Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-22


can scarcely write at all. have sometimes
thought that if could write and spell better
1 could have done more to clear nv name of
this terrible accusation. But YOU see these
few pages. Well, have been at work upon
them since last Monday; 1 think that was
when began it, wasn't it, Sheriff? 1t helps
ME to put in the time, and then think it
will make me feel better satisfied if / know
that when it is all over the public can read
my claim oflnnocence without having lying
witnesses and meddling lawyers to contra
dict it."
DESPERATION THAT Is PATHETIC.
Yes, the manuscript was badly written.
Letters were curlouSly formed; almost every
other word was either capitalized, or should
have been capitalized and was not; and
punctuation was entirely omitted; but
through it all there was apparent that effort
that covered the paper with pathoS. The
various sentences were not connected, and
the rambling character of the statement
prevented it from being consecutive story
of his movements on the morning when
Drover McCausland, Of Allegheny City,
lost his life in the Monongahela Valley.
The paper declares that several OF the wit
1esses, giving their names, swore to false
hoods on the stand at the trial, and that
through these lies his life was sworn away.
Without explanation as to circumstances
the statement is dull and uninteresting. and
would carry little weight or value were 1t
not the last strong effort of a dying man to
put himself right in the eyes of the public.
Its substance will be better understood in
the interview which had with Clark, the
allegations being the same that he is trying
to put on paper.
81 am certainly disappointed, he said,
because had hardly expected to go to the
penite1tiary for this crime. So when the
Pardon Board refused to take action in nv
case it was hard blow, but not nearly so
hard to bear as the news which came soon
afterward that the Governor had signed my
death warrant However, 1 now feel that all
that is possible has been done for me by my
attorneys. They worked bravely for me,
and 1 am too poor to pay them cent.
THE PRISONERS RELIGION.
''No, my nerves have not suffered from the
blow. There is nothing for ME to be cow
mitted this murder, then might have been
worrying about my future in the other
world. 1 eat heartily, and 1 sleep very
1 sit up late because 1 like to
write when 1 have perfect quiet. So don't
generally get to bed these nights until about
l o'clock. Then l sleep late in the morn
ing. The other men are all up in time to
eat breakfast, but prefer my sleep in the
mornings, and consequently skip my break
fast. 1t leaves my appetite all the better for
my dinner and supper.
my health has not suffered much from
L. e. L. IL
lack of exercise has increased my weight
greatly. 1 am good bit heavier now than
when first came here. Lately have tried
to be religious man. l was always
Baptist. but 1 regret to say that 7 was not
always a strict attendant at the churches.
But never injured a fellow man. / never
wanted to hurt anyone. The worst I ever
did was to get drunk. did that often.
And used to swear. Some of the preach
ers here have been very kind to me, coming
in often to see me. My own family could
not come to see me frequently, because it is
hard to get here from where they live. They
live at Masontown, which is 20 miles from
here, and the only way to come is to walk
or drive, and they are too poor to do the
latter have wife and two children.
The baby is glrl-let me see, Just about 2
years old now."
Clark's voice trembled as he spoke of his
especially of the baby. They
were all present at the time of his trial.
The Sheriff told me that he could testify
that Clark's New Testament was we'll
marked. Subsequently got a glimpse of
its pages. A few passages of scripture that
1 observed scratched with a lead pencil
were principally promises of divine help
opd ,pAa - af k-ny,I1o D..
J. Maxwell, young Baptist minister of
was a frequent visitor to
Clark until he was called to Philadelphia,
and since then Rev. William R. Ryan has
been two or three times TO counsel the fated
prisoner. 49,
CLARK ALLEGES Wholesale LYING.
81 can't understand why was convicted
Of this murder" said Clark when he had re-
sumed. 81 don't call it even circumstantial
evidence that convicted me. 1t was the lies
of witnesses and of some newspapers
that made the jury believe 1 was guilty.
[ never saw or heard of this man
who was murdered. 1
knew nothing of the murder until after the
body was found and the neighbors had got
to talking about the mysterious affair.
was arrested on the 28th of Decem Der, 1887,
over three months after the murder was
committed. 1 was at home all that time,
and you don't suppose would have stayed
there if had murdered that man. John
Parker, upon whose testimony chiefly was
told point blank lie. All his
evidence was false. And when he was ex-
amined second time 1 noticed that he did
not say positively that all happened which
he had previously alleged. When he was
asked questions the second time, he would
say: said that such and such thing
happened. He did not then say that it
actually did happen. have been thinking
it all over since then. 1t Parker knew all
Lhese things why did he not tell them long
before he did. 1t was nearly month after
The murder that he told them. He was
present at the Coroner's inquest and never
said word. Long afterward he told his
story to friends and they told it to officers.
In the meantime Parker was himself under
and have heard that detectives
had threatened to make him tell where he
got the money he was spending.
flames Fondyce also told a lie to the
ury when be said that be saw me on the
McCann's ferry road with revolver in my
hand. Other witnesses lied outrageously
about me in the trial. 1 don't know what
heir object was"
PRISONER TAYLOR INTERVIEWED.
The Sheriff also introduced me to Zach
Taylor, whose death warrant had just been
received from Governor Beaver, fixing
April as his execution day. Taylor does
not impress a stranger so fsvorablY as his
partner in distress. At the time met him
be was promenadIng hurriedly backward
md forward in the prison hallway. He is
all thin and Spare-featured man. Con-
inement has made him quite pale and hol-
ow-cheeked. His nose is tipped with red,
Ind about his whols appearance there is
decidedly uncanny. His eyes
ire restless and he has a shutting, nervous
way about him that leaves you without con-
idence in him. His cole hands were i'm
passive in mine. dropped the one 1 had
7ery quickly. Taylor was in his shirt
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