Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-12-18

OF the things that went fbefo ore, he could
}notssay a word, md only by relating the
whose murder he was then being tried.
events which led up to he tragedy
could he hope to justify himself. When.
tlds privilege was taken from him, he
vas u doomed man. and his counsel
knew il.
And yet. there are those who believe
that could the jury have been acquaint-s
ed with all the facts fro1n~ the day the
ship set sail from Boston, to that fatal
day when she was burned to the waters
edge off the coast of Brazil. the man
who appealed to them for mercy would
Tot have appealed in vain.
1t will never be known how much of
the sworn statement OF John Andersen,
first to last. was true. 1t is a fact that
ne swore to it before he was convicted.
and that he still swore to it when he
went TO his death with smile upon his
face. There was something in that
statement more than words. The man
had put his very soul in it.
III this statement, Andersen did not
deny the crime; he did not deny any
hing. unless it was that he WAS alta
,cthcr and solely responsible for the
burning of the vessel The suggestion,
.:e said. came from another, and another
hand applied the match But what
john Andersen did do in that statement
was tn tell Il story of cruelty and
brutality so inhuman that one reading
It is tempted to believe that the captain
and mate OF the vessel We're not men
u. all. but ticnds. According To tina.
Story, he was bounded. Kicked. cuffe;!.
and beaten hy those two. his
raptain and mate, until he was
driven mad by their treatment
ard became as wild AMI
NAL al bay. No one knows how much
Of this story is true. but no one With
i,,t,. a. hat &c
sender inonensive- looking man mus,
rave had terrible p7.ovocatinn to have
turned upon his captain and mate. ana
murdered them. burned the vessel and
nverpowered five men, all larger than
himself.
What made him DO it? Surely there
must have been some reason. Had he
been the blood thirstest Of nlurtals. he
was an intelligent man. and would have
been restrained to 4 certain extent by
scar Of the consequences. Did he muir
der the captain and mate Of that YES
sci out OF sheer malice and inhumanty?
Did he murder them for the fun OF the
thing? Was there any profit in the
the business for him? Or was there
prOvocation?
What made him do it? This is the
question upon which the whole case
rested 1t was because it was believed
that this question was never answered,
that the citizens of Norfolk We're SO in
terostcd in the condemned man that
they lent their efforts to save his neck
from the moose 1T was because of this
question. which the attorneys in the
case believed had never been answered.
that the utterrnost resources of the law
were called to the aid OF this murderer.
Virginia. probably. does not furnish
in all her history another example of
devotion to 4 client 50 great as that
furnished by the men who defended
time. their money, and their energy in
his defense.
This is the question that was answer
Cd at the great bar Of heaven, when the
murderer went to meet his God. and
whatever may have been the sentence
RAISED upon him by that infailible
Judge OF al things Is they are, there
may be found hundreds whose faith in
John Andersen was 50 great that they
would rather take this murderer's
chances in eternity than those If the
men he killed. CT Of the men who swore
his life away.