Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1897-11-16

was ~ years old. one OF his most nOta-
BILE traits was his love Of display. He
was small and slender, with clean cut
features and black, curling hair: He al
ways wore silk hat, low cut vest,
white kid gloves and small, pointed
shoes that pinched his tiny feet. He al
so wore several large diamonds on his
fingers and shirt front. When he was
still very young. but long after his rep
utation had n,.;.le him q terror to the
town, he eloped with his cousin, q
beautiful young girl, carefully reared
It was a short honeymoon The authori-
ties were too hot on his trail to allow
him to prolong his stay with his wife,
so, leaving her with friends. he set out
again on his travels. From that time
until his death his visits to his wife
were far apart and uncertain He was
too busy carrying out his bold plans fer
robbery to stay long in the town.
Jailer John Cawthra of Rochester,
who knew Clark we'll and was present
when he was hanged in that town, in
conversation recalled the desperado
"Clark was the nerviest man ever
knew" said the old jailer: ''When he
was on one of his visits in Rochester, he
was walking one day through the ar
cade. right in the center of the town.
It was crowded with people, and they
all knew who he was With his Gay
clothes and handsome face he was very
conspicuous. He was walking with q
glrl-he was a great man for the girls
and he was twirling cigarette in his
mouth. a big, strapplng man passed
them, looked back into the girls face
and smiled. That angered Clark. With
ont q moments hesitation he drew re-
volver from his pocket and fired. The
bullet knocked off two Of the man S fin
gers Clark wiped the revolver with his
handkerchief, put it back in his pocket,
and, telling the girl to wait a moment,
stopped to relight his cigarette. He was
as cool as if nothing had happened, and
you can bet there was no one around
there who dared touch him. They knew
he>was John Clark and that he wouldn t
hesitate to fire again OH the slightest
provocation.
CLARK made great deal of money
from his robberies He took something
like $50, 600 out of Mexico, most of it
from bank. He was arrested in one of
the southern states and lodged in Jail,
but he escaped before he had been there
a day. Later he was caught in this city
and locked up in the Tombs How he
got out no one knows to this day There
were charges enough against him at the
time to send him to prison for the rest
of his life. There are those who knew
Clark we'll who say he made at least
800, 900 by robbing houses aud banks.
He was, in my opinion, the most skill
full burglar of his time. we'll remem
Der one mig ht when a business man of
Rochester was robbed by him The
mans house was on East avenue, the
best street of the town. Clark discov-
cred that he kept good sized roll of
bank notes in his clothes all the time.
The man was in the habit of sitting up
far into the night, and when Clark ap-
peared ON the scene to enter the house
he discovered the owner in dressing
gown, with his back to the window,
reading. This discovery, however, did
not discourage Clark. He went away
and came back with a long stick, to
which were fastened a string and hook.
Suddenly the man inside looked up to
SEE his trousers with his roll of bills in
them, going swiftly through the air and
out OF the window. He must have
thought they were bewitched, for he
could not see for the moment the string
and the stick. As soon as he had recov-
cred his self, possession he ran out to
look for the thief. but it was no use.
Clark was far away by that time
'Clark was cornered in Rochester at
Last He had just returned from one of
his long tours of burglary through the
country. He was seen coming ont Of
the house where his wife lived. and two
or three policemen went in pursuit Of
him. When they oornered him in an
alley, he turned and shot one of them
dead
''All the time he was in Jail await
ing the execution of his sentence to be
hanged his wife was a daily visitor.
She is still a handsome woman, with an
air of refinement and good breeding
about her. He was the coolest man
ever saw on the sca6old He walked up
the steps smoking q cigarette and smil-
ing as if he enjoyed himself Just wait
till / finish this smoke and I'm ready, !"
he remarked. They let him finish it
His death broke his poor wife
heart. saw her two or three.years att
erward, and she was ,wrinkled and old,
and the gray was beginning to come in
to her hair. She drifted to this city,
and perhaps she is here yet New
York Sun
= q the Belgium parliament when 4
nasnber = making 4 long speech he may
Be Supplied with brandy and water at
gostrslnent expensa