The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-09-22

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States. To that vault there ara
three keys. One Is held BY the
officers Of the Damascus Steel CON-
pany. S r Dawson. 3 convict IN the
penitentiary at Anam0sa. held the
third key. Because it required AL
three keys to open the vault Mr.
Dawson is at home today q free man,
paroIed by Governor L n Shaw dur
ing good behavior.
Five years ago Dawson, who dis
covered and placed the secret in the
strong box. entered the walks OF Ana
mosa to begin a ten-year sentence for
the murder Of Walter Scott, who had
eloped with his daughter. Clara Daw-
son. Behind the walls Of stone and
bars of iron the aged inventor car
ried the key 10 the safety vault
Wheeling, coaxing. threats. impor-
tunitfes and commands had no effect
on him. He retained his hold upon
his secret, and declared time and
again that he would die in prison
rather than give up his secret
Freed BY His Secret.
With good behavior allowance Mr..
Dawson had fifteen months OF his
sentence yet TO serve, when DR.. l.
ID. Rood. president of the steel COM
pany. interested Governor Shaw in
the case and pointed out to him that
through the death in prison OF the
old inventor science might lose again
the secret OF hardening steel and
copper. The governor was told that
Mr.. Dawson had promised to give up
the KEY in his possession when he
became disabled, but that he had
maintained from the first that his
Imprisonment was not equivalent TO
disability, and had refused to allow
his secret to get into other hands.
Rather than permit the secret to
be placed in jeopardy Governor Shaw
last month exercised executive Gle
mency. Thus it was that the little
key to a strong box in Des Moines I'M
locked the great gates of the state
prison and permitted an old man to
&c forth free to realize the dream OF
his life-to make steel like that Of
ancient Damascus.
Aged. gaunt, with grizzled beard
and hair Dawson is today just where
he was on Christmas eve. 1895. He
was on the verge of success after
lifetime of work. self-denial and dis
couragements. During the autumn
he had Interested local capitalists IN
his discovery and had been assured
Of abundant capital to put his pro-
cess on the market. The Damascus
Steel company. with an authorized
capital of $250.000. had been formed
by his friends and he had just re-
turned from a visit to the East,
where he had interested some of the
great steel men To the new year
he looked forward as bringing riches
and a commercial success from his
plan of making steel But domestic
trouble had lowered over him for two
years like a cloud and eliminated on
that fateful Christmas eve in a ira
gedy.
Dawson's friends declare that he
never meant to kill Scott They con-
tend that the latter drove the old
man almost insane with his deter
mination to wed Clara Dawson de-
spite parental opposition. She was
only Is when she met Walter Scott.
She was pretty, plump. and he was
HOl Dctu AOQh1AS. uCl Ildulh III
love, and until their attachment end
ed in wedding and a murder their
courtship was full Of storms.
Won the Girls Release.
First of all Clara was committed
by her parents TO the state asylum
for the insane at. Mount Pleasant
Scott, learning of this. enlisted the
support OF some prominent citizens
and secured her release on habeas
corpus proceedings. His victory was
short-lived, for his sweetheart sud
denly disappeared Scott searched
and searched and finally learned that
she was in a convent in Chicago.
Finally he went to the ST. Xavier
Academy at Wabash avenue and
Twenty-ninth street, hoping that he
might see the girl he loved Miss
Dawson happened to be at a window
and she told him that she was i'm
prisoned there against her will.
Scott sought the mother superior and
begged her to release the girl
The mother superior declared that
the girl was pining away and said
she would keep her no longer, but
etAS &OFSt4 AoS kO&AE0 65dl1- MISS
Clara was held at the convent until
her father arrived. He took her to
Canton. Ohio. and later placed her
in school at Dayton She wrote to
Scott. and escaping from the school
reached relatives at Keoknk, Iowa
The lovers were corresponding reg
ularly and arranged to meet at OF
tumwa. Iowa, and get married.
Father Dawson Intercepted the let
terS and had Scott arrested charged
with improper use Of mails. On the
evening before the day arranged for
the meeting Scott secured bonds and
started for Keokuk to claim his bride.
Miss Dawson's father learned OF Il.
and securing another warrant for
SCOTS arrest FASTENED 70 Keokuk to
meet him The lovers had scarcely
embraced each other before the war
rant was served. Scott was taken to
jail and the daughter was taken home
by her irate father.
Later Scott Vens released without
trial. and arriving in Des Moines
went 10 Dawson's home accompanied
BY a policeman Miss Dawson had
By this time reached her majority
and Scott asked her to marry him.
She refused. declaring that she could
not do 50 Is long as her parents OBJ
posed the match In three. weeks
Scott. meeting her often. induced her