St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-21

row aud its attending emotions weigh
ing down upon me 1T one side, and the
grim spectre of mob law, as my i'll
trained fancy painted it, rising men-
acingly at the other. As L have
said, hundred times | did not
know that an accused person
could testify in his own behalf
in this country. | had Il deep-iounded
conception that man who took an
others life was dealt with and disposed
OF summarily, and that Judge Lynch
West. | must tell my whole story.
Preller was dead. His body lay on the
bed as he had died. was trying to
make up my mind what to do. As |
said before, | determined on flight. But
what should L do with the body? 1t
must be concealed. | emptied my zinc
trunk, which had The initials of my
adopted name, Nv. III. l.. NJ" on it,
and, pulling ii 10 the side of the bed,
placed the body, which had been lying
under the counterpane, i'll 1t. | then
against the wall and corded it up. Did
L sleep? No. | spent the night in
pacing the room and wondering what
would become OF me. Then it was that
plans came into my head-a hundred of
then-the first had conceived in con-
necllon with the occurrence.
linen 1t was my crime really began.
Tut yourself i'll my place that terrible
night. stranger alone in a vast land,
your friend dead, your other friends
thousands of miles away, your life as
YOU thought i'll jeopardy, and your one
Soiace liquor, and tell me what would
you have done? | have said that L had
hall formulated Il conclusion to take my
pn1nnAS N nd /
was bordering this and possibly other
things; but flight at any rate was upper
most III my mind, when an impulse led
me to examine Mr.. Preller's trousers
pockets. In one of them L found roll
OF bills amounting to about $500. | said
| would use this TO assist me in my
flight, and l now regretfuliy confess
that | appropriated it. also took pair
OF Sleeve-buttonS from Preller'S cuffs,
which put in my own. l wish, how
ever to state that the buckskin bag
which the prosecution at first said Mr..
Preller carried around his body, and
which they accused me of having cut
from the remains, is my own pouch. My
ownership in that pouch, about which
the prosecution in the days before my
trial made great ado, is no longer
disputed. After taking the money an
other insane fancy entered my head. l
wrote the ''So-periSh-all-traitOr
great-cause' placard, and, uncOrding
and unlocking the trunk in which the
remains were hidden, pasted the pli-
card at one end of the trunk near my
friends head. AT the same time l cut
OIL his muStache and made the cross
marks on the breast. | don't know
whether l used scalpel, or the scis-
SorS, or knife in making these marks
1t was simply on the surface of the skin.
Don't expect me to tell you why did
these things. L have myself been try
ing for the last two years to interpret
my actions that night and to penetrate
the secret of my mental condition at the
time. Liquor and the enormity of my
misfortune must have combined to craze
me. | surely was not in sane and re-
sponSible state. 1 suppose
had an idea that the placard
would throw a political mystery
about the affair, and the marks would
be accepted as the bloody signature of
secret organization, while the removal
of the mustache was. undoubtedly. for
the purpose of destroying identity. But
| am making all these suppOsitions now.
If / were offered my freedom this min
ute to satisfactorily explain those facts
1 couldn't do it,
Maxwell next describes the fears and
fortunes of his flight. how he assumed
various DISCUSSES and characters and
made his way to Auckland. He winds
up with a seathing denunciation of the
detective who testified On the stand that
Maxwell had confessed to him in jail.
He says:
''Dingfelder was a willing liar, but
not scientific one. However, when
the prosecution needed man for such
job. they. of necessity, had to hire
such as were in the market, and, per
haps. after all. il will do me no good to
abuse DIngfelder, for 50 far as yet ap-
pears, he has lied successfully, even
though unscientifically. Watch his
come to no goOd.''