Omaha daily bee., 1899-09-24
HOBBLE TO JAIL NO MORE
John Harrington, Singular Individual with
Wooden Limb, Dies Seeing Snakes
FAMILIAR FIGURE IN THE POLICE COURT
known to omcers by sobriauet of
"Peg Leg" lie Has Been Housed
by Them Every Cold Night
for Years.

peg Leg" Harrington, one OF the curious
characters well known at the city jail, In
the police court and in very few places
besides, Unexpectedly surrendered his claim
to the hospitality of the police department
Wednesday afternoon in the emergency
room by dying. The patrol wagon brought
peg Leg" to the station during the morn
ing in a state OF collapse from the effects
of a prolonged spree. The dead wagon
took him away in the afternoon to the
morgue. 1t was to have been the ambu-
lance, but there was a rush Of business at
the county hospital during the day, and
when 1t came Peg Legs turn for atten-
ton, he no longer had use for an ambu-
lance. 1t was up to the hearse.
The last six days Of Peg Legs" life was
spent in the enjoyment Of a solitary jag In
a shed back Of an employment agency at
Eleventh and Farnam streets. Somehow
he begged and boarded enough nickles ia
purchase a weeks supply of liquor. He then
repaired to the shed and passed his time
emptying TASKS and trying to avoid dis
covery and arrest. The shed afforded little
protection from the weather, and the nights
have been cold. Peg Leg" was without
covering Of any kind, but he was used to
Sleeping III Nv upon III IA "i Wv eN
conditions Of weather, and he managed to
keep up a good circulation by dint of FREE
quent application of stimulants.
When the corn juice gave out Peg Leg
began to be Ill. Commissions set in and
friends who discovered his predicament noti-
fed the police. DR.. Ralph made an exam
nation. Finding the man suffering from
acute alcoholism he ordered him sent to the
county hospital. The ambulance was In
use all the morning and peg Leg went
without treatment. He was made com
Portable on a cot in the emergency room and
left pretty much to himself. About 2
O'Clock, when Turnkey Kirk had occasion to
enter the room, he discovered that pes
Leg" was not breathing. A physician was
hastily summoned, but the man was beyond
the need OF medical attendance.
There are peculiarities in peg Leg's'
mode Of existence, oddities of habit and per-
eonal appearance which made him inter-
esting to read about but repursive to see.
He avoided soap and water like the plague
and a man with more flthier clothing never
applied at the police station for shelter.
Ruanor has it that Peg Leg was once an
engineer on the Union Pacific railroad in
prosperous circumstances That was twelve
years ago, shortly after coming here from
the city of his birth and early youth, South
Bend, Ind. In a freight wreck on the road
two years later he lost one Of his legs above
the knee.
Those who are his friends now remember
when he was a section hand about eight
years ago. Their memories do not reach
farther back. For the last few years peg
Leg has not been working at all. An arti-
fetal limb which he wore until sometime in
1897 became useless and had to be thrown
ou,oy Gipna than ho hae worn q limb of
his own manufacture; hence his soubriquet.
He was presented with a modern, artificial
limb last spring by the Associated charities,
but in a moment when the desire for drink
was strong Upon him, he pawned his new
limb and resurrected the one OF his own
make. Friends helped him to redeem the
limb, but in the weeks following it occu-
pied a place in a pawnshop window oftener
than 1t was attached to it's owners anatomy,
and 1t is still sin hook"
In the dead of winter when the cold made
Railways, empty freight cars and dry goods
boxes u~ninhabitable, peg Leg" ap-
piled at the police station for shelter. When
the officers became tired of officiating as
his landlord and ordered him to find other
lodgings, Peg Leg" had recourse to making
a bed IN the snow in the path OF some police
man patrolling his beat, and was invariably
bundled off to the station in the patrol
wagon to be thawed out. When the officers
learned they had to either provide him
with q bed or make a trip in the cold after
him, they assigned peg Leg" a regular
berth in a jail cell.
Late one night last fall when Peg Leg"
was searching Cor a resting place he had an
exciting experience. Having stumbled across
a shed at the rear Of a dwelling he thought
was unoccupied, he proceeded to pry open
Aha door and rnalxA himSalf p0pnfarfohIa In
David Kolmitz's kitchen. 1923 Farnam
street. The family was asleep in an up
stairs room. Mr.. Kolmitz was awakened by
Harr1ngton's movements and, supposing the
noise was made by a burglar invading the
premises, he tiptoed down the back stair
way to the kitchen with a revolver in
each hand.
Harrington, by the light Of matches, was
quietly ensconcing himself on an improvised
bed of sacking in a corner when Kolmitz
tripped over a chair in the dark and fell
against the partition. Peg Leg" picked
himself up and hurried out of the door
through which he had entered. At that in
slant KoImitz appeared at the other end OF
the kitchen. and catching sight Of the in
truder's flying figure, fred two shots after
him. Harrington felt the bullets strike
and woke the neighborhood by his yells.
The police. who found him hobbling out OF
the alley, placed him under arrest. At the
station it was discovered that both bullets
took effect in the beggar's wooden leg.
When he recovered from the fright, peg
Leg created considerable amusement by
probing for the lead with a penknife bor-
rowed from one of the officers for the pur-
pose.
peg Legs" only relatives are a sister
and a brother. The brother is named Green
and Is employed in the Union Pacific shops.
The sister is said to be wealthy. Her home
is in Grand Rapids, Mich. peg Legs" last
resting place will be the potter's field, and
in the rough pine box with him will be
buried the wooden peg which gave him a
nickname.
Card of Thanks.