The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-01-09
The Oklahoma Desperate Pass
es Through Topeka.
Going to Penitentiary to Serve
IL Year Sentence.
AN ANGRY OFFICIAL.
Sheriff Raves Because News
papers Told of His Action.
State Journal Reporter Has a
Talk With Mattox.

In the smoker of Santa Fe eastbound
train No. Monday afternoon, two men
sat facing each other munching pop
corn supplied by the same sack In
physical makeup they represented op-
posites. One was a big burly fellow
with a staggering air, who wore his
black sombrero on one side of his head
and brought his teeth together hard on
the unresisting morsels of exploded ce-
real, while the other was small in stat
ure and apparently mild and gentle
manly in manner, whose small white
hands looked almost delicate when
brought in contrast with the brawny
members of his companion.
As much as the two men represented
cppositeS in physical makeup, their as
sociation was demonstration of the
fact that appearances are deceptive The
big man might be taken for a man Of
reckless deeds and daring bravery,
while it would only be natural to be-
lieve the smaller one a stranger to dar-
ing and recklessness, whose nature
would shrink from any undertaking of
desperate nature And yet not long
ago, the little mild hammered man con-
stituted a danger that his companion
of the brawny hands and hard set jaws.
and others of similar makeup, feared to
encounter.
The smaller of the two men was
Clyde Mattox, whose record of having
killed several men-the exact number
seems to be a question as authorities
differ-placeS him high in the ranks Of
the dangerous and desperate charac-
ters of the country. His companion was
Sheriff Pierce of Kay county, Oklaho-
ma, who last evening landed the many
times murderer in the state peniten-
tiary at Lansing.
On April of last year, in the White
House club saloon in PoncaL City, Ok,
Mattox ripped open Lincoln Swinney's
h If747r til
few minutes afterward, and at the last
term of court Mattox was convicted OF
manSlaughter and sentenced to the
penitentiary for II years. This is the
first day of his sentence
The details of Mattox's latest murder
and the story of his escape from the
Kay county officers We're told in the
State Journal at the time of the occur
| renee After sleeping all night at the
home of Oscar Taylor, where his mother
| was housekeeper, wholly unrnolested,
! Mattox drove to the ford of the Arkan-
| sas river the morning following the
| murder and crossed into the Indian
country. Taylor was with him on the
| drive, and while on the way they met
| four of Sheriff Pierce's officers, who.
| however out of fear refused to recOg-
nize the young murderer. After reach
| ing the Indian country Mattox remain
| ed there for some time, his first de-
| termination was to surrender and stand
trial, but no effective effort was made
| to capture him. When the Kay county
| officers returned to Newkirk after al
| lowing Mattox to escape they circula-
ted the report that he had been killed
With a view or covering up the r1d1cu-
| lOuSneSS of their position. 1t was finally
| established beyond doubt that Mattox
| had not been killed, and the officers
then commenced to talk of plans ma
| turing when questioned about Mat
| tOx's capture. At this talk the people
! of Kay county generally laughed and
| openly remarked that it was Mattox's
| nerve and Winchester, and the Win
chesters he could summon to his aid in
/ the Indian country, that assured him
| continued safety.
Mattox gave up the idea of surren-
| dering after time, and left the Indian
| country. Several months later he was
taken in Los Angeles, Cal, and return
| ed to Oklahoma.
Mattox is not a stranger to the big
| Kansas prison, as he served there sew
eral years under sentence of death.
| President Cleveland comInuted this
sentence to life imprisonment, and
| later, through the untirins efforts Of
! his mother, Mrs. Hatch. with which the
| whole country became familiar, he was
| granted full pardon by President Nc
| Kinley. On leaving the penitentiary he
| returned with his mother to Ponca City,
| and took up cattle herding- He lived q
| very orderly life up to the time of the
| SWinney murder, and had created a
| good impression among the people in
| that vicinity.
mitted iE self-defense, and public senti-
| nent, although somewhat prejudiced
| by his past record, was with the young
| murderer. Swinney was drunk at the
/ time, and after provoking Mattoz- by
| words, knocked him to the floor of the
saloon and kicked him while down.
The men were graphing, together when
| Mattox w-enched out his knife and
| buried it In the ranchman's side.
Sheriff Pierce almost completely pre-
| vented Mattox from talking during the
short stay of the train in Topeka by
shouting his grievances against the
| newspapers for speaking of his appar-
ent cowardice in failing to attempt
| Mattox' capture. During this display of
the Kay county officers wrath, a quiet
smile played about AIattox's mouth,
and his expression indicated that he
enjoyed it.
Il had to kill Swinney or he would
have killed me-" said Mattox. 1T is
hard to go to prison for saving your
own life. I bitterly regret that it oc-
CURED, more on my mothers account
than on my own, but everything is over
now and there is nothing fer me to do
but serve my sentence. I intend to
make another start when leave the
penitentiary"
Mattox looks anything but a muir
Aerer. A prominent Topeka physician,
| who visited him professionally while
confined in the county jail here some
years ago, is responsible for the state
mVht that his manner might easily ems
title him to q position in the best so"
ciety-