Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1897-03-11

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the wife or daughter of rich man in
stead Of a poor dresSmaker?
There are three colored women in
the penitentiary sentenced for attempt
ing TO obtain pension uder fa,sa pre-
tese, The most remarkable of these
women is Annie Borden, sentenced as
Annie King She is a United States
prisoner, coming from Portsmouth, Va.
She is AZ years Old but does not look
IT, in spite Of the fact that she Is by no
means in good health. Her lungs are
affected and the doctors have doubs
about her living out the term of inn
prisonment She is tall and gaunt. bu
by no means bad looking. Annie can
not read or write. but she is a useful
woman in the penitentiary. She keeps
track of the laundry list. takes comn'ete
charge of the cloth of which the mems
shirts are made from the time II comes
into the prison until the last BIZ Of it
is whisked away in the shape of dust
rag or scrub cloth She is truste !
generally and all agree that she is the
best woman in the p isCn There ara
five children in the penitentiary. II IS
a great source of comfort to Annie, who
loves all these little babies impartially
that 'if You sees any of our babies out
on dc lawn YOU DON'T see dem In any
prison close Dey's jist as well dressed
as any chillun in Fla.bush. Dey it'll,
close has ruffles and 'broidery on dem,
ands made wild hemstitchin' jes' like
any other baby's cicse. Dey hain's no
prisoners, dem babies amt. II dey
hain't no cloth of de right kind to make
dere dresses with sees dat we git it.
And now for Annies story. You must
imagine tall, thin colored woman, not
too black, dressed In the blue jeans
of the prison with white bandanna
tied round her wool, standing before
you. She walks with a tragic, leoine
stride, taking long steps, The story Is
one of a mans revenge against wo-
man who would not m rry him. AS a
work of fiction, If 1t be fiction, it is
not TO be desr ised This is how Annie
tells it:
well dey say | tried to cheat de
gov'ment out of pension, and for
that I'm in here for man that said
married him. A man that had not
been in Portsmouth for eighteen or
nineteen years. | never had a penny
from goy'ment in my life. But dey's
people here in dis prison OATS DRAWN
along. ! can truthfully say that |
never went into liquor store to buy
a drink of liquor in my whole life
never stole nothin'. ] always worked
honest and hard for my livin' did no
harm to nobody, and all de good dat
| could. An yet, now't I'm A yers old.
am in the peniten my. Don't ia
to me about bein good an dom right;
what's all dat mount to?
81 had a business restaurant in Ports
mouth, dis man King what says dat
he married me, was in an out my place
to eat goin' on sev'ral years. One
mornh' he came In an | was gettin'
ready to move. III ere was two trucks
standin' befo' dc do tc take my furni-
ture just rJun de corner an w cou-
pie of blocks, where | was gon' to take
n bigger an a better place SO he says
to me dat mornin' You movin'?' an
! say Yes an he say, Dey's goin' to
be a weddin' here TO- long An ] say,
Yes? | amt hear nothin' bout that
An he say, We'll, dey H. An | say
'Who?' An he say, Il Use gwine to git
married. An say, Is you? Who's you
gwine TO marry?' An he say, Use
gwine to marry YOU An | 20 sit
down"
The tall negress suits the action to
the word and sits down on the steps
that lead up to some OF the cells.
81 say SO you's gwine to merry me,
Is you? You're not gwine TO do nothin
Of the kind | was sold once, but I'll
never ba sold again ! said ! will once,
but I'll never say il again. You better
so out ODDS place an never come in It
no mo- Do you know what | got a
good notion to do? got good notion
shoot you An II you don't go out
will Well, he 60 and ! keep on with
my movin., Whom ! had got settled in
the new place one mCrnin' dey came
roun' a big basket Of all kinds of cake
from de baker De boy say, Where's
dc boss?' An | say, What boss you
mean? Use here. | own dis place, An
he say, OATS right, you Miss Borden,
an | want Miss Borden. Desc cakes
am for YOU An | say. You take dem
cakes right straight back; | amt ored-
cred no cakes, and amt goln TO pay
for none. An made him take the
cakes away. In about a half hour he
comes back with a note from the baker
what say dat the cakes was paid for,
an de boy must leave dem. An byne-
by King came In, an he say, You want
TO get you'sef dressed. ! got de license
to marry you, an de minister'l be her
pretty soon to marry rs. IT'S go n to be
a double weddn' cor my partner what
live in the rear Is goin' to be married
TO his girl Well, in the eye7in' the
partner an his girl was married. But
want married an / didn't taste one
mouthful OF the cake, nor take even
L..