Morning journal and courier., 1891-08-25
STORY oF-A cHEcKERED LIFE

TORY OFeA CHECKERED LIFE md Of . Pardon Won After Fifteen
 Years, Impris0nment-M. M. Gower
 of This City Tells a Courier Man
 How He Aided i'm Gaining the
 Pardon of an old Hawaii Fr1end-l
 An Adventurous Life in the Sand-
 vich Islands and SeIf-Education n in
 Auburn Prison.
 There lives in New Haven an old citizen who has travelled in his day to almost every l known part of the western world has been 1 sailor, California emigrant and trader on the sea, has followed occupations too many | to name by land, and now, retired from his varied life of adventure, is spending his later years in quiet business pursuits in this city. Ar. Melville M. Gower-for this Is the gentleman of whom we speak is rare story-teller and can spin many an interesting yarn of the times when the wig ilantes ruled on the Pacific slope and the missionaries had not yet accomplished the task of tanning the fierce savages of the Sandwich Islands. MT. Gower himself went out to Hawaii in 1854, between which place and San Francisco he was engaged in trading operations for space of sixteen years. There happened recently in New York an event of some importance in crim- inal annals which has wildly recalled to MT. Covers mind the circumstances of his stay in the Sandwich Islands. This occurrence was the pardoning out of Auburn prison by Governor Hill of a one-time Hawaiian, who was serving out term of life impris- onment for a murder committed about fifteen years ago. For number of years back MT. Gower had been making stren- uous efforts for the release of his old friend, but without success. Last fall he personally petitioned Governor Hill while the latter was making campaign tour in this state. All through the winter and spring Gower labored unceasingly for the same end and in June his efforts, aided by those of certain influential parties in New
 York met with tardy recognition. James c. King, the whilom criminal, was re- leased and has since written warm letter of thanks to his New Haven benefactor for the part the latter played in his enan- cipation.
 A COURIER representative approached MT. Gower the other day and after consid- erable persuasion-for MT. G. is very mod est when any story about his own achieve
 ments is concerned-the following narra-
 tive of the facts of the case from his own
 lips was obtained:
 -s'I knew King" said MT. Cover, Eat
 the islands in 1860 as a very smart and
 p1epossessing young man from New York
 city. He was bookkeeper for affirm which
 finally went to ruin. After their failure
 he went into business for himself, and, of
 course, as was natural with an energetic
 and intelligent young man in that day and
 locality, prospered in all of his transac- tions. In his youth he was man of great
 strength of mind and courage. At the
 time he was engaged in courting the pretty
 daughter of a retired sea captain, who un- fortunately never looked on his suit. Many
 a fierce jangle have I heard those two men indulge in over that girl, for both of them were hot high-tempered persons and the captain had sworn never to allow the marriage of his daughter to the youthful adventurer. King went by dark to see his sweetheart in order to insure secrecy, but one night the old captain caught them visiting to- gether. In towering rage he advanced
 on King as if to kill him. King quickly drew revolver and shot the old man, in hicting an ugly wound in the thigh For this offense he was brought to court and fined $500 with several days in jail. The verdict was looked upon as an outrage l since King had been pressed within an inch of his life and had drawn arms in self-defence. Shortly afterwards King | married the girl and left the island for
 New York city where he resided about ten years"
 "The romantic marriage proved very | unhappy. Kings fortune had sunk into ! &s1,, | of cruelty and infideity continually pass ing between himself and his wife. At last in 1876 Mrs. King sued for divorce, and | one Anthony O'Neil, man of alleged i'm ! moral life, was witness in her behalf. At the close of a certain hearing before g commissioner appointed to take evidence King shot O'Neil through the body as they were going down stairs, and the pool wretch only lived till priest on the street could be rushed in to to shrive him.
 In the trial that followed it was show1
 pretty conclusively that O'Neil had beer
 altogether too intimate with Kings wife
 and that there had been bad blood betweer
 them long before the date of the shooting ] But King had no money to employ able | counsel with and he was found guilty o1
 murder in the second degree and sent uI l to Sing Sing for life. I read all the report
 of the trial in the papers, said MT. Cover at the time, together with the statement
 that King was dying of consumption, put
 him down in the list of those who would
 soon be dead, ''though often thinking ot
 him."
 Two years since met an old New Ha-
 ven acquaintance, who having failed in the lumber business here many years ago, went Auburn and was for tunate enough to strike rich contract 1 for prison labor with friend in which l they secured an ample fortune before the legislature took their business away from l them. King had been transferred from Sing Sing to Auburn and being an expert
 accountant and business man was just what the firm of Merritt & Jones wanted | to keep their books and and advise them in various ways. They paid him a salary l children and he was 8 very valuable man l to his employers. His spare time was given to reading and study and since 1874 | he had mastered seven of the leading Ian guages of Europe, the last being the Rus sian tongue. He also became exceedingly well read in1aw and theology, but for
 some reason best known to himself en- | braced the Roman Catholic faith and went | so far as to initiate some of the old monks | in their austere treatment of the body,
 He was allowed many privileges by LIB hSopcIb-
 His change of religion and solitary life
 brought about many eccentricities of con- duct. He used to punish the body by plunging naked into the snow drifts in
 the prison yard during cold winters. His 1 chief amusement was the keeping of 8 few fancy fowls in one corner of the yard and the raising of vegetables and l berries in 8 bit of unoccupied ground. Some of the prison rules were never en- forced upon him, and when he absolutely I refused to do certain things the matter l was simply ignored. All this and much more was told me by MT. Merritt. who added that Kings wife and children abso- lutely deserted him when they could no longer coax money from him. You see, his income failed when the convict sys- tenn was abolished. was told also that there was nothing to prevent him from getting pardon, if he had only a single friend to work for him.
 After that began to write to my form CT friend at the Auburn jail. He also seemed confident that if little influence was brought to bear and the real facts of the case set forth he would secure a speedy release. have written to the New York ! authorities many times since then, beside the personal talk I had with Governor Hill. Other people, both in Kings native | state and on the Pacific slope, have inter- ceded in hia behalf and last June the