The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-10-11
w. C. T. u. COLUMN.
CONDUCTED BY MRS. NJ. l.. HOBBS.
RED RUM.
rom fatriot fhalanx.
Continued from last week }

\NOitihuCN iiOiI last Ntrh
He began: "This is story
have never told to a soul in Texas
and | don't believe any one in this
/; state knows it. would not tell il
now, but Mr.. - (meaning mel
has worked very hard in my inter
: est, and | consider him entitled tc
my reasons for acting as | have in
this matter. You may think il
took courage to refuse the drink -
| tell you it would have taken q
good deal more to have accepted u
Then he stopped and fumbled in
his pocket for moment, saying
81 have few picturesque exhibits
which 60 with the story. The frs,
is this" He drew from his inner
waist coat pocket great leather
pocket book, and from one of its
many compartments extracted a
newspaper clipping, and, holding it
up by one corner, sllowed it to un-
fold itself, and then put it on the
table before US. chats Exhibit
one," he remarked, eyeing us curl
ously, to see how we took it, For
a moment we stared in wild-eyed
amazement at the great black words
whose heavy lines covered the top
of the column like a mourning
band
"GUILTY!"
That was the word.
The sub caption ran on in the
|"sky-r rickety" style of the small
western town: "John Barclay
convicted of murder in the first de-
gree" And then, oh, horror ga
most spectacular aerial performance
anticipated. Sentence postponed
through respect for the prisoners
aged mother, who dropped dead in
the court room upon hearing the
verdict. F"
That's nice stuff for a man to
read about himself" said Barclay,
with a groan.
He folded the slip put it back
where it belonged, and produced
another,
"Exhibit No. 9" he said in
matter Of fact way; "that looks
more like business. 1t read:
Barclay to be hanged on the 2lst
instant. 1t was dated "the four
many years ago.
Things were getting pretty
warm," observed Barclay with any
thing but enthusiasm. We all
shrugged our shoulders, and he
proceeded: "Gentlemen, the i'm
cause OF those two most
unhattering notices was murder.
The prime cause was-well, what is
N urde r spelled backward?'
Without waiting for an answer, be
traced the letters of the word with
his pencil in the order suggested;
"RED RUM"
"Gentlemen, the rum that |
drank murdered my mother. 1t
was with premediated malice it did
/, too. 1t was just as deliberately
lone as if l had crept into the poor
SOULS bed room at night and press
ID knife down into her trusting
I'D heart. ! knew that my intem-
oerance-nay, my brutal debauch-
,ry, was killing her by inches
he cruelest way ever devil devised.
She did nothing but good to me.
L is no excuse for mans acts
hat he was drunk. 1t is not then
le commits the crime-no, ii is
when, in his sober senses, he takes
he first drink, knowing full well
he devils he lets loose in his brain
vhen he does it. At that time"
continued Barclay, ''my mother
md l were living in a boarding
,ouse in small town in the north. (,
)ur landlady was an old maid.
,he was a person OF uncertain
means and temper. | had been
thinking most brutally for a long
,eriod, and would, no doubt have
'een put out Of my boarding house
lnceremoniously, but for Miss C's !
onsideration Of my mother, for
vhom she seemed to have a gen.
line affection. had never had I
ny words with her; but, as il sub
developed, had been Z
card to complain about her ex- Z
eeding exactingness where money
Tas due her. 1t was known, at the
me, that / had but recently met
'ith several business reverses, and
'as unusually hard up