The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-25

"Give me a match, and I'll end it ALL
1t sent a shiver down the spine of
more than one, when early IN the pris-
on inquiry it developed that an old man
named Lawton had been driven to sui
eide by petty persecution of the guards.
But the horror Of this recital was
eclipsed yesterday in the description
of James Maresch's attempt to end
prison horrors by death
Lawton leaped from a high balcony
to a stone floor, where the skull might
be crushed like an egg shell and the
great divide be crossed in the twinkling
Of an eye.
Maresch, in his desperation, deliber-
ately drenched his clothing with gaso-
line, defying the tortures of the fires
of earth or the fires of hell to exceed
the tortures of that hell on earth-as
1t was to him, the Saltwater peniten-
tiary.
A moody, silent, retrospective con-
vict, this man Maresch, lifting his pail
in the paint shop one morning as the
usual signal that he wanted to go to
| the store room after more paint, arous-
ed by some triviality Of demeanor the
suspicion Of the guard.
This guard, who told the story of
the incident, with graphic detail and
apparent exactitude, on the witness
stand yesterday, struck more terror
into the hearts of his hearers even than
did O'Meara, with his first description
of Nels Heen's assault, or Forrester's S
story about Lawtons suicide
Following the convict to the store
room, he found the prisoner was not
getting the paint he was supposed to
| be going over for, but stood there,
amid the cans and barrels, a maniac,
| pouring on his head and over his
| clothes what was left in f1ve-gallon
| can of gasoline.
McCracken, the guard, a man Of
| small stature, reached up with his cane
and knocked the can from Maresch's
grasp.
The maniac dashed out Of the build
| ing and the guard after him.
Leaping on the fellows back, the
| little guard pinioned the fugitive's
arms and succeeded in subduing him.
I Sending word to the deputy warden,
| that official came in q little later, and,
after hearing a part of the guards de-
scription of the incident, hustled the
Iunatic, who had now become docile,
off to the solitary, clubbing that help
| less human, in which reason had been
dethroned, at every step the weary
maniac took.
1t seems that Nels Heen, If the testi-
mOny was true, was a frequent SUB
| Iect of maltreatment at the prison, was
a particular favorite, so to speak, of
the ferrule end of the Lemonian cane.
An explanation of this was given by
hot of o1Oca
of the assault on Heen, which he wit
messed and yesterday described:
when 1 think of what that man
done, 1 could kill him."
McCracken did not know at that
time the crime for which Heen had
been committed, a crime so helnous
that it is generally classed as next to
murder.
These were the two really convincing
incidents described, if true.
A counterfeiter, who had served his
third term in the prison, and who, the
defense intimated, in impeaching ques-
tions, had also served in Waupun and
Anamosa, testified concerning the grutf
manner of Colligan, and some minor In
cidents which had led him to consider
Lemon somewhat brutal in his treat
ment of convicts.
This convict showed the commission
81. AASe
think was worth $11.15 which, he fig
ured, was charged him for suit given
him, the federal government allowing
S12 for clothes for each of its prison.
ers when released. Minneapolis
clothing man, Meyer S. Friend, testi-
fed that the suit was not worth more
at most Hlan $3.50
In the absence of some of the wit
nesses who had been expected. the
defense called three witnesses, one of
whom, called to impeach the testi-
mony of O'Meara, blurted out that he.
would lick O'Meara then and there if
he ran across him.
An ex-convict was called who test1-
fed that he had never seen or him
self suffered any violent treatment. and
a Minneapolis man, who served for
few months as a wall guard, and oc-
casionally did fire duty in the prison
on Sundays, testified that he had not
seen any either. His opportunities, it
was discovered, were quite limited.