, 1897-11-11
DESPERATE CLARK.
ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE GRIM
lNALS OF EiS TIME.

A Daring lot Goodness That Have Seldom
Been E4ualed-HanEcd at Last For Muir.
der-The Refined and Pious Woman yyho
Mourned Him.
There lived in this city until a few
years ago, and may lie living here still,
q frail, little woman whose
life had been linked with one of the
most unhappy and yet most interesting
romances in the annals of this centu-
rvs crime. She was the wife OF John
Clark, ono OF the mo remarkable Grim.
inals OF his time. Althougha thorough.
ly respectable. well educated and high
minded woman and II devout member Of
the church, she lived with him for
years. tried her best to reform him,
sought to protect him from the officers
who were ever on his trail and was
faithful to him tt the end.
Clark was the son Of a prosperous
business man in Rochester. When he
was u boy, he figured in all sorts of
wild e~scapades, was arrested several
times for small offenses and had dcvel.
olNo ito pioiSSslDil.tl ClOuh DtlOTS ut
was 20 years old. One of his most nota-
bic traits was his love of display. He
was small and slender, with clean cut
features and black, curling hair. He al
ways wore q silk hat, n low cut vest,
white kid gloves and small, pointed
shoes that pinched his tiny feet. He al
Sc wore several large diamonds on his
fingers and shirt front. When he was
still very young. but long after his rep
utation had made him a terror to the
town, he eloped with his cousin. a
beautiful young girl, carefully reared.
1t 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 for
robbery to stay long in the town.
Jailcr John Cawthra of Rochester,
who knew Clark well and was present
when he was hanged in that town, in
conversation recalled the desperate.
CLARK was the n~erviest man | ever
knew" said the old l~ailer "When he
was on one of his visits i'll Rochester. he
was walking one day through the ar.
cade. right i'll the center of the town.
1t was crow d with people, and they
all knew who he was. With his gay
clothes and handsome face he was very
conspicuous. He was walking with a
girl-he was n great man for the girls
and no was twirling a cigarette in his
mouth. A big, strapping man passed
them, looked back into the girl S face
and smiled. That angered Clark. With
out u moments hesitation he drew Il re-
volver from his pocket and fired. The
bullet knocked off two of the mans 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 II around
there who dared touch him. They knew
he was John Clark and that he wouldn't
hesitate to fire again on the slightest
provocation.
CLARK made a great deal Of money
from his robberies. He took something
like $50. 600 out of Mexico. most of it
from u bank. He was arrested in of
tho southern states and lodged i'll Jail,
but no escaped before he had been there
II day. Later he was caught i'll this city
and locked up i'll the Tombs- How he
got out no one knows to this day. There
were charges enough against him ut the
time to send him to prison for the rest
of his life There are those who knew
Clark well who say he made at least
800, 900 by robbing houses and banks
He was. in my opinion. the most skill
full burglar of his time ! well remem
Der one night when IL business man of
Rochester was robbed by him. The
mans house was on East venue the
best street of the town. Clark discov-
cred that he kept IA good sized roll CT
bank notes Ill his clothes all the time.
The man was in the habit of sitting up
far into the night. and when Clark up
reared OH the scene t enter the house
he discovered the owner i'll a 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 Il string and a 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 o see for the moment the string
and tho 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 corncrcd i'll Rochester at
last. He had Just returned from one OF
his long tours of burglary through the
country He was seen coming out OF
the house where his wife lived, and two
or three policemen went i'll pursuit OF
him. When they cornered him i'll an
alley. he turned and shot II 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 n handsome woman, with an
mir of refinement aud good breeding
about her. He was the coolest man ]
ever saw on the scaffold. He walked uI
the steps smoking n cigarette and smil'
ing us if he enjoyed himself. Just wait
till 1 finish this smoke and I'm ready"
he remarked. They let him finish It
''His death broke his poor wifei
heart. l saw her two or three years aft.
erward, aud she was wrinkled and old,
and the gray was beginning to come in.
To her hair. She drifted to this city,