The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1901-08-30

Il
w. w. Hammond, the Sun Prairie ed
tor who is charged with arson, pleaded
guilty in the municipal court Saturday
morning to the charge and was placed
under $4,000 bonds to await his sentence
August q.
Mr.. Hammond was brought in from
Sun Prairie late Friday afternoon by
Under Sheriff Monroe Kanouse. He was
arrested on the charge of setting fire tC
the building that was occupied by his
newspaper, the Sun Prairie Sun, July Is
In attempting to save some OF his books
he was badly burned and for sixteen
hours lay insensible. 1t was not until
the insurance companies sent a special
officer to the scene to investigate that
Mr.. Hammond was suspected. He de-
MED all knowledge of the affair, but
later made a confession to detective
Charles w. Wilson, setting forth that he
set fire to the building and then went
home. When arrested by Under Sheriff
Kanouse he denied making such state
ment and said he signed paper at Will
sons dictation, the contents of which he
did not know.
When his case was called he walked
to the front of the bar and in clear
voice said "guilty'' to the complaint.
His plea was surprise to the court and
the district attorney as he had made
such positive statements that he was not
guilty. It was hard for District Attor-
ney Dudgeon to appear against Ham
mond. Both were members of Company
G during the Spanish war and were
warm friends while in the service.
On the plea of guilty being entered,
Judge Donovan placed Hammond under
$1,000 bonds and set Tuesday, the 9th,
as the day for his receiving sentence.
Mr.. Hammond is we'll known in Mad
ison. When the call for volunteers came
for the Spanish war he was among the
first to enlist in Company G.. He served
with the company till they were mus
tered out. His conduct was that of a
model soldier and Chief of Police Baker
who was lieutenant in the company, said
of him: HE is the last man [ would
have thought of committing such a
crime. All during his service he was a
model soldier. He neither drank, smoked
nor swore. He was clean and neat and
always ready for duty. He spent much
of his time in the Y. M. G. A. tent and
seemed very religious Mr.. Hammond
was brought home from the south on a
stretcher, being one of the victims of ty-
phoid fever. He was in the Hayes hos
pital for some time and had dangerous
time in getting we'll. After the war he
went to Sun Prairie where he bought
the Sun. The paper had circulation
of 500 and he seemed to be doing we'll.
Saturday morning Mr.. Hammond
would not say anything about the crime.
He said that his business was good and
that he had bright prospects when the
affair occurred. He said: "When the
time comes I will tell all. At present |
had rather not say anything. I pleaded
guilty and must bear the consequences
Mr. Hammond was married year ago
and gives his age as "a. He enlisted in
the war from Edgerton where he spent
his early life. The Sun plant was worth
between 81 400 and $1,000 and was fully
insured.
Judge Donovan said that the prison
term for the offense is from three to ten
years. Hammond appeared very col
lected and greeted his friends who spoke
to him in cherry manner. He is thought
by some to be mentally unbalanced
Madison Journal.