The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-02-14
WILLIAM REPLIES
He Pays HIS Compliments to VIII,
Knapp.

He Pays HIS Compliments to Willis
Knapp.
To the Editor of The Herald:
Please allow me space in your paper
| 70 answer one of Car Knapps base
and malicious falsehoods, which ap-
peared in The Herald of the 9Th inst,
wherein he accuses me of attempting
| to poison one of the guards of the peni-
tertiary, with a view Of making my
| escape.
| Any fair-minded person who pos
! sesses the least intelligence, will very
readily recognize his duplicity and
malice toward me- or he would have
| TO poison, the duty the said guard was
performing at that particular time.
and the date it occurred, He has de
prfVed me of all recognized rules and
customs and left me but one alterna-
| tive and that is for me to deny it,
which l do most emphatically-
TO prove the falsity Of his statement,
I refer to EX-Marshals e. 4. Ireland,
! 2. II. Parsons and l. A. Benton, and
EH-Wardens 6. =. Dow, Arthur Pratt,
l. Amos, Oscar Vandercook, s. II. Par
sons. G. b. Suuires and Alfales Young.
| There IS also a record kept of all the
prisoners who may be guilty Of any
infraction of the rules Of this inStitu-
ton, and I have been informed by
very reliable person, that such record
! does not contain scintilla OF evidence
| against me. The present officials Ell
dorse me. I think that I have pro-
duced sufficient proof to convince any
! fair minded person that Willis Knapp
really merits the title Of Gar Of the
| liars of Utah.
IN further proof. TO show the people
of this territory the character OF this
man Knapp, who so nahgnly charac-
| terizes me in his article as being
! dangerous man to set at liberty, /
would say that on the 21st OF NoVem-
Der last. he betrayed his own eXpen-
ses and paid me a special visit, with
out my request or consent, and [ we'll
remember the apparently hearty grasp
| which he gave my hand at parting at
that time, thereby causing no person
! to believe that he was at all anxious
to get away from my company for
fear that 1 might faint or stignatfze
him or his spotless character.
[ notice other very damaging accu-
Sations against me in said article. but
! knowing the source from whence they
come, [ will pass them by for the
present. assuring the public that in
| the event of my case reaching the gov
! ernor for his consideration, each and
| every accusation will be duly noticed
and fully explained. The fact that [
carried the deceased, j. 3. Hutchings,
| towards home alive, a, few seconds aft
| ter the shooting, at his request, ought
to be sufficient proof TO refute and con-
vince any fair-nninded person that the
deceased was not upon his knees when
shot, or that I wished to humiliate
him Three eye-witnesses of the sad
and deplOrable affair. viz. William Nc
Ginnis, ". J. Plumb and Juan Potter,
testified for the prosecution, and each
sWore positively both the deceased and
I were standing upright at the time
the shot was fired.
have borne in silence, for about
twelve years, the unmerited odium
heaped upon me. because of
the publications of these dam
nable falsehoods. hoping that
the truth would prevail in time and
Justice would be done me. If I am
granted fair chance Of exercising the
only privilege, yea right, now left me.
II have no fear but that the unanimous
Iopinion of the people . Utah, will be
lidentically the same as that voiced by
the eminent judge. Hon. P. H. Elmer
son, who presided at my trial, and
when. after he had carefully summed
lup all the evidence declared to me in
Iopen court. using his own words as
follows: ar do not believe You to be
guilty TO the extent of the verdict
found and rendered against you" ]
remain, very truly.
THOMAS WILLIAMS.