The San Francisco call., 1899-09-28

| two days longer, IN order TO thoroushIy
crush his spirit. AT the expiration OF
! that time he told Aguirre tale of intend
! ed escape and assassination so terrible
that even the veteran Captain Edgar was
amazed.
My intention, said Cooper, was to gar
rote Barwell and do ii in such a way that
when his dead body would be close enough
! to the cell for me to reach through ana
| take the key to the cell from his pocket
Then I would have let myself out and un-
| locked the doors of the other cells. we
would have hid the body OF Barwell ana
laid for Jones and killed him when he
returned from supper. Then we Would
have waited until it was dark and waited
our chance to silence Sergeant OF the
! Night Watch Ellis and his seven men. AS
| they are scattered all over the yard, nine
| of us could have accomplished this WITH
| out much trouble. Morreu and oppen-
| heimer were in the scheme with me ana
we felt sure that when the two guards
were out of the way the others would JOIN
rs Then we could have turned big lot
of the other fellows loose and the whole
| gang of US would have slipped over the
wall and escaped in the darkness.
"Those pistols that were supposed to be
I'm the prison last March are here now.
Morrell is the only man that knows Where
they are buried and he promised to sup
ply us with them when we were free.
Cooper admitted to both the onlcla's
that he had lied about the former con-
sDiracy all the way through, even to the
Prison directors. He confessed that
Aeuirre's methods of dealing with con-
! 1,ic+e were too severe to be stood when
+hev nersisted in breaking the rules, ana
with tears in his eyes confessed that 1or
the first time his spirit was crushed ana
that "he had enough" In forming thelr
nlans he asserted that Oppenhelmer, MOT
| reU and he had communicated with one
another by means of cipher system, the
documentary key of which was furnished
! Aguirre. Each letter was represented by
! number. and by omitting the letter
| ~ uvas made impossible for the uniniuated
| +o make the least sense out OF what was
! said Whole sentences were communl-
Gated by gently tapping on the sides OF
| the cell while a conversation was carried
| on at other times by singing the numbers
| TO a popular air, as If the singer were
using figures instead OF words 1or the
very novelty of the thing. Some time ago
| cooner asked for Bible, which was given
! him. He finally tired of reading it and by
! a strange coincidence another prisoner
wanted ii when Cooper cared Tor II no
| longer. So thoroughly was Coopers spirit
! broken that he showed the Warden that
he and Morrell had even communicated
! by marking passages in this sacred
| volume in accordance with their clpner
| The ruthless spirit of the convicts so far
| as regards the shedding of human blood
/ is shown by the following letter, sur
rendered by Cooper to the Warden:
Friend Harry: In saying Sunday the best
time to work on did not mean to infer II is
/ the only day. We must take the best that
! comes, so for Gods sake bring her TO mead
! as soon as possible When does his medicine
Also he hinted that Q5x1D would get none
| the worse of things from him "a heln!D
! So You now see how things stand well
as do-hence my warning last night to YOU
! (25) gave me to understand yesterday you
! would have different demeanor on you be-
| fore long also l think from what he said some
| of the Bows would go after the Board meet,
! also | think (G) will be included In the Bach.
/ In regard to {25) none of us can get at him.
and before that you know it would be simply
! absurd to attempt 1t, let me hear from you.
The number % refers to Guard Jones,
and the letter to Schlegal. Morrell de-
MED writing this letter, but when he gave
! the Warden a sample of his handwriting
| 1T was identical, and he was at once
thrown into a straightjacket. His spirit
was broken as badly as was Cooper's at
/ the end of three days, and he admitted
! everything except that he knew where
! the pistols are hidden. A convict whose
]
! the others will kill him for "peaching"
| has told Aguirre and Edgar that he held
three of the pistols in his hand, but does
not know where they are hidden. Open
heimer was not punished because the only
| evidence against him is Coopers word,
and Warden Aguirre says that is "as good
| as vacuum"
This attempted outbreak and plan to
| commit murder by these convicts" said
! Warden Aguirre, shows clearly that the
sympathy for them held by certain we'll
meaning but mistaken people is simply
| wasted. These men are too dangerous to
| be permitted to mix with the main body of
prisoners, and are kept in the incorrigible
ward not so much for punishment as for
the general welfare of the prison They
are not ill-treated. They occupy the CEN
ter of large, airy room with six windows
on each side, and are exercised every
other day. They get two meals a day
bath every two weeks and a change of
underclothing every week. They are per-
mitted reading matter that has the %. X
of the chaplain, and when they want any
thing have only to send me a letter If
their desire is reasonable they get it. The