The record-union., 1891-08-14
A FATHER JUST DEED.
John p. Irish Defends the Act OF j. G.
Howell.

John p. Irish Defends the Act OF j. G.
Howell.
In letter to the Oakland Tribune Col
onel John p. Irish thus scathingly crit
cises that papers course in denouncing
the shooting of Colvin by the father of
his would-be victim:
TO the Editor Of the I3ibu2se-SIR: In
an editorial on the Howell affair you vol
unteer defense OF me, and take occasion
to indict, try, convict and sentence father
| who long fOrDOre but finally struck
rightly and righteously, in defense of his
| family.
1t is true that I said Howell did right,
and desire now TO repeat and emphasize
| it.
! In the last ten years there have been a
dozen cases in Oakland OF pursuit and
persecution by Iickerish wretche; with an
erOtic maggot i'll their brains. In every
case the woman was of peculiarly hign
spirit and modesty, entitled to the respect
OF all men who remember their mothers,
! but they were pursued as if they were
guilty of a crime by denying themselves
to men without manhood.
| COlVln'S conduct presents every often
sive feature possible. Not content with
personal actions, drunk and sober, that
revolt every normal man, he put his
! erotlc spites in print, and TO crown ali,
/
| transferred to another, he continued, with
added vilcness and vindictiveness, 10
slandersand persecute the lady, who from
! the first had rejected his acquaintance.
Any one who reads the Statement"
! paraded as that of the Maxwell woman,
! if capable Of analysis and skilled in the
| abnormal phases Of perverted men. sees
| III it the dictatiOn Of ColVin to woman
sharing his debauch, into whose heated
| head he had put jealousy of her husband.
| Having failed i'll all his quest TO find q
fact with which to tarnish Howcl's child,
| he gots woman III her cups and jealousy
! to set up q phantom letter, and in the
| whole miserable business this was the
nearest he could get to evidence 10 Justify
| himself in his public and private ISLANDERS
Of Il lady to punish her for refusing his
/ attentions.
! That it was his intention 10 offer Miss
/ Howell physical harm have no doubt
/ believe that for long time his clamor
| for an interview with her alone was for
| the purpose Of killing her. Defeated in
! this by her caution, this pervert deter
| mined to slaughter her reputation by
methods which, the Tli6ule says, have
succeeded.
! If this be so then nomodeSt women are
safe. If the newspaper press take your
! view of it. there is no close season FOR
women; they are the common prey and
/
must choose between surrender OF their
/ bodies or loss of their regulations, when
| any man chooses to make the demand
and back it with threat.
| Every father in this city knows that in
such cases as this the law leaves his
daughter without statutory defense, and
you, by convicting Mr.. Howell in ad-
vance of his trial, propose to leave him
without natural defense.
In the condition of society which your
editorial suggests, fathers have no choice
but to fling their daughters to any dog
that barks under their windows.
| should dislike to think that this or
any other American community agrees
with you. Every wholesome father and
mother in California regards John Howell
as a soldier who has had to take up arms
in defense of thousands of homes besides
his own, and whatever fate befall him,
| the sympathy and respect and friendship
| Of thousands of good men and women
are with him and his family, every one.
Very truly, JOHN =. IRISH,
Oakland, Aug. II, 1891.