St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-05
SANITY CITY DOINGS
Are There Two John wilkins
Who Are Mixed UP in
Marriages.
Green, the Coloped Soldier,
Acquitted Of Shooting
With Intent to Kill.
Services in Many Of the City
Churches This Sabbath
Morning.
Summary Of the DOingS Of
One Day Gathered From
All Sources.
HAS HE DOUBLE d?
Officials Think There May Be
More Than One John wilkins.


People often read startling stories in
novels and yellow-backed literature of
one having double" himself in an
other skin, as it were, and suffering
punishment for crimes committed by
the deadly double" Then, too. of the
man who looks like his brother and mar
rowly escapes marrying his brothers
sweetheart, or the man who, on his way
down street with his girl, is accoSted by
the laundry woman for a bill owed
10y a man who looks like him.
All of these are of course written as
fiction and accepted as fiction. But it
now seems that St. Paul can furnish
similar story in real life that is not tic
ton. As John Wilkins, the alleged big
amist. thOughtfully PAGES in his cell in
the county jail he is dimly conscious
that his double is chasing somewhere
around the continent.
\ day or two after Wilkins arrest
Sheriff Richter received letter from
woman in Baltimore, in which she
said she had read of Will
kins' arrest and claimed that she
had been married TO him also in the
presence of twenty witnesses, one of
which was his mother, now living in
Memphis. She enclosed a picture of
her husband, and signed herself "ES-
telle Wilkin nee Chittenden." At the
bottom OF the paragraph WAS the sigma
ture John Ii. Wilkins" The officials
at the Jail carefully examined the pho
tOgraph, and compared it with Wilkins
in the Jail. They now claim that, while
the picture closely resembles the priS-
Oner, they can plainly see that ii Is the
PHOTOGRAPH OF ANOTHER MAN.
The prisoner himself examined it,
and though he admitted the resem-
blance, claimed that was some one else.
Before this picture came, Wilkins
claimed that there was another man
named John Wilkin. living in PittSburg.
who closely reSembled him, and still
another in Cleveland. There seems to
be little doubt but that the picture is
that of some other man, and on the
other hand, it looks rather strange that
two men of the same name and appear
ance should De travelling around the
country engaged i'll the same business.
This does not release Wilkin
from the charge, nor does it
place any charge against him. The
facts are merely given as they appear.
The Mrs. Willin' of Baltimore may
possibly be miSled by the name, and
again the prisoner may have married
her and changed greatly in appearance
since that photograph was ia ken. Chief
Clark, in response TO letter from the
East, has sent the photograph there.
Snd there may possibly be some new de-
SlOpmentS ere long.
MIR. WILKINS No. l.
A GLOBE reporter called on John
Wilkin at the jail yesterday afternoon,
and found him naturally somewhat
troubled and thoughtful over his I'M
pleasant situation. He refused to Jump
wildly and prominently into print, by a
relation of his grieYenees.
Il do not wish to say anything" he
said, until all the counties have been
heard from. There are always two
sides to a story, and | rather think the
papers treated ME unfairly by rushing
into print while l was absent
from the city and consequently unable
to say word in my defense. AS re-
CARDS that letter from Nelson, there is
nothing in it. Nelson is an old tramp
about sixty years old aud is kept by his
wife, who gives him only dollar or two
at time or he gets drunk. He spends
One-third of his time in the work house.
L had row with Nelson once and he
takes this method to get even. There
is no truth in the charges brought
against Inc and | have no fears of the
result"
Wilkin talked and acted sensibly. He
doesn't look like a man who should be
lnprison, and wants fair play and moth
ina