The Monitor-register., 1896-01-10

~ VA VAN
charge of robbing the dead.
Jean Baptiste was a Frenchman who
came to Salt Lake City a young man
nearly 40 years ago. He grew up among
the saints, and, after marrying, was
made sexton of the small cemetery. His
duties were light and his remuneration
correspondingly small. He resided in a
little cabin on the mountain side over
looking the city, and spent his time,
when not employed in the cemetery, in
collecting junk and trading and traffick-
ing with a few Jewish secondhand
clothes dealers who had the hardihood
to engage in business among the Nor
mons A regiment of United States
troops was then camped heal the city,
and the gentiles engaged in business
were assured protection.
The little Frenchman was an avari-
cious man and was noticeable because
of his picking up every cast away arti-
Gle and carrying it to his home Old
dry goods boxes, barrels, tin cans and
other packing articles cast away by the
soldiers were especially well cared for
by Jean Baptiste, the sexton. He dress
ed as a scavenger and resembled the
modern saloon loafer, who is always
searching the slums for barrels and box
es of garbage and cast off garments.
The actions of the sexton created some
comment, and not a little curiosity was
aroused among people who had occasion
to visit his residence ON the mountain
side, over the city.
One day Jean appeared on the streets
dressed in an elegant suit of broadcloth.
A few days before a wealthy stranger
had died and was buried in the ceme-
fiery. The suit in which the body was
dressed resembled that worn by the seq
ton. An examination was ordered, and
the corpse was found to have been rob-
bed of its clothing. A committee wait
ed upon the sexton and made a most
startling discovery. The graveclothes
OF over 200 persons were found in the
baskets and boxes slowed away in his
ghoulish cabin. Excitement ran high in
Salt Lake City. The boxes of clothing
were emptied and the contents taken to
the cityshall, where many a fond moth
y %uSGiALOt lhC Dullo1 IOUGS VI HE
child. Elegant silk dresses, at that time
a luxury even to the rich, were found in
h various bundles. The man was ar
rested and cast into Jail, pursued by a
mob who sought his life.
Brigham Young, then governor and
general dictator in Utah, ordered the
man to be branded with a hot iron and
banished to Church island. During the
quiet nour of midnight Jean Baptiste
was taken from the Jail, and his whole
forehead was scared with the following
inscription; Branded For Robbing the
Dead. Two men escorted the culver
ing, naked form from the city of venge-
ance. A canoe was entered near Che
city, and the doom96 prisoner was taken
in chains to the island which in future
was to be his home. Without clothing
or food he was landed upon the shore,
the boat returned to the mainland, and
the ghou1 remained a hopeless exile. He |
could not leave the island. because in
slant death would fsilow sheald he be
seen by any of the ~knhabitants of the
Mormon land of Ziolal He was forced
to seek food and .shel err amid wild. ami
mails, the birds and reptiles.
Inc Island was Soon known as the
lana OF Punishment People stunned its
shores as they would a haunted house.
Many persons were lost upon the lake
"nlle rowing IN cai5oes against heavy
WINDS. The genera supposition of all
wa that those u~nfcgtunates drifted TO
the island and were seyoured py the
wild man. Even thu fearless cowboy
has ever refused to intrude upon the
home land of the exile. Wild horses
roam over its acres Of broken anyons,
rugged cliffs and grassy meadows. The
sea gulls and other birds find a home I'M
disturbed on the deserted shores. All
the natives, including Indians, warn
newcomers of the fate of scores of
pleasure seekers who have been drifted
upon the shores of the fated island. The
crags, bluffs, dark cayerns and lonely
canyons warn every boatman nearing
the shore to keep away from the hidden |
dangers.
In a dark cave about half a mile
from the shore lives the wild man. His
home is strewn with the wrecks of
boats, bones of victims and other can
nibalistic indications. Away back in
the deep darkness of the cavern is his
sleeping place, made of clothing strip
ped from unfortunate victims ship
wrecked on the fatal shore. A collection
of leaves, grasses and branches from the
trees of the island forms the foundation
for the bed, in which this human mon
ster spends most of his time. Several
hunters and explorers have recently
viewed the man. He is described as old,
STOPPING. destitute of clothing, incapa-
BILE of speech and covered with long
hair. Upon the appearance of man he
utters a wild, weird shrek and rushes
to the cavern, from which he cannot be
induced or forced to return. San Fran
cisco Examiner.
A Remarkable Tree.
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