Arizona republican., 1901-12-16
A BRIEF LIBERTY
J. F. Hendrix Arrested On Another
 Charge of Stealing.

J. F. Hendrix, who was arrested on Saturday night charged with stealing pocketbook containing s39 from Ed Curtis at the Bartlett-Heard ranch. where both were employed. is deeper in
 trouble than ever. Another warrant was sworn out against him yesterday
 by Elmer Bench. an employe of the ranch. charging him with the the;t of his pocketbook. in which there was sS.
 Early yesterday morning Hen drix. accompanied by Sheriff Stout went to see Justice Burnett, who issued the warrant on which he was arrested Saturday night
 Hendrix wanted to go home and see his family and make some arrangement about paying the fine which probably would be imposed upon him and dispose of his affairs, in view of his prospective jail sentence; for he had already admitted his guilt, which admission he reiterated to the justice and in doing so drew most interesting sketch of the operation of the human mind. He said that on Fri day night. when he and Curtis had gone to their room. Curtis showed him his money and kept talking about it so much that Hendrix'S mind finally rested upon it and he said that two ideas came to him at once. The first was a humorous one. That was to take the book from Curtis pocket dur
 ing the night and give it back to him the next morning after he had been sufficiently scared. But I'll be honest with you, judge" continued Hendrix: "the other idea was to keep the money, for I was in debt and greatly enibar- rassed. The joke. though. was upper most in my mind.''
 Hendrix took the pocketbook while Curtis slept and threw it into a pile Of rubbish in an adjoining room- Curtis got up in the morning and went about his work. Hendrix said that it was his purpose then, as it had been all along. to give the book back to him, for the humorous idea was still foremost but the joke was fast losing its flavor and dishonesty was as rapidly gaining the ascendant. By the time Curtis re- turned with the story of his loss Hen drix had ceased to be a humorist. It had come to appear to him that there was more money in being serious. Curtis said that his pocketbook was gone and then Hendrix said the words slipped off the end of his tongue, and mine is gone, too" That was his last chance. He had in that instant made up his mind to keep the money and those words had clinched his deterini- nation.
 Still later in the day he underwent a great mental struggle and was several times on the point of returning the money to Curtis, but the obstcles in the way were greater than ever. for co,v- etousness was now augmented by a fr7I- i, had intended to steal it and had weak ened. The tempter told him that if he remained silent he might not be sus- pected and in any event his guilt could not be proved. But his conscience kept assailing him and frequently in the af- ternoon the money became q greviolIs weight which he would have been glad to throw off. but could not. Even after he started home he thought of return ing and surrendering the property, but by this time he was too weak to put any honest thought into execution. Once he was on the point of throwing the cursed pocketbook away. He had ceased thinking of the wrong done to Curtis and was thinking only of him. salf.
 At last he got home still debating with himself regarding the disposition of the stolen money. He had not made up his mind when he entered the house. Then he heard a knock on the front door and he found that hisr per plexity had been wiped away; the sit uation had solved itself: there was the officer who had come to arrest him. It was now too late to conceal the crime. but he tried to do it while ne was being taken out to the street to be searched. by throwing the pocket book away. "You know the res., judge" concluded Hendrix, and he burst into tears. ''I don't know what possessed me to do it. he walled: ''I is killing to my family
 After some deliberation the justice | who was greatly impressed by Hen drix's story and his evident mental suffering. decided to let him go. but he and the sheriff determined to keep him under surveillance from the moment he reached Tempe. for whatever he might 1 have in mind it was certain that he in- | tended to go home. He started away | on foot and about half way between l the city and Tempe he was met by his | see him, expecting to find him in jail. | A man who met them said that Hen | dirk was weeping bitterly.
 He had not been gone from the sher- l frs office long before Bench came and | of having been robbed on | Friday night or Saturday morning: his | containing $s had been talk | en out of his trunk. When Hendrix |