Los Angeles herald., 1892-11-21
HE MARRIED THIRTEEN TIMES,
And Considering the Number
Unlucky, Suicided.
Black John, the Fin de Steele Biga-
mist, C0nfesses and Dies.
An Unknown Man Takes a Fatal Dose of
Morphine = He Leaves Behind .
Weird Tale OF Many We'd
dings and Advice.

There lies at the morgue, "uncoffined,
unknown and uncared for by the
world" the body of remarkable man,
who has led most remarkable career,
even If only half of his written con.
fession is true. His confession is writ
ten in clear, bold and rational style,
showing that he was in the full possess
sion of his mental faculties. and shows
no design to boast over his numerous
conquests of eonfiding women, but CEN
sures his own conduct and points q
moral for thoughtless women to follow.
Surfeited with guilty pleasures, racking
with pain, a moral, social and financial
wreck, he could only find relief in sui
eide. While he has made every effort
to conceal his identity, it seemed to him
that he owed something to the world
and to humanity to leave his written
confession, in which he depicted clearly
and rather severely his own black and
criminal record. 1t does not read like
the boastings of an insane man, neither
is the "hand" the scribbling of crank
but the chirography OF business man,
showing no trembling or erasures, but a
plain, business-like statement, written
upon legal cap in ink and only upon one
side OF the sheet. In the date line oil
the letters to the San Francisco Exam.
liner he wrote an 49," which was crossed
ont and 80" written over it. But this
only shows that he no DOUBT was mis-.
taken as to the date OF the month. The
letters were signed "Black JOHN" and
the note written to the landlady of the
house in which he roomed had the
same informal signature. While
he has taken every precaution
to conceal his own identity and
his family name, his conscience SEEM
ingly compelled him to reveal his crimes
and sins, and sooner or later the mys-
terry of this mysterious suicide will come
to the surface.
HIS APPEARANCE.
As the body of the unknown lay in
the morgue, the usual crowd of the NOR
bidly curious looked at the corpse, but
no one seemed to know the unknown"
The man has smoothly-shaven face,
thickly pock-marked, thick, sensual lips,
coarse features, is more of a dark COM
plexion than fair, and his dark hair is
closely cropped around q large, thick
skull. He was about 33 or 35 years of
age, 5 feet inches in height, and 100
pounds in weight.
No money was found in his pockets
he wore q shirt button and ring re-
sembling diamonds, but it is believed
they are quartz.
EFFORTS TO REsUsCrTATE HIM.
TEe suicide 10 a stranger to this city,
arriving here last Frid ay morning, pre-
from San Francisco. He rented
q room at 3l61s South Spring street,
near Fourth, the place where he COM
mitted suicide. 1t seems that he wrote
his letters during the following day. and
made all preparations for his suicide
that night. About 10 o'clock Saturday
night he retired, placed the letters on
the table, and swallowed the poison. A
lady in an adjoining room heard heavy
and, becoming alarmed, sum-
moned the landlady; che called in the
assistance of two gentlemen; they en-
tered the room through an adjoining
room, and, seeing an empty bottle
labeled "whisky" upon the wash stand,
concluded that the man was
sleeping soundly from the effects of in
toxication, left the room. One of them
noticed letter lying upon the table
near the bed, but thought nothing
strange of that; his clothing was care
fully placed in order upon his retiring,
but the men did not think that if he
have been thrown carelessly around the
room.
DISCOVERY OF HIS CONDITION.
Yesterday morning about 8 O'Clock,
when Annie McClelland, the colored
servant, came to the room, she heard
heavy breathing, like death rattle.
She gave the alarm; the landlady, Miss
Lewis, notified the police department.
Physicians we're called in. The dying
man was whipped with towels" IN
jected with arsenic, rubbed and every
effort made to awake him from his
death-sleep, but without avail. He was
taken to the central police station at
10 AS, where he died at 12:45 O'Clock,
when the body was taken to the morgue.
THE LANDLADY's STATEMENT.
Miss Lewis, landlady of the roomine
house, 316H South Spring street, said to
q HERALD reporter yesterday: "He
came to this house last Friday morning
about 10 O'Clock be asked me il 1 had
any reasonably cheap rooms for rent; !
told him that had and showed him
No. %, up stairs; the price was So q
week; he handed me 81, saying he
would pay the remainder when his bag
gage came; do not know just when his
baggage did come, but it was not more
than one or two hours after he took the
room he was we'll dressed. did not seem
to be troubled about anything; had on
q gray plaid suit; he said nothing
more, and did not see him again until
night about 10 o'clock, when
Miss Neuman called to me, saying that
a man was breathing heavily in the next
room. 1 called Mr.. Marsh and an.
other gentleman, who are room
ing in the house, and all visited
the room through Miss Neuman's g
room. The man was breathing heavily,
and, the gentleman seeing an empty
whisky bottle on the washstand, thought
he had been drinking and l left them in
the room, and they soon left; did not
see any bottle of laudanum; if I had,
should at once have thought something
serious had occurred. Here is letter
he left me; no, did not see it in his
room that night; had I have seen it
then, the mans life might have been
saved. l never saw the man before. and
never asked his nsme," concluded Miss
Lewis.
HIS LETTER TO MISS LEWIS.
The letter reads: