St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-04-15
MANY TIMES IN PRISON.
AM Ex-c0EyIcT TELLS AN INTEREST
INC STORY.
THREE TIMES IN sTILLwArER
once Robbed the ResiddAe of
Horace Thompson. Of aul
His Prison Lifez-NoWSh His
Way 10 Waupun. WheH He
Expects to Spend thg Re-
mainder of His Days..

Special to the Globe
SALTWATER. April IA few days
ago there appeared at the door le3tIing
to the office of Clerk O'Brien At the
Saltwater prison pleasanl-taeed old
man, who asked permission to sde the
warden. Warden Wolfer anH seeeral
friends had just emerged ffbm Ahe
dining room and were placidly smoking
and conversing III the warden,s Office.
MIR. O'Brien repeated the old mans re-
quest and the warden invited him in.
He appeared shortly afterward. A
silyery beard hid a part of Ills face
from view, and when he removed his
hat, disclosing bald head, he reclined,
in an easy chair.
well. old man, what can L do for
you?" the warden asked.
The old man twisted around in his
chair few seconds. bu: seeing that he
soon round a way to talk, and relate d
the Following story:
"Weli, suppose there is no use for
me to deny what l am. sir, My name
is Julius A. Patton, and l am an ex-
convict. l was wandering around here,
and, finding myself in need of pair of
shoes, l gathered up courage enough
to coma here to see if you wouldn't
give me pair of cast-off cnnyict's
shoes and some old Clothes"
WELL" said the warden, 81 guess we
can fix you out all right, bat won't you
give US sort of history of yourself?"
/, Patton cleared his throat and smiled
and at first declined to talk. but finally
gave an Interesting account of his life
of crime
Il was born in Virginia." he said,
''and was left an orphan when very
young. AT an early age | was fond of
work, but | soon met evil associates,
and at tire age Of twenty was doing
time i'll Frankfort, Ky. I lost my de.
sire for work, and when released from
that institution three years after
my Incarceration L found myself
without friend in the world. l
her. she discarded me when committed
the crime that stamped me as felon
worthy of no ONES love. left the prison
gates, and for some time debated upon
my prospects, but everything seemed to
gowr0ng with ME, and found no other
alternative than TO return to a life of
crime. | am Il thief. sir. | have, served
sentences in ten prisons. and Ihexpect
that some day my soul will ascend to
heaven from some cell in penal iIsti-
tuition. am now siXty-eight Fears of
age. and have been in prison a good
share of my life since 1917. i can't
say exactly how many years I pa We
served, all told. but guess one-half OF
the time has been spent in prison, or in
warehouses. Ny first crime, Sir, was
the theft of two candlesticks Tr0m
dwelling in Kentucky. i happened
to see them, and. of course, de-
termined to have them. 1 Thought
they were solid silver, and at
that time silver was worth some thing.
entered the house. stole the CANDLE
sticks, and afterward tried to sell them.
but they were only plated, SIR and
realized little for them. Irealized more
later. however, when was arrested
brought before stern old judge, who
oCHtSuCCO tiiO W yOoio
ment. I have made it rule never to
steal from poor man. | have always
been after the rich. but. sir. | never
made very big haul. think $500 was
the most ever got at any one time. 1
have seen the time. however. when |
was tempted to pick the pockets of
drunken man. but this was only when |
had no means of getting stitch of
or square meal. l am what
they call dwelling thief Most of
my work is done in houses. | have
done time in many of tire largest prs-
ons in this country, and did time here
once, being sentenced from St. Paul in
1872"
Clerk O'Brien referred to the prison
records, and shortly afterward returned
to the office and asked Patton if it was
not fact that he had served three
terms in the Minnesota prison. Patton
laughed and said:
well. come to think of it. l guess |
did serve two terms here. No, sir. it
was three. l was sent UP for six months
from some little city in the southern
part of the state, ana when my term
had expired l was rearrested at the
door leading to freedom. and was
again returned to serve two years