The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-21

- ocHEsTER, N: 7 =, Sept t. 20 D.
former statesenator from
" ~ Minnesota and man Oh
Special Correspondence.
marked intellectual aollty,
has, as was limited ten Gays
ago, actually turned from Iorg-
er to preacher rms news
will be gladly received by many OF the
big hotels in all parts of the country.
For as long as Whiteman was travelling
about he was regarded as one Of the
most dangerous criminals in the coun-
try. He has been arrested and sent
to iail more than twenty times since
his downfall a score of years ago.
He has been preaching in and around
Evansville, his former home and the nome
of his mother all summer, occupying
Methodist pulpits in various parts OF
Livingston county. His mother has All
along stuck by him, supplying him WIN
money and legal counsel when he got
in trouble His information seems TO
be of the genuine kind. He declares
that he will never again violate law;
that henceforth his talents and his
time will be devoted to the service OF
the Lord.
Preached Last Sunday.
Whiteman preached recently in the
Methodist church at Byersville, choos-
ing as his text Judge not, lest we be
judged" He has considerable orator
ical ability and preached three-quart-
ers of an hour without break. He
also led in the singing, reading the
scripture lesson with marked dramatlc
effect. When he got through one OF
the pillars of the church remarked In
the hearing of several: "Weu, Lon
Whiteman is either converted or he is
hoy
a great deal worse rogue IMAM looh
him to be-"
In some of his addresses Whiteman
has spoken of those who are perse-
cuted for righteousness sake. He de-
clared that they are the ones to re-
ceive the greatest rewards in heaven.
The man who "bearS false witness
against his neighbor'' Is pictured by
him as worthy of eternal punishment
and there is little chance of salvation
for the person who 'covets anything
that is his neighbours"
Whiteman has had marked success
in the gathering in of converts, as it
is reported that several have come
forward under the influence of his
preaching and announced that they
wanted to lead better lives. The for
mer senator has his home in Dams
vile, where the family mansion is.
Whiteman is a college graduate,
holding the diploma of Hamilton in
bellies lettreS, and from the law depart
ment of Columbia university passed
with honor to join the bar in Livings-
ton county. The promise of his future
was then a most alluring one. His
family was influential, his associations
were of the sort that push it's members
forward and his own natural and ac-
quired abilities of kind to justify the
highest hopes for his career.
These were in a measure realized
for at "A years of age he was a mem
Der OF the legislature Of the state Of
Minnesota; at %, state senator and
member of the national Democratic
committee, president of two banks in
Duluth, owner of two daily papers in
the same town, where he had taken
up his residence, capitalist and mayor
of the city.
He was rated worth 100000 and
was probably worth half as much. His
father had left for him and his sister
$1,500,000 in equal portions, so his
start was favorable in all ways. Then
he ran for congress and was defeated,
after which he began his remarkable
career of committing crimes and keep
ing out of prison-a profession in
which he has had few equals and no
Superiors.
Wealth Gave Him Standing.
His visits to New York and Chicago
We're frequent and his face was famiI-
lar in all of the gambling resorts and
in the betting ring. His position and
feputed wealth gave him standing when
he was finally without money, and he
pledged his credit-Which has never
been redeemed From returned checks
to bogus drafts and schemes of or
ganiZed SWindling of the boldeSt and
most desperate character he passed,
escaping from these without arrest I'M
til one day Detectives Armstrong and
Reidy took him to New York for pass
ing a Valueless check on hotel. Then
the press dispatcher began to find his
name a frequent subject. He was ar
rested in San Francisco, New Orleans,
Chicago, Detroit Philadelphia, Boston,
Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Omaha
His first serious fall came in San
Francisco, and the story of it is from
his own lips, very strongly supported
by collateral evidence and the records.
81 was out there in 1894" he says,
playing the races and cards, and in
worse luck than 1 ever knew before. I
had dropped about $4,000, enough to
make me very strong with the 'bookies,'
and was dead broke.
Il had a checkbook on the Shoe and
Leather bank of New York, wherein my
father was formerly a director, and 1
issued all my checks in sums Of 5000
to $1,000, but 1 lost, lost, lost. until 1
had to use any kind of paper and I
don't know how much I had out.
Il had calculated that it would take
the men who had got my checks ten
days or more to hear from the Eastern
bank on which the checks had been
drawn, but they had used the wire,
and one evening at the Palace hotel my
eye caught the flaming headline of an
evening paper, 'AlonZo j. Whiteman
Wanted for Forgeries.
81 didn't have $50 in cash and San
Francisco is a hard place to escape
from. 1 just changed my quarters to
the Baldwin, where, under another
name L went to bed sick and stayed a
week. At the end of that time I left
unmolested with a lawyer to take out
a charter in Nevada for a California
mining company.
Narrow Escape From Arrest.
"The lawyer was also director in a
local bank and through his introduce
ton 1 opened an account with check,
drew $500 against it and went East.