spoken to hostler named Warner but
when Warner was consulted he could not
be sure whether it was that night or the
one preceding it. On his return from the
saloon to the barn Richards encountered
a person who was dressed like himself,
and whose general resemblance was very
striking. Both halted and looked each
other over as if astonished, but neither
spoke.
Not one man in a hundred would have
taken any stock in such story, but the
sheriff, singular as it may seem, believed
that Richards was telling the truth. West
had struck the man with club. Richards
had not the slightest wound or bruse.
The pistol with which the shooting was
done had been left behind. Moor about
the village had ever seen it before. How
could Richards who never had a dollar at
a time, have purchased il! He was on the
street. perfectly unconcerned, when ARE
ted. If he was guilty, why had he waited
right there to be taken into custody, when
the farmer had called out: Sol Richards,
you have shot me, but I'll live to see you
hung!"
All these points were overlooked by
everybody except the sheriff. Mr.. and
Mrs. West declared Sol Richards the man;
that was evidence enough, specially when
Sol was a goodtor-nothing. Three weeks
had passed when the sh I fl got track of
man who had passed tol-gate at an
early morning hour, carrying a bundle.
Further ON he found that the man with
the bundle had bloody ear. Five miles
further and he had entered a farmhouse,
alleged he had met with an accident and
had scalp wound dressed. He had Jour
neyed 100 miles before the sheriff over
took MIN, but here and there he had sold
fragments of his plumber. When finally
Overhauled and arrested he admitted his
crime almost before question was asked.
He was a professional tramp and robbery
was nothing new to him. He was not only
dressed precisely like Richards, but he re-
sembled him so closely in height, build,
weight and facial expression that people
came to the jail and called him Richards.
He gave his name as Terry, but as he
could remember little or nothing of his
childhood, and as this was also the case
with Richards, it was generally believed
that they we're twin brothers. The one
was released as an innocent man, and the
other was sent to prison for such a long
term as practically assured his death with
in the gloomy walls N. Z. Sun.