Omaha daily bee., 1888-04-01
SOME TALES OF DUAL LIVES.
Men With Two Avocations and Sew.
eral Homes.
SAINT AND SINNER BY TURN.
Interesting Stories of Mistaken Iden-
tity and Circumstantiai Evil
~dence-some Well Known
Cases.

in Jail awaiting the arrival Of officers
from Indiana TO carry him back, pre-
sents features that, while romantic, are
not unusual in the annals OF crime. In
Indiana Davis has lived for many years,
respected and houored above his fellow
men. lie was supposed to be engaged
In the live stock trade on an extensive
scale, and was counted an ideal of social
and business integrity. And now it
turns out that for ten years he has been
o most daring and successful horse
thief. The intelligence was received
by his friends with ~incredulity at first,
and mistaken identity was urged, but
the plea has been abandoned, and they
all admit that the man has been leading
a double life.
Such cases are much more common
thar one would suppose. Every city in
the country has its Jean Vatican, or,
perhaps, Billy Kissane. Men who have
once walked in crooked paths do not al
ways remain criminals forever. The
~favorite aphorism of detectives and po-
lice officers, "once a thief, always n
thief" is by no means arule. This coun-
try is so large hat any may emerging
from prison, penitent for the past and
DESTROYS of leading a better life in the
future, can readily find a place where,
under a new name, he can commence
life anew and become an honored and
respected citizen. The celebrated
forger, Kissane, is found years after
his disappearance from the world a
millionaire in California. Run yer
the list of your acquaintances, and you
will recall at least one man who never
talks OF some period of his life. The
world is full of these mysteries, these
men with gibbering skeletons in their
closets.
Not many years ago a group OF inva-
lids and gamblers were seated about an
evening fire in the office of a Colorado
hotel. The institution was in the cen
ter of a region where nature had
launched her gifts. Healing springs
and invigorating mountain breezes at
| tracted invalids from every quarter and
| the proprietor of the Sanitarium was re-
ported a rich man. He mad been in
a silent. uncommunicative man, not
morose or ~sullen, but simply uncom-
m~unicative. He never spoke of his
family or of 1.-THE States" and were it
| not that he was a nan Of evident re-
fnement and education, he would have
passed as one born in the life-giving
| valley, which he, above all men, had
| developed, for anything he would ever
| say of the world outside of its pine
fringed confines.
AN l. MANS TALE.
On this particular night an old man
in the group told, with the simple pa
tlN, &c ~, ,,1nttarnl mind the story
| of the great grief of his life. He had
| zone out to California in 40, leaving a
wife and child behind him. He pros
| pered in the land of the Argonauts, and
| kept up n regular communication with
| his family, sending them sufficient sums
| from time to time to keep them in COM
fort, but saying nothing about the
''pile" he would have within a year or
so. He wanted to surprise the folks at
home with his good fortune. AT last he
had accumulated $40. 900, and the long
ing came over him to go home. His
dust was converted into ten crisp bank
notes. and he started homeward.
"You see, boys, ! didn't rig up in new
togs, or anything like that. A fellow
likes TO 90 back home in his old camp
toys. and knock around for n few days,
letting on as though he had come home
broke, and then when every one has
about made up his mind that you never
were Fanny good anyhow. spring
your fortune on them, and give them
the laugh that had been giving it tC
YOU. made the the trip overland all
right. and was on a railroad train within
800 miles of my wife and baby, when
dozed off for a few minutes. When
awoke 7 had been robbed Of my pile. ]
always was a ID fool about telling my
business to strangers, and there wasn't
a man on the car that didn't know
that | was a miner going home with &
fortune. When | awolle and found thai
| had been robbed | gave the alarm. Nc
one had left the train. There was great
excitement, and one man proposed thai
everybody in the car be searched. NJ
one objected and the conductor and my
self went through every man on the car
and examined every valise and piece o
baggage in it. / just felt as though my
heart would break. not for myself
was used TO hard luck-but for my wife
and little gal. I couldn't go home ant
face them, so l got off at the neXt city
and the next day | was on my way to thu
coast to begin all owe AGAIN. / wal jus
getting on my feet once more when | go
% letter with n black border. My little
gal had heen taken sick with the typhoid
fever and died, and two days later the.
laid her mother away with her. Tha
settled it. | have been no good since
and | am only waiting the time when
can join them up there if | can get in
The silent proprietor of the sanitariun
had listened to this sad story with hi
face buried in his hands, a common at
titude with him. When the old MAJ
had finished the proprletorleft the room
abruptly.
The group noticed that he was deadly
pale, and one of them remarked that i
appeared as though Jim had been taker
bad.
Two hours later a pistol shot rang on
from the hotel mans private office
When the group ran into the ROOF
"Jim'' lay on the floor with a bullet
hole in his head. On the desk lay TIVE
documents, freshly written. One wa
marked my will the other, my con
fession.n The will left everything Il
the old miner who had told the sat
story. The confession was to the effec
that he had robbed the returning mine.
as he slept. Retiring to a closet he hat
with Il knife scooped out the inside of
cake of soap and secreted the roll o
bills and replaced the cake, whicl
showed no signs of having been cut il
two pieces, in his valise. 1t was he tha
had suggesteQ the search of the Dassen