The San Francisco call., 1898-09-29

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 'o \ HALF of ten cents worth of I5 A whisky was the only con- = n fort, the sole consolation, Mrs. }. Margaret Shields, the bungling {. incendiary, longed for yester- 'o day. Her head ached, her body was $ worn and tired and she suffered all z the bangs and physical tortures . that alcohol alone could assuage A 2 2 small tumbler of the coveted spirits 2 swallowed straight, surely and . steadily, with every evidence of 5 qualification, and the nerve-racked s woman lay back on her narrow s white cot to woo the sleep that had . persistently held aloof for nearly : ninety hours.
 At yesterday morning he fire queen made a clumsy attempt to s reach the shores of the 'undiscov- !. cred country by means of a hand : towel, which she had fastened firm iy round her neck. The heavy s breathing of the would-be suicide 1. woke her -cellmate, Mrs. Cordelia Botkin, and she, with the matron, } Mrs. Casey, went to the sufferers . assistance. Mrs. Shields was quickly restored to this sphere of woe and , suffering and transferred to the Re- 1, ceiVlng Hospital. where she rested all day yesterday.
 , There is. nothing attractive nor , prepossessing about the woman who calmly. admits that she committed , arson ito get money-the insurance , of course" The seriousness of the cnarge against her, the awful crime of which she is accused, leave her cold, hard and indifferent as to the grave punishment that may ensue. , responsible; Beacon lit the match and. according to his accomplice. Beacon is the guilty one, the man to whom the rigid penalties for
 arson are to be meted out In discussing her terrible crime. Mrs Shields makes no attempt at
 concealment. The facts, as she re-
 calls them, do not impress her with
 the full measure of their hideous-
 ness. Beacon made a botch of it,"
 she says and therein to the pris-
 oner lies the only crime
 She has no tears, no bewailings, no
 suffering of her children brings the
 hard lines. round her large coarse
 mouth and her gray eyes snap de-
 nance, as she mumblingly reiter-
 ates; I don't care about my chil-
 dren. They're old enough; let them
 look out for themselves; they say
 they will never see me again. May
 be they are right. I don't care!'
 ,o It fequlred no persuasion, no dip
 induce Mrs. Shields to give her
 crime In detail for publication.
 from sunday night until Tuesday
 evening, when she. voluntarily sur
 deneered dere9 ahd1t herself, IT, the woman wan
 constant strain left her mind Tagged
 out, though her strong body Was
 comparatively fresh and rested. 1t
 was with difficulty that she kept her
 and the details of her offense were
 lnterpolated with groans of anguish.
 as she complainde about the terri,
 ble pain in her head
 did 1t to get the insurance mon-
 ey," Mrs. Shields said Henry
 Beacon and had been talking it
 over for more than seven months,
 The house was insured for s21OO, and
 Beacom was to receive $100 and all
 the furniture if he made a good ioh
 of it: If not, he was only to get
 the furniture. Beacon was bui1d- ing house and he wanted my man tel and folding doors very much for
 his place; so he carried them away
 also.
 Two weeks before the fire we
 took Beacom's wife into our conf dence. First she objected, but grad
 ually we won her around, and on
 Saturday night when we carried out the furniture she lent us her assistance. My, how we worked in all that rain. Beacon gave us one dollar, and we went and bought some whisky to keep up our cour- age. Beacon took an ax and a
 hammer to break off the mantel shelf, and his wife handed him the tools while I held the light. Lillie Mullins knew all about the fire, but she would not help us. She cried and begged us not to do it.