Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-20
vein OF BAD LUCK
Has Been Struck BY D. Ley
dick, an Old Soldier.
SHOT AND KILLED A MAN
In the LOWlandS in 1892..Sent Up
For Ten Years.-HiS Skull Crush
ed By a Crank.
SHOT AND KILLED A MAN


auditor yesterday in search of assistance.
He belongs to that class of men who
would almost as soon lose a leg as ac-
cept anything in the way Of charity, but
his condition is such that he is COM
PEELED to do it,: He has rather an inter-
esting history and it is full of rough
spots. In the spring Of 1892 he was en-
coal in jefferson county close to the line
coal in ~efferson county close to the line
of Silver Bow and it became necessary
for him to shoot a man. The name of
the victim was +. J.. Coss. He was a
rancher in the LoWlands. While chop
ping wood for his charcoal pits one May
day Leydick was ordered from the place
by Coss, who backed the order with a
double-barreled shotgun. Leydick left
and that evening consulted with several
men living Whereabouts in regard to what
he should do about it. AS the ground did
not belong to Coss, they advised Leydick
to resume chopping and meet Coss at his
own game. On the following morning
Leydick returned to the woods and COM
menced work. He was accompanied by
a Winchester rifle. About s o'clock he
saw Coss approaching with his gun and
called upon him to halt. Coss continued
to advance, and when within 100 yards
of Leydick the latter fired. The ball
struck Coss in the left groin and dropped
him to a STOPPING position, but Leydick
supposed he was only preparing to do
a little deliberate shooting and aimed his
own gun for a second shot. Before he
could pull the trigger, however, Coss
arose to his feet, turned his back and
started to walk in the opposite direction.
After travelling about 100 yards he fell
and Leydick then had the first intima-
ton that his bullet had taken effect. Coss
managed to reach his cabin, and after re-
naming there a few hours was brought
to this city and deposited at Murray &
Freund's hospital. He survived about 80
days. In July of the same year Leydick
was tried at Boulder for murder and
convicted of manslaughter, his punish
ment being fixed at 10 years in the peni-
tertiary. In the fall Of that year an in
sane convict named Martin Brown
slipped up behind him and crushed his
skull with a stool. The blow crippled
him for life, as it paralyzed one side of
his body. Brown was kept in the prison
dungeon a year for the deed and then
transferred to the asylum at Warm
Springs, where he is now.
Leydick made several attempts to Sc
cure a pardon, but failed in each in
stanc and served his time, being re-
leased last October. On being given his
liberty he came to Butte, but on account
of the injury received while in prison he
could do nothing to help himself and was
compelled to go to the poor farm. He is
now GO years old. After his release he
made application for admission to the
soldiers home, but learned later on that
any one convicted Of a felony was not
eligible to admission to the home.
In speaking of his troubles at the court
house yesterday, Lcydick said he firmly
believed that in the face of the circum-
stances surrounding the commission of
he should not have served a day.
81 do not regret the time I spent there
so much as I do the fact that 1T has left
me unable to earn a living" said he.
"There was some trouble at the poor
farm last night" he continued, land I
was blamed for it, when in fact 1 had
no more to do with it tina a man who
had never seen the inside of the place.
There is a crazy man at the farm who
insists upon running things to suit him
self. Last night, after we had turned
into our hunks, he got hold of a %bludgeon
and threatened to brain a few of us if
we even batted an eye. He waved the
club over our heads and gave vent to all
sorts of wild EXPLANATIONS. 1 got out
and reported the matter and was accused
of being responsible for it all. I could
not stand that and left the place."
I'm what company did you serve during
the war Of the rebellion?" was asked.
"The Fourteenth Pennsylvania"
Did you ever engage in any battles?"
Eyes, one; but it did not take on the
ferceness of the one at Gettysburg. 1t
took place on the Potomac river, in Vir-
ginia. Seventeen men We're killed. 1 was
wounded in the right leg, but the wound
healed so that it never bothered me, and
| am therefore not entitled to a pension.
That battle was the only one in which l
had a hand"