St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-19

no: that is not possible. The governor
has said that he would not. and that
settles it. 1t is no pleasure to think
about that. and don't depend on it. 1t
can't be-"
Looking at the reporter sharply. he
said: II remember you now. You were 1
in here the day
Shot Horst
"Where have you been since?" and.
without waiting for reply, he contin-
ued: Il am sorry did that. didn't
want to hurt Horst, for he had been
S quare with me. l got the gun to
well. l hardly know what l did
hope to do with it. / had an
idea that If l only had gun l
could get out or do something. When
you are this way you feel that nothing
can make it worse. and anything is betr
ter than sitting there day after day
waiting for somebody to get ready to
kill you. And then l felt lit
tie sore at Otto then, you know.
but l don't now. l guess he
just did what anybody else would have
done. People like US don't stop to
think so much what is right and what is
wrong as they do about what is best for
them. Maybe Otto thought it would
make it easier for him and 1t couldn't
make 1t any worse for me-" Referring
probably to Wonigkeit's confessional
Ermisch took couple of turns
IL -..s Corridor
aud returned to where the reporter was
standing. Say" he said. without ap-
pearing to realize that the question was
an unusual one, was you ever in Jail
for committing a crime?"
The reporter blushingly admitted thar
he never was; and Ermisch continued:
Then you don't know what it is TO be
constantly wondering what they are
going to do to you or whether you can
fool them. have been in jail often,
and it always seemed to me
that the detectives could always
find stronger evidence against
you when you were.innocent than they
could when you were guilty. Some
times, of course, they get the right man.
but just as often they get the
wrong one, and when they do
they swear to it just as
strong as ever. There was
one detective." and here a hard,
wicked look came into his face for one
f1eeting moment, "who made up case
against me, and he went Oh the witness
stand and lied. Of course it wouldn't
do me any good now, but you will be-
lieve me. he lied. He lied rather than
acknowledge that he hadn't made out
his case right"
Here the city h all clock struck the
quarter hour and Ermisch again took
couple of turns in the corridor. The
suppressed excitement was telling or
him, and he was growing more nervous,
pale and excited, but he strug-
gled mantully to keep his
feelings under control. Mr.. Bolt
would occasionally step to one side
with him and the reporter would hear
the low. murmured prayers of the N an
of God, spoken in the German language
and responded to by Ermisch with ap-
parent heartiness. Wonigkeit seemed
trifle more contained, and it was to
Ermisch that the little pastor addressed
himself the most frequently.
During the entire night ErmIsch
acted in such manner as to
Excite the Curiosity
of the reporter, and seemed on several
occasions to have half made up his mind
to unbosom himself of something that
was on his mind. Finally the reporte
asked HIM if there was anything he
wanted to say. He moved a little fur
ther from the others present. and, after
shuffiing from side to side in the mar
row corridor, he said:
''Of course nothing that l can say
now will make it either worse or better
for me. 1t is too late for that to cut any
figure. Sometimes l have been pun
ished when | was not guilty. but ofteuer
1 have got away when was"
Here he dropped into the use of lam
guage less constrained than he had
been using, garnished here and there
with slang, but not with any oaths.
81 have been pretty tough case" he
continued. ''or 1 wouldn't be here. 1
never tried to make any money by
work. II tSeemed to me that there was
no use for fellow to be swabbing
away al hard labor, getting tired and
sore. when it was so easy to hold up
some sucker who had already earned
the money. At first | was a little leery
of doing that kind of business. l was
awfuly afraid of Jail. but l had such
good luck in
Getting Clear
that 1 soon got SO l enjoyed planning
and carrying ont trick. 1t used to
make me laugh to see people going to
the expense of rigging up a burglar
alarm when it was SO easy TO cut
the wire or disconnect it so
that no alarm could be turned
in. l remember once there was an old
duffer over in town in Wisconsin who
was awfully afraid of burglars, and he
had wire running from his bed room
to the stable where the hired man
was to touch button and it would ring
bell at the head of the hired mans
bed. The old man was so foxey that he
wouldn't string the wire overhead. but
had it run along under the walk
that led to the stable. Well. |
got onto that, and L just
lifted the sidewalk and cut the wire.
Sure enough the old man woke up when
| got into the room, and he fairly
jammed that button through the WALL
But the hired man didn't come, and the
old man seemed to be disappointed.
''Some people think that when your
doors are locked and your windows fast
ened
You Are Safe.
"Well, didn't you ever go home and
find the house locked up, and you didn't
have key? Well, couldn't you always
find some way to get in? Of course you
could. Getting into house is the easi-
est part Of it. You must know where
to find what you want. and then walk
on your heels, not on your toes, and you
will hardly ever wake anybody.
''And then there is the hold-up bust
npec - hn ronfinuad WVru fh1nk If ic