The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-03-12
A REPORTERS YARN.


had set their hearts OH having mo spend
tho evening with them. Icouldn t touch
him even with that. Said he was short
handed and couldn't spare ne. Con-
found these city cditorsl The good ma
turc is all blue pcncilcd out of them"
You're always grumbling, jim. If
you don't like the little Inconvenience
of newspaper work, why don't you get
into something else? 1t was your own
desire to get on the police beat, and you
ought to take all that goes with it good
naturedly. Quit your growing and tell
us u story by way of pcnancc. We have
Il couple of hours before us yet "
Jim loved to tell story. He had
been reporter for many years, most of
the timo on criminal, and he had an OK
periencc for nearly every day i'll the
year. His face cleared, he rcfillcd his
pipe and stuck his feet on the table. His
three fellow morning paper men fol-
lowed his example and amid the curls
of smoke this is the story Jim told
them:
"Onc morning about 10 years ago
Richard Johnston Of tho firm of John
ston d Calvin, Il very wealthy eastern
lumber concern, was found dead i'll his
office. He had told his wife the night
before he wanted to look over the ECoks,
for things We're not going quito to his
satisfaction. The big ledger lay spread
out on the desk, his face buried in its
blood stained leaves. The head had been
almost split in two, and the cut was so
clean 1t was evident IN ax had been the
instrument used. The detectives went
to work at once, and within 81 hours
Fred Wilson had been arrested on suspi-
clon. He Was Il cousin of the murdered
man and had been cut Cf work IL long
time. lie had mover been III any kind of
trouble with the police, but he had
character for shiftlcssncss, and il was
no secret that he and Johnston had had
some words Il few days before over Il
loan he had begged. He had been heard
to say that IL man who had heaps of
money and would not help his relatives
might better bc dead \ glove was
found III the Office that was identified
as his, and, to make the chain of cir
cumstantial evidence complete he had
paid Il number Of bills the very morning
the murder was committed
His lawyers admitted their client
had gone to the office, but denied any
quarrel had taken place. The very re-
verse had happened, they claimed.
Johnston had arranged the visit and had
expressed his regrets for being so severe
to his cousin, finally giving him money
enough to clean up his debts ard mako
Il fresh start. This dcfcnsc, i'll the opin-
ION of the judge, the jury and the news
papers, Was so daring that it was re-
Eardcd as ovcrshCoting the mark One
Juryman, however, was Il little doubtful
and stood out fer manslaughtcr i'll the
first degree. The others yielded, the
verdict was so rendered, and Wilson
was sentenced for life When asked if
he had anything to say, he replied that
he had told his story through his law
yers; that lie still adhered to it, and
that, If there was just God above, its
truthfulnoss would lie proved some day
He went to prison and was forgotten.
Il tell you, boys, that case bothered
me moro than Il little bit. | never at
any time believed Wilson WAS guilty,
strong as the evidence was. l had scv-
oral talks with him, and he never way
cred i'll his story, no matter how I tried
TO trip him up. I spent most of my
leisure time following imaginary clcws.
1t was 10 use, and gave it up after
few months
Five years aftcrward Calvin, John
stons partner, died suddenly, and,
though obituaries were rather ont Of my
line, for was still doing criminal, /
aslic for the assignment on account of
my previous interest III the firm. I had
II haZy idea that Calvin had known
moro of the affair than he had pretended
On those lines I followed up my old
hunt, and [ was not bit surprised to
find cut from one Of the servant girls
that a small bottle had been found in
the hand Of the dead man. J. ran down
that side of the story at the start and
showed the doctor up i'll great shape, for
he had given Il certificate for heart fail
urc, having been induced To do so by
Calvin's friends. Then L wanted pic-
ture, but the deuce Il picture was to be
had. Finally IN old friend Of Calvin's
told me there was Il large crayon of the
lumbcrman III the lodgcroom where
they met. Calvin had been one of the
past presidents, and on retiring. shortly
after the death Of his partner, had pre-
sentcd the lodge with this picture, fol-
lowing q custom in vogue III that par
ticnlar body. The mar who told inc of
it was one OF the trustees, and he offered
80 go to the room with ne and let me
have the portrait | did hot want, of
course, to bother with the frame so I
proceeded to take out the back. While l
was doing so the trustee locked for some
wrapping paper, and L was alone. Talk
about luck! Luck wasn't in it. I am not
religious, as you know, but I have had
Il queer feeling about that affair ever
Gin ell L.