The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1893-06-16
SONTAG And EVANS.
Some Open Expressions of the State
Press
On the Question of Sympathy - The
Lesson of the Capture of These
Bloody Men.


prevail and control, and that crime must
ana Will receive its fearful reward in the
end. For a time the law-breaker may
escape punishment, but in the end it
must must be melted out to him. If both
Evans and Sontag could have been
killed in the fight it would have saved
further expense, but as it did not so ter
inmate Fresno county will have the bur-
den of their trial to bear.
Pasadena Star: Up in Tulare and
Fresno Counties great many people are
TO be found who sympathize with the
outlaws, Sontag and Evans, and consider
them heroes. Twas ever thus. There
is no criminal so brutal but has his senti-
mental admirers. 1t will not be many
years after the death OF these two muir
derers when scores of people will be
ready to canonize them as martyrs.
Santa Rosa Democrat: The fact that
these men with a reckless disregard Tor
human life had killed several of their
pursuers made them robber heroes, and
their rascalities We're paraded in ''scare
heads" by the sensation press. They are
now only brigands locked up in Jail for
their misdeedS and murders and are no
longer subjects for sympathy and sensa-
ton. They Will soon be forgotten, and
the sooner the better. They are dis
grace to themselves ana the State of Cali
fornia.
Santa Rosa Republican: When people
complain about the sympathy shown
Evans and SOntag by their mountain
friends they forgot all about the san
francisco newspaper that is responsible
for working up good deal of that SYM
pathy.
Los Angeles Herdld: We shall now
see repetition of morbid sympathy ma
terlaliZe for these noted highwaymen and
murderers. When Nasquez was brought
into this city on stretcher and placed in
cell, the Jailer was besieged by hyster-
zeal women who wanted to take flowers
TO the wounded bandit Evans and Son
tag viii be the lions Of the hour to GER
tain class OF people OF Unbalanced minds
for several weeks to come.
Oroville Mercury: The end has come
and Sontag and Evans have reached the
end OF their strings. 1t had to come
sooner or later, though Joaquin Miller
bestowed his maudlin tears upon them
and they were shielded by many Of the
mountaineers of Tulare County, We
must pay certain tribute to their
bravery, but that was their only redeem
ing feature. Even in the inaccessibl
mountain passes and surrounded by
friends, men cannot for a great time defy
the law.
Vallejo Chronicle: There is more sym-
pathy expressed for the bandits Sontag
and Evans, now in jail, shot to pieces,
than there was for the brave and honest
men the outlaws murdered from their
ambush. Human sympathy is very Gu
rious in its application.
Fresno Republican: Excellent work
is now being done by Fresno County in
the way of driving out the criminal ele-
ment. and the capture of Sontag and
Eyans IS an important step in the general
movement which is destined to very soon
relieve this portion OF California from the
class of which they are conspicuous OK
amples. The outcome of their desperate
game ought to have good moral effect
1t should demonstrate to the mind of the
most reckless optomist in crime that
the law is bound to triumph, even when
those charged with its enforcement are
placed at great disadvantage.
Nisalia Delta: The people of Visalia.
who have long wished for the capture Of
these redoubtable outlaws regardless OF
consequences to them, are touched with
pity to see the pain written upon their
manned and pallid faces, to see them
utterly helpless, and to know of their in
tense suffering. 9 Yet this uni
Nersal expression of sympathy is not
made absurd by the elevation of these
desperate men TO the position of martyrs
The people do not forget that these two
men have brought disgrace upon the
community in which they lived; they do
not forget that these men have caused
others the same physical suffering their
own misdeeds have brought upon them;
do not forget that their bullets
have robbed innocent children of a
fathers care and love; that they have
taken mems lives for attempting to dis
charge duty to law and society: that
they have threatened with assassination
citizens who have been guilty Of no
ohense; that they have and
would again wantonly, cruelty murder
to satisfy a revenge born of no real wrong
Fresno Elr1lDNjyg3.- JDaI11ir, NT;l1o,. ,z...
fesses to believe that Evans and Sontar
never committed the Coils train robbery
and goes SO far as to assert that they
could never have been convicted of that
crime. Their guilt was conclusively
proved in the Superior Court of Fresno
County when George Sontag was con-
Nlcted, and a portion of the money stolen
from the express car was dug up in
Evans own yard. In resorting 10 knav-
ish tricks to furnish himself with pre-
text to gush over robbers and murderers.
Miller has succeeded in making a holy
show of himself.
Newman Banner: But it is a relief to
law-abiding people to know that their
career of crime is over, and while no
doubt will be felt thrill of sympathy bv
some for the family of Evans, there will
be no tear OF sorrow shed for the red
handed outlaws themselves Showing
no mercy to others, they cannot expect
mercy.
San Jose Record: The disgusting senti-
mentallsm that some of the newspapers
have been giving the public in connec-
ton with the women in the Sontag and
Evans outfit reaches a fitting cuIuina-
ton in the report that Mrs. Evans is
going to claim $500 reward for Joe
Perkins nurrying in after the officers
found where he was, and offering to gIve
Evans up. None of the friends or Tela-
tives of these murderers are deserving of
any reward in particular, except gener-
Gus iorbearance from an outraged public.
san Diego Union: 1t was time that fic
ton should cease and that these con-
scienceless bandits should receive their
Just deserts. No morbid sentiment
should be INDUCED in the consideration
of their cases. They deliberately vio-
lated the laws of the land, staining their
hands with innocent blood while trying
TO carry away their ill-gotten booty. and
they should pay the penalty for their
crimes. AS dangerous TO the community
as mad dogs, they have been hunted
down. The brave men who have rid the
hills Of Nlsalia of a scOurge are entitled to
appreciative public recognition.
Stockton Independent: There is a lesson
in the career OF Evans and Sontag but
the men who need lessons on the subject
never read them nor heed them when
someone else points them out. The les
son has been pointed out time and again
and from time immemorial, but is never
learned by those who might profit by it
or by whose learning OF it the world
would profit 1t Is embodied in the wise
proverbs: The wages OF sin is death''
and The way OF the transgressor is
hard" While the lesson is so Old and its
disregard has been so constant through
many ages, it would be idle TO enlarge