The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-04-15

daughter was summoning her mother,
Mrs. Belknap was shown a copy Of the
Inter Ocean, containing the complete
confession of II. II. Holmes.
She glanced at the headlines and
then carefully read the fac-simile CT
Holmes statement about his confession
Before she reached the end VI il, the
tears coursed down her pale face,
marked and furrowed by suffering,
and the paper fell from her trembling
hands.
"Ohi cannot believe it is truei I
cannot believe it is truer' she repeated
in tones that would pierce the stOniest
heart.
why can you not behave it?" was
asked presently
Because he had always been so kind
and good TO US, in all the years that
have passed, and just cannot believe
that such a man as have known him
TO be could commit such awful crimes.
He must be insane. ] know he was IL
he ever was guilty Of the crimes he
charges himself with In all the time
I have known him, he never spoke one
cross word or did an unkind deed to
me. On the contrary, he was as good
TO me as a son could be, and did all he
could for my comfort and happiness.
When this house was built, one-half
of il he declared should be my house
as long as lived. In planning the ar
rangement Of it and selecting the fur
nishings of ii he did everything as
desired. He seemed even more anxious
to have my half of the house nicely
arranged than he did his own
Il do not mean to wholly praise him"
continued Mrs. BeIlnap, 81 know that
in many Of his business affairs he was
dishonoralble, but at the time he al
ways made me believe that he meant
no wrong, and that everything would
come out all right in the end. know
that he did wrong in money matters
and I have been forced to believe that
he deceived US about other women;
but do not believe he is guilty of the
crime Of murder. Why, in the last let
ter which my daughter received from
him he said, Tell mother there are
deeds of swdndhng in my life, but no
horros.' In spite of all that has been
brought against him, in spite of his self
accusations, I cannot forget his good
ness to me, and / will cling to my faith
in him. cannot believe that he could
have lived such a life of goodness and
kindness toward us and of guilt and
crime toward others
While Mrs. Belknap was speaking
Mrs. Holmes returned with her little
daughter. Mrs. Holmes had not seen
the confession CT the crimes of the man
to whom she was married in Minneapo-
lis nine years ago. Replying in the
affirmative when asked if she wished
to see it in the Inter Ocean, 1T was
handed to her. After reading the fac
smile of the written statement of
Holmes regarding his confession, she
said:
THAT is his writing. and 1T is his
sigma ture OIL why did he write it?
Why did he leave such a legacy to his
children? / thought 1 had known the
weight OF sorrow, but this blow is the
heaviest of all"
'oThen you believe he has told the
truth, do you?"
mo; for can no longer have faith
in what he may say. If he were to say
that he made the statements upon his
oath I could not believe him"
What reason would he have for not
telling the truth now?"
'I readily think of a number Of rea-
sons. First of them is perhaps the de-
sire for money. All his life his creed
has been that money makes everything
right. He knows that this little one"
TO the daughter, will have
her own way to make in the world.
His idea in obtaining money might
have been to provide sum to care for
her. He would not send 1t to- me. He
knows that would not touch a penny
of money that came to him by dishonor-
able means. The world will not be-
lieve this of me, but it is true" she
said with trace of bitterness in her
voice
The fact is that all who are well ac-
quainted with Mrs. Holmes have the
utmost faith in her as a true Christian
woman, a devoted mother. and true 70
her marriage vows in trials as hard as
woman ever suffered.
Another reason which might have
prompted Mr. Holmes to write a con-
fession," continued Mrs. Holmes, was
his inherent desire for fame. Often 1
have heard him repeat what he declar-
eS to be the motto of his life, 'tMedioc-
rity in nothing He knew that such
a confession as he has written would
cause him to be regarded for all time
as the greatest criminal on earth.
Knowing the vanity Of his nature, this
reason / know would be strong enough
10 induce him to make the confession.
wrote that confession because he is in
sane. do not believe he is guilty of
the crimes he pretends 10 confess. Why.
If he was such ruthless destroyer of
human life, did he not kill me and our
little daughter? 1t would be easier to
die than TO live. / should not say that
but you know it IS true. You know
that financially our lot is hard; that
there is no truth in the stories tina
some believe. that Mr.. Holmes gave US
large sums of money. If he ever made
ell the money that 1t is said he did
what did he do with II? II is a ques-
ton I wish might be answered. He
was always hard up for money. There
have been times when he knew there
was not even the money 10 buy food
fo- us in the house If ne had. or had
made. as much money as is alleged
would that be ehe case? Would he
have written TO US just after ne was
placed in prison. Ny greatest worry
is that YOU and mother viii suffer for
means of support
Have YOU any thought Of going to
Phils delphia, Mrs Holiness"
NO: not now. AT one time ! did
think shold go, but now he does not
want 10 see me, nor do I wish to see
him. There is nothing I could do for
him. 7 would go in a moment 10 him.
st any sacrifice. If there were anything
I could do for him. l know now moth
ing can be done.
10 Ye1 Know